smithsonian institution--bureau of ethnology. j. w. powell, director. * * * * * on limitations to the use of some anthropologic data. by j. w. powell. on limitations to the use of some anthropologic data. by j. w. powell. * * * * * archÆology. investigations in this department are of great interest, and have attracted to the field a host of workers; but a general review of the mass of published matter exhibits the fact that the uses to which the material has been put have not always been wise. in the monuments of antiquity found throughout north america, in camp and village sites, graves, mounds, ruins, and scattered works of art, the origin and development of art in savage and barbaric life may be satisfactorily studied. incidentally, too, hints of customs may be discovered, but outside of this, the discoveries made have often been illegitimately used, especially for the purpose of connecting the tribes of north america with peoples or so-called races of antiquity in other portions of the world. a brief review of some conclusions that must be accepted in the present status of the science will exhibit the futility of these attempts. it is now an established fact that man was widely scattered over the earth at least as early as the beginning of the quaternary period, and, perhaps, in pliocene time. if we accept the conclusion that there is but one species of man, as species are now defined by biologists, we may reasonably conclude that the species has been dispersed from some common center, as the ability to successfully carry on the battle of life in all climes belongs only to a highly developed being; but this original home has not yet been ascertained with certainty, and when discovered, lines of migration therefrom cannot be mapped until the changes in the physical geography of the earth from that early time to the present have been discovered, and these must be settled upon purely geologic and paleontologic evidence. the migrations of mankind from that original home cannot be intelligently discussed until that home has been discovered, and, further, until the geology of the globe is so thoroughly known that the different phases of its geography can be presented. the dispersion of man must have been anterior to the development of any but the rudest arts. since that time the surface of the earth has undergone many and important changes. all known camp and village sites, graves, mounds, and ruins belong to that portion of geologic time known as the present epoch, and are entirely subsequent to the period of the original dispersion as shown by geologic evidence. in the study of these antiquities, there has been much unnecessary speculation in respect to the relation existing between the people to whose existence they attest, and the tribes of indians inhabiting the country during the historic period. it may be said that in the pueblos discovered in the southwestern portion of the united states and farther south through mexico and perhaps into central america tribes are known having a culture quite as far advanced as any exhibited in the discovered ruins. in this respect, then, there is no need to search for an extra-limital origin through lost tribes for any art there exhibited. with regard to the mounds so widely scattered between the two oceans, it may also be said that mound-building tribes were known in the early history of discovery of this continent, and that the vestiges of art discovered do not excel in any respect the arts of the indian tribes known to history. there is, therefore, no reason for us to search for an extra-limital origin through lost tribes for the arts discovered in the mounds of north america. the tracing of the origin of these arts to the ancestors of known tribes or stocks of tribes is more legitimate, but it has limitations which are widely disregarded. the tribes which had attained to the highest culture in the southern portion of north america are now well known to belong to several different stocks, and, if, for example, an attempt is made to connect the mound-builders with the pueblo indians, no result beyond confusion can be reached until the particular stock of these village peoples is designated. again, it is contained in the recorded history of the country that several distinct stocks of the present indians were mound-builders and the wide extent and vast number of mounds discovered in the united states should lead us to suspect, at least, that the mound-builders of pre-historic times belonged to many and diverse stocks. with the limitations thus indicated the identification of mound-building peoples as distinct tribes or stocks is a legitimate study, but when we consider the further fact now established, that arts extend beyond the boundaries of linguistic stocks, the most fundamental divisions we are yet able to make of the peoples of the globe, we may more properly conclude that this field promises but a meager harvest; but the origin and development of arts and industries is in itself a vast and profoundly interesting theme of study, and when north american archæology is pursued with this end in view, the results will be instructive. picture-writing. the pictographs of north america were made on divers substances. the bark of trees, tablets of wood, the skins of animals, and the surfaces of rocks were all used for this purpose; but the great body of picture-writing as preserved to us is found on rock surfaces, as these are the most enduring. from dighton rock to the cliffs that overhang the pacific, these records are found--on bowlders fashioned by the waves of the sea, scattered by river floods, or polished by glacial ice; on stones buried in graves and mounds; on faces of rock that appear in ledges by the streams; on cañon walls and towering cliffs; on mountain crags and the ceilings of caves--wherever smooth surfaces of rock are to be found in north america, there we may expect to find pictographs. so widely distributed and so vast in number, it is well to know what purposes they may serve in anthropologic science. many of these pictographs are simply pictures, rude etchings, or paintings, delineating natural objects, especially animals, and illustrate simply the beginning of pictorial art; others we know were intended to commemorate events or to represent other ideas entertained by their authors; but to a large extent these were simply mnemonic--not conveying ideas of themselves, but designed more thoroughly to retain in memory certain events or thoughts by persons who were already cognizant of the same through current hearsay or tradition. if once the memory of the thought to be preserved has passed from the minds of men, the record is powerless to restore its own subject-matter to the understanding. the great body of picture-writings is thus described; yet to some slight extent pictographs are found with characters more or less conventional, and the number of such is quite large in mexico and central america. yet even these conventional characters are used with others less conventional in such a manner that perfect records were never made. hence it will be seen that it is illegitimate to use any pictographic matter of a date anterior to the discovery of the continent by columbus for historic purposes; but it has a legitimate use of profound interest, as these pictographs exhibit the beginning of written language and the beginning of pictorial art, yet undifferentiated; and if the scholars of america will collect and study the vast body of this material scattered everywhere--over the valleys and on the mountain sides--from it can be written one of the most interesting chapters in the early history of mankind. history, customs, and ethnic characteristics. when america was discovered by europeans, it was inhabited by great numbers of distinct tribes, diverse in languages, institutions, and customs. this fact has never been fully recognized, and writers have too often spoken of the north american indians as a body, supposing that statements made of one tribe would apply to all. this fundamental error in the treatment of the subject has led to great confusion. again, the rapid progress in the settlement and occupation of the country has resulted in the gradual displacement of the indian tribes, so that very many have been removed from their ancient homes, some of whom have been incorporated into other tribes, and some have been absorbed into the body of civilized people. the names by which tribes have been designated have rarely been names used by themselves, and the same tribe has often been designated by different names in different periods of its history and by different names in the same period of its history by colonies of people having different geographic relations to them. often, too, different tribes have been designated by the same name. without entering into an explanation of the causes which have led to this condition of things, it is simply necessary to assert that this has led to great confusion of nomenclature. therefore the student of indian history must be constantly on his guard in accepting the statements of any author relating to any tribe of indians. it will be seen that to follow any tribe of indians through post-columbian times is a task of no little difficulty. yet this portion of history is of importance, and the scholars of america have a great work before them. three centuries of intimate contact with a civilized race has had no small influence upon the pristine condition of these savage and barbaric tribes. the most speedy and radical change was that effected in the arts, industrial and ornamental. a steel knife was obviously better than a stone knife; firearms than bows and arrows; and textile fabrics from the looms of civilized men are at once seen to be more beautiful and more useful than the rude fabrics and undressed skins with which the indians clothed themselves in that earlier day. customs and institutions changed less rapidly. yet these have been much modified. imitation and vigorous propagandism have been more or less efficient causes. migrations and enforced removals placed tribes under conditions of strange environment where new customs and institutions were necessary, and in this condition civilization had a greater influence, and the progress of occupation by white men within the territory of the united states, at least, has reached such a stage that savagery and barbarism have no room for their existence, and even customs and institutions must in a brief time be completely changed, and what we are yet to learn of these people must be learned now. but in pursuing these studies the greatest caution must be observed in discriminating what is primitive from what has been acquired from civilized man by the various processes of acculturation. origin of man. working naturalists postulate evolution. zoölogical research is largely directed to the discovery of the genetic relations of animals. the evolution of the animal kingdom is along multifarious lines and by diverse specializations. the particular line which connects man with the lowest forms, through long successions of intermediate forms, is a problem of great interest. this special investigation has to deal chiefly with relations of structure. from the many facts already recorded, it is probable that many detached portions of this line can be drawn, and such a construction, though in fact it may not be correct in all its parts, yet serves a valuable purpose in organizing and directing research. the truth or error of such hypothetic genealogy in no way affects the validity of the doctrines of evolution in the minds of scientific men, but on the other hand the value of the tentative theory is brought to final judgment under the laws of evolution. it would be vain to claim that the course of zoölogic development is fully understood, or even that all of its most important factors are known. so the discovery of facts and relations guided by the doctrines of evolution reacts upon these doctrines, verifying, modifying, and enlarging them. thus it is that while the doctrines lead the way to new fields of discovery, the new discoveries lead again to new doctrines. increased knowledge widens philosophy; wider philosophy increases knowledge. it is the test of true philosophy that it leads to the discovery of facts, and facts themselves can only be known as such; that is, can only be properly discerned and discriminated by being relegated to their places in philosophy. the whole progress of science depends primarily upon this relation between knowledge and philosophy. in the earlier history of mankind philosophy was the product of subjective reasoning, giving mythologies and metaphysics. when it was discovered that the whole structure of philosophy was without foundation, a new order of procedure was recommended--the baconian method. perception must precede reflection; observation must precede reason. this also was a failure. the earlier gave speculations; the later give a mass of incoherent facts and falsehoods. the error in the earlier philosophy was not in the order of procedure between perception and reflection, but in the method, it being subjective instead of objective. the method of reasoning in scientific philosophy is purely objective; the method of reasoning in mythology and metaphysics is subjective. the difference between man and the animals most nearly related to him in structure is great. the connecting forms are no longer extant. this subject of research, therefore, belongs to the paleontologists rather than the ethnologists. the biological facts are embraced in the geological record, and this record up to the present time has yielded but scant materials to serve in its solution. it is known that man, highly differentiated from lower animals in morphologic characteristics, existed in early quaternary and perhaps in pliocene times, and here the discovered record ends. language. in philology, north america presents the richest field in the world, for here is found the greatest number of languages distributed among the greatest number of stocks. as the progress of research is necessarily from the known to the unknown, civilized languages were studied by scholars before the languages of savage and barbaric tribes. again, the higher languages are written and are thus immediately accessible. for such reasons, chief attention has been given to the most highly developed languages. the problems presented to the philologist, in the higher languages, cannot be properly solved without a knowledge of the lower forms. the linguist studies a language that he may use it as an instrument for the interchange of thought; the philologist studies a language to use its data in the construction of a philosophy of language. it is in this latter sense that the higher languages are unknown until the lower languages are studied, and it is probable that more light will be thrown upon the former by a study of the latter than by more extended research in the higher. the vast field of unwritten languages has been explored but not surveyed. in a general way it is known that there are many such languages, and the geographic distribution of the tribes of men who speak them is known, but scholars have just begun the study of the languages. that the knowledge of the simple and uncompounded must precede the knowledge of the complex and compounded, that the latter may be rightly explained, is an axiom well recognized in biology, and it applies equally well to philology. hence any system of philology, as the term is here used, made from a survey of the higher languages exclusively, will probably be a failure. "which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature," and which of you by taking thought can add the antecedent phenomena necessary to an explanation of the language of plato or of spencer? the study of astronomy, geology, physics, and biology, is in the hands of scientific men; objective methods of research are employed and metaphysic disquisitions find no place in the accepted philosophies; but to a large extent philology remains in the hands of the metaphysicians, and subjective methods of thought are used in the explanation of the phenomena observed. if philology is to be a science it must have an objective philosophy composed of a homologic classification and orderly arrangement of the phenomena of the languages of the globe. philologic research began with the definite purpose in view to discover in the diversities of language among the peoples of the earth a common element from which they were all supposed to have been derived, an original speech, the parent of all languages. in this philologists had great hopes of success at one time, encouraged by the discovery of the relation between the diverse branches of the aryan stock, but in this very work methods of research were developed and doctrines established by which unexpected results were reached. instead of relegating the languages that had before been unclassified to the aryan family, new families or stocks were discovered, and this process has been carried on from year to year until scores or even hundreds, of families are recognized, and until we may reasonably conclude that there was no single primitive speech common to mankind, but that man had multiplied and spread throughout the habitable earth anterior to the development of organized languages; that is, languages have sprung from innumerable sources after the dispersion of mankind. the progress in language has not been by multiplication, which would be but a progress in degradation under the now well-recognized laws of evolution; but it has been in integration from a vast multiplicity toward a unity. true, all evolution has not been in this direction. there has often been degradation as exhibited in the multiplicity of languages and dialects of the same stock, but evolution has in the aggregate been integration by progress towards unity of speech, and differentiation (which, must always be distinguished from multiplication) by specialization of the grammatic process and the development of the parts of speech. when a people once homogeneous are separated geographically in such a manner that thorough inter-communication is no longer preserved, all of the agencies by which languages change act separately in the distinct communities and produce different changes therein, and dialects are established. if the separation continues, such dialects become distinct languages in the sense that the people of one community are unable to understand the people of another. but such a development of languages is not differentiation in the sense in which this term is here used, and often used in biology, but is analogous to multiplication as understood in biology. the differentiation of an organ is its development for a special purpose, _i. e._, the organic, specialization is concomitant with functional specialization. when paws are differentiated into hands and feet, with the differentiation of the organs, there is a concomitant differentiation in the functions. when one language becomes two, the same function is performed by each, and is marked by the fundamental characteristic of multiplication, _i. e._, degradation; for the people originally able to communicate with each other can no longer thus communicate; so that two languages do not serve as valuable a purpose as one. and, further, neither of the two languages has made the progress one would have made, for one would have been developed sufficiently to serve all the purposes of the united peoples in the larger area inhabited by them, and, _coeteris paribus_, the language spoken by many people scattered over a large area must be superior to one spoken by a few people inhabiting a small area. it would have been strange, indeed, had the primitive assumption in philology been true, and the history of language exhibited universal degradation. in the remarks on the "origin of man," the statement was made that mankind was distributed throughout the habitable earth, in some geological period anterior to the present and anterior to the development of other than the rudest arts. here, again, we reach the conclusion that man was distributed throughout the earth anterior to the development of organized speech. in the presence of these two great facts, the difficulty of tracing genetic relationship among human races through arts, customs, institutions, and traditions will appear, for all of these must have been developed after the dispersion of mankind. analogies and homologies in these phenomena must be accounted for in some other way. somatology proves the unity of the human species; that is, the evidence upon which this conclusion is reached is morphologic; but in arts, customs, institutions, and traditions abundant corroborative evidence is found. the individuals of the one species, though inhabiting diverse climes, speaking diverse languages, and organized into diverse communities, have progressed in a broad way by the same stages, have had the same arts, customs, institutions, and traditions in the same order, limited only by the degree of progress to which the several tribes have attained, and modified only to a limited extent by variations in environment. if any ethnic classification of mankind is to be established more fundamental than that based upon language, it must be upon physical characteristics, and such must have been acquired by profound differentiation anterior to the development of languages, arts, customs, institutions, and traditions. the classifications hitherto made on this basis are unsatisfactory, and no one now receives wide acceptance. perhaps further research will clear up doubtful matters and give an acceptable grouping; or it may be that such research will result only in exhibiting the futility of the effort. the history of man, from the lowest tribal condition to the highest national organization, has been a history of constant and multifarious admixture of strains of blood; of admixture, absorption, and destruction of languages with general progress toward unity; of the diffusion of arts by various processes of acculturation; and of admixture and reciprocal diffusion of customs, institutions, and traditions. arts, customs, institutions, and traditions extend beyond the boundaries of languages and serve to obscure them, and the admixture of strains of blood has obscured primitive ethnic divisions, if such existed. if the physical classification fails, the most fundamental grouping left is that based on language; but for the reasons already mentioned and others of like character, the classification of languages is not, to the full extent, a classification of peoples. it may be that the unity of the human race is a fact so profound that all attempts at a fundamental classification to be used in all the departments of anthropology will fail, and that there will remain multifarious groupings for the multifarious purposes of the science; or, otherwise expressed, that languages, arts, customs, institutions, and traditions may be classified, and that the human family will be considered as one race. mythology. here again america presents a rich field for the scientific explorer. it is now known that each linguistic stock has a distinct mythology, and as in some of these stocks there are many languages differing to a greater or less extent, so there are many like differing mythologies. as in language, so in mythology, investigation has proceeded from, the known to the unknown--from the higher to the lower mythologies. in each step of the progress of opinion on this subject a particular phenomenon may be observed. as each lower status of mythology is discovered it is assumed to be the first in origin, the primordial mythology, and all lower but imperfectly understood mythologies are interpreted as degradations, from this assumed original belief; thus polytheism was interpreted as a degeneracy from monotheism; nature worship, from psychotheism; zoölotry, from ancestor worship; and, in order, monotheism has been held to be the original mythology, then polytheism, then physitheism or nature worship, then ancestor worship. with a large body of mythologists nature worship is now accepted as the primitive religion; and with another body, equally as respectable, ancestor worship is primordial. but nature worship and ancestor worship are concomitant parts of the same religion, and belong to a status of culture highly advanced and characterized by the invention of conventional pictographs. in north america we have scores or even hundreds of systems of mythology, all belonging to a lower state of culture. let us hope that american students will not fall into this line of error by assuming that zoötheism is the lowest stage, because this is the status of mythology most widely spread on the continent. mythology is primitive philosophy. a mythology--that is, the body of myths current among any people and believed by them--comprises a system of explanations of all the phenomena of the universe discerned by them; but such explanations are always mixed with much extraneous matter, chiefly incidents in the history of the personages who were the heroes of mythologic deeds. every mythology has for its basis a theology--a system of gods who are the actors, and to whom are attributed the phenomena to be explained--for the fundamental postulate in mythology is "some one does it," such being the essential characteristic of subjective reasoning. as peoples pass from one stage of culture to another, the change is made by developing a new sociology with all its institutions, by the development of new arts, by evolution of language, and, in a degree no less, by a change in philosophy; but the old philosophy is not supplanted. the change is made by internal growth and external accretion. fragments of the older are found in the newer. this older material in the newer philosophy is often used for curious purposes by many scholars. one such use i wish to mention here. the nomenclature which has survived from the earlier state is supposed to be deeply and occultly symbolic and the mythic narratives to be deeply and occultly allegoric. in this way search is made for some profoundly metaphysic cosmogony; some ancient beginning of the mythology is sought in which mystery is wisdom and wisdom is mystery. the objective or scientific method of studying a mythology is to collect and collate its phenomena simply as it is stated and understood by the people to whom it belongs. in tracing back the threads of its historical development the student should expect to find it more simple and childlike in every stage of his progress. it is vain to search for truth in mythologic philosophy, but it is important to search for veritable philosphies, that they may be properly compared and that the products of the human mind in its various stages of culture may be known; important in the reconstruction of the history of philosophy; and important in furnishing necessary data to psychology. no labor can be more fruitless than the search in mythology for true philosophy; and the efforts to build up from the terminology and narratives of mythologies an occult symbolism and system of allegory is but to create a new and fictitious body of mythology. there is a symbolism inherent in language and found in all philosophy, true or false, and such symbolism was cultivated as an occult art in the early history of civilization when picture-writing developed into conventional writing, and symbolism is an interesting subject for study, but it has been made a beast of burden to carry packs of metaphysic nonsense. sociology. here again north america presents a wide and interesting field to the investigator, for it has within its extent many distinct governments, and these governments, so far as investigations have been carried, are found to belong to a type more primitive than any of the feudalities from which the civilized nations of the earth sprang, as shown by concurrently recorded history. yet in this history many facts have been discovered suggesting that feudalities themselves had an origin in something more primitive. in the study of the tribes of the world a multitude of sociologic institutions and customs have been discovered, and in reviewing the history of feudalities it is seen that many of their important elements are survivals from tribal society. so important are these discoveries that all human history has to be rewritten, the whole philosophy of history reconstructed. government does not begin in the ascendency of chieftains through prowess in war, but in the slow specialization of executive functions from communal associations based on kinship. deliberative assemblies do not start in councils gathered by chieftains, but councils precede chieftaincies. law does not begin in contract, but is the development of custom. land tenure does not begin in grants from the monarch or the feudal lord, but a system of tenure in common by gentes or tribes is developed into a system of tenure in severalty. evolution in society has not been from militancy to industrialism, but from organization based on kinship to organization based on property, and alongside of the specializations of the industries of peace the arts of war have been specialized. so, one by one, the theories of metaphysical writers on sociology are overthrown, and the facts of history are taking their place, and the philosophy of history is being erected out of materials accumulating by objective studies of mankind psychology. psychology has hitherto been chiefly in the hands of subjective philosophers and is the last branch of anthropology to be treated by scientific methods. but of late years sundry important labors have been performed with the end in view to give this department of philosophy a basis of objective facts; especially the organ of the mind has been studied and the mental operations of animals have been compared with those of men, and in various other ways the subject is receiving scientific attention. the new psychology in process of construction will have a threefold basis: a physical basis on phenomena presented by the organ of the mind as shown in man and the lower animals; a linguistic basis as presented in the phenomena of language, which is the instrument of mind; a functional basis as exhibited in operations of the mind. the phenomena of the third class may be arranged in three subclasses. first, the operations of mind exhibited in individuals in various stages of growth, various degrees of culture, and in various conditions, normal and abnormal; second, the operations of mind as exhibited in technology, arts, and industries; third, the operations of mind as exhibited in philosophy; and these are the explanations given of the phenomena of the universe. on such a basis a scientific psychology must be erected. * * * * * as methods of study are discovered, a vast field opens to the american scholar. now, as at all times in the history of civilization, there has been no lack of interest in this subject, and no lack of speculative writers; but there is a great want of trained observers and acute investigators. if we lay aside the mass of worthless matter which has been published, and consider only the material used by the most careful writers, we find on every hand that conclusions are vitiated by a multitude of errors of fact of a character the most simple. yesterday i read an article on the "growth of sculpture," by grant allen, that was charming; yet, therein i found this statement: so far as i know, the polynesians and many other savages have not progressed beyond the full-face stage of human portraiture above described. next in rank comes the drawing of a profile, as we find it among the eskimos and the bushmen. our own children soon attain to this level, which is one degree higher than that of the full face, as it implies a special point of view, suppresses half the features, and is not diagrammatic or symbolical of all the separate parts. negroes and north american indians cannot understand profile; they ask what has become of the other eye. perhaps mr. allen derives his idea of the inability of the indians to understand profiles from a statement of catlin, which i have seen used for this and other purposes by different anthropologists until it seems to have become a _favorite fact_. turning to catlin's _letters and notes on the manners, customs, and condition of the north american indians_, (vol. , page ) we find him saying: after i had painted these, and many more whom i have not time at present to name, i painted the portrait of a celebrated warrior of the sioux, by the name of mah-to-chee-ga (the little bear), who was unfortunately slain in a few moments after the picture was done by one of his own tribe; and which was very near costing me my life, for having painted a side view of his face, leaving one-half of it out of the picture, which had been the cause of the affray; and, supposed by the whole tribe to have been intentionally left out by me, as "good for nothing." this was the last picture that i painted amongst the sioux, and the last, undoubtedly, that i shall ever paint in that place. so tremendous and so alarming was the excitement about it that my brushes were instantly put away, and i embarked the next day on the steamer for the sources of the missouri, and was glad to get underweigh. subsequently, mr. catlin elaborates this incident into the "story of the dog" (vol. , page _et seq_). now, whatsoever of truth or of fancy there may be in this story, it cannot be used as evidence that the indians could not understand or interpret profile pictures, for mr. catlin himself gives several plates of indian pictographs exhibiting profile faces. in my cabinet of pictographs i have hundreds of side views made by indians of the same tribe of which mr. catlin was speaking. it should never be forgotten that accounts of travelers and other persons who write for the sake of making good stories must be used with the utmost caution. catlin is only one of a thousand such who can be used with safety only by persons so thoroughly acquainted with the subject that they are able to divide facts actually observed from creations of fancy. but mr. catlin must not be held responsible for illogical deductions even from his facts. i know not how mr. allen arrived at his conclusion, but i do know that pictographs in profile are found among very many, if not all, the tribes of north america. now, for another example. peschel, in _the races of man_ (page ), says: the transatlantic history of spain has no case comparable in iniquity to the act of the portuguese in brazil, who deposited the clothes of scarlet-fever or small-pox patients on the hunting grounds of the natives, in order to spread the pestilence among them; and of the north americans, who used strychnine to poison the wells which the redskins were in the habit of visiting in the deserts of utah; of the wives of australian settlers, who, in times of famine, mixed arsenic with the meal which they gave to starving natives. in a foot-note on the same page, burton is given as authority for the statement that the people of the united states poisoned the wells of the redskins. referring to burton, in _the city of the saints_ (page ), we find him saying: the yuta claim, like the shoshonee, descent from an ancient people that immigrated into their present seats from the northwest. during the last thirty years they have considerably decreased, according to the mountaineers, and have been demoralized mentally and physically by the emigrants. formerly they were friendly, now they are often at war with the intruders. as in australia, arsenic and corrosive sublimate in springs and provisions have diminished their number. now, why did burton make this statement? in the same volume he describes the mountain meadow massacre, and gives the story as related by the actors therein. it is well known that the men who were engaged in this affair tried to shield themselves by diligently publishing that it was a massacre by indians incensed at the travelers because they had poisoned certain springs at which the indians were wont to obtain their supplies of water. when mr. burton was in salt lake city he, doubtless, heard these stories. so the falsehoods of a murderer, told to hide his crime, have gone into history as facts characteristic of the people of the united states in their treatment of the indians. in the paragraph quoted from burton some other errors occur. the utes and shoshonis do not claim to have descended from an ancient people that immigrated into their present seats from the northwest. most of these tribes, perhaps all, have myths of their creation in the very regions now inhabited by them. again, these indians have not been demoralized mentally or physically by the emigrants, but have made great progress toward civilization. the whole account of the utes and shoshonis given in this portion of the book is so mixed with error as to be valueless, and bears intrinsic evidence of having been derived from ignorant frontiersmen. turning now to the first volume of spencer's _principles of sociology_ (page ), we find him saying: and thus prepared, we need feel no surprise on being told that the zuni indians require "much facial contortion and bodily gesticulation to make their sentences perfectly intelligible;" that the language of the bushman needs so many signs to eke out its meaning, that "they are unintelligible in the dark;" and that the arapahos "can hardly converse with one another in the dark." when people of different languages meet, especially if they speak languages of different stocks, a means of communication is rapidly established between them, composed partly of signs and partly of oral words, the latter taken from one or both of the languages, but curiously modified so as hardly to be recognized. such conventional languages are usually called "jargons," and their existence is rather brief. when people communicate with each other in this manner, oral speech is greatly assisted by sign-language, and it is true that darkness impedes their communication. the great body of frontiersmen in america who associate more or less with the indians depend upon jargon methods of communication with them; and so we find that various writers and travelers describe indian tongues by the characteristics of this jargon speech. mr. spencer usually does. the zuni and the arapaho indians have a language with a complex grammar and copious vocabulary well adapted to the expression of the thoughts incident to their customs and status of culture, and they have no more difficulty in conveying their thoughts with their language by night than englishmen have in conversing without gaslight. an example from each of three eminent authors has been taken to illustrate the worthlessness of a vast body of anthropologic material to which even the best writers resort. anthropology needs trained devotees with philosophic methods and keen observation to study every tribe and nation of the globe almost _de novo_; and from, materials thus collected a science may be established. index anthropologic archæology , data, limitation of use of - ethnic characteristics , history, customs , language - mythology , origin of man , picture writing psychology , sociology archæology, limitations to the use of, in study of anthropology , ethnic characteristics, limitations to the use of, in study of anthropology history and customs, limitations to the use of, in study of anthropology , language, limitations to the use of, in study of anthropology , list of illustrations, burial customs man, origin of, in connection with the study of anthropology , mythology, limitations to the use of, in study of anthropology , origin of man, in connection with the study of anthropology , picture writing, limitations to the use of, in study of anthropology psychology, limitations to the use of, in the study of anthropology , home university library of modern knowledge no. _editors:_ herbert fisher, m.a., f.b.a. prof. gilbert murray, litt.d., ll.d., f.b.a. prof. j. arthur thomson, m.a. prof. william t. brewster, m.a. _a complete classified list of the volumes of_ the home university library _already published will be found at the end of this book_. anthropology by r.r. marett, m.a. reader in social anthropology in the university of oxford author of "the threshold of religion," etc. new york henry holt and company london williams and norgate contents chap. page i scope of anthropology . . . ii antiquity of man . . . . . iii race . . . . . . . . . . . iv environment . . . . . . . . v language . . . . . . . . . vi social organization . . . . vii law . . . . . . . . . . . . viii religion . . . . . . . . . ix morality . . . . . . . . . x man the individual . . . . bibliography . . . . . . . index . . . . . . . . . . . "bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh, are these half-brutish prehistoric brothers. girdled about with the immense darkness of this mysterious universe even as we are, they were born and died, suffered and struggled. given over to fearful crime and passion, plunged in the blackest ignorance, preyed upon by hideous and grotesque delusions, yet steadfastly serving the profoundest of ideals in their fixed faith that existence in any form is better than non-existence, they ever rescued triumphantly from the jaws of ever-imminent destruction the torch of life which, thanks to them, now lights the world for us. how small, indeed, seem individual distinctions when we look back on these overwhelming numbers of human beings panting and straining under the pressure of that vital want! and how inessential in the eyes of god must be the small surplus of the individual's merit, swamped as it is in the vast ocean of the common merit of mankind, dumbly and undauntedly doing the fundamental duty, and living the heroic life! we grow humble and reverent as we contemplate the prodigious spectacle." william james, in _human immortality_. anthropology chapter i scope of anthropology in this chapter i propose to say something, firstly, about the ideal scope of anthropology; secondly, about its ideal limitations; and, thirdly and lastly, about its actual relations to existing studies. in other words, i shall examine the extent of its claim, and then go on to examine how that claim, under modern conditions of science and education, is to be made good. firstly, then, what is the ideal scope of anthropology? taken at its fullest and best, what ought it to comprise? anthropology is the whole history of man as fired and pervaded by the idea of evolution. man in evolution--that is the subject in its full reach. anthropology studies man as he occurs at all known times. it studies him as he occurs in all known parts of the world. it studies him body and soul together--as a bodily organism, subject to conditions operating in time and space, which bodily organism is in intimate relation with a soul-life, also subject to those same conditions. having an eye to such conditions from first to last, it seeks to plot out the general series of the changes, bodily and mental together, undergone by man in the course of his history. its business is simply to describe. but, without exceeding the limits of its scope, it can and must proceed from the particular to the general; aiming at nothing less than a descriptive formula that shall sum up the whole series of changes in which the evolution of man consists. that will do, perhaps, as a short account of the ideal scope of anthropology. being short, it is bound to be rather formal and colourless. to put some body into it, however, it is necessary to breathe but a single word. that word is: darwin. anthropology is the child of darwin. darwinism makes it possible. reject the darwinian point of view, and you must reject anthropology also. what, then, is darwinism? not a cut-and-dried doctrine. not a dogma. darwinism is a working hypothesis. you suppose something to be true, and work away to see whether, in the light of that supposed truth, certain facts fit together better than they do on any other supposition. what is the truth that darwinism supposes? simply that all the forms of life in the world are related together; and that the relations manifested in time and space between the different lives are sufficiently uniform to be described under a general formula, or law of evolution. this means that man must, for certain purposes of science, toe the line with the rest of living things. and at first, naturally enough, man did not like it. he was too lordly. for a long time, therefore, he pretended to be fighting for the bible, when he was really fighting for his own dignity. this was rather hard on the bible, which has nothing to do with the aristotelian theory of the fixity of species; though it might seem possible to read back something of the kind into the primitive creation-stories preserved in genesis. now-a-days, however, we have mostly got over the first shock to our family pride. we are all darwinians in a passive kind of way. but we need to darwinize actively. in the sciences that have to do with plants, and with the rest of the animals besides man, naturalists have been so active in their darwinizing that the pre-darwinian stuff is once for all laid by on the shelf. when man, however, engages on the subject of his noble self, the tendency still is to say: we accept darwinism so long as it is not allowed to count, so long as we may go on believing the same old stuff in the same old way. how do we anthropologists propose to combat this tendency? by working away at our subject, and persuading people to have a look at our results. once people take up anthropology, they may be trusted not to drop it again. it is like learning to sleep with your window open. what could be more stupefying than to shut yourself up in a closet and swallow your own gas? but is it any less stupefying to shut yourself up within the last few thousand years of the history of your own corner of the world, and suck in the stale atmosphere of its own self-generated prejudices? or, to vary the metaphor, anthropology is like travel. every one starts by thinking that there is nothing so perfect as his own parish. but let a man go aboard ship to visit foreign parts, and, when he returns home, he will cause that parish to wake up. with darwin, then, we anthropologists say: let any and every portion of human history be studied in the light of the whole history of mankind, and against the background of the history of living things in general. it is the darwinian outlook that matters. none of darwin's particular doctrines will necessarily endure the test of time and trial. into the melting-pot must they go as often as any man of science deems it fitting. but darwinism as the touch of nature that makes the whole world kin can hardly pass away. at any rate, anthropology stands or falls with the working hypothesis, derived from darwinism, of a fundamental kinship and continuity amid change between all the forms of human life. it remains to add that, hitherto, anthropology has devoted most of its attention to the peoples of rude--that is to say, of simple--culture, who are vulgarly known to us as "savages." the main reason for this, i suppose, is that nobody much minds so long as the darwinizing kind of history confines itself to outsiders. only when it is applied to self and friends is it resented as an impertinence. but, although it has always up to now pursued the line of least resistance, anthropology does not abate one jot or tittle of its claim to be the whole science, in the sense of the whole history, of man. as regards the word, call it science, or history, or anthropology, or anything else--what does it matter? as regards the thing, however, there can be no compromise. we anthropologists are out to secure this: that there shall not be one kind of history for savages and another kind for ourselves, but the same kind of history, with the same evolutionary principle running right through it, for all men, civilized and savage, present and past. * * * * * so much for the ideal scope of anthropology. now, in the second place, for its ideal limitations. here, i am afraid, we must touch for a moment on very deep and difficult questions. but it is well worth while to try at all costs to get firm hold of the fact that anthropology, though a big thing, is not everything. it will be enough to insist briefly on the following points: that anthropology is science in whatever way history is science; that it is not philosophy, though it must conform to its needs; and that it is not policy, though it may subserve its designs. anthropology is science in the sense of specialized research that aims at truth for truth's sake. knowing by parts is science, knowing the whole as a whole is philosophy. each supports the other, and there is no profit in asking which of the two should come first. one is aware of the universe as the whole universe, however much one may be resolved to study its details one at a time. the scientific mood, however, is uppermost when one says: here is a particular lot of things that seem to hang together in a particular way; let us try to get a general idea of what that way is. anthropology, then, specializes on the particular group of human beings, which itself is part of the larger particular group of living beings. inasmuch as it takes over the evolutionary principle from the science dealing with the larger group, namely biology, anthropology may be regarded as a branch of biology. let it be added, however, that, of all the branches of biology, it is the one that is likely to bring us nearest to the true meaning of life; because the life of human beings must always be nearer to human students of life than, say, the life of plants. but, you will perhaps object, anthropology was previously identified with history, and now it is identified with science, namely, with a branch of biology? is history science? the answer is, yes. i know that a great many people who call themselves historians say that it is not, apparently on the ground that, when it comes to writing history, truth for truth's sake is apt to bring out the wrong results. well, the doctored sort of history is not science, nor anthropology, i am ready to admit. but now let us listen to another and a more serious objection to the claim of history to be science. science, it will be said by many earnest men of science, aims at discovering laws that are clean out of time. history, on the other hand, aims at no more than the generalized description of one or another phase of a time-process. to this it may be replied that physics, and physics only, answers to this altogether too narrow conception of science. the laws of matter in motion are, or seem to be, of the timeless or mathematical kind. directly we pass on to biology, however, laws of this kind are not to be discovered, or at any rate are not discovered. biology deals with life, or, if you like, with matter as living. matter moves. life evolves. we have entered a new dimension of existence. the laws of matter in motion are not abrogated, for the simple reason that in physics one makes abstraction of life, or in other words leaves its peculiar effects entirely out of account. but they are transcended. they are multiplied by _x_, an unknown quantity. this being so from the standpoint of pure physics, biology takes up the tale afresh, and devises means of its own for describing the particular ways in which things hang together in virtue of their being alive. and biology finds that it cannot conveniently abstract away the reference to time. it cannot treat living things as machines. what does it do, then? it takes the form of history. it states that certain things have changed in certain ways, and goes on to show, so far as it can, that the changes are on the whole in a certain direction. in short, it formulates tendencies, and these are its only laws. some tendencies, of course, appear to be more enduring than others, and thus may be thought to approximate more closely to laws of the timeless kind. but _x_, the unknown quantity, the something or other that is not physical, runs through them all, however much or little they may seem to endure. for science, at any rate, which departmentalizes the world, and studies it bit by bit, there is no getting over the fact that living beings in general, and human beings in particular, are subject to an evolution which is simple matter of history. and now what about philosophy? i am not going into philosophical questions here. for that reason i am not going to describe biology as natural history, or anthropology as the natural history of man. let philosophers discuss what "nature" is going to mean for them. in science the word is question-begging; and the only sound rule in science is to beg as few philosophical questions as you possibly can. everything in the world is natural, of course, in the sense that things are somehow all akin--all of a piece. we are simply bound to take in the parts as parts of a whole, and it is just this fact that makes philosophy not only possible but inevitable. all the same, this fact does not prevent the parts from having their own specific natures and specific ways of behaving. the people who identify the natural with the physical are putting all their money on one specific kind of nature or behaviour that is to be found in the world. in the case of man they are backing the wrong horse. the horse to back is the horse that goes. as a going concern, however, anthropology, as part of evolutionary biology, is a history of vital tendencies which are not natural in the sense of merely physical. what are the functions of philosophy as contrasted with science? two. firstly, it must be critical. it must police the city of the sciences, preventing them from interfering with each other's rights and free development. co-operation by all means, as, for instance, between anthropology and biology. but no jumping other folks' claims and laying down the law for all; as, for instance, when physics would impose the kind of method applicable to machines on the sciences of evolving life. secondly, philosophy must be synthetic. it must put all the ways of knowing together, and likewise put these in their entirety together with all the ways of feeling and acting; so that there may result a theory of reality and of the good life, in that organic interdependence of the two which our very effort to put things together presupposes as its object. what, then, are to be the relations between anthropology and philosophy? on the one hand, the question whether anthropology can help philosophy need not concern us here. that is for the philosopher to determine. on the other hand, philosophy can help anthropology in two ways: in its critical capacity, by helping it to guard its own claim, and develop freely without interference from outsiders; and in its synthetic capacity, perhaps, by suggesting the rule that, of two types of explanation, for instance, the physical and the biological, the more abstract is likely to be farther away from the whole truth, whereas, contrariwise, the more you take in, the better your chance of really understanding. it remains to speak about policy. i use this term to mean any and all practical exploitation of the results of science. sometimes, indeed, it is hard to say where science ends and policy begins, as we saw in the case of those gentlemen who would doctor their history, because practically it pays to have a good conceit of ourselves, and believe that our side always wins its battles. anthropology, however, would borrow something besides the evolutionary principle from biology, namely, its disinterestedness. it is not hard to be candid about bees and ants; unless, indeed, one is making a parable of them. but as anthropologists we must try, what is so much harder, to be candid about ourselves. let us look at ourselves as if we were so many bees and ants, not forgetting, of course, to make use of the inside information that in the case of the insects we so conspicuously lack. this does not mean that human history, once constructed according to truth-regarding principles, should and could not be used for the practical advantage of mankind. the anthropologist, however, is not, as such, concerned with the practical employment to which his discoveries are put. at most, he may, on the strength of a conviction that truth is mighty and will prevail for human good, invite practical men to study his facts and generalizations in the hope that, by knowing mankind better, they may come to appreciate and serve it better. for instance, the administrator, who rules over savages, is almost invariably quite well-meaning, but not seldom utterly ignorant of native customs and beliefs. so, in many cases, is the missionary, another type of person in authority, whose intentions are of the best, but whose methods too often leave much to be desired. no amount of zeal will suffice, apart from scientific insight into the conditions of the practical problem. and the education is to be got by paying for it. but governments and churches, with some honourable exceptions, are still wofully disinclined to provide their probationers with the necessary special training; though it is ignorance that always proves most costly in the long run. policy, however, including bad policy, does not come within the official cognizance of the anthropologist. yet it is legitimate for him to hope that, just as for many years already physiological science has indirectly subserved the art of medicine, so anthropological science may indirectly, though none the less effectively, subserve an art of political and religious healing in the days to come. * * * * * the third and last part of this chapter will show how, under modern conditions of science and education, anthropology is to realize its programme. hitherto, the trouble with anthropologists has been to see the wood for the trees. even whilst attending mainly to the peoples of rude culture, they have heaped together facts enough to bewilder both themselves and their readers. the time has come to do some sorting; or rather the sorting is doing itself. all manner of groups of special students, interested in some particular side of human history, come now-a-days to the anthropologist, asking leave to borrow from his stock of facts the kind that they happen to want. thus he, as general storekeeper, is beginning to acquire, almost unconsciously, a sense of order corresponding to the demands that are made upon him. the goods that he will need to hand out in separate batches are being gradually arranged by him on separate shelves. our best way, then, of proceeding with the present inquiry, is to take note of these shelves. in other words, we must consider one by one the special studies that claim to have a finger in the anthropological pie. or, to avoid the disheartening task of reviewing an array of bloodless "-ologies," let us put the question to ourselves thus: be it supposed that a young man or woman who wants to take a course, of at least a year's length, in the elements of anthropology, joins some university which is thoroughly in touch with the scientific activities of the day. a university, as its very name implies, ought to be an all-embracing assemblage of higher studies, so adjusted to each other that, in combination, they provide beginners with a good general education; whilst, severally, they offer to more advanced students the opportunity of doing this or that kind of specific research. in such a well-organized university, then, how would our budding anthropologist proceed to form a preliminary acquaintance with the four corners of his subject? what departments must he attend in turn? let us draw him up a curriculum, praying meanwhile that the multiplicity of the demands made upon him will not take away his breath altogether. man is a many-sided being; so there is no help for it if anthropology also is many-sided. for one thing, he must sit at the feet of those whose particular concern is with pre-historic man. it is well to begin here, since thus will the glamour of the subject sink into his soul at the start. let him, for instance, travel back in thought to the europe of many thousands of years ago, shivering under the effects of the great ice-age, yet populous with human beings so far like ourselves that they were alive to the advantage of a good fire, made handy tools out of stone and wood and bone, painted animals on the walls of their caves, or engraved them on mammoth-ivory, far more skilfully than most of us could do now, and buried their dead in a ceremonial way that points to a belief in a future life. thus, too, he will learn betimes how to blend the methods and materials of different branches of science. a human skull, let us say, and some bones of extinct animals, and some chipped flints are all discovered side by side some twenty feet below the level of the soil. at least four separate authorities must be called in before the parts of the puzzle can be fitted together. again, he must be taught something about race, or inherited breed, as it applies to man. a dose of practical anatomy--that is to say, some actual handling and measuring of the principal portions of the human frame in its leading varieties--will enable our beginner to appreciate the differences of outer form that distinguish, say, the british colonist in australia from the native "black-fellow," or the whites from the negroes, and redskins, and yellow asiatics in the united states. at this point, he may profitably embark on the details of the darwinian hypothesis of the descent of man. let him search amongst the manifold modern versions of the theory of human evolution for the one that comes nearest to explaining the degrees of physical likeness and unlikeness shown by men in general as compared with the animals, especially the man-like apes; and again, those shown by the men of divers ages and regions as compared with each other. nor is it enough for him, when thus engaged, to take note simply of physical features--the shape of the skull, the colour of the skin, the tint and texture of the hair, and so on. there are likewise mental characters that seem to be bound up closely with the organism and to follow the breed. such are the so-called instincts, the study of which should be helped out by excursions into the mind-history of animals, of children, and of the insane. moreover, the measuring and testing of mental functions, and, in particular, of the senses, is now-a-days carried on by means of all sorts of ingenious instruments; and some experience of their use will be all to the good, when problems of descent are being tackled. further, our student must submit to a thorough grounding in world-geography with its physical and human sides welded firmly together. he must be able to pick out on the map the headquarters of all the more notable peoples, not merely as they are now, but also as they were at various outstanding moments of the past. his next business is to master the main facts about the natural conditions to which each people is subjected--the climate, the conformation of land and sea, the animals and plants. from here it is but a step to the economic life--the food-supply, the clothing, the dwelling-places, the principal occupations, the implements of labour. a selected list of books of travel must be consulted. no less important is it to work steadily through the show-cases of a good ethnological museum. nor will it suffice to have surveyed the world by regions. the communications between regions--the migrations and conquests, the trading and the borrowing of customs--must be traced and accounted for. finally, on the basis of their distribution, which the learner must chart out for himself on blank maps of the world, the chief varieties of the useful arts and appliances of man can be followed from stage to stage of their development. of the special studies concerned with man the next in order might seem to be that which deals with the various forms of human society; since, in a sense, social organization must depend directly on material circumstances. in another and perhaps a deeper sense, however, the prime condition of true sociality is something else, namely, the exclusively human gift of articulate speech. to what extent, then, must our novice pay attention to the history of language? speculation about its far-off origins is now-a-days rather out of fashion. moreover, language is no longer supposed to provide, by itself at any rate, and apart from other clues, a key to the endless riddles of racial descent. what is most needed, then, is rather some elementary instruction concerning the organic connection between language and thought, and concerning their joint development as viewed against the background of the general development of society. and, just as words and thoughts are essentially symbols, so there are also gesture-symbols and written symbols, whilst again another set of symbols is in use for counting. all these pre-requisites of human intercourse may be conveniently taken together. coming now to the analysis of the forms of society, the beginner must first of all face the problem: "what makes a people one?" neither blood, nor territory, nor language, but only the fact of being more or less compactly organized in a political society, will be found to yield the unifying principle required. once the primary constitution of the body politic has been made out, a limit is set up, inside of which a number of fairly definite forms of grouping offer themselves for examination; whilst outside of it various social relationships of a vaguer kind have also to be considered. thus, amongst institutions of the internal kind, the family by itself presents a wide field of research; though in certain cases it is liable to be overshadowed by some other sort of organization, such as, notably, the clan. under the same rubric fall the many forms of more or less voluntary association, economic, religious, and so forth. on the other hand, outside the circle of the body politic there are, at all known stages of society, mutual understandings that regulate war, trade, travel, the celebration of common rites, the interchange of ideas. here, then, is an abundance of types of human association, to be first scrutinized separately, and afterwards considered in relation to each other. closely connected with the previous subject is the history of law. every type of association, in a way, has its law, whereby its members are constrained to fulfil a certain set of obligations. thus our student will pass on straight from the forms of society to the most essential of their functions. the fact that, amongst the less civilized peoples, the law is uncodified and merely customary, whilst the machinery for enforcing it is, though generally effective enough, yet often highly indefinite and occasional, makes the tracing of the growth of legal institutions from their rudiments no less vitally important, though it makes it none the easier. the history of authority is a strictly kindred topic. legislating and judging on the one hand, and governing on the other, are different aspects of the same general function. in accordance, then, with the order already indicated, law and government as administered by the political society in the person of its representatives, chiefs, elders, war-lords, priest-kings, and so forth, must first be examined; then the jurisdiction and discipline of subordinate bodies, such as the family and the clan, or again the religious societies, trade guilds, and the rest; then, lastly, the international conventions, with the available means of ensuring their observance. again, the history of religion is an allied theme of far-reaching interest. for the understanding of the ruder forms of society it may even be said to furnish the master-key. at this stage, religion is the mainstay of law and government. the constraining force of custom makes itself felt largely through a magnifying haze of mystic sanctions; whilst, again, the position of a leader of society rests for the most part on the supernormal powers imputed to him. religion and magic, then, must be carefully studied if we would understand how the various persons and bodies that exercise authority are assisted, or else hindered, in their efforts to maintain social discipline. apart from this fundamental inquiry, there is another, no less important in its way, to which the study of religion and magic opens up a path. this is the problem how reflection manages as it were to double human experience, by setting up beside the outer world of sense an inner world of thought-relations. now constructive imagination is the queen of those mental functions which meet in what we loosely term "thought"; and imagination is ever most active where, on the outer fringe of the mind's routine work, our inarticulate questionings radiate into the unknown. when the genius has his vision, almost invariably, among the ruder peoples, it is accepted by himself and his society as something supernormal and sacred, whether its fruit be an act of leadership or an edict, a practical invention or a work of art, a story of the past or a prophecy, a cure or a devastating curse. moreover, social tradition treasures the memory of these revelations, and, blending them with the contributions of humbler folk--for all of us dream our dreams--provides in myth and legend and tale, as well as in manifold other art-forms, a stimulus to the inspiration of future generations. for most purposes fine art, at any rate during its more rudimentary stages, may be studied in connection with religion. so far as law and religion will not account for the varieties of social behaviour, the novice may most conveniently consider them under the head of morals. the forms of social intercourse, the fashions, the festivities, are imposed on us by our fellows from without, and none the less effectively because as a general rule we fall in with them as a matter of course. the difference between manners and morals of the higher order is due simply to the more pressing need, in the case of our most serious duties, of a reflective sanction, a "moral sense," to break us in to the common service. it is no easy task to keep legal and religious penalties or rewards out of the reckoning, when trying to frame an estimate of what the notions of right and wrong, prevalent in a given society, amount to in themselves; nevertheless, it is worth doing, and valuable collections of material exist to aid the work. the facts about education, which even amongst rude peoples is often carried on far into manhood, throw much light on this problem. so do the moralizings embodied the traditional lore of the folk--the proverbs, the beast-fables, the stories of heroes. there remains the individual to be studied in himself. if the individual be ignored by social science, as would sometimes appear to be the case, so much the worse for social science, which, to a corresponding extent, falls short of being truly anthropological. throughout the history of man, our beginner should be on the look-out for the signs, and the effects, of personal initiative. freedom of choice, of course, is limited by what there is to choose from; so that the development of what may be termed social opportunity should be concurrently reviewed. again, it is the aim of every moral system so to educate each man that his directive self may be as far as possible identified with his social self. even suicide is not a man's own affair, according to the voice of society which speaks in the moral code. nevertheless, lest the important truth be overlooked that social control implies a will that must meet the control half-way, it is well for the student of man to pay separate and special attention to the individual agent. the last word in anthropology is: know thyself. chapter ii antiquity of man history, in the narrower sense of the word, depends on written records. as we follow back history to the point at which our written records grow hazy, and the immediate ancestors or predecessors of the peoples who appear in history are disclosed in legend that needs much eking out by the help of the spade, we pass into proto-history. at the back of that, again, beyond the point at which written records are of any avail at all, comes pre-history. how, then, you may well inquire, does the pre-historian get to work? what is his method of linking facts together? and what are the sources of his information? first, as to his method. suppose a number of boys are in a field playing football, whose superfluous garments are lying about everywhere in heaps; and suppose you want, for some reason, to find out in what order the boys arrived on the ground. how would you set about the business? surely you would go to one of the heaps of discarded clothes, and take note of the fact that this boy's jacket lay under that boy's waistcoat. moving on to other heaps you might discover that in some cases a boy had thrown down his hat on one heap, his tie on another, and so on. this would help you all the more to make out the general series of arrivals. yes, but what if some of the heaps showed signs of having been upset? well, you must make allowances for these disturbances in your calculations. of course, if some one had deliberately made hay with the lot, you would be nonplussed. the chances are, however, that, given enough heaps of clothes, and bar intentional and systematic wrecking of them, you would be able to make out pretty well which boy preceded which; though you could hardly go on to say with any precision whether tom preceded dick by half a minute or half an hour. such is the method of pre-history. it is called the stratigraphical method, because it is based on the description of strata, or layers. let me give a simple example of how strata tell their own tale. it is no very remarkable instance, but happens to be one that i have examined for myself. they were digging out a place for a gas-holder in a meadow in the town of st. helier, jersey, and carried their borings down to bed rock at about thirty feet, which roughly coincides with the present mean sea-level. the modern meadow-soil went down about five feet. then came a bed of moss-peat, one to three feet thick. there had been a bog here at a time which, to judge by similar finds in other places, was just before the beginning of the bronze-age. underneath the moss-peat came two or three feet of silt with sea-shells in it. clearly the island of jersey underwent in those days some sort of submergence. below this stratum came a great peat-bed, five to seven feet thick, with large tree-trunks in it, the remains of a fine forest that must have needed more or less elevated land on which to grow. in the peat was a weapon of polished stone, and at the bottom were two pieces of pottery, one of them decorated with little pitted marks. these fragments of evidence are enough to show that the foresters belonged to the early neolithic period, as it is called. next occurred about four feet of silt with sea-shells, marking another advance of the sea. below that, again, was a mass, six to eight feet deep, of the characteristic yellow clay with far-carried fragments of rock in it that is associated with the great floods of the ice-age. the land must have been above the reach of the tide for the glacial drift to settle on it. finally, three or four feet of blue clay resting immediately on bed-rock were such as might be produced by the sea, and thus probably betokened its presence at this level in the still remoter past. here the strata are mostly geological. man only comes in at one point. i might have taken a far more striking case--the best i know--from st. acheul, a suburb of amiens in the north of france. here m. commont found human implements of distinct types in about eight out of eleven or twelve successive geological layers. but the story would take too long to tell. however, it is well to start with an example that is primarily geological. for it is the geologist who provides the pre-historic chronometer. pre-historians have to reckon in geological time--that is to say, not in years, but in ages of indefinite extent corresponding to marked changes in the condition of the earth's surface. it takes the plain man a long time to find out that it is no use asking the pre-historian, who is proudly displaying a skull or a stone implement, "please, how many years ago exactly did its owner live?" i remember hearing such a question put to the great savant, m. cartailhac, when he was lecturing upon the pre-historic drawings found in the french and spanish caves; and he replied, "perhaps not less than , years ago and not more than , ." the backbone of our present system of determining the series of pre-historic epochs is the geological theory of an ice-age comprising a succession of periods of extreme glaciation punctuated by milder intervals. it is for the geologists to settle in their own way, unless, indeed, the astronomers can help them, why there should have been an ice-age at all; what was the number, extent, and relative duration of its ups and downs; and at what time, roughly, it ceased in favour of the temperate conditions that we now enjoy. the pre-historians, for their part, must be content to make what traces they discover of early man fit in with this pre-established scheme, uncertain as it is. every day, however, more agreement is being reached both amongst themselves and between them and the geologists; so that one day, i am confident, if not exactly to-morrow, we shall know with fair accuracy how the boys, who left their clothes lying about, followed one another into the field. sometimes, however, geology does not, on the face of it, come into the reckoning. thus i might have asked the reader to assist at the digging out of a cave, say, one of the famous caves at mentone, on the italian riviera, just beyond the south-eastern corner of france. these caves were inhabited by man during an immense stretch of time, and, as you dig down, you light upon one layer after another of his leavings. but note in such a case as this how easily you may be baffled by some one having upset the heap of clothes, or, in a word, by rearrangement. thus the man whose leavings ought to form the layer half-way up may have seen fit to dig a deep hole in the cave-floor in order to bury a deceased friend, and with him, let us suppose, to bury also an assortment of articles likely to be useful in the life beyond the grave. consequently an implement of one age will be found lying cheek by jowl with the implement of a much earlier age, or even, it may be, some feet below it. thereupon the pre-historian must fall back on the general run, or type, in assigning the different implements each to its own stratum. luckily, in the old days fashions tended to be rigid; so that for the pre-historian two flints with slightly different chipping may stand for separate ages of culture as clearly as do a greek vase and a german beer-mug for the student of more recent times. * * * * * enough concerning the stratigraphical method. a word, in the next place, about the pre-historian's main sources of information. apart from geological facts, there are three main classes of evidence that serve to distinguish one pre-historic epoch from another. these are animal bones, human bones, and human handiwork. again i illustrate by means of a case of which i happen to have first-hand knowledge. in jersey, near the bay of st. brelade, is a cave, in which we dug down through some twenty feet of accumulated clay and rock-rubbish, presumably the effects of the last throes of the ice-age, and came upon a pre-historic hearth. there were the big stones that had propped up the fire, and there were the ashes. by the side were the remains of a heap of food-refuse. the pieces of decayed bone were not much to look at; yet, submitted to an expert, they did a tale unfold. he showed them to be the remains of the woolly rhinoceros, the mammoth's even more unwieldy comrade, of the reindeer, of two kinds of horse, one of them the pony-like wild horse still to be found in the mongolian deserts, of the wild ox, and of the deer. truly there was better hunting to be got in jersey in the days when it formed part of a frozen continent. next, the food-heap yields thirteen of somebody's teeth. had they eaten him? it boots not to inquire; though, as the owner was aged between twenty and thirty, the teeth could hardly have fallen out of their own accord. such grinders as they are too! a second expert declares that the roots beat all records. they are of the kind that goes with an immensely powerful jaw, needing a massive brow-ridge to counteract the strain of the bite, and in general involving the type of skull known as the neanderthal, big-brained enough in its way, but uncommonly ape-like all the same. finally, the banqueters have left plenty of their knives lying about. these good folk had their special and regular way of striking off a broad flat flake from the flint core; the cores are lying about, too, and with luck you can restore some of the flakes to their original position. then, leaving one side of the flake untouched, they trimmed the surface of the remaining face, and, as the edges grew blunt with use, kept touching them up with the hammer-stone--there it is also lying by the hearth--until, perhaps, the flake loses its oval shape and becomes a pointed triangle. a third expert is called in, and has no difficulty in recognizing these knives as the characteristic handiwork of the epoch known as the mousterian. if one of these worked flints from jersey was placed side by side with another from the cave of le moustier, near the right bank of the vezere in south-central france, whence the term mousterian, you could hardly tell which was which; whilst you would still see the same family likeness if you compared the jersey specimens with some from amiens, or from northfleet on the thames, or from icklingham in suffolk. putting all these kinds of evidence together, then, we get a notion, doubtless rather meagre, but as far as it goes well-grounded, of a hunter of the ice-age, who was able to get the better of a woolly rhinoceros, could cook a lusty steak off him, had a sharp knife to carve it, and the teeth to chew it, and generally knew how, under the very chilly circumstances, both to make himself comfortable and to keep his race going. there is one other class of evidence on which the pre-historian may with due caution draw, though the risks are certain and the profits uncertain. the ruder peoples of to-day are living a life that in its broad features cannot be wholly unlike the life of the men of long ago. thus the pre-historian should study spencer and gillen on the natives of central australia, if only that he may take firm hold of the fact that people with skulls inclining towards the neanderthal type, and using stone knives, may nevertheless have very active minds; in short, that a rich enough life in its way may leave behind it a poor rubbish-heap. when it comes, however, to the borrowing of details, to patch up the holes in the pre-historic record with modern rags and tatters makes better literature than science. after all, the australians, or tasmanians, or bushmen, or eskimo, of whom so much is beginning to be heard amongst pre-historians, are our contemporaries--that is to say, have just as long an ancestry as ourselves; and in the course of the last , years or so our stock has seen so many changes, that their stocks may possibly have seen a few also. yet the real remedy, i take it, against the misuse of analogy is that the student should make himself sufficiently at home in both branches of anthropology to know each of the two things he compares for what it truly is. * * * * * having glanced at method and sources, i pass on to results. some text-book must be consulted for the long list of pre-historic periods required for western europe, not to mention the further complications caused by bringing in the remaining portions of the world. the stone-age, with its three great divisions, the eolithic (_eos_, greek for dawn, and _lithos_, stone) the palaeolithic (_pallaeos_, old), and the neolithic (_neos_, new), and their numerous subdivisions, comes first; then the age of copper and bronze; and then the early iron-age, which is about the limit of proto-history. here i shall confine my remarks to europe. i am not going far afield into such questions as: who were the mound-builders of north america? and are the calaveras skull and other remains found in the gold-bearing gravels of california to be reckoned amongst the earliest traces of man in the globe? nor, again, must i pause to speculate whether the dark-stained lustrous flint implements discovered by mr. henry balfour at a high level below the victoria falls, and possibly deposited there by the river zambezi before it had carved the present gorge in the solid basalt, prove that likewise in south africa man was alive and busy untold thousands of years ago. also, i shall here confine myself to the stone-age, because my object is chiefly to illustrate the long pedigree of the species from which we are all sprung. the antiquity of man being my immediate theme, i can hardly avoid saying something about eoliths; though the subject is one that invariably sets pre-historians at each other's throats. there are eoliths and eoliths, however; and some of m. rutot's belgian examples are now-a-days almost reckoned respectable. let us, nevertheless, inquire whether eoliths are not to be found nearer home. i can wish the reader no more delightful experience than to run down to ightham in kent, and pay a call on mr. benjamin harrison. in the room above what used to be mr. harrison's grocery-store, eoliths beyond all count are on view, which he has managed to amass in his rare moments of leisure. as he lovingly cons the stones over, and shows off their points, his enthusiasm is likely to prove catching. but the visitor, we shall suppose, is sceptical. very good; it is not far, though a stiffish pull, to ash on the top of the north downs. hereabouts are mr. harrison's hunting-grounds. over these stony tracts he has conducted sir joseph prestwich and sir john evans, to convince the one authority, but not the other. mark this pebbly drift of rusty-red colour spread irregularly along the fields, as if the relics of some ancient stream or flood. on the surface, if you are lucky, you may pick up an unquestionable palaeolith of early type, with the rusty-red stain of the gravel over it to show that it has lain there for ages. but both on and below the surface, the gravel being perhaps from five to seven feet deep, another type of stone occurs, the so-called eolith. it is picked out from amongst ordinary stones partly because of its shape, and partly because of rough and much-worn chippings that suggest the hand of art or of nature, according to your turn of mind. take one by itself, explains mr. harrison, and you will be sure to rank it as ordinary road-metal. but take a series together, and then, he urges, the sight of the same forms over and over again will persuade you in the end that human design, not aimless chance, has been at work here. well, i must leave mr. harrison to convert you into the friend or foe of his eoliths, and will merely add a word in regard to the probable age of these eolith-bearing gravels. sir joseph prestwich has tried to work the problem out. now-a-days kent and sussex run eastwards in five more or less parallel ridges, not far short of , feet high, with deep valleys between. formerly, however, no such valleys existed, and a great dome of chalk, some , feet high at its crown, perhaps, though others would say less, covered the whole country. that is why rivers like the darenth and medway cut clean through the north downs and fall into the thames, instead of flowing eastwards down the later valleys. they started to carve their channels in the soft chalk in the days gone by, when the watershed went north and south down the slopes of the great dome. and the red gravels with the eoliths in them, concludes prestwich, must have come down the north slope whilst the dome was still intact; for they contain fragments of stone that hail from right across the present valleys. but, if the eoliths are man-made, then man presumably killed game and cut it up on top of the wealden dome, how many years ago one trembles to think. * * * * * let us next proceed to the subject of palaeoliths. there is, at any rate, no doubt about them. yet, rather more than half a century ago, when the abbe boucher de perthes found palaeoliths in the gravels of the somme at abbeville, and was the first to recognize them for what they are, there was no small scandal. now-a-days, however, the world takes it as a matter of course that those lumpish, discoloured, and much-rolled stones, shaped something like a pear, which come from the high terraces deposited by the ancient thames, were once upon a time the weapons or tools of somebody who had plenty of muscle in his arm. plenty of skill he had in his fingers, too; for to chip a flint-pebble along both faces, till it takes a more or less symmetrical and standard shape, is not so easy as it sounds. hammer away yourself at such a pebble, and see what a mess you make of it. to go back for one moment to the subject of eoliths, we may fairly argue that experimental forms still ruder than the much-trimmed palaeoliths of the early river-drift must exist somewhere, whether mr. harrison's eoliths are to be classed amongst them or not. indeed, the tasmanians of modern days carved their simple tools so roughly, that any one ignorant of their history might easily mistake the greater number for common pieces of stone. on the other hand, as we move on from the earlier to the later types of river-drift implements, we note how by degrees practice makes perfect. the forms grow ever more regular and refined, up to the point of time which has been chosen as the limit for the first of the three main stages into which the vast palaeolithic epoch has to be broken up. the man of the late st. acheul period, as it is termed, was truly a great artist in his way. if you stare vacantly at his handiwork in a museum, you are likely to remain cold to its charm. but probe about in a gravel-bed till you have the good fortune to light on a masterpiece; tenderly smooth away with your fingers the dirt sticking to its surface, and bring to view the tapering or oval outline, the straight edge, the even and delicate chipping over both faces; then, wrapping it carefully in your handkerchief, take it home to wash, and feast till bedtime on the clean feel and shining mellow colour of what is hardly more an implement than a gem. they took a pride in their work, did the men of old; and, until you can learn to sympathize, you are no anthropologist. during the succeeding main stage of the palaeolithic epoch there was a decided set-back in the culture, as judged by the quality of the workmanship in flint. those were the days of the mousterians who dined off woolly rhinoceros in jersey. their stone implements, worked only on one face, are poor things by comparison with those of late st. acheul days, though for a time degenerated forms of the latter seem to have remained in use. what had happened? we can only guess. probably something to do with the climate was at the bottom of this change for the worse. thus m. rutot believes that during the ice-age each big freeze was followed by an equally big flood, preceding each fresh return of milder weather. one of these floods, he thinks, must have drowned out the neat-fingered race of st. acheul, and left the coast clear for the mousterians with their coarser type of culture. perhaps they were coarser in their physical type as well.[ ] [footnote : theirs was certainly the rather ape-like neanderthal build. if, however, the skull found at galley hill, near northfleet in kent, amongst the gravels laid down by the thames when it was about ninety feet above its present level, is of early palaeolithic date, as some good authorities believe, there was a kind of man away back in the drift-period who had a fairly high forehead and moderate brow-ridges, and in general was a less brutal specimen of humanity than our mousterian friend of the large grinders.] to the credit of the mousterians, however, must be set down the fact that they are associated with the habit of living in caves, and perhaps may even have started it; though some implements of the drift type occur in le moustier itself, as well as in other caves, such as the famous kent's cavern near torquay. climate, once more, has very possibly to answer for having thus driven man underground. anyway, whether because they must, or because they liked it, the mousterians went on with their cave life during an immense space of time, making little progress; unless it were to learn gradually how to sharpen bones into implements. but caves and bones alike were to play a far more striking part in the days immediately to follow. the third and last main stage of the palaeolithic epoch developed by degrees into a golden age of art. but i cannot dwell on all its glories. i must pass by the beautiful work in flint; such as the thin blades of laurel-leaf pattern, fairly common in france but rare in england, belonging to the stage or type of culture known as the solutrian (from solutre in the department of saone-et-loire). i must also pass by the exquisite french examples of the carvings or engravings of bone and ivory; a single engraving of a horse's head, from the cave at creswell crags in derbyshire, being all that england has to offer in this line. any good museum can show you specimens or models of these delightful objects; whereas the things about which i am going to speak must remain hidden away for ever where their makers left them--i mean the paintings and engravings on the walls of the french and spanish caves. i invite you to accompany me in the spirit first of all to the cave of gargas near aventiron, under the shadow of the pic du midi in the high pyrenees. half-way up a hill, in the midst of a wilderness of rocky fragments, the relics of the ice-age, is a smallish hole, down which we clamber into a spacious but low-roofed grotto, stretching back five hundred feet or so into infinite darkness. hard by the mouth, where the light of day freely enters, are the remains of a hearth, with bone-refuse and discarded implements mingling with the ashes to a considerable depth. a glance at these implements, for instance the small flint scraper with narrow high back and perpendicular chipping along the sides, is enough to show that the men who once warmed their fingers here were of the so-called aurignacian type (aurignac in the department of haute garonne, in southern france), that is to say, lived somewhere about the dawn of the third stage of the palaeolithic epoch. directly after their disappearance nature would seem to have sealed up the cave again until our time, so that we can study them here all by themselves. now let us take our lamps and explore the secrets of the interior. the icy torrents that hollowed it in the limestone have eaten away rounded alcoves along the sides. on the white surface of these, glazed over with a preserving film of stalactite, we at once notice the outlines of many hands. most of them left hands, showing that the aurignacians tended to be right-handed, like ourselves, and dusted on the paint, black manganese or red ochre, between the outspread fingers in just way that we, too, would find convenient. curiously enough, this practice of stencilling hands upon the walls of caves is in vogue amongst the australian natives; though unfortunately, they keep the reason, if there is any deeper one than mere amusement, strictly to themselves. like the australians, again, and other rude peoples, these aurignacians would appear to have been given to lopping off an occasional finger--from some religious motive, we may guess--to judge from the mutilated look of a good many of the handprints. the use of paint is here limited to this class of wall-decoration. but a sharp flint makes an excellent graving tool; and the aurignacian hunter is bent on reproducing by this means the forms of those game-animals about which he doubtless dreams night and day. his efforts in this direction, however, rather remind us of those of our infant-schools. look at this bison. his snout is drawn sideways, but the horns branch out right and left as if in a full-face view. again, our friend scamps details such as the legs. sheer want of skill, we may suspect, leads him to construct what is more like the symbol of something thought than the portrait of something seen. and so we wander farther and farther into the gloomy depths, adding ever new specimens to our pre-historic menagerie, including the rare find of a bird that looks uncommonly like the penguin. mind, by the way, that you do not fall into that round hole in the floor. it is enormously deep; and more than forty cave-bears have left their skeletons at the bottom, amongst which your skeleton would be a little out of place. next day let us move off eastwards to the little pyrenees to see another cave, niaux, high up in a valley scarred nearly up to the top by former glaciers. this cave is about a mile deep; and it will take you half a mile of awkward groping amongst boulders and stalactites, not to mention a choke in one part of the passage such as must puzzle a fat man, before the cavern becomes spacious, and you find yourself in the vast underground cathedral that pre-historic man has chosen for his picture-gallery. this was a later stock, that had in the meantime learnt how to draw to perfection. consider the bold black and white of that portrait of a wild pony, with flowing mane and tail, glossy barrel, and jolly snub-nosed face. it is four or five feet across, and not an inch of the work is out of scale. the same is true of nearly every one of the other fifty or more figures of game-animals. these artists could paint what they saw. yet they could paint up on the walls what they thought, too. there are likewise whole screeds of symbols waiting, perhaps waiting for ever, to be interpreted. the dots and lines and pothooks clearly belong to a system of picture-writing. can we make out their meaning at all? once in a way, perhaps. note these marks looking like two different kinds of throwing-club; at any rate, there are australian weapons not unlike them. to the left of them are a lot of dots in what look like patterns, amongst which we get twice over the scheme of one dot in the centre of a circle of others. then, farther still to the left, comes the painted figure of a bison; or, to be more accurate, the front half is painted, the back being a piece of protruding rock that gives the effect of low relief. the bison is rearing back on its haunches, and there is a patch of red paint, like an open wound, just over the region of its heart. let us try to read the riddle. it may well embody a charm that ran somewhat thus: "with these weapons, and by these encircling tactics, may we slay a fat bison, o ye powers of the dark!" depend upon it, the men who went half a mile into the bowels of a mountain, to paint things up on the walls, did not do so merely for fun. this is a very eerie place, and i daresay most of us would not like to spend the night there alone; though i know a pre-historian who did. in australia, as we shall see later on, rock-paintings of game-animals, not so lifelike as these of the old days, but symbolic almost beyond all recognizing, form part of solemn ceremonies whereby good hunting is held to be secured. something of the sort, then, we may suppose, took place ages ago in the cave of niaux. so, indeed, it was a cathedral after a fashion; and, having in mind the carven pillars of stalactite, the curving alcoves and side-chapels, the shining white walls, and the dim ceiling that held in scorn our powerful lamps, i venture to question whether man has ever lifted up his heart in a grander one. space would fail me if i now sought to carry you off to the cave of altamira, near santander, in the north-west of spain. here you might see at its best a still later style of rock-painting, which deserts mere black and white for colour-shading of the most free description. indeed, it is almost too free, in my judgment; for, though the control of the artist over his rude material is complete, he is inclined to turn his back on real life, forcing the animal forms into attitudes more striking than natural, and endowing their faces sometimes, as it seems to me, with almost human expressions. whatever may be thought of the likelihood of these beasts being portrayed to look like men, certain it is that in the painted caves of this period the men almost invariably have animal heads, as if they were mythological beings, half animal and half human; or else--as perhaps is more probable--masked dancers. at one place, however--namely, in the rock shelter of cogul near lerida, on the spanish side of the pyrenees, we have a picture of a group of women dancers who are not masked, but attired in the style of the hour. they wear high hats or chignons, tight waists, and bell-shaped skirts. really, considering that we thus have a contemporary fashion-plate, so to say, whilst there are likewise the numerous stencilled hands elsewhere on view, and even, as i have seen with my own eyes at niaux in the sandy floor, hardened over with stalagmite, the actual print of a foot, we are brought very near to our palaeolithic forerunners; though indefinite ages part them from us if we reckon by sheer time. * * * * * before ending this chapter, i have still to make good a promise to say something about the neolithic men of western europe. these people often, though not always, polished their stone; the palaeolithic folk did not. that is the distinguishing mark by which the world is pleased to go. it would be fatal to forget, however, that, with this trifling difference, go many others which testify more clearly to the contrast between the older and newer types of culture. thus it has still to be proved that the palaeolithic races ever used pottery, or that they domesticated animals--for instance, the fat ponies which they were so fond of eating; or that they planted crops. all these things did the neolithic peoples sooner or later; so that it would not be strange if palaeolithic man withdrew in their favour, because he could not compete. pre-history is at present almost silent concerning the manner of his passing. in a damp and draughty tunnel, however, called mas d'azil, in the south of france, where the river arize still bores its way through a mountain, some palaeolithic folk seem to have lingered on in a sad state of decay. the old sureness of touch in the matter of carving bone had left them. again, their painting was confined to the adorning of certain pebbles with spots and lines, curious objects, that perhaps are not without analogy in australia, whilst something like them crops up again in the north of scotland in what seems to be the early iron-age. had the rest of the palaeolithic men already followed the reindeer and other arctic animals towards the north-east? or did the neolithic invasion, which came from the south, wipe out the lot? or was there a commingling of stocks, and may some of us have a little dose of palaeolithic blood, as we certainly have a large dose of neolithic? to all these questions it can only be replied that we do not yet know. no more do we know half as much as we should like about fifty things relating to the small, dark, long-headed neolithic folk, with a language that has possibly left traces in the modern basque, who spread over the west till they reached great britain--it probably was an island by this time--and erected the well-known long barrows and other monuments of a megalithic (great-stone) type; though not the round barrows, which are the work of a subsequent round-headed race of the bronze-age. every day, however, the spade is adding to our knowledge. besides, most of the ruder peoples of the modern world were at the neolithic stage of culture at the time of their discovery by europeans. hence the weapons, the household utensils, the pottery, the pile-dwellings, and so on, can be compared closely; and we have a fresh instance of the way in which one branch of anthropology can aid another. in pursuance of my plan, however, of merely pitching here and there on an illustrative point, i shall conclude by an excursion to brandon, just on the suffolk side of the border between that county and norfolk. here we can stand, as it were, with one foot in neolithic times and the other in the life of to-day. when canon greenwell, in , explored in this neighbourhood one of the neolithic flint-mines known as grime's graves, he had to dig out the rubbish from a former funnel-shaped pit some forty feet deep. down at this level, it appeared, the neolithic worker had found the layer of the best flint. this he quarried by means of narrow galleries in all directions. for a pick he used a red-deer's antler. in the british museum is to be seen one of these with the miner's thumb-mark stamped on a piece of clay sticking to the handle. his lamp was a cup of chalk. his ladder was probably a series of rough steps cut in the sides of the pit. as regards the use to which the material was put, a neolithic workshop was found just to the south of grime's graves. here, scattered about on all sides, were the cores, the hammer-stones that broke them up, and knives, scrapers, borers, spear-heads and arrow-heads galore, in all stages of manufacture. well, now let us hie to lingheath, not far off, and what do we find? a family of the name of dyer carry on to-day exactly the same old method of mining. their pits are of squarer shape than the neolithic ones, but otherwise similar. their one-pronged pick retains the shape of the deer's antler. their light is a candle stuck in a cup of chalk. and the ladder is just a series of ledges or, as they call them, "toes" in the wall, five feet apart and connected by foot-holes. the miner simply jerks his load, several hundredweight of flints, from ledge to ledge by the aid of his head, which he protects with something that neolithic man was probably without, namely, an old bowler hat. he even talks a language of his own. "bubber-hutching on the sosh" is the term for sinking a pit on the slant, and, for all we can tell, may have a very ancient pedigree. and what becomes of the miner's output? it is sold by the "jag"--a jag being a pile just so high that when you stand on any side you can see the bottom flint on the other--to the knappers of brandon. any one of these--for instance, my friend mr. fred snare--will, while you wait, break up a lump with a short round hammer into manageable pieces. then, placing a "quarter" with his left hand the leather pad that covers his knee, he will, with an oblong hammer, strike off flake after flake, perhaps , in a morning; and finally will work these up into sharp-edged squares to serve as gun-flints for the trade with native africa. alas! the palmy days of knapping gun-flints for the british army will never return to brandon. still, there must have been trade depression in those parts at any time from the bronze-age up to the times of brown bess; for the strike-a-lights, still to be got at a penny each, can have barely kept the wolf from the door. and mr. snare is not merely an artisan but an artist. he has chipped out a flint ring, a feat which taxed the powers of the clever neolithic knappers of pre-dynastic egypt; whilst with one of his own flint fishhooks he has taken a fine trout from the little ouse that runs by the town. thus there are things in old england that are older even than some of our friends wot. in that one county of suffolk, for instance, the good flint--so rich in colour as it is, and so responsive to the hammer, at any rate if you get down to the lower layers or "sases," for instance, the floorstone, or the black smooth-stone that is generally below water-level--has served the needs of all the palaeolithic periods, and of the neolithic age as well, and likewise of the modern englishmen who fought with flintlocks at waterloo, or still more recently took out tinder-boxes with them to the war in south africa. and what does this stand for in terms of the antiquity of man? thousands of years? we do not know exactly; but say rather hundreds of thousands of years. chapter iii race there is a story about the british sailor who was asked to state what he understood by a dago. "dagoes," he replied, "is anything wot isn't our sort of chaps." in exactly the same way would an ancient greek have explained what he meant by a "barbarian." when it takes this wholesale form we speak, not without reason, of race-prejudice. we may well wonder in the meantime how far this prejudice answers to something real. race would certainly seem to be a fact that stares one in the face. stroll down any london street: you cannot go wrong about that hindu student with features rather like ours but of a darker shade. the short dapper man with eyes a little aslant is no less unmistakably a japanese. it takes but a slightly more practised eye to pick out the german waiter, the french chauffeur, and the italian vendor of ices. lastly, when you have made yourself really good at the game, you will be scarcely more likely to confuse a small dark welshman with a broad florid yorkshireman than a retriever with a mastiff. yes, but remember that you are judging by the gross impression, not by the element of race or breed as distinguished from the rest. here, you say, come a couple of our american cousins. perhaps it is their speech that betrayeth them; or perhaps it is the general cut of their jib. if you were to go into their actual pedigrees, you would find that the one had a scotch father and a mother from out of dorset; whilst the other was partly scandinavian and partly spanish with a tincture of jew. yet to all intents and purposes they form one type. and, the more deeply you go into it, the more mixed we all of us turn out to be, when breed, and breed alone, is the subject of inquiry. yet race, in the only sense that the word has for an anthropologist, means inherited breed, and nothing more or less--inherited breed, and all that it covers, whether bodily or mental features. for race, let it not be forgotten, presumably extends to mind as well as to body. it is not merely skin-deep. contrast the stoical red indian with the vivacious negro; or the phlegmatic dutchman with the passionate italian. true, you say, but what about the influence of their various climates, or again of their different ideals of behaviour? quite so. it is immensely difficult to separate the effects of the various factors. yet surely the race-factor counts for something in the mental constitution. any breeder of horses will tell you that neither the climate of newmarket, nor careful training, nor any quantity of oats, nor anything else, will put racing mettle into cart-horse stock. in what follows, then, i shall try to show just what the problem about the race-factor is, even if i have to trespass a little way into general biology in order to do so.[ ] and i shall not attempt to conceal the difficulties relating to the race-problem. i know that the ordinary reader is supposed to prefer that all the thinking should be done beforehand, and merely the results submitted to him. but i cannot believe that he would find it edifying to look at half-a-dozen books upon the races of mankind, and find half-a-dozen accounts of their relationships, having scarcely a single statement in common. far better face the fact that race still baffles us almost completely. yet, breed is there; and, in its own time and in its own way, breed will out. [footnote : the reader is advised to consult also the more comprehensive study on _evolution_ by professors geddes and thomson in this series.] race or breed was a moment ago described as a factor in human nature. but to break up human nature into factors is something that we can do, or try to do, in thought only. in practice we can never succeed in doing anything of the kind. a machine such as a watch we can take to bits and then put together again. even a chemical compound such as water we can resolve into oxygen and hydrogen and then reproduce out of its elements. but to dissect a living thing is to kill it once and for all. life, as was said in the first chapter, is something unique, with the unique property of being able to evolve. as life evolves, that is to say changes, by being handed on from certain forms to certain other forms, a partial rigidity marks the process together with a partial plasticity. there is a stiffening, so to speak, that keeps the life-force up to a point true to its old direction; though, short of that limit, it is free to take a new line of its own. race, then, stands for the stiffening in the evolutionary process. just up to what point it goes in any given case we probably can never quite tell. yet, if we could think our way anywhere near to that point in regard to man, i doubt not that we should eventually succeed in forging a fresh instrument for controlling the destinies of our species, an instrument perhaps more powerful than education itself--i mean, eugenics, the art of improving the human breed. to see what race means when considered apart, let us first of all take your individual self, and ask how you would proceed to separate your inherited nature from the nature which you have acquired in the course of living your life. it is not easy. suppose, however, that you had a twin brother born, if indeed that were possible, as like you as one pea is like another. an accident in childhood, however, has caused him to lose a leg. so he becomes a clerk, living a sedentary life in an office. you, on the other hand, with your two lusty legs to help you, become a postman, always on the run. well, the two of you are now very different men in looks and habits. he is pale and you are brown. you play football and he sits at home reading. nevertheless, any friend who knows you both intimately will discover fifty little things that bespeak in you the same underlying nature and bent. you are both, for instance, slightly colour-blind, and both inclined to fly into violent passions on occasion. that is your common inheritance peeping out--if, at least, your friend has really managed to make allowance for your common bringing-up, which might mainly account for the passionateness, though hardly for the colour-blindness. but now comes the great difficulty. let us further suppose that you two twins marry wives who are also twins born as like as two peas; and each pair of you has a family. which of the two batches of children will tend on the whole to have the stronger legs? your legs are strong by use; your brother's are weak by disuse. but do use and disuse make any difference to the race? that is the theoretical question which, above all others, complicates and hampers our present-day attempts to understand heredity. in technical language, this is the problem of use-inheritance, otherwise known as the inheritance of acquired characters. it is apt to seem obvious to the plain man that the effects of use and disuse are transmitted to offspring. so, too, thought lamarck, who half a century before darwin propounded a theory of the origin of species that was equally evolutionary in its way. why does the giraffe have so long a neck? lamarck thought it was because the giraffe had acquired a habit of stretching his neck out. every time there was a bad season, the giraffes must all stretch up as high as ever they could towards the leafy tops of the trees; and the one that stretched up farthest survived, and handed on the capacity for a like feat to his fortunate descendants. now darwin himself was ready to allow that use and disuse might have some influence on the offspring's inheritance; but he thought that this influence was small as compared with the influence of what, for want of a better term, he called spontaneous variation. certain of his followers, however, who call themselves neo-darwinians, are ready to go one better. led by the german biologist, weismann, they would thrust the lamarckians, with their hypothesis of use-inheritance, clean out of the field. spontaneous variation, they assert, is all that is needed to prepare the way for the selection of the tall giraffe. it happened to be born that way. in other words, its parents had it in them to breed it so. this is not a theory that tells one anything positive. it is merely a caution to look away from use and disuse to another explanation of variation that is not yet forthcoming. after all, the plain man must remember that the effects of use and disuse, which he seems to see everywhere about him, are mixed up with plenty of apparent instances to the contrary. he will smile, perhaps, when i tell him that weismann cut off the tails of endless mice, and, breeding them together, found that tails invariably decorated the race as before. i remember hearing mr. bernard shaw comment on this experiment. he was defending the lamarckianism of samuel butler, who declared that our heredity was a kind of race-memory, a lapsed intelligence. "why," said mr. shaw, "did the mice continue to grow tails? because they never wanted to have them cut off." but men-folk are wont to shave off their beards because they want to have them off; and, amongst people more conservative in their habits than ourselves, such a custom may persist through numberless generations. yet who ever observed the slightest signs of beardlessness being produced in this way? on the other hand, there are beardless as well as bearded races in the world; and, by crossing them, you could, doubtless, soon produce ups and downs in the razor-trade. only, as weismann's school would say, the required variation is in this case spontaneous, that is, comes entirely of its own accord. leaving the question of use-inheritance open, i pass on to say a word about variation as considered in itself and apart from this doubtful influence. weismann holds, that organisms resulting from the union of two cells are more variable than those produced out of a single one. on this view, variation depends largely on the laws of the interaction of the dissimilar characters brought together in cell-union. but what are these laws? the best that can be said is that we are getting to know a little more about them every day. amongst other lines of inquiry, the so-called mendelian experiments promise to clear up much that is at present dark. the development of the individual that results from such cell-union is no mere mixture or addition, but a process of selective organization. to put it very absurdly, one does not find a pair of two-legged parents having a child with legs as big as the two sets of legs together, or with four legs, two of them of one shape and two of another. in other words, of the possibilities contributed by the father and mother, some are taken and some are left in the case of any one child. further, different children will represent different selections from amongst the germinal elements. mendelism, by the way, is especially concerned to find out the law according to which the different types of organization are distributed between the offspring. each child, meanwhile, is a unique individual, a living whole with an organization of its very own. this means that its constituent elements form a system. they stand to each other in relations of mutual support. in short, life is possible because there is balance. this general state of balance, however, is able to go along with a lot of special balancings that seem largely independent of each other. it is important to remember this when we come a little later on to consider the instincts. all sorts of lesser systems prevail within the larger system represented by the individual organism. it is just as if within the state with its central government there were a number of county councils, municipal corporations, and so on, each of them enjoying a certain measure of self-government on its own account. thus we can see in a very general way how it is that so much variation is possible. the selective organization, which from amongst the germinal elements precipitates ever so many and different forms of fresh life, is so loose and elastic that a working arrangement between the parts can be reached in all sorts of directions. the lesser systems are so far self-governing that they can be trusted to get along in almost any combination; though of course some combinations are naturally stronger and more stable than the rest, and hence tend to outlast them, or, as the phrase goes, to be preserved by natural selection. it is time to take account of the principle of natural selection. we have done with the subject of variation. whether use and disuse have helped to shape the fresh forms of life, or whether these are purely spontaneous combinations that have come into being on what we are pleased to call their own account, at any rate let us take them as given. what happens now? at this point begins the work of natural selection. darwin's great achievement was to formulate this law; though it is only fair to add that it was discovered by a.r. wallace at the same moment. both of them get the first hint of it from malthus. this english clergyman, writing about half a century earlier, had shown that the growth of population is apt very considerably to outstrip the development of food-supply; whereupon natural checks such as famine or war must, he argued, ruthlessly intervene so as to redress the balance. applying these considerations to the plant and animal kingdoms at large, darwin and wallace perceived that, of the multitudinous forms of life thrust out upon the world to get a livelihood as best they could, a vast quantity must be weeded out. moreover, since they vary exceedingly in their type of organization, it seemed reasonable to suppose that, of the competitors, those who were innately fitted to make the best of the ever-changing circumstances would outlive the rest. an appeal to the facts fully bore out this hypothesis. it must not, indeed, be thought that all the weeding out which goes on favours the fittest. accidents will always happen. on the whole, however, the type that is most at home under the surrounding conditions, it may be because it is more complex, or it may be because it is of simpler organization, survives the rest. now to survive is to survive to breed. if you live to eighty, and have no children, you do not survive in the biological sense; whereas your neighbour who died at forty may survive in a numerous progeny. natural selection is always in the last resort between individuals; because individuals are alone competent to breed. at the same time, the reason for the individual's survival may lie very largely outside him. amongst the bees, for instance, a non-working type of insect survives to breed because the sterile workers do their duty by the hive. so, too, that other social animal, man, carries on the race by means of some whom others die childless in order to preserve. nevertheless, breeding being a strictly individual and personal affair, there is always a risk lest a society, through spending its best too freely, end by recruiting its numbers from those in whom the engrained capacity to render social service is weakly developed. to rear a goodly family must always be the first duty of unselfish people; for otherwise the spirit of unselfishness can hardly be kept alive the world. enough about heredity as a condition of evolution. we return, with a better chance of distinguishing them, to the consideration of the special effects that it brings about. it was said just now that heredity is the stiffening in human nature, a stiffening bound up with a more or less considerable offset of plasticity. now clearly it is in some sense true that the child's whole nature, its modicum of plasticity included, is handed on from its parents. our business in this chapter, however, is on the whole to put out of our thoughts this plastic side of the inherited life-force. the more or less rigid, definite, systematized characters--these form the hereditary factor, the race. now none of these are ever quite fixed. a certain measure of plasticity has to be counted in as part of their very nature. even in the bee, with its highly definite instincts, there is a certain flexibility bound up with each of these; so that, for instance, the inborn faculty of building up the comb regularly is modified if the hive happens to be of an awkward shape. yet, as compared with what remains over, the characters that we are able to distinguish as racial must show fixity. unfortunately, habits show fixity too. yet habits belong to the plastic side of our nature; for, in forming a habit, we are plastic at the start, though hardly so once we have let ourselves go. habits, then, must be discounted in our search for the hereditary bias in our lives. it is no use trying to disguise the difficulties attending an inquiry into race. * * * * * these difficulties notwithstanding, in the rest of this chapter let us consider a few of what are usually taken to be racial features of man. as before, the treatment must be illustrative; we cannot work through the list. further, we must be content with a very rough division into bodily and mental features. just at this point we shall find it very hard to say what is to be reckoned bodily and what mental. leaving these niceties to the philosophers, however, let us go ahead as best we can. oh for an external race-mark about which there could be no mistake! that has always been a dream of the anthropologist; but it is a dream that shows no signs of coming true. all sorts of tests of this kind have been suggested. cranium, cranial sutures, frontal process, nasal bones, eye, chin, jaws, wisdom teeth, hair, humerus, pelvis, the heart-line across the hand, calf, tibia, heel, colour, and even smell--all these external signs, as well as many more, have been thought, separately or together, to afford the crucial test of a man's pedigree. clearly i cannot here cross-examine the entire crowd of claimants, were i even competent to do so. i shall, therefore, say a few words about two, and two only, namely, head-form and colour. i believe that, if the plain man were to ask himself how, in walking down a london street, he distinguished one racial type from another, he would find that he chiefly went by colour. in a general way he knows how to make allowance for sunburn and get down to the native complexion underneath. but, if he went off presently to a museum and tried to apply his test to the pre-historic men on view there, it would fail for the simple reason that long ago they left their skins behind them. he would have to get to work, therefore, on their bony parts, and doubtless would attack the skulls for choice. by considering head-form and colour, then, we may help to cover a certain amount of the ground, vast as it is. for remember that anthropology in this department draws no line between ancient and modern, or between savage and civilized, but tries to tackle every sort of man that comes within its reach. head-shape is really a far more complicated thing to arrive at for purposes of comparison than one might suppose. since no part of the skull maintains a stable position in regard to the rest, there can be no fixed standard of measurement, but at most a judgment of likeness or unlikeness founded on an averaging of the total proportions. thus it comes about that, in the last resort, the impression of a good expert is worth in these matters a great deal more than rows of figures. moreover, rows of figures in their turn take a lot of understanding. besides, they are not always easy to get. this is especially the case if you are measuring a live subject. perhaps he is armed with a club, and may take amiss the use of an instrument that has to be poked into his ears, or what not. so, for one reason or another, we have often to put up with that very unsatisfactory single-figure description of the head-form which is known as the cranial index. you take the greatest length and greatest breadth of the skull, and write down the result obtained by dividing the former into the latter when multiplied by . medium-headed people have an index of anything between and . below that figure men rank as long-headed, above it as round-headed. this test, however, as i have hinted, will not by itself carry us far. on the other hand, i believe that a good judge of head-form in all its aspects taken together will generally be able to make a pretty shrewd guess as to the people amongst whom the owner of a given skull is to be placed. unfortunately, to say people is not to say race. it may be that a given people tend to have a characteristic head-form, not so much because they are of common breed, as because they are subjected after birth, or at any rate, after conception, to one and the same environment. thus some careful observations made recently by professor boas on american immigrants from various parts of europe seem to show that the new environment does in some unexplained way modify the head-form to a remarkable extent. for example, amongst the east european jews the head of the european-born is shorter and wider than that of the american-born, the difference being even more marked in the second generation of the american-born. at the same time, other european nationalities exhibit changes of other kinds, all these changes, however, being in the direction of a convergence towards one and the same american type. how are we to explain these facts, supposing them to be corroborated by more extensive studies? it would seem that we must at any rate allow for a considerable plasticity in the head-form, whereby it is capable of undergoing decisive alteration under the influences of environment; not, of course, at any moment during life, but during those early days when the growth of the head is especially rapid. the further question whether such an acquired character can be transmitted we need not raise again. before passing on, however, let this one word to the wise be uttered. if the skull can be so affected, then what about the brain inside it? if the hereditarily long-headed can change under suitable conditions, then what about the hereditarily short-witted? it remains to say a word about the types of pre-historic men as judged by their bony remains and especially by their skulls. naturally the subject bristles with uncertainties. by itself stands the so-called pithecanthropus (ape-man) of java, a regular "missing link." the top of the skull, several teeth, and a thigh-bone, found at a certain distance from each other, are all that we have of it or him. dr. dubois, their discoverer, has made out a fairly strong case for supposing that the geological stratum in which the remains occurred is pliocene--that is to say, belongs to the tertiary epoch, to which man has not yet been traced back with any strong probability. it must remain, however, highly doubtful whether this is a proto-human being, or merely an ape of a type related to the gibbon. the intermediate character is shown especially in the head form. if an ape, pithecanthropus had an enormous brain; if a man, he must have verged on what we should consider idiocy. also standing somewhat by itself is the heidelberg man. all that we have of him is a well-preserved lower jaw with its teeth. it was found more than eighty feet below the surface of the soil, in company with animal remains that make it possible to fix its position in the scale of pre-historic periods with some accuracy. judged by this test, it is as old as the oldest of the unmistakable drift implements, the so-called chellean (from chelles in the department of seine-et-marne in france). the jaw by itself would suggest a gorilla, being both chinless and immensely powerful. the teeth, however, are human beyond question, and can be matched, or perhaps even in respect to certain marks of primitiveness out-matched, amongst ancient skulls of the neanderthal order, if not also amongst modern ones from australia. we may next consider the neanderthal group of skulls, so named after the first of that type found in in the neanderthal valley close to dusseldorf in the rhine basin. a narrow head, with low and retreating forehead, and a thick projecting brow-ridge, yet with at least twice the brain capacity of any gorilla, set the learned world disputing whether this was an ape, a normal man, or an idiot. it was unfortunate that there were no proofs to hand of the age of these relics. after a while, however, similar specimens began to come in. thus in the jaw of a woman, displaying a tendency to chinlessness combined with great strength, was found in the cave of la naulette in belgium, associated with more or less dateable remains of the mammoth, woolly rhinoceros and reindeer. a few years earlier, though its importance was not appreciated at the moment, there had been discovered, near forbes' quarry at gibraltar, the famous gibraltar skull, now to be seen in the museum of the royal college of surgeons in london. any visitor will notice at the first glance that this is no man of to-day. there are the narrow head, low crown, and prominent brow-ridge as before, supplemented by the most extraordinary eye-holes that were ever seen, vast circles widely separated from each other. and other peculiar features will reveal themselves on a close inspection; for instance, the horseshoe form in which, ape-fashion, the teeth are arranged, and the muzzle-like shape of the face due to the absence of the depressions that in our own case run down on each side from just outside the nostrils towards the corners of the mouth. and now at the present time we have twenty or more individuals of this neanderthal type to compare. the latest discoveries are perhaps the most interesting, because in two and perhaps other cases the man has been properly buried. thus at la chapelle-aux-saints, in the french department of correze, a skeleton, which in its head-form closely recalls the gibraltar example, was found in a pit dug in the floor of a low grotto. it lay on its back, head to the west, with one arm bent towards the head, the other outstretched, and the legs drawn up. some bison bones lay in the grave as if a food-offering had been made. hard by were flint implements of a well-marked mousterian type. in the shelter of le moustier itself a similar burial was discovered. the body lay on its right side, with the right arm bent so as to support the head upon a carefully arranged pillow of flints; whilst the left arm was stretched out, so that the hand might be near a magnificent oval stone-weapon chipped on both faces, evidently laid there by design. so much for these men of the neanderthal type, denizens of the mid-palaeolithic world at the very latest. ape-like they doubtless are in their head-form up to a certain point, though almost all their separate features occur here and there amongst modern australian natives. and yet they were men enough, had brains enough, to believe in a life after death. there is something to think about in that. without going outside europe, we have, however, to reckon with at least two other types of very early head-form. in one of the caves of mentone known as la grotte des enfants two skeletons from a low stratum were of a primitive type, but unlike the neanderthal, and have been thought to show affinities to the modern negro. as, however, no other proto-negroes are indisputably forthcoming either from europe or from any other part of the world, there is little at present to be made out about this interesting racial type. in the layer immediately above the negroid remains, however, as well as in other caves at mentone, were the bones of individuals of quite another order, one being positively a giant. they are known as the cro-magnon race, after a group of them discovered in a rock shelter of that name on the banks of the vezere. these particular people can be shown to be aurignacian--that is to say, to have lived just after the mousterian men of the neanderthal head-form. if, however, as has been already suggested, the galley hill individual, who shows affinities to the cro-magnon type, really goes back to the drift-period, then we can believe that from very early times there co-existed in europe at least two varieties; and these so distinct, that some authorities would trace the original divergence between them right back to the times before man and the apes had parted company, linking the neanderthal race with the gorilla and the cro-magnon race with the orang. the cro-magnon head-form is refined and highly developed. the forehead is high, and the chin shapely, whilst neither the brow-ridge nor the lower jaw protrudes as in the neanderthal type. whether this race survives in modern europe is, as was said in the last chapter, highly uncertain. in certain respects--for instance, in a certain shortness of face--these people present exceptional features; though some think they can still find men of this type in the dordogne district. perhaps the chances are, however, considering how skulls of the neolithic period prove to be anything but uniform, and suggest crossings between different stocks, that we may claim kinship to some extent with the more good-looking of the two main types of palaeolithic man--always supposing that head-form can be taken as a guide. but can it? the pygmies of the congo region have medium heads; the bushmen of south africa, usually regarded as akin in race, have long heads. the american indians, generally supposed to be all, or nearly all, of one racial type, show considerable differences of head-form; and so on. it need not be repeated that any race-mark is liable to deceive. * * * * * we have sufficiently considered the use to which the particular race-mark of head-form has been put in the attempted classification of the very early men who have left their bones behind them. let us now turn to another race-mark, namely colour; because, though it may really be less satisfactory than others, for instance hair, that is the one to which ordinary people naturally turn when they seek to classify by races the present inhabitants of the earth. when linnaeus in pre-darwinian days distinguished four varieties of man, the white european, the red american, the yellow asiatic, and the black african, he did not dream of providing the basis of anything more than an artificial classification. he probably would have agreed with buffon in saying that in every case it was one and the same kind of man, only dyed differently by the different climates. but the darwinian is searching for a natural classification. he wants to distinguish men according to their actual descent. now race and descent mean for him the same thing. hence a race-mark, if one is to be found, must stand for, by co-existing with, the whole mass of properties that form the inheritance. can colour serve for a race-mark in this profound sense? that is the only question here. first of all, what is the use of being coloured one way or the other? does it make any difference? is it something, like the heart-line of the hand, that may go along with useful qualities, but in itself seems to be a meaningless accident? well, as some unfortunate people will be able to tell you, colour is still a formidable handicap in the struggle for existence. not to consider the colour-prejudice in other aspects, there is no gainsaying the part it plays in sexual selection at this hour. the lower animals appear to be guided in the choice of a mate by externals of a striking and obvious sort. and men and women to this day marry more with their eyes than with their heads. the coloration of man, however, though it may have come to subserve the purposes of mating, does not seem in its origin to have been like the bright coloration of the male bird. it was not something wholly useless save as a means of sexual attraction, though in such a capacity useful because a mark of vital vigour. colour almost certainly developed in strict relation to climate. right away in the back ages we must place what bagehot has called the race-making epoch, when the chief bodily differences, including differences of colour, arose amongst men. in those days, we may suppose, natural selection acted largely on the body, because mind had not yet become the prime condition of survival. the rest is a question of pre-historic geography. within the tropics, the habitat of the man-like apes, and presumably of the earliest men, a black skin protects against sunlight. a white skin, on the other hand--though this is more doubtful--perhaps economizes sun-heat in colder latitudes. brown, yellow and the so-called red are intermediate tints suitable to intermediate regions. it is not hard to plot out in the pre-historic map of the world geographical provinces, or "areas of characterization," where races of different shades corresponding to differences in the climate might develop, in an isolation more or less complete, such as must tend to reinforce the process of differentiation. let it not be forgotten, however, that individual plasticity plays its part too in the determination of human colour. the anglo-indian planter is apt to return from a long sojourn in the east with his skin charged with a dark pigment which no amount of pears' soap will remove during the rest of his life. it would be interesting to conduct experiments, on the lines of those of professor boas already mentioned, with the object of discovering in what degree the same capacity for amassing protective pigment declares itself in children of european parentage born in the tropics or transplanted thither during infancy. correspondingly, the tendency of dark stocks to bleach in cold countries needs to be studied. in the background, too, lurks the question whether such effects of individual plasticity can be transmitted to offspring, and become part of the inheritance. one more remark upon the subject of colour. now-a-days civilized peoples, as well as many of the ruder races that the former govern, wear clothes. in other words they have dodged the sun, by developing, with the aid of mind, a complex society that includes the makers of white drill suits and solar helmets. but, under such conditions, the colour of one's skin becomes more or less of a luxury. protective pigment, at any rate now-a-days, counts for little as compared with capacity for social service. colour, in short, is rapidly losing its vital function. will it therefore tend to disappear? in the long run, it would seem--perhaps only in the very long run--it will become dissociated from that general fitness to survive under particular climatic conditions of which it was once the innate mark. be this as it may, race-prejudice, that is so largely founded on sheer considerations of colour, is bound to decay, if and when the races of darker colour succeed in displaying, on the average, such qualities of mind as will enable them to compete with the whites on equal terms, in a world which is coming more and more to include all climates. * * * * * thus we are led on to discuss race in its mental aspect. here, more than ever, we are all at sea, for want of a proper criterion. what is to be the test of mind? indeed, mind and plasticity are almost the same thing. race, therefore, as being the stiffening in the evolution of life, might seem by its very nature opposed to mind as a limiting or obstructing force. are we, then, going to return to the old pre-scientific notion of soul as something alien to body, and thereby simply clogged, thwarted and dragged down? that would never do. body and soul are, for the working purposes of science, to be conceived as in perfect accord, as co-helpers in the work of life, and as such subject to a common development. heredity, then, must be assumed to apply to both equally. in proportion as there is plastic mind there will be plastic body. unfortunately, the most plastic part of body is likewise the hardest to observe, at any rate whilst it is alive, namely, the brain. no certain criterion of heredity, then, is likely to be available from this quarter. you will see it stated, for instance, that the size of the brain cavity will serve to mark off one race from another. this is extremely doubtful, to put it mildly. no doubt the average european shows some advantage in this respect as compared, say, with the bushman. but then you have to write off so much for their respective types of body, a bigger body going in general with a bigger head, that in the end you find yourself comparing mere abstractions. again, the european may be the first to cry off on the ground that comparisons are odious; for some specimens of neanderthal man in sheer size of the brain cavity are said to give points to any of our modern poets and politicians. clearly, then, something is wrong with this test. nor, if the brain itself be examined after death, and the form and number of its convolutions compared, is this criterion of hereditary brain-power any more satisfactory. it might be possible in this way to detect the difference between an idiot and a person of normal intelligence, but not the difference between a fool and a genius. we cross the uncertain line that divides the bodily from the mental when we subject the same problem of hereditary mental endowment to the methods of what is known as experimental psychology. thus acuteness of sight, hearing, taste, smell and feeling are measured by various ingenious devices. seeing what stories travellers bring back with them about the hawk-like vision of hunting races, one might suppose that such comparisons would be all in their favour. the cambridge expedition to torres straits, however, of which dr. haddon was the leader, included several well-trained psychologists, who devoted special attention to this subject; and their results show that the sensory powers of these rude folk were on the average much the same as those of europeans. it is the hunter's experience only that enables him to sight the game at an immense distance. there are a great many more complicated tests of the same type designed to estimate the force of memory, attention, association, reasoning and other faculties that most people would regard as purely mental; whilst another set of such tests deals with reaction to stimulus, co-ordination between hand and eye, fatigue, tremor, and, most ingenious perhaps of all, emotional excitement as shown through the respiration--phenomena which are, as it were, mental and bodily at once and together. unfortunately, psychology cannot distinguish in such cases between the effects of heredity and those of individual experience, whether it take the form of high culture or of a dissipated life. indeed, the purely temporary condition of body and mind is apt to influence the results. a man has been up late, let us say, or has been for a long walk, or has missed a meal; obviously his reaction-times, his record for memory, and so on, will show a difference for the worse. or, again, the subject may confront the experiment in very various moods. at one moment he may be full of vanity, anxious to show what superior qualities he possesses; whilst at another time he will be bored. not to labour the point further, these methods, whatever they may become in the future, are at present unable to afford any criterion whatever of the mental ability that goes with race. they are fertile in statistics; but an interpretation of these statistics that furthers our purpose is still to seek. but surely, it will be said, we can tell an instinct when we come across it, so uniform as it is, and so independent of the rest of the system. not at all. for one thing, the idea that an instinct is apiece of mechanism, as fixed as fate, is quite out of fashion. it is now known to be highly plastic in many cases, to vary considerably in individuals, and to involve conscious processes, thought, feeling and will, at any rate of an elementary kind. again, how are you going to isolate an instinct? those few automatic responses to stimulation that appear shortly after birth, as, for instance, sucking, may perhaps be recognized, since parental training and experience in general are out of the question here. but what about the instinct or group of instincts answering to sex? this is latent until a stage of life when experience is already in full swing. indeed, psychologists are still busy discussing whether man has very few instincts or whether, on the contrary, he appears to have few because he really has so many that, in practice, they keep interfering with one another all the time. in support of the latter view, it has been recently suggested by mr. mcdougall that the best test of the instincts that we have is to be found in the specific emotions. he believes that every instinctive process consists of an afferent part or message, a central part, and an efferent part or discharge. at its two ends the process is highly plastic. message and discharge, to which thought and will correspond, are modified in their type as experience matures. the central part, on the other hand, to which emotion answers on the side of consciousness, remains for ever much the same. to fear, to wonder, to be angry, or disgusted, to be puffed up, or cast down, or to be affected with tenderness--all these feelings, argues mr. mcdougall, and various more complicated emotions arising out of their combinations with each other, are common to all men, and bespeak in them deep-seated tendencies to react on stimulation in relatively particular and definite ways. and there is much, i think, to be said in favour of this contention. yet, granting this, do we thus reach a criterion whereby the different races of men are to be distinguished? far from it. nay, on the contrary, as judged simply by his emotions, man is very much alike everywhere, from china to peru. they are all there in germ, though different customs and grades of culture tend to bring special types of feeling to the fore. indeed, a certain paradox is to be noted here. the negro, one would naturally say, is in general more emotional than the white man. yet some experiments conducted by miss kellor of chicago on negresses and white women, by means of the test of the effects of emotion on respiration, brought out the former as decidedly the more stolid of the two. and, whatever be thought of the value of such methods of proof, certain it is that the observers of rude races incline to put down most of them as apathetic, when not tuned up to concert-pitch by a dance or other social event. it may well be, then, that it is not the hereditary temperament of the negro, so much as the habit, which he shares with other peoples at the same level of culture, of living and acting in a crowd, that accounts for his apparent excitability. but after all, "mafficking" is not unknown in civilized countries. thus the quest for a race-mark of a mental kind is barren once more. * * * * * what, then, you exclaim, is the outcome of this chapter of negatives? is it driving at the universal equality and brotherhood of man? or, on the contrary, does it hint at the need of a stern system of eugenics? i offer nothing in the way of a practical suggestion. i am merely trying to show that, considered anthropologically--that is to say, in terms of pure theory--race or breed remains something which we cannot at present isolate, though we believe it to be there. practice, meanwhile, must wait on theory; mere prejudices, bad as they are, are hardly worse guides to action than premature exploitations of science. as regards the universal brotherhood of man, the most that can be said is this: the old ideas about race as something hard and fast for all time are distinctly on the decline. plasticity, or, in other words, the power of adaptation to environment, has to be admitted to a greater share in the moulding of mind, and even of body, than ever before. but how plasticity is related to race we do not yet know. it may be that use-inheritance somehow incorporates its effects in the offspring of the plastic parents. or it may be simply that plasticity increases with inter-breeding on a wider basis. these problems have still to be solved. as regards eugenics, there is no doubt that a vast and persistent elimination of lives goes on even in civilized countries. it has been calculated that, of every hundred english born alive, fifty do not survive to breed, and, of the remainder, half produce three-quarters of the next generation. but is the elimination selective? we can hardly doubt that it is to some extent. but what its results are--whether it mainly favours immunity from certain diseases, or the capacity for a sedentary life in a town atmosphere, or intelligence and capacity for social service--is largely matter of guesswork. how, then, can we say what is the type to breed from, even if we confine our attention to one country? if, on the other hand, we look farther afield, and study the results of race-mixture or "miscegenation," we but encounter fresh puzzles. that the half-breed is an unsatisfactory person may be true; and yet, until the conditions of his upbringing are somehow discounted, the race problem remains exactly where it was. or, again, it may be true that miscegenation increases human fertility, as some hold; but, until it is shown that the increase of fertility does not merely result in flooding the world with inferior types, we are no nearer to a solution. if, then, there is a practical moral to this chapter, it is merely this: to encourage anthropologists to press forward with their study of race; and in the meantime to do nothing rash. chapter iv environment when a child is born it has been subjected for some three-quarters of a year already to the influences of environment. its race, indeed, was fixed once for all at the moment of conception. yet that superadded measure of plasticity, which has to be treated as something apart from the racial factor, enables it to respond for good or for evil to the pre-natal--that is to say, maternal--environment. thus we may easily fall into the mistake of supposing our race to be degenerate, when poor feeding and exposure to unhealthy surroundings on the part of the mothers are really responsible for the crop of weaklings that we deplore. and, in so far as it turns out to be so, social reformers ought to heave a sigh of relief. why? because to improve the race by way of eugenics, though doubtless feasible within limits, remains an unrealized possibility through our want of knowledge. on the other hand, to improve the physical environment is fairly straight-ahead work, once we can awake the public conscience to the need of undertaking this task for the benefit of all classes of the community alike. if civilized man wishes to boast of being clearly superior to the rest of his kind, it must be mainly in respect to his control over the physical environment. whatever may have been the case in the past, it seems as true now-a-days to say that man makes his physical environment as that his physical environment makes him. even if this be granted, however, it remains the fact that our material circumstances in the widest sense of the term play a very decisive part in the shaping of our lives. hence the importance of geographical studies as they bear on the subject of man. from the moment that a child is conceived, it is subjected to what it is now the fashion to call a "geographic control." take the case of the child of english parents born in india. clearly several factors will conspire to determine whether it lives or dies. for simplicity's sake let us treat them as three. first of all, there is the fact that the child belongs to a particular cultural group; in other words, that it has been born with a piece of paper in its mouth representing one share in the british empire. secondly, there is its race, involving, let us say, blue eyes and light hair, and a corresponding constitution. thirdly, there is the climate and all that goes with it. though in the first of these respects the white child is likely to be superior to the native, inasmuch as it will be tended with more careful regard to the laws of health; yet such disharmony prevails between the other two factors of race and climate, that it will almost certainly die, if it is not removed at a certain age from the country. possibly the english could acclimatize themselves in india at the price of an immense toll of infant lives; but it is a price which they show no signs of being willing to pay. what, then, are the limits of the geographical control? where does its influence begin and end? situation, race and culture--to reduce it to a problem of three terms only--which of the three, if any, in the long run controls the rest? remember that the anthropologist is trying to be the historian of long perspective. history which counts by years, proto-history which counts by centuries, pre-history which counts by millenniums--he seeks to embrace them all. he sees the english in india, on the one hand, and in australia on the other. will the one invasion prove an incident, he asks, and the other an event, as judged by a history of long perspective? or, again, there are whites and blacks and redskins in the southern portion of the united states of america, having at present little in common save a common climate. different races, different cultures, a common geographical situation--what net result will these yield for the historian of patient, far-seeing anthropological outlook? clearly there is here something worth the puzzling out. but we cannot expect to puzzle it out all at once. in these days geography, in the form known as anthropo-geography, is putting forth claims to be the leading branch of anthropology. and, doubtless, a thorough grounding in geography must henceforth be part of the anthropologist's equipment.[ ] the schools of ratzel in germany and le play in france are, however, fertile in generalizations that are far too pretty to be true. like other specialists, they exaggerate the importance of their particular brand of work. the full meaning of life can never be expressed in terms of its material conditions. i confess that i am not deeply moved when ratzel announces that man is a piece of the earth. or when his admirers, anxious to improve on this, after distinguishing the atmosphere or air, the hydrosphere or water, the lithosphere or crust, and the centrosphere or interior mass, proceed to add that man is the most active portion of an intermittent biosphere, or living envelope of our planet, i cannot feel that the last word has been said about him. [footnote : thus the reader of the present work should not fail to study also dr. marion newbigin's _geography_ in this series.] or, again, listen for a moment to m. demolins, author of a very suggestive book, _comment la route cree le type social_ ("how the road creates the social type"). "there exists," he says in his preface, "on the surface of the terrestrial globe an infinite variety of peoples. what is the cause that has created this variety? in general the reply is, race. but race explains nothing; for it remains to discover what has produced the diversity of races. race is not a cause; it is a consequence. the first and decisive cause of the diversity of peoples and of the diversity of races is the road that the peoples have followed. it is the road that creates the race, and that creates the social type." and he goes further: "if the history of humanity were to recommence, and the surface of the globe had not been transformed, this history would repeat itself in its main lines. there might well be secondary differences, for example, in certain manifestations of public life, in political revolutions, to which we assign far too great an importance; but the same roads would reproduce the same social types, and would impose on them the same essential characters." there is no contending with a pious opinion, especially when it takes the form of an unverifiable prophecy. let the level-headed anthropologist beware, however, lest he put all his eggs into one basket. let him seek to give each factor in the problem its due. race must count for something, or why do not the other animals take a leaf out of our book and build up rival civilizations on suitable sites? why do men herd cattle, instead of the cattle herding the men? we are rational beings, in other words, because we have it in us to be rational beings. again, culture, with the intelligence and choice it involves, counts for something too. it is easy to argue that, since there were the asiatic steppes with the wild horses ready to hand in them, man was bound sooner or later to tame the horse and develop the characteristic culture of the nomad type. yes, but why did man tame the horse later rather than sooner? and why did the american redskins never tame the bison, and adopt a pastoral life in their vast prairies? or why do modern black folk and white folk alike in africa fail to utilize the elephant? is it because these things cannot be done, or because man has not found out how to do them? when all allowances, however, are made for the exaggerations almost pardonable in a branch of science still engaged in pushing its way to the front, anthropo-geography remains a far-reaching method of historical study which the anthropologist has to learn how to use. to put it crudely, he must learn how to work all the time with a map of the earth at his elbow. first of all, let him imagine his world of man stationary. let him plot out in turn the distribution of heat, of moisture, of diseases, of vegetation, of food-animals, of the physical types of man, of density of population, of industries, of forms of government, of religions, of languages, and so on and so forth. how far do these different distributions bear each other out? he will find a number of things that go together in what will strike him as a natural way. for instance, all along the equator, whether in africa or south america or borneo, he will find them knocking off work in the middle of the day in order to take a siesta. on the other hand, other things will not agree so well. thus, though all will be dark-skinned, the south americans will be coppery, the africans black, and the men of borneo yellow. led on by such discrepancies, perhaps, he will want next to set his world of man in movement. he will thereupon perceive a circulation, so to speak, amongst the various peoples, suggestive of interrelations of a new type. now so long as he is dealing in descriptions of a detached kind, concerning not merely the physical environment, but likewise the social adjustments more immediately corresponding thereto, he will be working at the geographical level. directly it comes, however, to a generalized description or historical explanation, as when he seeks to show that here rather than there a civilization is likely to arise, geographical considerations proper will not suffice. distribution is merely one aspect of evolution. yet that it is a very important aspect will now be shown by a hasty survey of the world according to geographical regions. * * * * * let us begin with europe, so as to proceed gradually from the more known to the less known. lecky has spoken of "the european epoch of the human mind." what is the geographical and physical theatre of that epoch? we may distinguish--i borrow the suggestion from professor myres--three stages in its development. firstly, there was the river-phase; next, the mediterranean phase; lastly, the present-day atlantic phase. thus, to begin with, the valleys of the nile and euphrates were each the home of civilizations both magnificent and enduring. they did not spring up spontaneously, however. if the rivers helped man, man also helped the rivers by inventing systems of irrigation. next, from minoan days right on to the end of the middle ages, the mediterranean basin was the focus of all the higher life in the world, if we put out of sight the civilizations of india and china, together with the lesser cultures of peru and mexico. i will consider this second phase especially, because it is particularly instructive from the geographical standpoint. finally, since the time of the discovery of america, the sea-trade, first called into existence as a civilizing agent by mediterranean conditions, has shifted its base to the atlantic coast, and especially to that land of natural harbours, the british isles. we must give up thinking in terms of an eastern and western hemisphere. the true distinction, as applicable to modern times, is between a land-hemisphere, with the atlantic coast of europe as its centre, and a sea-hemisphere, roughly coinciding with the pacific. the pacific is truly an ocean; but the atlantic is becoming more of a "herring-pond" every day. fixing our eyes, then, on the mediterranean basin, with its black sea extension, it is easy to perceive that we have here a well-defined geographical province, capable of acting as an area of characterization as perhaps no other in the world, once its various peoples had the taste and ingenuity to intermingle freely by way of the sea. the first fact to note is the completeness of the ring-fence that shuts it in. from the pyrenees right along to ararat runs the great alpine fold, like a ridge in a crumpled table-cloth; the spanish sierras and the atlas continue the circle to the south-west; and the rest is desert. next, the configuration of the coasts makes for intercourse by sea, especially on the northern side with its peninsulas and islands, the remains of a foundered and drowned mountain-country. this same configuration, considered in connection with the flora and fauna that are favoured by the climate, goes far to explain that discontinuity of the political life which encouraged independence whilst it prevented self-sufficiency. the forest-belt, owing to the dry summer, lay towards the snow-line, and below it a scrub-belt, yielding poor hunting, drove men to grow their corn and olives and vines in the least swampy of the lowlands, scattered like mere oases amongst the hills and promontories. for a long time, then, man along the north coasts must have been oppressed rather than assisted by his environment. it made mass-movements impossible. great waves of migration from the steppe-land to the northeast, or from the forest-land to the north-west, would thunder on the long mountain barrier, only to trickle across in rivulets and form little pools of humanity here and there. petty feuds between plain, shore, and mountain, as in ancient attica, would but accentuate the prevailing division. contrariwise, on the southern side of the mediterranean, where there was open, if largely desert, country, there would be room under primitive conditions for a homogeneous race to multiply. it is in north africa that we must probably place the original hotbed of that mediterranean race, slight and dark with oval heads and faces, who during the neolithic period colonized the opposite side of the mediterranean, and threw out a wing along the warm atlantic coast as far north as scotland, as well as eastwards to the upper danube; whilst by way of south and east they certainly overran egypt, arabia, and somaliland, with probable ramifications still farther in both directions. at last, however, in the eastern mediterranean was learnt the lesson of the profits attending the sea-going life, and there began the true mediterranean phase, which is essentially an era of sea-borne commerce. then was the chance for the northern shore with its peninsular configuration. carthage on the south shore must be regarded as a bold experiment that did not answer. the moral, then, would seem to be that the mediterranean basin proved an ideal nursery for seamen; but only as soon as men were brave and clever enough to take to the sea. the geographical factor is at least partly consequence as well as cause. * * * * * now let us proceed farther north into what was for the earlier mediterranean folk the breeding-ground of barbarous outlanders, forming the chief menace to their circuit of settled civic life. it is necessary to regard northern europe and northern asia as forming one geographic province. asia minor, together with the euphrates valley and with arabia in a lesser degree, belongs to the mediterranean area. india and china, with the south-eastern corner of asia that lies between them, form another system that will be considered separately later on. the eurasian northland consists naturally, that is to say, where cultivation has not introduced changes, of four belts. first, to the southward, come the mountain ranges passing eastwards into high plateau. then, north of this line, from the lower danube, as far as china, stretches a belt of grassland or steppe-country at a lower level, a belt which during the milder periods of the ice-age and immediately after it must have reached as far as the atlantic. then we find, still farther to the north, a forest belt, well developed in the siberia of to-day. lastly, on the verge of the arctic sea stretches the tundra, the frozen soil of which is fertile in little else than the lichen known as reindeer moss, whilst to the west, as, for instance, in our islands, moors and bogs represent this zone of barren lands in a milder form. the mountain belt is throughout its entire length the home of round-headed peoples, the so-called alpine race, which is generally supposed to have originally come from the high plateau country of asia. these round-headed men in western europe appear where-ever there are hills, throwing out offshoots by way of the highlands of central france into brittany, and even reaching the british isles. here they introduced the use of bronze (an invention possibly acquired by contact with egyptians in the near east), though without leaving any marked traces of themselves amongst the permanent population. at the other end of europe they affected greece by way of a steady though limited infiltration; whilst in asia minor they issued forth from their hills as the formidable hittites, the people, by the way, to whom the jews are said to owe their characteristic, yet non-semitic, noses. but are these round-heads all of one race? professor ridgeway has put forward a rather paradoxical theory to the effect that, just as the long-faced boer horse soon evolved in the mountains of basutoland into a round-headed pony, so it is in a few generations with human mountaineers, irrespective of their breed. this is almost certainly to overrate the effects of environment. at the same time, in the present state of our knowledge, it would be premature either to affirm or deny that in the very long run round-headedness goes with a mountain life. the grassland next claims our attention. here is the paradise of the horse, and consequently of the horse-breaker. hence, therefore, came the charging multitudes of asiatic marauders who, after many repulses, broke through the mediterranean cordon, and established themselves as the modern turks; whilst at the other end of their beat they poured into china, which no great wall could avail to save, and established the manchu domination. given the steppe-country and a horse-taming people, we might seek, with the anthropo-geographers of the bolder sort, to deduce the whole way of life, the nomadism, the ample food, including the milk-diet infants need and find so hard to obtain farther south, the communal system, the patriarchal type of authority, the caravan-system that can set the whole horde moving along like a swarm of locusts, and so on. but, as has been already pointed out, the horse had to be tamed first. palaeolithic man in western europe had horse-meat in abundance. at solutre, a little north of lyons, a heap of food-refuse yards long and feet high largely consists of the bones of horses, most of them young and tender. this shows that the old hunters knew how to enjoy the passing hour in their improvident way, like the equally reckless bushmen, who have left similar golgothas behind them in south africa. yet apparently palaeolithic man did not tame the horse. environment, in fact, can only give the hint; and man may not be ready to take it. the forest-land of the north affords fair hunting in its way, but it is doubtful if it is fitted to rear a copious brood of men, at any rate so long as stone weapons are alone available wherewith to master the vegetation and effect clearings, whilst burning the brushwood down is precluded by the damp. where the original home may have been of the so-called nordic race, the large-limbed fair men of the teutonic world, remains something of a mystery; though it is now the fashion to place it in the north-east of europe rather than in asia, and to suppose it to have been more or less isolated from the rest of the world by formerly existing sheets of water. where-ever it was, there must have been grassland enough to permit of pastoral habits, modified, perhaps, by some hunting on the one hand, and by some primitive agriculture on the other. the mediterranean men, coming from north africa, an excellent country for the horse, may have vied with the asiatics of the steppes in introducing a varied culture to the north. at any rate, when the germans of tacitus emerge into the light of history, they are not mere foresters, but rather woodlanders, men of the glades, with many sides to their life; including an acquaintance with the sea and its ways, surpassing by far that of those early beachcombers whose miserable kitchen-middens are to be found along the coast of denmark. of the tundra it is enough to say that all depends on the reindeer. this animal is the be-all and end-all of lapp existence. when nansen, after crossing greenland, sailed home with his two lapps, he called their attention to the crowds of people assembled to welcome them at the harbour. "ah," said the elder and more thoughtful of the pair, "if they were only reindeer!" when domesticated, the reindeer yields milk as well as food, though large numbers are needed to keep the community in comfort. otherwise hunting and fishing must serve to eke out the larder. miserable indeed are the tribes or rather remnants of tribes along the siberian tundra who have no reindeer. on the other hand, if there are plenty of wild reindeer, as amongst the koryaks and some of the chukchis, hunting by itself suffices. * * * * * let us now pass on from the eurasian northland to what is, zoologically, almost its annexe, north america; its tundra, for example, where the eskimo live, being strictly continuous with the asiatic zone. though having a very different fauna and flora, south america presumably forms part of the same geographical province so far as man is concerned, though there is evidence for thinking that he reached it very early. until, however, more data are available for the pre-history of the american indian, the great moulding forces, geographical or other, must be merely guessed at. much turns on the period assigned to the first appearance of man in this region; for that he is indigenous is highly improbable, if only because no anthropoid apes are found here. the racial type, which, with the exception of the eskimo, and possibly of the salmon-fishing tribes along the north-west coast, is one for the whole continent, has a rather distant resemblance to that of the asiatic mongols. nor is there any difficulty in finding the immigrants a means of transit from northern asia. even if it be held that the land-bridge by way of what are now the aleutian islands was closed at too early a date for man to profit by it, there is always the passage over the ice by way of behring straits; which, if it bore the mammoth, as is proved by its remains in alaska, could certainly bear man. once man was across, what was the manner of his distribution? on this point geography can at present tell us little. m. demolins, it is true, describes three routes, one along the rockies, the next down the central zone of prairies, and the third and most easterly by way of the great lakes. but this is pure hypothesis. no facts are adduced. indeed, evidence bearing on distribution is very hard to obtain in this area, since the physical type is so uniform throughout. the best available criterion is the somewhat poor one of the distribution of the very various languages. some curious lines of migration are indicated by the occurrence of the same type of language in widely separated regions, the most striking example being the appearance of one linguistic stock, the so-called athapascan, away up in the north-west by the alaska boundary; at one or two points in south-western oregon and north-western california, where an absolute medley of languages prevails; and again in the southern highlands along the line of colorado and utah to the other side of the mexican frontier. does it follow from this distribution that the apaches, at the southern end of the range, have come down from alaska, by way of the rockies and the pacific slope, to their present habitat? it might be so in this particular case; but there are also those who think that the signs in general point to a northward dispersal of tribes, who before had been driven south by a period of glaciation. thus the first thing to be settled is the antiquity of the american type of man. a glance at south america must suffice. geographically it consists of three regions. westwards we have the pacific line of bracing highlands, running down from mexico as far as chile, the home of two or more cultures of a rather high order. then to the east there is the steaming equatorial forest, first covering a fan of rivers, then rising up into healthier hill-country, the whole in its wild state hampering to human enterprise. and below it occurs the grassland of the pampas, only needing the horse to bring out the powers of its native occupants. before leaving this subject of the domesticated horse, of which so much use has already been made in order to illustrate how geographic opportunity and human contrivance must help each other out, it is worth noticing how an invention can quickly revolutionize even that cultural life of the ruder races which is usually supposed to be quite hide-bound by immemorial custom. when the europeans first broke in upon the redskins of north america, they found them a people of hunters and fishers, it is true, but with agriculture as a second string everywhere east of the mississippi as well as to the south, and on the whole sedentary, with villages scattered far apart; so that in pre-conquest days they would seem to have been enjoying a large measure of security and peace. the coming of the whites soon crowded them back upon themselves, disarranging the old boundaries. at the same time the horse and the gun were introduced. with extraordinary rapidity the indian adapted himself to a new mode of existence, a grassland life, complicated by the fact that the relentless pressure of the invaders gave it a predatory turn which it might otherwise have lacked. something very similar, though neither conditions nor consequences were quite the same, occurred in the pampas of south america, where horse-indians like the patagonians, who seem at first sight the indigenous outcrop of the very soil, are really the recent by-product of an intrusive culture. * * * * * and now let us hark back to southern asia with its two reservoirs of life, india and china, and between them a jutting promontory pointing the way to the indonesian archipelago, and thence onward farther still to the wide-flung austral region with its myriad lands ranging in size from a continent to a coral-atoll. here we have a nursery of seamen on a vaster scale than in the mediterranean; for remember that from this point man spread, by way of the sea, from easter island in the eastern pacific right away to madagascar, where we find javanese immigrants, and negroes who are probably papuan, whilst the language is of a malayo-polynesian type. india and china each well-nigh deserve the status of geographical provinces on their own account. each is an area of settlement; and, once there is settlement, there is a cultural influence which co-operates with the environment to weed out immigrant forms; as we see, for example, in egypt, where a characteristic physical type, or rather pair of types, a coarser and a finer, has apparently persisted, despite the constant influx of other races, from the dawn of its long history. india, however, and china have both suffered so much invasion from the eurasian northland, and at the same time are of such great extent and comprise such diverse physical conditions, that they have, in the course of the long years, sent forth very various broods of men to seek their fortunes in the south-east. nor must we ignore the possibility of an earlier movement in the opposite direction. in indonesia, the home of the orang-utan and gibbon, not to speak of pithecanthropus, many authorities would place the original home of the human race. it will be wise to touch lightly on matters involving considerations of palaeo-geography, that most kaleidoscopic of studies. the submerged continents which it calls from the vasty deep have a habit of crumbling away again. let us therefore refrain from providing man with land-bridges (draw-bridges, they might almost be called), whether between the indonesian islands; or between new guinea, australia and tasmania; or between indonesia and africa by way of the indian ocean. let the curious facts about the present distribution of the racial types speak for themselves, the difficulties about identifying a racial type being in the meantime ever borne in mind. most striking of all is the diffusion of the negro stocks with black skin and woolly hair. their range is certainly suggestive of a breeding-ground somewhere about indonesia. to the extreme west are the negroes of africa, to the extreme east the papuasians (papuans and melanesians) extending from new guinea through the oceanic islands as far as fiji. a series of connecting links is afforded by the small negroes of the pygmy type, the so-called negritos. it is not known how far they represent a distinct and perhaps earlier experiment in negro-making, though this is the prevailing view; or whether the negro type, with its tendency to infantile characters due to the early closing of the cranial sutures, is apt to throw off dwarfed forms in an occasional way. at any rate, in africa there are several groups of pygmies in the congo region, as well as the bushmen and allied stocks in south africa. then the andaman islanders, the semang of the malay peninsula, the aket of eastern sumatra, the now extinct kalangs of java, said to have been in some respects the most ape-like of human beings, the aetas of the philippines, and the dwarfs, with a surprisingly high culture, recently reported from dutch new guinea, are like so many scattered pieces of human wreckage. finally, if we turn our gaze southward, we find that negritos until the other day inhabited tasmania; whilst in australia a strain of negrito, or negro (papuan), blood is likewise to be detected. are we here on the track of the original dispersal of man? it is impossible to say. it is not even certain, though highly probable, that man originated in one spot. if he did, he must have been hereditarily endowed, almost from the outset, with an adaptability to different climates quite unique in its way. the tiger is able to range from the hot indian jungle to the freezing siberian tundra; but man is the cosmopolitan animal beyond all others. somehow, on this theory of a single origin, he made his way to every quarter of the globe; and when he got there, though needing time, perhaps, to acquire the local colour, managed in the end to be at home. it looks as if both race and a dash of culture had a good deal to do with his exploitation of geographical opportunity. how did the australians and their negrito forerunners invade their austral world, at some period which, we cannot but suspect, was immensely remote in time? certain at least it is that they crossed a formidable barrier. what is known as wallace's line corresponds with the deep channel running between the islands of bali and lombok and continuing northwards to the west of celebes. on the eastern side the fauna are non-asiatic. yet somehow into australia with its queer monotremes and marsupials entered triumphant man--man and the dog with him. haeckel has suggested that man followed the dog, playing as it were the jackal to him. but this sounds rather absurd. it looks as if man had already acquired enough seamanship to ferry himself across the zoological divide, and to take his faithful dog with him on board his raft or dug-out. until we have facts whereon to build, however, it would be as unpardonable to lay down the law on these matters as it is permissible to fill up the blank by guesswork. it remains to round off our original survey by a word or two more about the farther extremities, west, south, and east, of this vast southern world, to which south-eastern asia furnishes a natural approach. the negroes did not have africa, that is, africa south of the sahara, all to themselves. in and near the equatorial forest-region of the west the pure type prevails, displaying agricultural pursuits such as the cultivation of the banana, and, farther north, of millet, that must have been acquired before the race was driven out of the more open country. elsewhere occur mixtures of every kind with intrusive pastoral peoples of the mediterranean type, the negro blood, however, tending to predominate; and thus we get the fulahs and similar stocks to the west along the grassland bordering on the desert; the nilotic folk amongst the swamps of the upper nile; and throughout the eastern and southern parkland the vigorous bantu peoples, who have swept the bushmen and the kindred hottentots before them down into the desert country in the extreme south-west. it may be added that africa has a rich fauna and flora, much mineral wealth, and a physical configuration that, in respect to its interior, though not to its coasts, is highly diversified; so that it may be doubted whether the natives have reached as high a pitch of indigenous culture as the resources of the environment, considered by itself, might seem to warrant. if the use of iron was invented in africa, as some believe, it would only be another proof that opportunity is nothing apart from the capacity to grasp it. of the australian aborigines something has been said already. apart from the negrito or negro strain in their blood, they are usually held to belong to that pre-dravidian stock represented by various jungle tribes in southern india and by the veddas of ceylon, connecting links between the two areas being the sakai of the malay peninsula and east sumatra, and the toala of celebes. it may be worth observing, also, that pre-historic skulls of the neanderthal type find their nearest parallels in modern australia. we are here in the presence of some very ancient dispersal, from what centre and in what direction it is hard to imagine. in australia these early colonists found pleasant, if somewhat lightly furnished, lodgings. in particular there were no dangerous beasts; so that hunting was hardly calculated to put a man on his mettle, as in more exacting climes. isolation, and the consequent absence of pressure from human intruders, is another fact in the situation. whatever the causes, the net result was that, despite a very fair environment, away from the desert regions of the interior, man on the whole stagnated. in regard to material comforts and conveniences, the rudeness of their life seems to us appalling. on the other hand, now that we are coming to know something of the inner life and mental history of the australians, a somewhat different complexion is put upon the state of their culture. with very plain living went something that approached to high thinking; and we must recognize in this case, as in others, what might be termed a differential evolution of culture, according to which some elements may advance, whilst others stand still, or even decay. to another and a very different people, namely, the polynesians, the same notion of a differential evolution may be profitably applied. they were in the stone-age when first discovered, and had no bows and arrows. on the other hand, with coco-nut, bananas and bread-fruit, they had abundant means of sustenance, and were thoroughly at home in their magnificent canoes. thus their island-life was rich in ease and variety; and, whilst rude in certain respects, they were almost civilized in others. their racial affinities are somewhat complex. what is almost certain is that they only occupied the eastern pacific during the course of the last years or so. they probably came from indonesia, mixing to a slight extent with melanesians on their way. how the proto-polynesians came into existence in indonesia is more problematic. possibly they were the result of a mixture between long-headed immigrants from eastern india, and round-headed mongols from indo-china and the rest of south-eastern asia, from whom the present malays are derived. * * * * * we have completed our very rapid regional survey of the world; and what do we find? by no means is it case after case of one region corresponding to one type of man and to one type of culture. it might be that, given persistent physical conditions of a uniform kind, and complete isolation, human life would in the end conform to these conditions, or in other words stagnate. no one can tell, and no one wants to know, because as a matter of fact no such environmental conditions occur in this world of ours. human history reveals itself as a bewildering series of interpenetrations. what excites these movements? geographical causes, say the theorists of one idea. no doubt man moves forward partly because nature kicks him behind. but in the first place some types of animal life go forward under pressure from nature, whilst others lie down and die. in the second place man has an accumulative faculty, a social memory, whereby he is able to carry on to the conquest of a new environment whatever has served him in the old. but this is as it were to compound environments--a process that ends by making the environment coextensive with the world. intelligent assimilation of the new by means of the old breaks down the provincial barriers one by one, until man, the cosmopolitan animal by reason of his hereditary constitution, develops a cosmopolitan culture; at first almost unconsciously, but later on with self-conscious intent, because he is no longer content to live, but insists on living well. as a sequel to this brief examination of the geographic control considered by itself it would be interesting, if space allowed, to append a study of the distribution of the arts and crafts of a more obviously economic and utilitarian type. if the physical environment were all in all, we ought to find the same conditions evoking the same industrial appliances everywhere, without the aid of suggestions from other quarters. indeed, so little do we know about the conditions attending the discovery of the arts of life that gave humanity its all-important start--the making of fire, the taming of animals, the sowing of plants, and so on--that it is only too easy to misread our map. we know almost nothing of those movements of peoples, in the course of which a given art was brought from one part of the world to another. hence, when we find the art duly installed in a particular place, and utilizing the local product, the bamboo in the south, let us say, or the birch in the north, as it naturally does, we easily slip into the error of supposing that the local products of themselves called the art into existence. similar needs, we say, have generated similar expedients. no doubt there is some truth in this principle; but i doubt if, on the whole, history tends to repeat itself in the case of the great useful inventions. we are all of us born imitators, but inventive genius is rare. take the case of the early palaeoliths of the drift type. from egypt, somaliland, and many other distant lands come examples which sir john evans finds "so identical in form and character with british specimens that they might have been manufactured by the same hands." and throughout the palaeolithic age in europe the very limited number and regular succession of forms testifies to the innate conservatism of man, and the slow progress of invention. and yet, as some american writers have argued--who do not find that the distinction between chipped palaeoliths and polished neoliths of an altogether later age applies equally well to the new world--it was just as easy to have got an edge by rubbing as by flaking. the fact remains that in the old world human inventiveness moved along one channel rather than another, and for an immense lapse of time no one was found to strike out a new line. there was plenty of sand and water for polishing, but it did not occur to their minds to use it. to wind up this chapter, however, i shall glance at the distribution, not of any implement connected directly and obviously with the utilization of natural products, but of a downright oddity, something that might easily be invented once only and almost immediately dropped again. and yet here it is all over the world, going back, we may conjecture, to very ancient times, and implying interpenetrations of bygone peoples, of whose wanderings perhaps we may never unfold the secret. it is called the "bull-roarer," and is simply a slat of wood on the end of a string, which when whirled round produces a rather unearthly humming sound. will the anthropo-geographer, after studying the distribution of wood and stringy substances round the globe, venture to prophesy that, if man lived his half a million years or so over again, the bull-roarer would be found spread about very much where it is to-day? "bull-roarer" is just one of our local names for what survives now-a-days as a toy in many an old-fashioned corner of the british isles, where it is also known as boomer, buzzer, whizzer, swish, and so on. without going farther afield we can get a hint of the two main functions which it seems to have fulfilled amongst ruder peoples. in scotland it is, on the one hand, sometimes used to "ca' the cattle hame." a herd-boy has been seen to swing a bull-roarer of his own making, with the result that the beasts were soon running frantically towards the byre. on the other hand, it is sometimes regarded there as a "thunner-spell," a charm against thunder, the superstition being that like cures like, and whatever makes a noise like thunder will be on good terms, so to speak, with the real thunder. as regards its uses in the rest of the world, it may be said at once that here and there, in galicia in europe, in the malay peninsula in asia, and amongst the bushmen in africa, it is used to drive or scare animals, whether tame or wild. and this, to make a mere guess, may have been its earliest use, if utilitarian contrivances can generally claim historical precedence, as is by no means certain. as long as man hunted with very inferior weapons, he must have depended a good deal on drives, that either forced the game into a pitfall, or rounded them up so as to enable a concerted attack to be made by the human pack. no wonder that the bull-roarer is sometimes used to bring luck in a mystic way to hunters. more commonly, however, at the present day, the bull-roarer serves another type of mystic purpose, its noise, which is so suggestive of thunder or wind, with a superadded touch of weirdness and general mystery, fitting it to play a leading part in rain-making ceremonies. from these not improbably have developed all sorts of other ceremonies connected with making vegetation and the crops grow, and with making the boys grow into men, as is done at the initiation rites. it is not surprising, therefore, to find a carved human face appearing on the bull-roarer in new guinea, and again away in north america, whilst in west africa it is held to contain the voice of a very god. in australia, too, all their higher notions about a benevolent deity and about religious matters in general seem to concentrate on this strange symbol, outwardly the frailest of toys, yet to the spiritual eye of these simple folk a veritable holy of holies. and now for the merest sketch of its distribution, the details of which are to be learnt from dr. haddon's valuable paper in _the study of man_. england, scotland, ireland and wales have it. it can be tracked along central europe through switzerland, germany, and poland beyond the carpathians, whereupon ancient greece with its dionysiac mysteries takes up the tale. in america it is found amongst the eskimo, is scattered over the northern part of the continent down to the mexican frontier, and then turns up afresh in central brazil. again, from the malay peninsula and sumatra it extends over the great fan of darker peoples, from africa, west and south, to new guinea, melanesia, and australia, together with new zealand alone of polynesian islands--a fact possibly showing it to have belonged to some earlier race of colonists. thus in all of the great geographical areas the bull-roarer is found, and that without reckoning in analogous implements like the so-called "buzz," which cover further ground, for instance, the eastern coastlands of asia. are we to postulate many independent origins, or else far-reaching transportations by migratory peoples, by the american indians and the negroes, for example? no attempt can be made here to answer these questions. it is enough to have shown by the use of a single illustration how the study of the geographical distribution of inventions raises as many difficulties as it solves. our conclusion, then, must be that the anthropologist, whilst constantly consulting his physical map of the world, must not suppose that by so doing he will be saved all further trouble. geographical facts represent a passive condition, which life, something by its very nature active, obeys, yet in obeying conquers. we cannot get away from the fact that we are physically determined. yet, physical determinations have been surmounted by human nature in a way to which the rest of the animal world affords no parallel. thus man, as the old saying has it, makes love all the year round. seasonal changes of course affect him, yet he is no slave of the seasons. and so it is with the many other elements involved in the "geographic control." the "road," for instance--that is to say, any natural avenue of migration or communication, whether by land over bridges and through passes, or by sea between harbours and with trade-winds to swell the sails--takes a hand in the game of life, and one that holds many trumps; but so again does the non-geographical fact that your travelling-machine may be your pair of legs, or a horse, or a boat, or a railway, or an airship. let us be moderate in all things, then, even in our references to the force of circumstances. circumstances can unmake; but of themselves they never yet made man, nor any other form of life. chapter v language the differentia of man--the quality that marks him off from the other animal kinds--is undoubtedly the power of articulate speech. thereby his mind itself becomes articulate. if language is ultimately a creation of the intellect, yet hardly less fundamentally is the intellect a creation of language. as flesh depends on bone, so does the living tissue of our spiritual life depend on its supporting framework of steadfast verbal forms. the genius, the heaven-born benefactor of humanity, is essentially he who wrestles with "thoughts too deep for words," until at last he assimilates them to the scheme of meanings embodied in his mother-tongue, and thus raises them definitely above the threshold of the common consciousness, which is likewise the threshold of the common culture. there is good reason, then, for prefixing a short chapter on language to an account of those factors in the life of man that together stand on the whole for the principle of freedom--of rational self-direction. heredity and environment do not, indeed, lie utterly beyond the range of our control. as they are viewed from the standpoint of human history as a whole, they show each in its own fashion a certain capacity to meet the needs and purposes of the life-force halfway. regarded abstractly, however, they may conveniently be treated as purely passive and limiting conditions. here we are with a constitution not of our choosing, and in a world not of our choosing. given this inheritance, and this environment, how are we, by taking thought and taking risks, to achieve the best-under-the-circumstances? such is the vital problem as it presents itself to any particular generation of men. the environment is as it were the enemy. we are out to conquer and enslave it. our inheritance, on the other hand, is the impelling force we obey in setting forth to fight; it tingles in our blood, and nerves the muscles of our arm. this force of heredity, however, abstractly considered, is blind. yet, corporately and individually, we fight with eyes that see. this supervening faculty, then, of utilizing the light of experience represents a third element in the situation; and, from the standpoint of man's desire to know himself, the supreme element. the environment, inasmuch as under this conception are included all other forms of life except man, can muster on its side a certain amount of intelligence of a low order. but man's prerogative is to dominate his world by the aid of intelligence of a high order. when he defied the ice-age by the use of fire, when he outfaced and outlived the mammoth and the cave bear, he was already the rational animal, _homo sapiens_. in his way he thought, even in those far-off days. and therefore we may assume, until direct evidence is forthcoming to the contrary, that he likewise had language of an articulate kind. he tried to make a speech, we may almost say, as soon as he had learned to stand up on his hind legs. unfortunately, we entirely lack the means of carrying back the history of human speech to its first beginnings. in the latter half of the last century, whilst the ferment of darwinism was freshly seething, all sorts of speculations were rife concerning the origin of language. one school sought the source of the earliest words in imitative sounds of the type of bow-wow; another in interjectional expressions of the type of tut-tut. or, again, as was natural in europe, where, with the exception of basque in a corner of the west, and of certain asiatic languages, turkish, hungarian and finnish, on the eastern border, all spoken tongues present certain obvious affinities, the comparative philologist undertook to construct sundry great families of speech; and it was hoped that sooner or later, by working back to some linguistic parting of the ways, the central problem would be solved of the dispersal of the world's races. these painted bubbles have burst. the further examination of the forms of speech current amongst peoples of rude culture has not revealed a conspicuous wealth either of imitative or of interjectional sounds. on the other hand, the comparative study of the european, or, as they must be termed in virtue of the branch stretching through persia into india, the indo-european stock of languages, carries us back three or four thousand years at most--a mere nothing in terms of anthropological time. moreover, a more extended search through the world, which in many of its less cultured parts furnishes no literary remains that may serve to illustrate linguistic evolution, shows endless diversity of tongues in place of the hoped-for system of a few families; so that half a hundred apparently independent types must be distinguished in north america alone. for the rest, it has become increasingly clear that race and language need not go together at all. what philologist, for instance, could ever discover, if he had no history to help him, but must rely wholly on the examination of modern french, that the bulk of the population of france is connected by way of blood with ancient gauls who spoke celtic, until the roman conquest caused them to adopt a vulgar form of latin in its place. the celtic tongue, in its turn, had, doubtless not so very long before, ousted some earlier type of language, perhaps one allied to the still surviving basque; though it is not in the least necessary, therefore, to suppose that the celtic-speaking invaders wiped out the previous inhabitants of the land to a corresponding extent. races, in short, mix readily; languages, except in very special circumstances, hardly at all. disappointed in its hope of presiding over the reconstruction of the distant past of man, the study of language has in recent years tended somewhat to renounce the historical--that is to say, anthropological--method altogether. the alternative is a purely formal treatment of the subject. thus, whereas vocabularies seem hopelessly divergent in their special contents, the general apparatus of vocal expression is broadly the same everywhere. that all men alike communicate by talking, other symbols and codes into which thoughts can be translated, such as gestures, the various kinds of writing, drum-taps, smoke signals, and so on, being in the main but secondary and derivative, is a fact of which the very universality may easily blind us to its profound significance. meanwhile, the science of phonetics--having lost that "guid conceit of itself" which once led it to discuss at large whether the art of talking evolved at a single geographical centre, or at many centres owing to similar capacities of body and mind--contents itself now-a-days for the most part with conducting an analytic survey of the modes of vocal expression as correlated with the observed tendencies of the human speech-organs. and what is true of phonetics in particular is hardly less true of comparative philology as a whole. its present procedure is in the main analytic or formal. thus its fundamental distinction between isolating, agglutinative and inflectional languages is arrived at simply by contrasting the different ways in which words are affected by being put together into a sentence. no attempt is made to show that one type of arrangement normally precedes another in time, or that it is in any way more rudimentary--that is to say, less adapted to the needs of human intercourse. it is not even pretended that a given language is bound to exemplify one, and one alone, of these three types; though the process known as analogy--that is, the regularizing of exceptions by treating the unlike as if it were like--will always be apt to establish one system at the expense of the rest. if, then, the study of language is to recover its old pre-eminence amongst anthropological studies, it looks as if a new direction must be given to its inquiries. and there is much to be said for any change that would bring about this result. without constant help from the philologist, anthropology is bound to languish. to thoroughly understand the speech of the people under investigation is the field-worker's master-key; so much so, that the critic's first question in determining the value of an ethnographical work must always be, could the author talk freely with the natives in their own tongue? but how is the study of particular languages to be pursued successfully, if it lack the stimulus and inspiration which only the search for general principles can impart to any branch of science? to relieve the hack-work of compiling vocabularies and grammars, there must be present a sense of wider issues involved, and such issues as may directly interest a student devoted to language for its own sake. the formal method of investigating language, in the meantime, can hardly supply the needed spur. analysis is all very well so long as its ultimate purpose is to subserve genesis--that is to say, evolutionary history. if, however, it tries to set up on its own account, it is in danger of degenerating into sheer futility. out of time and history is, in the long run, out of meaning and use. the philologist, then, if he is to help anthropology, must himself be an anthropologist, with a full appreciation of the importance of the historical method. he must be able to set each language or group of languages that he studies in its historical setting. he must seek to show how it has evolved in relation to the needs of a given time. in short, he must correlate words with thoughts; must treat language as a function of the social life. * * * * * here, however, it is not possible to attempt any but the most general characterization of primitive language as it throws light on the workings of the primitive intelligence. for one reason, the subject is highly technical; for another reason, our knowledge about most types of savage speech is backward in the extreme; whilst, for a third and most far-reaching reason of all, many peoples, as we have seen, are not speaking the language truly native to their powers and habits of mind, but are expressing themselves in terms imported from another stock, whose spiritual evolution has been largely different. thus it is at most possible to contrast very broadly and generally the more rudimentary with the more advanced methods that mankind employs for the purpose of putting its experience into words. happily the careful attention devoted by american philologists to the aboriginal languages of their continent has resulted in the discovery of certain principles which the rest of our evidence, so far as it goes, would seem to stamp as of world-wide application. the reader is advised to study the most stimulating, if perhaps somewhat speculative, pages on language in the second volume of e.j. payne's _history of the new world called america_; or, if he can wrestle with the french tongue, to compare the conclusions here reached with those to which professor levy-bruhl is led, largely by the consideration of this same american group of languages, in his recent work, _les fonctions mentales dans les societes inferieures_ ("mental functions in the lower societies"). if the average man who had not looked into the matter at all were asked to say what sort of language he imagined a savage to have, he would be pretty sure to reply that in the first place the vocabulary would be very small, and in the second place that it would consist of very short, comprehensive terms--roots, in fact--such as "man," "bear," "eat," "kill," and so on. nothing of the sort is actually the case. take the inhabitants of that cheerless spot, tierra del fuego, whose culture is as rude as that of any people on earth. a scholar who tried to put together a dictionary of their language found that he had got to reckon with more than thirty thousand words, even after suppressing a large number of forms of lesser importance. and no wonder that the tally mounted up. for the fuegians had more than twenty words, some containing four syllables, to express what for us would be either "he" or "she"; then they had two names for the sun, two for the moon, and two more for the full moon, each of the last-named containing four syllables and having no element in common. sounds, in fact, are with them as copious as ideas are rare. impressions, on the other hand, are, of course, infinite in number. by means of more or less significant sounds, then, fuegian society compounds impressions, and that somewhat imperfectly, rather than exchanges ideas, which alone are the currency of true thought. for instance, i-cut-bear's-leg-at-the-joint-with-a-flint-now corresponds fairly well with the total impression produced by the particular act; though, even so, i have doubtless selectively reduced the notion to something i can comfortably take in, by leaving out a lot of unnecessary detail--for instance, that i was hungry, in a hurry, doing it for the benefit of others as well as myself, and so on. well, american languages of the ruder sort, by running a great number of sounds or syllables together, manage to utter a portmanteau word--"holophrase" is the technical name for it--into which is packed away enough suggestions to reproduce the situation in all its detail, the cutting, the fact that i did it, the object, the instrument, the time of the cutting, and who knows what besides. amusing examples of such portmanteau words meet one in all the text-books. to go back to the fuegians, their expression _mamihlapinatapai_ is said to mean "to look at each other hoping that either will offer to do something which both parties desire but are unwilling to do." now, since exactly the same situation never recurs, but is partly the same and partly different, it is clear that, if the holophrase really tried to hit off in each case the whole outstanding impression that a given situation provoked, then the same combination of sounds would never recur either; one could never open one's mouth without coining a new word. ridiculous as this notion sounds, it may serve to mark a downward limit from which the rudest types of human speech are not so very far removed. their well-known tendency to alter their whole character in twenty years or less is due largely to the fluid nature of primitive utterance; it being found hard to detach portions, capable of repeated use in an unchanged form, from the composite vocables wherein they register their highly concrete experiences. thus in the old huron-iroquois language _eschoirhon_ means "i-have-been-to-the-water," _setsanha_ "go-to-the-water," _ondequoha_ "there-is-water-in-the-bucket," _daustantewacharet_ "there-is-water-in-the-pot." in this case there is said to have been a common word for "water," _awen_, which, moreover, is somehow suggested to an aboriginal ear as an element contained in each of these longer forms. in many other cases the difficulty of isolating the common meaning, and fixing it by a common term, has proved too much altogether for a primitive language. you can express twenty different kinds of cutting; but you simply cannot say "cut" at all. no wonder that a large vocabulary is found necessary, when, as in zulu, "my father," "thy father," "his-or-her-father," are separate polysyllables without any element in common. the evolution of language, then, on this view, may be regarded as a movement out of, and away from, the holophrastic in the direction of the analytic. when every piece in your play-box of verbal bricks can be dealt with separately, because it is not joined on in all sorts of ways to the other pieces, then only can you compose new constructions to your liking. order and emphasis, as is shown by english, and still more conspicuously by chinese, suffice for sentence-building. ideally, words should be individual and atomic. every modification they suffer by internal change of sound, or by having prefixes or suffixes tacked on to them, involves a curtailment of their free use and a sacrifice of distinctness. it is quite easy, of course, to think confusedly, even whilst employing the clearest type of language; though in such a case it is very hard to do so without being quickly brought to book. on the other hand, it is not feasible to attain to a high degree of clear thinking, when the only method of speech available is one that tends towards wordlessness--that is to say, is relatively deficient in verbal forms that preserve their identity in all contexts. wordless thinking is not in the strictest sense impossible; but its somewhat restricted opportunities lie almost wholly on the farther side, as it were, of a clean-cut vocabulary. for the very fact that the words are crystallized into permanent shape invests them with a suggestion of interrupted continuity, an overtone of un-utilized significance, that of itself invites the mind to play with the corresponding fringe of meaning attaching to the concepts that the words embody. it would prove an endless task if i were to try here to illustrate at all extensively the stickiness, as one might almost call it, of primitive modes of speech. person, number, case, tense, mood and gender--all these, even in the relatively analytical phraseology of the most cultured peoples, are apt to impress themselves on the very body of the words of which they qualify the sense. but the meagre list of determinations thus produced in an evolved type of language can yield one no idea of the vast medley of complicated forms that serve the same ends at the lower levels of human experience. moreover, there are many other shades of secondary and circumstantial meaning which in advanced languages are invariably represented by distinct words, so that when not wanted they can be left out, but in a more primitive tongue are apt to run right through the very grammar of the sentence, thus mixing themselves up inextricably with the really substantial elements in the thought to be conveyed. for instance, in some american languages, things are either animate or inanimate, and must be distinguished accordingly by accompanying particles. or, again, they are classed by similar means as rational or irrational; women, by the bye, being designated amongst the chiquitos by the irrational sign. reverential particles, again, are used to distinguish what is high or low in the tribal estimation; and we get in this connection such oddities as the tamil practice of restricting the privilege of having a plural to high-caste names, such as those applied to gods and human beings, as distinguished from the beasts, which are mere casteless "things." or, once more, my transferable belongings, "my-spear," or "my-canoe," undergo verbal modifications which are denied to non-transferable possessions such as "my-hand"; "my-child," be it observed, falling within the latter class. most interesting of all are distinctions of person. these cannot but bite into the forms of speech, since the native mind is taken up mostly with the personal aspect of things, attaining to the conception of a bloodless system of "its" with the greatest difficulty, if at all. even the third person, which is naturally the most colourless, because excluded from a direct part of the conversational game, undergoes multitudinous leavening in the light of conditions which the primitive mind regards as highly important, whereas we should banish them from our thoughts as so much irrelevant "accident." thus the abipones in the first place distinguished "he-present," _eneha_, and "she-present," _anaha_, from "he-absent" and "she-absent." but presence by itself gave too little of the speaker's impression. so, if "he" or "she" were sitting, it was necessary to say _hiniha_ and _haneha_; if they were walking and in sight _ehaha_ and _ahaha_, but, if walking and out of sight, _ekaha_ and _akaha_; if they were lying down, _hiriha_ and _haraha_, and so on. moreover, these were all "collective" forms, implying that there were others involved as well. if "he" or "she" were alone in the matter, an entirely different set of words was needed, "he-sitting (alone)" becoming _ynitara_, and so forth. the modest requirements of fuegian intercourse have called more than twenty such separate pronouns into being. without attempting to go thoroughly into the efforts of primitive speech to curtail its interest in the personnel of its world by gradually acquiring a stock of de-individualized words, let us glance at another aspect of the subject, because it helps to bring out the fundamental fact that language is a social product, a means of intersubjective intercourse developed within a society that hands on to a new generation the verbal experiments that are found to succeed best. payne shows reason for believing that the collective "we" precedes "i" in the order of linguistic evolution. to begin with, in america and elsewhere, "we" may be inclusive and mean "all-of-us," or selective, meaning "some-of-us-only." hence, we are told, a missionary must be very careful, and, if he is preaching, must use the inclusive "we" in saying "we have sinned," lest the congregation assume that only the clergy have sinned; whereas, in praying, he must use the selective "we," or god would be included in the list of sinners. similarly, "i" has a collective form amongst some american languages, and this is ordinarily employed, whereas the corresponding selective form is used only in special cases. thus if the question be "who will help?" the apache will reply "i-amongst-others," "i-for-one"; but, if he were recounting his own personal exploits, he says _sheedah_, "i-by-myself," to show that they were wholly his own. here we seem to have group-consciousness holding its own against individual self-consciousness, as being for primitive folk on the whole the more normal attitude of mind. another illustration of the sociality engrained in primitive speech is to be found in the terms employed to denote relationship. "my-mother," to the child of nature, is something more than an ordinary mother like yours. thus, as we have already seen, there may be a special particle applying to blood-relations as non-transferable possessions. or, again, one australian language has special duals, "we-two," one to be used between relations generally, another between father and child only. or an american language supplies one kind of plural suffix for blood-relations, another for the rest of human beings. these linguistic concretions are enough to show how hard it is for primitive thought to disjoin what is joined fast in the world of everyday experience. no wonder that it is usually found impracticable by the european traveller who lacks an anthropological training to extract from natives any coherent account of their system of relationships; for his questions are apt to take the form of "can a man marry his deceased wife's sister?" or what not. such generalities do not enter at all into the highly concrete scheme of viewing the customs of his tribe imposed on the savage alike by his manner of life and by the very forms of his speech. the so-called "genealogical method" initiated by dr. rivers, which the scientific explorer now invariably employs, rests mainly on the use of a concrete type of procedure corresponding to the mental habits of the simple folk under investigation. john, whom you address here, can tell you exactly whether he may, or may not, marry mary anne over there; also he can point out his mother, and tell you her name, and the names of his brothers and sisters. you work round the whole group--it very possibly contains no more than a few hundred members at most--and interrogate them one and all about their relationships to this and that individual whom you name. in course of time you have a scheme which you can treat in your own analytic way to your heart's content; whilst against your system of reckoning affinity you can set up by way of contrast the native system; which can always be obtained by asking each informant what relationship-terms he would apply to the different members of his pedigree, and, reciprocally, what terms they would each apply to him. * * * * * before closing this altogether inadequate sketch of a vast and intricate subject, i would say just one word about the expression of ideas of number. it is quite a mistake to suppose that savages have no sense of number, because the simple-minded european traveller, compiling a short vocabulary in the usual way, can get no equivalent for our numerals, say from to . the fact is that the numerical interest has taken a different turn, incorporating itself with other interests of a more concrete kind in linguistic forms to which our own type of language affords no key at all. thus in the island of kiwai, at the mouth of the fly river in new guinea, the cambridge expedition found a whole set of phrases in vogue, whereby the number of subjects acting on the number of objects at a given moment could be concretely specified. to indicate the action of two on many in the past, they said _rudo_, in the present _durudo_; of many on many in the past _rumo_, in the present _durumo_; of two on two in the past, _amarudo_, in the present _amadurudo_; of many on two in the past _amarumo_; of many on three in the past _ibidurumo_, of many on three in the present _ibidurudo_; of three on two in the present, _amabidurumo_, of three on two in the past, _amabirumo_, and so on. meanwhile, words to serve the purpose of pure counting are all the scarcer because hands and feet supply in themselves an excellent means not only of calculating, but likewise of communicating, a number. it is the one case in which gesture-language can claim something like an independent status by the side of speech. for the rest, it does not follow that the mind fails to appreciate numerical relations, because the tongue halts in the matter of symbolizing them abstractly. a certain high official, when presiding over the indian census, was informed by a subordinate that it was impossible to elicit from a certain jungle tribe any account of the number of their huts, for the simple and sufficient reason that they could not count above three. the director, who happened to be a man of keen anthropological insight, had therefore himself to come to the rescue. assembling the tribal elders, he placed a stone on the ground, saying to one "this is your hut," and to another "this is your hut," as he placed a second stone a little way from the first. "and now where is yours?" he asked a third. the natives at once entered into the spirit of the game, and in a short time there was plotted out a plan of the whole settlement, which subsequent verification proved to be both geographically and numerically correct and complete. this story may serve to show how nature supplies man with a ready reckoner in his faculty of perception, which suffices well enough for the affairs of the simpler sort of life. one knows how a shepherd can take in the numbers of a flock at a glance. for the higher flights of experience, however, especially when the unseen and merely possible has to be dealt with, percepts must give way to concepts; massive consciousness must give way to thinking by means of representations pieced together out of elements rendered distinct by previous dissection of the total impression; in short, a concrete must give way to an analytic way of grasping the meaning of things. moreover, since thinking is little more or less than, as plato put it, a silent conversation with oneself, to possess an analytic language is to be more than half-way on the road to the analytic mode of intelligence--the mode of thinking by distinct concepts. if there is a moral to this chapter, it must be that, whereas it is the duty of the civilized overlords of primitive folk to leave them their old institutions so far as they are not directly prejudicial to their gradual advancement in culture, since to lose touch with one's home-world is for the savage to lose heart altogether and die; yet this consideration hardly applies at all to the native language. if the tongue of an advanced people can be substituted, it is for the good of all concerned. it is rather the fashion now-a-days amongst anthropologists to lay it down as an axiom that the typical savage and the typical peasant of europe stand exactly on a par in respect to their power of general intelligence. if by power we are to understand sheer potentiality, i know of no sufficient evidence that enables us to say whether, under ideal conditions, the average degree of mental capacity would in the two cases prove the same or different. but i am sure that the ordinary peasant of europe, whose society provides him, in the shape of an analytic language, with a ready-made instrument for all the purposes of clear thinking, starts at an immense advantage, as compared with a savage whose traditional speech is holophrastic. whatever be his mental power, the former has a much better chance of making the most of it under the given circumstances. "give them the words so that the ideas may come," is a maxim that will carry us far, alike in the education of children, and in that of the peoples of lower culture, of whom we have charge. chapter vi social organization if an explorer visits a savage tribe with intent to get at the true meaning of their life, his first duty, as every anthropologist will tell him, is to acquaint himself thoroughly with the social organization in all its forms. the reason for this is simply that only by studying the outsides of other people can we hope to arrive at what is going on inside them. "institutions" will be found a convenient word to express all the externals of the life of man in society, so far as they reflect intelligence and purpose. similarly, the internal or subjective states thereto corresponding may be collectively described as "beliefs." thus, the field-worker's cardinal maxim can be phrased as follows: work up to the beliefs by way of the institutions. further, there are two ways in which a given set of institutions can be investigated, and of these one, so far as it is practicable, should precede the other. first, the institutions should be examined as so many wheels in a social machine that is taken as if it were standing still. you simply note the characteristic make of each, and how it is placed in relation to the rest. regarded in this static way, the institutions appear as "forms of social organization." afterwards, the machine is supposed to be set going, and you contemplate the parts in movement. regarded thus dynamically, the institutions appear as "customs." in this chapter, then, something will be said about the forms of social organization prevailing amongst peoples of the lower culture. our interest will be confined to the social morphology. in subsequent chapters we shall go on to what might be called, by way of contrast, the physiology of social life. in other words, we shall briefly consider the legal and religious customs, together with the associated beliefs. how do the forms of social organization come into being? does some one invent them? does the very notion of organization imply an organizer? or, like topsy, do they simply grow? are they natural crystallizations that take place when people are thrown together? for my own part, i think that, so long as we are pursuing anthropology and not philosophy--in other words, are piecing together events historically according as they appear to follow one another, and are not discussing the ultimate question of the relation of mind to matter, and which of the two in the long run governs which--we must be prepared to recognize both physical necessity and spiritual freedom as interpenetrating factors in human life. in the meantime, when considering the subject of social organization, we shall do well, i think, to keep asking ourselves all along, how far does force of circumstances, and how far does the force of intelligent purpose, account for such and such a net result? if i were called upon to exhibit the chief determinants of human life as a single chain of causes and effects--a simplification of the historical problem, i may say at once, which i should never dream of putting forward except as a convenient fiction, a device for making research easier by providing it with a central line--i should do it thus. working backwards, i should say that culture depends on social organization; social organization on numbers; numbers on food; and food on invention. here both ends of the series are represented by spiritual factors--namely, culture at the one end, and invention at the other. amongst the intermediate links, food and numbers may be reckoned as physical factors. social organization, however, seems to face in both directions at once, and to be something half-way between a spiritual and a physical manifestation. in placing invention at the bottom of the scale of conditions, i definitely break with the opinion that human evolution is throughout a purely "natural" process. of course, you can use the word "natural" so widely and vaguely as to cover everything that was, or is, or could be. if it be used, however, so as to exclude the "artificial," then i am prepared to say that human life is preeminently an artificial construction, or, in other words, a work of art; the distinguishing mark of man consisting precisely in the fact that he alone of the animals is capable of art. it is well known how the invention of machinery in the middle of the eighteenth century brought about that industrial revolution, the social and political effects of which are still developing at this hour. well, i venture to put it forward as a proposition which applies to human evolution, so far back as our evidence goes, that history is the history of great inventions. of course, it is true that climate and geographical conditions in general help to determine the nature and quantity of the food-supply; so that, for instance, however much versed you may be in the art of agriculture, you cannot get corn to grow on the shores of the arctic sea. but, given the needful inventions, superior weapons for instance, you need never allow yourselves to be shoved away into such an inhospitable region; to which you presumably do not retire voluntarily, unless, indeed, the state of your arts--for instance, your skill in hunting or taming the reindeer--inclines you to make a paradise of the tundra. suppose it granted, then, that a given people's arts and inventions, whether directly or indirectly productive, are capable of a certain average yield of food, it is certain, as malthus and darwin would remind us, that human fertility can be reckoned on to bring the numbers up to a limit bearing a more or less constant ratio to the means of subsistence. at length we reach our more immediate subject--namely, social organization. in what sense, if any, is social organization dependent on numbers? unfortunately, it is too large a question to thrash out here. i may, however, refer the reader to the ingenious classification of the peoples of the world, by reference to the degree of their social organization and culture, which is attempted by mr. sutherland in his _origin and growth of the moral instinct_. he there tries to show that a certain size of population can be correlated with each grade in the scale of human evolution--at any rate up to the point at which full-blown civilization is reached, when cases like that of athens under pericles, or florence under the medici, would probably cause him some trouble. for instance, he makes out that the lowest savages, veddas, pygmies, and so on, form groups of from ten to forty; whereas those who are but one degree less backward, such as the australian natives, average from fifty to two hundred; whilst most of the north american tribes, who represent the next stage of general advance, run from a hundred up to five hundred. at this point he takes leave of the peoples he would class as "savage," their leading characteristic from the economic point of view being that they lead the more or less wandering life of hunters or of mere "gatherers." he then goes on to arrange similarly, in an ascending series of three divisions, the peoples that he terms "barbarian." economically they are either sedentary, with a more or less developed agriculture, or, if nomad, pursue the pastoral mode of life. his lowest type of group, which includes the iroquois, maoris, and so forth, ranges from one thousand to five thousand; next come loosely organized states, such as dahomey or ashanti, where the numbers may reach one hundred thousand; whilst he makes barbarism culminate in more firmly compacted communities, such as are to be found, for example, in abyssinia or madagascar, the population of which he places at about half a million. now i am very sceptical about mr. sutherland's statistics, and regard his bold attempt to assign the world's peoples each to their own rung on the ladder of universal culture as, in the present state of our knowledge, no more than a clever hypothesis; which some keen anthropologist of the future might find it well worth his while to put thoroughly to the test. at a guess, however, i am disposed to accept his general principle that, on the whole and in the long run, during the earlier stages of human evolution, the complexity and coherence of the social order follow upon the size of the group; which, since its size, in turn, follows upon the mode of the economic life, may be described as the food-group. besides food, however, there is a second elemental condition which vitally affects the human race; and that is sex. social organization thus comes to have a twofold aspect. on the one hand, and perhaps primarily, it is an organization of the food-quest. on the other hand, hardly less fundamentally, it is an organization of marriage. in what follows, the two aspects will be considered more or less together, as to a large extent they overlap. primitive men, like other social animals, hang together naturally in the hunting pack, and no less naturally in the family; and at a very rudimentary stage of evolution there probably is very little distinction between the two. when, however, for some reason or other which anthropologists have still to discover, man takes to the institution of exogamy, the law of marrying-out, which forces men and women to unite who are members of more or less distinct food-groups, then, as we shall presently see, the matrimonial aspect of social organization tends to overshadow the politico-economic; if only because the latter can usually take care of itself, whereas to marry a perfect stranger is an embarrassing operation that might be expected to require a certain amount of arrangement on both sides. * * * * * to illustrate the pre-exogamic stage of human society is not so easy as it may seem; for, though it is possible to find examples, especially amongst negritos such as the andamanese or bushmen, of peoples of the rudest culture, and living in very small communities, who apparently know neither exogamy nor what so often accompanies it, namely, totemism, we can never be certain whether we are dealing in such a case with the genuinely primitive, or merely with the degenerate. for instance, the chapter on the forms of social organization in professor hobhouse's _morals in evolution_ starts off with an account of the system in vogue amongst the veddas of the ceylon jungle, his description being founded on the excellent observations of the brothers sarasin. now it is perfectly true that some of the veddas appear to afford a perfect instance of what is sometimes called "the natural family." a tract of a few miles square forms the beat of a small group of families, four or five at most, which, for the most part, singly or in pairs, wander round hunting, fishing, gathering honey and digging up the wild yams; whilst they likewise take shelter together in shallow caves, where a roof, a piece of skin to lie on--though this is not essential--and, that most precious luxury of all, a fire, represent, apart from food, the sum total of their creature comforts. now, under these circumstances, it is not, perhaps, wonderful that the relationships within a group should be decidedly close. indeed, the correct thing is for the children of a brother and sister to marry; though not, it would seem, for the children of two brothers or of two sisters. and yet there is no approach to promiscuity, but, on the contrary, a very strict monogamy, infidelities being as rare as they are deeply resented. that they had clans of some sort was, indeed, known to professor hobhouse and to the authorities whom he follows; but these clans are dismissed as having but the slightest organization and very few functions. an entirely new light, however, has been thrown on the meaning of this clan-system by the recent researches of dr. and mrs. seligmann. it now turns out that some of the veddas are exogamous--that is to say, are obliged by custom to marry outside their own clan--though others are not. the question then arises, which, for the veddas, is the older system, marrying-out or marrying-in? seeing what a miserable remnant the veddas are, i cannot but believe that we have here the case of a formerly exogamous people, groups of which have been forced to marry-in, simply because the alternative was not to marry at all. of course, it is possible to argue that in so doing they merely reverted to what was once everywhere the primeval condition of man. but at this point historical science tails off into mere guesswork. * * * * * we reach relatively firm ground, on the other hand, when we pass on to consider the social organization of such exogamous and totemic peoples as the natives of australia. the only trouble here is that the subject is too vast and complicated to permit of a handling at once summary and simple. perhaps the most useful thing that can be done for the reader in a short space is to provide him with a few elementary distinctions, applying not only to the australians, but more or less to totemic societies in general. with the help of these he may proceed to grapple for himself with the mass of highly interesting but bewildering details concerning social organization to be found in any of the leading first-hand authorities. for instance, for australia he can do no better than consult the two fascinating works of messrs. spencer and gillen on the central tribes, or the no less illuminating volume of howitt on the natives of the south-eastern region; whilst for north america there are many excellent monographs to choose from amongst those issued by the bureau of ethnology of the smithsonian institution. or, if he is content to allow some one else to collect the material for him, his best plan will be to consult dr. frazer's monumental treatise, _totemism and exogamy_, which epitomizes the known facts for the whole wide world, as surveyed region by region. the first thing to grasp is that, for peoples of this type, social organization is, primarily and on the face of it, identical with kinship-organization. before proceeding further, let us see what kinship means. distinguish kinship from consanguinity. consanguinity is a physical fact. it depends on birth, and covers all one's real blood-relationships, whether recognized by society or not. kinship, on the other hand, is a sociological fact. it depends on the conventional system of counting descent. thus it may exclude real relationships; whilst, contrariwise, it may include such as are purely fictitious, as when some one is allowed by law to adopt a child as if it were his own. now, under civilized conditions, though there is, as we have just seen, such an institution as adoption, whilst, again, there is the case of the illegitimate child, who can claim consanguinity, but can never, in english law at least, attain to kinship, yet, on the whole, we are hardly conscious of the difference between the genuine blood-tie and the social institution that is modelled more or less closely upon it. in primitive society, however, consanguinity tends to be wider than kinship by as much again. in other words, in the recognition of kinship one entire side of the family is usually left clean out of account. a man's kin comprises either his mother's people or his father's people, but not both. remember that by the law of exogamy, the father and mother are strangers to each other. hence, primitive society, as it were, issues a judgment of solomon to the effect that, since they are not prepared to halve their child, it must belong body and soul either to one party or to the other. we may now go on to analyse this one-sided type of kinship-organization a little more fully. there are three elementary principles that combine to produce it. they are exogamy, lineage and totemism. a word must be said about each in turn. exogamy presents no difficulty until you try to account for its origin. it simply means marrying-out, in contrast to endogamy, or marrying-in. suppose there were a village composed entirely of mcintyres and mcintoshes, and suppose that fashion compelled every mcintyre to marry a mcintosh, and every mcintosh a mcintyre, whilst to marry an outsider, say a mcbean, was bad form for mcintyres and mcintoshes alike; then the two clans would be exogamous in respect to each other, whereas the village as a whole would be endogamous. lineage is the principle of reckoning descent along one or other of two lines--namely, the mother's line or the father's. the former method is termed matrilineal, the latter patrilineal. it sometimes, but by no means invariably, happens, when descent is counted matrilineally, that the wife stays with her people, and the husband has the status of a mere visitor and alien. in such a case the marriage is called matrilocal; otherwise it is patrilocal. again, when the matrilocal type of marriage prevails, as likewise often when it does not, the wife and her people, rather than the father and his people, exercise supreme authority over the children. this is known as the matripotestal, as contrasted with the patripotestal, type of family. when the matrilineal, matrilocal and matripotestal conditions are found together, we have mother-right at its fullest and strongest. where we get only two out of the three, or merely the first by itself, most authorities would still speak of mother-right; though it may be questioned how far the word mother-right, or the corresponding, now almost discarded, expression, "the matriarchate," can be safely used without further explanation, since it tends to imply a right (in the legal sense) and an authority, which in these circumstances is often no more than nominal. totemism, in the specific form that has to do with kinship, means that a social group depends for its identity on a certain intimate and exclusive relation in which it stands towards an animal-kind, or a plant-kind, or, more rarely, a class of inanimate objects, or, very rarely, something that is individual and not a kind or class at all. such a totem, in the first place, normally provides the social group with its name. (the boy scouts, who call themselves foxes, peewits, and so on, according to their different patrols, have thus reverted to a very ancient usage.) in the second place, this name tends to be the outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace that, somehow flowing from the totem to the totemites, sanctifies their communion. they are "all-one-flesh" with one another, as certain of the australians phrase it, because they are "all-one-flesh" with the totem. or, again, a man whose totem was _ngaui_, the sun, said that his name was _ngaui_ and he "was" _ngaui_; though he was equally ready to put it in another way, explaining that _ngaui_ "owned" him. if we wish to express the matter comprehensively, and at the same time to avoid language suggestive of a more advanced mysticism, we may perhaps describe the totem as, from this point of view, the totemite's "luck." there is considerable variation, however, to be found in the practices and beliefs of a more or less religious kind that are associated with this form of totemism; though almost always there are some. sometimes the totem is thought of as an ancestor, or as the common fund of life out of which the totemites are born and into which they go back when they die. sometimes the totem is held to be a very present help in time of trouble, as when a kangaroo, by hopping along in a special way, warns the kangaroo-man of impending danger. sometimes, on the other hand, the kangaroo-man thinks of himself mainly as the helper of the kangaroo, holding ceremonies in order that the kangaroos may wax fat and multiply. again, almost invariably the totemite shows some respect towards his totem, refraining, for instance, from slaying and eating the totem-animal, unless it be in some specially solemn and sacramental way. the upshot of these considerations is that if the totem is, on the face of it, a name, the savage answers the question, "what's in a name?" by finding in the name that makes him one with his brethren a wealth of mystic meaning, such as deepens for him the feeling of social solidarity to an extent that it takes a great effort on our part to appreciate. having separately examined the three principles of exogamy, lineage and totemism, we must now try to see how they work together. generalization in regard to these matters is extremely risky, not to say rash; nevertheless, the following broad statements may serve the reader as working hypotheses, that he can go on to test for himself by looking into the facts. firstly, exogamy and totemism, whether they be in origin distinct or not, tend in practice to go pretty closely together. secondly, lineage, or the one-sided system of reckoning descent, is more or less independent of the other two principles.[ ] [footnote : that is to say, either mother-right or father-right in any of their forms may exist in conjunction with exogamy and totemism. it is certainly not the fact that, wherever totemism is in a state of vigour, mother-right is regularly found. at most it may be urged in favour of the priority of mother-right that, if there is change, it is invariably from mother-right to father-right, and never the other way about.] if, instead of consulting the evidence that is to hand about the savage world as it exists to-day, you read some book crammed full with theories about social origins, you probably come away with the impression that totemic society is entirely an affair of clans. some such notion as the following is precipitated in your mind. you figure to yourself two small food-groups, whose respective beats are, let us say, on each side of a river. for some unknown reason they are totemic, one group calling itself cockatoo, the other calling itself crow, whilst each feels in consequence that its members are "all-one-flesh" in some mysterious and moving sense. again, for some unknown reason each is exogamous, so that matrimonial alliances are bound to take place across the river. lastly, each has mother-right of the full-blown kind. the cockatoo-girls and the crow-girls abide each on their own side of the river, where they are visited by partners from across the water; who, whether they tend to stay and make themselves useful, or are merely intermittent in their attentions, remain outsiders from the totemic point of view and are treated as such. the children, meanwhile, grow up in the cockatoo and crow quarters respectively as little cockatoos or crows. if they need to be chastised, a cockatoo hand, not necessarily the mother's, but perhaps her brother's--never the father's, however--administers the slap. when they grow up, they take their chances for better and worse with the mother's people; fighting when they fight, though it be against the father's people; sharing in the toils and the spoils of the chase; inheriting the weapons and any other property that is handed on from one generation to another; and, last but not least, taking part in the totemic mysteries that disclose to the elect the inner meaning of being a cockatoo or a crow, as the case may be. now such a picture of the original clan and of the original inter-clan organization is very pretty and easy to keep in one's head. and when one is simply guessing about the first beginnings of things, there is something to be said for starting from some highly abstract and simple concept, which is afterwards elaborated by additions and qualifications until the developed notion comes near to matching the complexity of the real facts. such speculations, then, are quite permissible and even necessary in their place. to do justice, however, to the facts about totemic society, as known to us by actual observation, it remains to note that the clan is by no means the only form of social organization that it displays. the clan, it is true, whether matrilineal or patrilineal, tends at the totemic level of society to eclipse the family. the natural family, of course--that is to say, the more or less permanent association of father, mother and children, is always there in some shape and to some extent. but, so long as the one-sided method of counting descent prevails, and is reinforced by totemism, the family cannot attain to the dignity of a formally recognized institution. on the other hand, the totemic clan, of all the formally recognized groupings of society to which an individual belongs in virtue of his birth and kinship, is, so to speak, the most specific. as the australian puts it, it makes him what he "is." his social essence is to be a cockatoo or a crow. consequently his first duty is towards his clan and its members, human and not-human. wherever there are clans, and so long as there is any totemism worthy of the name, this would seem to be the general law. besides the specific unity, however, provided by the clan, there are wider, and, as it were, more generic unities into which a man is born, in totemic society of the complex type that is found in the actual world of to-day. first, he belongs to a phratry. in australia the tribe--a term to be defined presently--is nearly always split up into two exogamous divisions, which it is usual to call phratries.[ ] then, in some of the australian tribes, the phratry is subdivided into two, and, in others, into four portions, between which exogamy takes place according to a curious criss-cross scheme. these exogamous subdivisions, which are peculiar to australia, are known as matrimonial classes. dr. frazer thinks that they are the result of deliberate arrangement on the part of native statesmen; and certainly he is right in his contention that there is an artificial and man-made look about them. the system of phratries, on the other hand, whether it carves up the tribe into two, or, as sometimes in north america and elsewhere, into more than two primary divisions, under which the clans tend to group themselves in a more or less orderly way, has all the appearance of a natural development out of the clan-system. thus, to revert to the imaginary case of the cockatoos and crows practising exogamy across the river, it seems easy to understand how the numbers on both sides might increase until, whilst remaining cockatoos and crows for cross-river purposes, they would find it necessary to adopt among themselves subordinate distinctions; such as would be sure to model themselves on the old cockatoo-crow principle of separate totemic badges. but we must not wander off into questions of origin. it is enough for our present purpose to have noted the fact that, within the tribe, there are normally other forms of social grouping into which a man is born, as well as the clan. [footnote : from a greek word meaning "brotherhood," which was applied to a very similar institution.] now we come to the tribe. this may be described as the political unit. its constitution tends to be lax and its functions vague. one way of seizing its nature is to think of it as the social union within which exogamy takes place. the intermarrying groups naturally hang together, and are thus in their entirety endogamous, in the sense that marriage with pure outsiders is disallowed by custom. moreover, by mingling in this way, they are likely to attain to the use of a common dialect, and a common name, speaking of themselves, for instance, as "the men," and lumping the rest of humanity together as "foreigners." to act together, however, as, for instance, in war, in order to repel incursions on the part of the said foreigners, is not easy without some definite organization. in australia, where there is very little war, this organization is mostly wanting. in north america, on the other hand, amongst the more advanced and warlike tribes, we find regular tribal officers, and some approach to a political constitution. yet in australia there is at least one occasion when a sort of tribal gathering takes place--namely, when their elaborate ceremonies for the initiation of the youths is being held. it would seem, however, that these ceremonies are, as often as not, intertribal rather than tribal. so similar are the customs and beliefs over wide areas, that groups with apparently little or nothing else in common will assemble together, and take part in proceedings that are something like a pan-anglican congress and a world's fair rolled into one. to this indefinite type of intertribal association the term "nation" is sometimes applied. only when there is definite organization, as never in australia, and only occasionally in north america, as amongst the iroquois, can we venture to describe it as a genuine "confederacy." no doubt the reader's head is already in a whirl, though i have perpetrated endless sins of omission and, i doubt not, of commission as well, in order to simplify the glorious confusion of the subject of the social organization prevailing in what is conveniently but loosely lumped together as totemic society. thus, i have omitted to mention that sometimes the totems seem to have nothing to do at all with the social organization; as, for example, amongst the famous arunta of central australia, whom messrs. spencer and gillen have so carefully described. i have, again, refrained from pointing out that sometimes there are exogamous divisions--some would call them moieties to distinguish them from phratries--which have no clans grouped under them, and, on the other hand, have themselves little or no resemblance to totemic clans. these, and ever so many other exceptional cases, i have simply passed by. an even more serious kind of omission is the following. i have throughout identified the social organization with the kinship organization--namely, that into which a man is born in consequence of the marriage laws and the system of reckoning descent. but there are other secondary features of what can only be classed as social organization, which have nothing to do with kinship. sex, for instance, has a direct bearing on social status. the men and the women often form markedly distinct groups; so that we are almost reminded of the way in which the male and the female linnets go about in separate flocks as soon as the pairing season is over. of course, disparity of occupation has something to do with it. but, for the native mind, the difference evidently goes far deeper than that. in some parts of australia there are actually sex-totems, signifying that each sex is all-one-flesh, a mystic corporation. and, all the savage world over, there is a feeling that woman is uncanny, a thing apart, which feeling is probably responsible for most of the special disabilities--and the special privileges--that are the lot of woman at the present day. again, age likewise has considerable influence on social status. it is not merely a case of being graded as a youth until once for all you legally "come of age," and are enrolled, amongst the men. the grading of ages is frequently most elaborate, and each batch mounts the social ladder step by step. just as, at the university, each year has apportioned to it by public opinion the things it may do and the things it may not do, whilst, later on, the bachelor, the master, and the doctor stand each a degree higher in respect of academic rank; so in darkest australia, from youth up to middle age at least, a man will normally undergo a progressive initiation into the secrets of life, accompanied by a steady widening in the sphere of his social duties and rights. lastly, locality affects status, and increasingly as the wandering life gives way to stable occupation. amongst a few hundred people who are never out of touch with each other, the forms of natal association hold their own against any that local association is likely to suggest in their place. according to natal grouping, therefore, in the broad sense that includes sex and age no less than kinship, the members of the tribe camp, fight, perform magical ceremonies, play games, are initiated, are married, and are buried. but let the tribe increase in numbers, and spread through a considerable area, over the face of which communications are difficult and proportionately rare. instantly the local group tends to become all in all. authority and initiative must always rest with the men on the spot; and the old natal combinations, weakened by inevitable absenteeism, at last cease to represent the true framework of the social order. they tend to linger on, of course, in the shape of subordinate institutions. for instance, the totemic groups cease to have direct connection with the marriage system, and, on the strength of the ceremonies associated with them, develop into what are known as secret societies. or, again, the clan is gradually overshadowed by the family, so that kinship, with its rights and duties, becomes practically limited to the nearer blood-relations; who, moreover, begin to be treated for practical purposes as kinsmen, even when they are on the side of the family which lineage does not officially recognize. thus the forms of natal association no longer constitute the backbone of the body politic. their public importance has gone. henceforward, the social unit is the local group. the territorial principle comes more and more to determine affinities and functions. kinship has dethroned itself by its very success. thanks to the organizing power of kinship, primitive society has grown, and by growing has stretched the birth-tie until it snaps. some relationships become distant in a local and territorial sense, and thereupon they cease to count. my duty towards my kin passes into my duty towards my neighbour. * * * * * reasons of space make it impossible to survey the further developments to which social organization is subject under the sway of locality. it is, perhaps, less essential to insist on them here, because, whereas totemic society is a thing which we civilized folk have the very greatest difficulty in understanding, we all have direct insight into the meaning of a territorial arrangement; since, from the village community up to the modern state, the same fundamental type of social structure obtains throughout. besides local contiguity, however, there is a second principle which greatly helps to shape the social order, as soon as society is sufficiently advanced in its arts and industries to have taken firm root, so to speak, on the earth's surface. this is the principle of private property, and especially of private property in land. the most fundamental of class distinctions is that between rich and poor. that between free and slave, in communities that have slavery, is not at first sight strictly parallel, since there may be a class of poor freemen intermediate between the nobles and the slaves; but it is obvious that in this case, too, private property is really responsible for the mode of grading. or sometimes social position may seem to depend primarily on industrial occupation, the indian caste-system providing an instance in point. since, however, the most honourable occupations in the long run coincide with those that pay best, we come back once again to private property as the ultimate source of social rank, under an economic system of the more developed kind. in this brief sketch it has been impossible to do more than hint how social organization is relative to numbers, which in their turn are relative to the skill with which the food-quest is carried on. but if, up to a certain point, it be true that the structure of society depends on its mass in a more or less physical way, there is to be borne in mind another aspect of the matter, which also has been hinted at as we went rapidly along. a good deal of intelligence has throughout helped towards the establishing of the social order. if social organization is in part a natural result of the expansion of the population, it is partly also, in the best sense of the word, an artificial creation of the human mind, which has exerted itself to devise modes of grouping whereby men might be enabled to work together in larger and ever larger wholes. regarded, however, in the purely external way which a study of its mere structure involves, society appears as a machine--that is to say, appears as the work of intelligence indeed, but not as itself instinct with intelligence. in what follows we shall set the social machine moving. we shall then have a better chance of obtaining an inner view of the driving power. we shall find that we have to abandon the notion that society is a machine. it is more, even, than an organism. it is a communion of souls--souls that, as so many independent, yet interdependent, manifestations of the life-force, are pressing forward in the search for individuality and freedom. chapter vii law the general plan of this little book being to start from the influences that determine man's destiny in a physical, external, necessary sort of way, and to work up gradually to the spiritual, internal, voluntary factors in human nature--that strange "compound of clay and flame"--it seems advisable to consider law before religion, and religion before morality, whether in its collective or individual aspect, for the following reason. there is more sheer constraint to be discerned in law than in religion, whilst religion, in the historical sense which identifies it with organized cult, is more coercive in its mode of regulating life than the moral reason, which compels by force of persuasion. to one who lives under civilized conditions the phrase "the strong arm of the law" inevitably suggests the policeman. apart from policemen, magistrates, and the soldiers who in the last resort must be called out to enforce the decrees of the community, it might appear that law could not exist. and certainly it is hard to admit that what is known as mob-law is any law at all. for historical purposes, however, we must be prepared to use the expression "law" rather widely. we must be ready to say that there is law wherever there is punishment on the part of a human society, whether acting in the mass, or through its representatives. punishment means the infliction of pain on one who is judged to have broken a social rule. conversely, then, a law is any social rule to the infringement of which punishment is by usage attached. so long as it is recognized that a man breaks a social rule at the risk of pain, and that it is the business of everybody, or of somebody armed with the common authority, to make that risk a reality for the offender, there is law within the meaning of the term as it exists for anthropology. punishment, however, is by its very nature an exceptional measure. it is only because the majority are content to follow a social rule, that law and punishment are possible at all. if, again, every one habitually obeys the social rules, law ceases to exist, because it is unnecessary. now, one reason why it is hard to find any law in primitive society is because, in a general way of speaking, no one dreams of breaking the social rules. custom is king, nay tyrant, in primitive society. when captain cook asked the chiefs of tahiti why they ate apart and alone, they simply replied, "because it is right." and so it always is with the ruder peoples. "'tis the custom, and there's an end on't" is their notion of a sufficient reason in politics and ethics alike. now that way lies a rigid conservatism. in the chapter on morality we shall try to discover its inner springs, its psychological conditions. for the present, we may be content to regard custom from the outside, as the social habit of conserving all traditional practices for their own sake and regardless of consequences. of course, changes are bound to occur, and do occur. but they are not supposed to occur. in theory, the social rules of primitive society are like "the law of the medes and persians which altereth not." this absolute respect for custom has its good and its bad sides. on the one hand, it supplies the element of discipline; without which any society is bound soon to fall to pieces. we are apt to think of the savage as a freakish creature, all moods--at one moment a friend, at the next moment a fiend. so he might be, if it were not for the social drill imposed by his customs. so he is, if you destroy his customs, and expect him nevertheless to behave as an educated and reasonable being. given, then, a primitive society in a healthy and uncontaminated condition, its members will invariably be found to be on the average more law-abiding, as judged from the standpoint of their own law, than is the case any civilized state. but now we come to the bad side of custom. its conserving influence extends to all traditional practices, however unreasonable or perverted. in that amber any fly is apt to be enclosed. hence the whimsicalities of savage custom. in _primitive culture_ dr. tylor tells a good story about the dyaks of borneo. the white man's way of chopping down a tree by notching out v-shaped cuts was not according to dyak custom. hence, any dyak caught imitating the european fashion was punished by a fine. and yet so well aware were they that this method was an improvement on their own that, when they could trust each other not to tell, they would surreptitiously use it. these same dyaks, it may be added, are, according to mr. a.r. wallace, the best of observers, "among the most pleasing of savages." they are good-natured, mild, and by no means bloodthirsty in the ordinary relations of life. yet they are well known to be addicted to the horrid practice of head-hunting. "it was a custom," mr. wallace explains, "and as a custom was observed, but it did not imply any extraordinary barbarism or moral delinquency." the drawback, then, to a reign of pure custom is this: meaningless injunctions abound, since the value of a traditional practice does not depend on its consequences, but simply on the fact that it is the practice; and this element of irrationality is enough to perplex, till it utterly confounds, the mind capable of rising above routine and reflecting on the true aims and ends of the social life. how to break through "the cake of custom," as bagehot has called it, is the hardest lesson that humanity has ever had to learn. customs have often been broken up by the clashing of different societies; but in that case they merely crystallize again into new shapes. but to break through custom by the sheer force of reflection, and so to make rational progress possible, was the intellectual feat of one people, the ancient greeks; and it is at least highly doubtful if, without their leadership, a progressive civilization would have existed to-day. it may be added in parenthesis that customs may linger on indefinitely, after losing, through one cause or another, their place amongst the vital interests of the community. they are, or at any rate seem, harmless; their function is spent. hence, whilst perhaps the humbler folk still take them more or less seriously, the leaders of society are not at pains to suppress them. nor would they always find it easy to do so. something of the primeval man lurks in us all; and these "survivals," as they are termed by the anthropologist, may often in large part correspond to impulses that are by no means dead in us, but rather sleep; and are hence liable to be reawakened, if the environment happens to supply the appropriate stimulus. witness the fact that survivals, especially when the whirligig of social change brings the uneducated temporarily to the fore, have a way of blossoming forth into revivals; and the state may in consequence have to undergo something equivalent to an operation for appendicitis. the study of so-called survivals, therefore, is a most important branch of anthropology, which cannot unfortunately in this hasty sketch be given its due. it would seem to coincide with the central interest of what is known as folk-lore. folk-lore, however, tends to broaden out till it becomes almost indistinguishable from general anthropology. there are at least two reasons for this. firstly, the survivals of custom amongst advanced nations, such as the ancient greeks or the modern british, are to be interpreted mainly by comparison with the similar institutions still flourishing amongst ruder peoples. secondly, all these ruder peoples themselves, without exception, have their survivals too. their customs fall as it were into two layers. on top is the live part of the fire. underneath are smouldering ashes, which, though dying out on the whole, are yet liable here and there to rekindle into flame. so much for custom as something on the face of it distinct from law, inasmuch as it seems to dispense with punishment. it remains to note, however, that brute force lurks behind custom, in the form of what bagehot has called "the persecuting tendency." just a boy at school who happens to offend against the unwritten code has his life made a burden by the rest of his mates, so in the primitive community the fear of a rough handling causes "i must not" to wait upon "i dare not." one has only to read mr. andrew lang's instructive story of the fate of "why why, the first radical," to realize how amongst savages--and is it so very different amongst ourselves?--it pays much better to be respectable than to play the moral hero. * * * * * let us pass on to examine the beginnings of punitive law. after all, even under the sway of custom, casual outbreaks are liable to occur. some one's passions will prove too much for him, and there will be an accident. what happens then in the primitive society? let us first consider one of the very unorganized communities at the bottom of the evolutionary scale; as, for example, the little negritos of the andaman islands. their justice, explains mr. man, in his excellent account of these people, is administered by the simple method of allowing the aggrieved party to take the law into his own hands. this he usually does by flinging a burning faggot at the offender, or by discharging an arrow at him, though more frequently near him. meanwhile all others who may be present are apt to beat a speedy retreat, carrying off as much of their property as their haste will allow, and remaining hid in the jungle until sufficient time has elapsed for the quarrel to have blown over. sometimes, however, friends interpose, and seek to deprive the disputants of their weapons. should, however, one of them kill the other, nothing is necessarily said or done to him by the rest. yet conscience makes cowards of us all; so that the murderer, from prudential motives, will not uncommonly absent himself until he judges that the indignation of the victim's friends has sufficiently abated. now here we seem to find want of social structure and want of law going together as cause and effect. the "friends" of whom we hear need to be organized into a police force. if we now turn to totemic society, with its elaborate clan-system, it is quite another story. blood-revenge ranks amongst the foremost of the clansman's social obligations. over the whole world it stands out by itself as the type of all that law means for the savage. within the clan, indeed, the maxim of blood for blood does not hold; though there may be another kind of punitive law put into force by the totemites against an erring brother, as, for instance, if they slay one of their number for disregarding the exogamic rule and consorting with a woman who is all-one-flesh with him. but, between clans of the same tribe, the system of blood-revenge requires strict reprisals, according to the principle that some one on the other side, though not necessarily the actual murderer, must die the death. this is known as the principle of collective responsibility; and one of the most interesting problems relating to the evolution of early law is to work out how individual responsibility gradually develops out of collective, until at length, even as each man does, so likewise he suffers. the collective method of settling one's grievances is natural enough, when men are united into groups bound together by the closest of sentimental ties, and on the other hand there is no central and impartial authority to arbitrate between the parties. one of our crew has been killed by one of your crew. so a stand-up fight takes place. of course we should like to get at the right man if we could; but, failing that, we are out to kill some one in return, just to teach your crew a lesson. comparatively early in the day, however, it strikes the savage mind that there are degrees of responsibility. for instance, some one has to call the avenging party together, and to lead it. he will tend to be a real blood-relation, son, father, or brother. thus he stands out as champion, whilst the rest are in the position of mere seconds. correspondingly, the other side will tend to thrust forward the actual offender into the office of counter-champion. there is direct evidence to show that, amongst australians, eskimo, and so on, whole groups at one time met in battle, but later on were represented by chosen individuals, in the persons of those who were principals in the affair. thus we arrive at the duel. the transition is seen in such a custom as that of the port lincoln black-fellows. the brother of the murdered man must engage the murderer; but any one on either side who might care to join in the fray was at liberty to do so. hence it is but a step to the formal duel, as found, for instance, amongst the apaches of north america. now the legal duel is an advance on the collective bear-fight, if only because it brings home to the individual perpetrator of the crime that he will have to answer for it. cranz, the great authority on the eskimo of greenland, naively remarks that a greenlander dare not murder or otherwise wrong another, since it might possibly cost him the life of his best friend. did the greenlander know that it would probably cost him his own life, his sense of responsibility, we may surmise, might be somewhat quickened. on the other hand, duelling is not a satisfactory way of redressing the balance, since it merely gives the powerful bully an opportunity of adding a second murder to the first. hence the ordeal marks an advance in legal evolution. a good many australian peoples, for example, have reached the stage of requiring the murderer to submit to a shower of spears or boomerangs at the hands of the aggrieved group, on the mutual understanding that the blood-revenge ends here. luckily, however, for the murderer, it often takes time to bring him to book; and angry passions are apt in the meanwhile to subside. the ruder savages are not so bloodthirsty as we are apt to imagine. war has evolved like everything else; and with it has evolved the man who likes fighting for its own sake. so, in place of a life for a life, compensation--"pacation," as it is technically termed--comes to be recognized as a reasonable _quid pro quo_. constantly we find custom at the half-way stage. if the murderer is caught soon, he is killed; but if he can stave off the day of justice, he escapes with a fine. when private property has developed, the system of blood-fines becomes most elaborate. amongst the iroquois the manslayer must redeem himself from death by means of no less than sixty presents to the injured kin; one to draw the axe out of the wound, a second to wipe the blood away, a third to restore peace to the land, and so forth. according to the collective principle, the clansmen on one side share the price of atonement, and on the other side must tax themselves in order to make it up. shares are on a scale proportionate to degrees of relationship. or, again, further nice calculations are required, if it is sought to adjust the gross amount of the payment to the degree of guilt. hence it is not surprising that, when a more or less barbarous people, such as the anglo-saxons, came to require a written law, it should be almost entirely taken up by regulations about blood-fines, that had become too complicated for the people any longer to keep in their heads. so far we have been considering the law of blood-revenge as purely an affair between the clans concerned; the rest of the tribal public keeping aloof, very much in the style of the andamanese bystanders who retire into the jungle when there is a prospect of a row. but with the development of a central authority, whether in the shape of the rule of many or of one, the public control of the blood-feud begins to assert itself; for the good reason that endless vendetta is a dissolving force, which the larger and more stable type of society cannot afford to tolerate if it is to survive. the following are a few instances illustrative of the transition from private to public jurisdiction. in north america, africa, and elsewhere, we find the chief or chiefs pronouncing sentence, but the clan or family left to carry it out as best they can. again, the kin may be entrusted with the function of punishment, but obliged to carry it out in the way prescribed by the authorities; as, for instance, in abyssinia, where the nearest relation executes the manslayer in the presence of the king, using exactly the same kind of weapon as that with which the murder was committed. or the right of the kin to punish dwindles to a mere form. thus in afghanistan the elders make a show of handing over the criminal to his accusers, who must, however, comply strictly with the wishes of the assembly; whilst in samoa the offender was bound and deposited before the family "as if to signify that he lay at their mercy," and the chief saw to the rest. finally, the state, in the person of its executive officers, both convicts and executes. when the state is represented by a single ruler, crime tends to become an offence against "the king's peace"--or, in the language of roman law, against his "majesty." henceforward, the easy-going system of getting off with a fine is at an end, and murder is punished with the utmost sternness. in such a state as dahomey, in the old days of independence, there may have been a good deal of barbarity displayed in the administration of justice, but at any rate human life was no less effectively protected by the law than it was, say, in mediaeval europe. * * * * * the evolution of the punishment of murder affords the typical instance of the development of a legal sanction in primitive society. other forms, however, of the forcible repression of wrong-doing deserve a more or less passing notice. adultery is, even amongst the ruder peoples, a transgression that is reckoned only a degree less grave than manslaughter; especially as manslaughter is a usual consequence of it, quarrels about women constituting one of the chief sources of trouble in the savage world. with a single interesting exception, the stages in the development of the law against adultery are exactly the same as in the case already examined. whole kins fight about it. then duelling is substituted. then duelling gives way to the ordeal. then, after the penalty has long wavered between death and a fine, fines become the rule, so long as the kins are allowed to settle the matter. if, however, the community comes to take cognizance of the offence, severer measures ensue. the one noticeable difference in the two developments is the following. whereas murder is an offence against the chief's "majesty," and as such a criminal offence, adultery, like theft, with which primitive law is wont to associate it as an offence against property, tends to remain a purely civil affair. kafir law, for example, according to maclean, draws this distinction very clearly. it remains to add as regards adultery that, so far, we have only been considering the punishment that falls on the guilty man. the guilty woman's fate is a matter relating to a distinct department of primitive law. family jurisdiction, as we find it, for instance, in an advanced community such as ancient rome, meant the right of the _pater familias_, the head of the house, to subject his _familia_, or household, which included his wife, his children (up to a certain age), and his slaves, to such domestic discipline as he saw fit. such family jurisdiction was more or less completely independent of state jurisdiction; and, indeed, has remained so in europe until comparatively recent times. what light, then, does the study of primitive society throw on the first beginnings of family law as administered by the house-father? to answer this question at all adequately would involve the writing of many pages on the evolution of the family. for our present purpose, all turns on the distinction between the matripotestal and the patripotestal family. if the man and the woman were left to fight it out alone, the latter, despite the "shrewish sanction" that she possesses in her tongue, must inevitably bow to the principle that might is right. but, as long as marriage is matrilocal--that is to say, allows the wife to remain at home amongst male defenders of her own clan--she can safely lord it over her stranger husband; and there can scarcely be adultery on her part, since she can always obtain divorce by simply saying, go! things grow more complicated when the wife lives amongst her husband's people, and, nevertheless, the system of counting descent favours her side of the family and not his. does the mere fact that descent is matrilineal tend to imply on the whole that the mother's kin take a more active interest in her, and are more effective in protecting her from hurt, whether undeserved or deserved? it is no easy problem to settle. dr. steinmetz, however, in his important work on _the evolution of punishment_ (in german), seeks to show that under mother-right, in all its forms taken together, the adulteress is more likely to escape with a light penalty, or with none at all, than under father-right. whatever be the value of the statistical method that he employs, at any rate it makes out the death penalty to be inflicted in only a third of his cases under the former system, but in about half under the latter. * * * * * we must be content with a mere glance at other types of wrong-doing which, whilst sooner or later recognized by the law of the community, affect its members in their individual capacity. theft and slander are cases in point. amongst the ruder savages there cannot be much stealing, because there is next to nothing to steal. nevertheless, groups are apt to quarrel over hunting and fishing claims; whilst the division of the spoils of the chase may give rise to disputes, which call for the interposition of leading men. we even occasionally find amongst australians the formal duel employed to decide cases of the violation of property-rights. not, however, until the arts of life have advanced, and wealth has created the two classes of "haves" and "have-nots," does theft become an offence of the first magnitude, which the central authority punishes with corresponding severity. as regards slander, though it might seem a slight matter, it must be remembered that the savage cannot stand up for a moment again an adverse public opinion; so that to rob him of his good name is to take away all that makes life worth living. to shout out, long-nose! sunken-eyes! or skin-and-bone! usually leads to a fight in andamanese circles, as mr. man informs us. nor, again, is it conducive to peace in australian society to sing as follows about the staying-powers of a fellow-tribesman temporarily overtaken by european liquor: "spirit like emu--as a whirlwind--pursues--lays violent hold on travelling--uncle of mine (this being particularly derisive)--tired out with fatigue--throws himself down helpless." amongst more advanced peoples, therefore, slander and abuse are sternly checked. they constitute a ground for a civil action in kafir law; whilst we even hear of an african tribe, the ba-ngindo, who rejoice in the special institution of a peace-maker, whose business is to compose troubles arising from this vexatious source. * * * * * let us now turn to another class of offences, such as, from the first, are regarded as so prejudicial to the public interest that the community as a whole must forcibly put them down. cases of what may be termed military discipline fall under this head. even when the functions of the commander are undeveloped, and war is still "an affair of armed mobs," shirking--a form of crime which, to do justice to primitive society, is rare--is promptly and effectively resented by the host. amongst american tribes the coward's arms are taken away from him; he is made to eat with the dogs; or perhaps a shower of arrows causes him to "run the gauntlet." the traitor, on the other hand, is inevitably slain without mercy--tied to a tree and shot, or, it may be, literally hacked to pieces. naturally, with the evolution of war, these spontaneous outbursts of wrath and disgust give way to a more formal system of penalties. to trace out this development fully, however, would entail a lengthy disquisition on the growth of kingship in one of its most important aspects. if constant fighting turns the tribe into something like a standing army, the position of war-lord, as, for instance, amongst the zulus, is bound to become both permanent and of all-embracing authority. there is, however, another side to the history of kingship, as the following considerations will help to make clear. public safety is construed by the ruder type of man not so much in terms of freedom from physical danger--unless such a danger, the onset of another tribe, for instance, is actually imminent--as in terms of freedom from spiritual, or mystic, danger. the fear of ill-luck, in other words, is the bogy that haunts him night and day. hence his life is enmeshed, as dr. frazer puts it, in a network of taboos. a taboo is anything that one must not do lest ill-luck befall. and ill-luck is catching, like an infectious disease. if my next-door neighbour breaks a taboo, and brings down a visitation on himself, depend upon it some of its unpleasant consequences will be passed on to me and mine. hence, if some one has committed an act that is not merely a crime but a sin, it is every one's concern to wipe out that sin; which is usually done by wiping out the sinner. mobbish feeling always inclines to violence. in the mob, as a french psychologist has said, ideas neutralize each other, but emotions aggrandize each other. now war-feeling is a mobbish experience that, i daresay, some of my readers have tasted; and we have seen how it leads the unorganized levy of a savage tribe to make short work of the coward and traitor. but war-fever is a mild variety of mobbish experience as compared with panic in any form, and with superstitious panic most of all. being attacked in the dark, as it were, causes the strongest to lose their heads. hence it is not hard to understand how it comes about that the violator of a taboo is the central object of communal vengeance in primitive society. the most striking instance of such a taboo-breaker is the man or woman who disregards the prohibition against marriage within the kin--in other words, violates the law of exogamy. to be thus guilty of incest is to incite in the community at large a horror which, venting itself in what bagehot calls a "wild spasm of wild justice," involves certain death for the offender. to interfere with a grave, to pry into forbidden mysteries, to eat forbidden meats, and so on, are further examples of transgressions liable to be thus punished. falling under the same general category of sin, though distinct from the violation of taboo, is witchcraft. this consists in trafficking, or at any rate in being supposed to traffic, with powers of evil for sinister and anti-social ends. we have only to remember how england, in the seventeenth century, could work itself up into a frenzy on this account to realize how, in an african society even of the better sort, the "smelling-out" and destroying of a witch may easily become a general panacea for quieting the public nerves. when crimes and sins, affairs of state and affairs of church thus overlap and commingle in primitive jurisprudence, it is no wonder if the functions of those who administer the law should tend to display a similar fusion of aspects. the chief, or king, has a "divine right," and is himself in one or another sense divine, even whilst he takes the lead in regard to all such matters as are primarily secular. the earliest written codes, such as the mosaic books of the law, with their strange medley of injunctions concerning things profane and sacred, accurately reflect the politico-religious character of all primitive authority. indeed, it is only by an effort of abstraction that the present chapter has been confined to the subject of law, as distinguished from the subject of the following chapter, namely, religion. any crime, as notably murder, and even under certain circumstances theft, is apt to be viewed by the ruder peoples either as a violation of taboo, or as some closely related form of sin. nay, within the limits of the clan, legal punishment can scarcely be said to be in theory possible; the sacredness of the blood-tie lending to any chastisement that may be inflicted on an erring kinsman the purely religious complexion of a sacrifice, an act of excommunication, a penance, or what not. thus almost insensibly we are led on to the subject of religion from the study of the legal sanction; this very term "sanction," which is derived from roman law, pointing in the same direction, since it originally stood for the curse which was appended in order to secure the inviolability of a legal enactment. chapter viii religion "how can there be a history of religions?" once objected a french senator. "for either one believes in a religion, and then everything in it appears natural; or one does not believe in it, and then everything in it appears absurd!" this was said some thirty years ago, when it was a question of founding the now famous chair of the general history of religions at the college de france. at that time, such chairs were almost unheard of. now-a-days the more important universities of the world, to reckon them alone, can show at least thirty. what is the significance of this change? it means that the parochial view of religion is out of date. the religious man has to be a man of the world, a man of the wider world, an anthropologist. he has to recognize that there is a "soul of truth" in other religions besides his own. it will be replied--and i fully realize the force of the objection--that history, and therefore anthropology, has nothing to do with truth or falsehood--in a word, with value. in strict theory, this is so. its business is to describe and generalize fact; and religion from first to last might be pure illusion or even delusion, and it would be fact none the less on that account. at the same time, being men, we all find it hard, nay impossible, to study mankind impartially. when we say that we are going to play the historian, or the anthropologist, and to put aside for the time being all consideration of the moral of the story we seek to unfold, we are merely undertaking to be as fair all round as we can. willy nilly, however, we are sure to colour our history, to the extent, at any rate, of taking a hopeful or a gloomy view of man's past achievements, as bearing on his present condition and his future prospects. in the same way, then, i do not believe that we can help thinking to ourselves all the time, when we are tracing out the history of world-religion, either that there is "nothing in it" at all, or that there is "something in it," whatever form it assume, and whether it hold itself to be revealed (as it almost always does) or not. on the latter estimate of religion, however, it is still quite possible to judge that one form of religion is infinitely higher and better than another. religion, regarded historically, is in evolution. the best form of religion that we can attain to is inevitably the best for us; but, as a worse form preceded it, so a better form, we must allow and even desire, may follow. now, frankly, i am one of those who take the more sympathetic view of historical religion; an i say so at once, in case my interpretation of the facts turn out to be coloured by this sanguine assumption. moreover, i think that we may easily exaggerate the differences in culture and, more especially, in religious insight and understanding that exist between the ruder peoples and ourselves. in view of our common hope, and our common want of knowledge, i would rather identify religion with a general striving of humanity than with the exclusive pretension of any one people or sect. who knows, for instance, the final truth about what happens to the soul at death? i am quite ready to admit, indeed, that some of us can see a little farther into a brick wall than, say, neanderthal man. yet when i find facts that appear to prove that neanderthal man buried his dead with ceremony, and to the best of his means equipped them for a future life, i openly confess that i would rather stretch out a hand across the ages and greet him as my brother and fellow-pilgrim than throw in my lot with the self-righteous folk who seem to imagine this world and the next to have been created for their exclusive benefit. now the trouble with anthropologists is to find a working definition of religion on which they can agree. christianity is religion, all would have to admit. again, mahomedanism is religion, for all anthropological purposes. but, when a naked savage "dances" his god--when the spoken part of the rite simply consists, as amongst the south-eastern australians, in shouting "daramulun! daramulun!" (the god's name), so that we cannot be sure whether the dancers are indulging in a prayer or in an incantation--is that religion? or, worse still, suppose that no sort of personal god can be discovered at the back of the performance--which consists, let us say, as amongst the central australians, in solemnly rubbing a bull-roarer on the stomach, so that its mystic virtues may cause the man to become "good" and "glad" and "strong" (for that is his own way of describing the spiritual effects)--is that religion, in any sense that can link it historically with, say, the christian type of religion? no, say some, these low-class dealings with the unseen are magic, not religion. the rude folk in question do not go the right way about putting themselves into touch with the unseen. they try to put pressure on the unseen, to control it. they ought to conciliate it, by bowing to its will. their methods may be earnest, but they are not propitiatory. there is too much "my will be done" about it all. unfortunately, two can play at this game of _ex-parte_ definition. the more unsympathetic type of historian, relentlessly pursuing the clue afforded by this distinction between control and conciliation, professes himself able to discover plenty of magic even in the higher forms of religion. the rite as such--say, churchgoing as such--appears to be reckoned by some of the devout as not without a certain intrinsic efficacy. "very well," says this school, "then a good deal of average christianity is magic." my own view, then, is that this distinction will only lead us into trouble. and, to my mind, it adds to the confusion if it be further laid down, as some would do, that this sort of dealing with the unseen which, on the face of it, and according to our notions, seems rather mechanical (being, as it were, an effort to get a hold on some hidden force) is so far from being akin to religion that its true affinity is with natural science. the natural science of to-day, i quite admit, has in part evolved out of experiments with the occult; just as law, fine art, and almost every other one of our higher interests have likewise done. but just so long and so far as it was occult science, i would maintain, it was not natural science at all, but, as it were, rather supernatural science. besides, much of our natural science has grown up out of straightforward attempts to carry out mechanical work on industrial lines--to smelt iron, let us say; but since then, as now, there were numerous trade-secrets, an atmosphere of mystery was apt to surround the undertaking, which helped to give it the air of a trafficking with the uncanny. but because science then, as even now sometimes, was thought by the ignorant to be somehow closely associated with all the powers of evil, it does not follow that then or now the true affinity of science must be with the devil. magic and religion, according to the view i would support, belong to the same department of human experience--one of the two great departments, the two worlds, one might almost call them, into which human experience, throughout its whole history, has been divided. together they belong to the supernormal world, the _x_-region of experience, the region of mental twilight. magic i take to include all bad ways, and religion all good ways, of dealing with the supernormal--bad and good, of course, not as we may happen to judge them, but as the society concerned judges them. sometimes, indeed, the people themselves hardly know where to draw the line between the two; and, in that case, the anthropologist cannot well do it for them. but every primitive society thinks witchcraft bad. witchcraft consists in leaguing oneself with supernormal powers of evil in order to effect selfish and anti-social ends. witchcraft, then, is genuine magic--black magic of the devil's colour. on the other hand, every primitive society also distinguishes certain salutary ways of dealing with supernormal powers. all these ways taken together constitute religion. for the rest, there will always be a mass of more or less evaporated beliefs, going with practices that have more or less lost their hold on the community. these belong to the folklore which every people has. under this or some closely related head must also be set down the mass of mere wonder-tales, due to the play of fancy, and without direct bearing on the serious pursuits of life. the world to which neither magic nor religion belongs, but to which physical science, the knowledge of how to deal mechanically with material things, does belong wholly, is the workaday world, the region of normal, commonplace, calculable happenings. with our telescopes and microscopes we see farther and deeper into things than does the savage. yet the savage has excellent eyes. what he sees he sees. consequently, we must duly allow for the fact that there is for him, as well as for us, a "natural," that is to say, normal and workaday world; even though it be far narrower in extent than ours. the savage is not perpetually spook-haunted. on the contrary, when he is engaged on the daily round, and all is going well, he is as careless and happy as a child. but savage life has few safeguards. crisis is a frequent, if intermittent, element in it. hunger, sickness and war are examples of crisis. birth and death are crises. marriage is usually regarded by humanity as a crisis. so is initiation--the turning-point in one's career, when one steps out into the world of men. now what, in terms of mind, does crisis mean? it means that one is at one's wits' end; that the ordinary and expected has been replaced by the extraordinary and unexpected; that we are projected into the world of the unknown. and in that world of the unknown we must miserably abide until, somehow, confidence is restored. psychologically regarded, then, the function of religion is to restore men's confidence when it is shaken by crisis. men do not seek crisis; they would always run away from it, if they could. crisis seeks them; and, whereas the feebler folk are ready to succumb, the bolder spirits face it. religion is the facing of the unknown. it is the courage in it that brings comfort.[ ] [footnote : the courage involved in all live religion normally coexists with a certain modesty or humility. i have tried to work out this point elsewhere in a short study entitled _the birth of humility_.] we must go on, however, to consider religion sociologically. a religion is the effort to face crisis, so far as that effort is organized by society in some particular way. a religion is congregational--that is to say, serves the ends of a number of persons simultaneously. it is traditional--that is to say, has served the ends of successive generations of persons. therefore inevitably it has standardized a method. it involves a routine, a ritual. also it involves some sort of conventional doctrine, which is, as it were, the inner side of the ritual--its lining. now in what follows i shall insist, in the first instance, on this sociological side of religion. for anthropological purposes it is the sounder plan. we must altogether eschew that "robinson crusoe method" which consists in reconstructing the creed of a solitary savage, who is supposed to evolve his religion out of his inner consciousness: "the mountain frowns, therefore it is alive"; "i move about in my dreams whilst my body lies still, therefore i have a soul," and so on. no doubt somebody had to think these things, for they are thoughts. but he did not think them, at any rate did not think them out, alone. men thought them out together; nay, whole ages of living and thinking together have gone to make them what they are. so a social method is needed to explain them. the religion of a savage is part of his custom; nay, rather, it is his whole custom so far as it appears sacred--so far as it coerces him by way of his imagination. between him and the unknown stands nothing but his custom. it is his all-in-all, his stand-by, his faith and his hope. being thus the sole source of his confidence, his custom, so far as his imagination plays about it, becomes his "luck." we may say that any and every custom, in so far as it is regarded as lucky, is a religious rite. hence the conservatism inherent in religion. "nothing," says robertson smith, "appeals so strongly as religion to the conservative instincts." "the history of religion," once exclaimed dr. frazer, "is a long attempt to reconcile old custom with new reason, to find a sound theory for absurd practice." at first sight one is apt to see nothing but the absurdities in savage custom and religion. after all, these are what strike us most, being the curiosity-hunters that we all are. but savage custom and religion must be taken as a whole, the bad side with the good. of course, if we have to do with a primitive society on the down-grade--and very few that have been "civilizaded," as john stuart mill terms it, at the hands of the white man are not on the down-grade--its disorganized and debased custom no longer serves a vital function. but a healthy society is bound, in a wholesale way, to have a healthy custom. though it may go about the business in a queer and roundabout fashion, it must hit off the general requirements of the situation. therefore i shall not waste time, as i might easily do, in piling up instances of outlandish "superstitions," whether horrible and disgusting, from our more advanced point of view, or merely droll and silly. on the contrary, i would rather make it my working assumption that, with all its apparent drawbacks, the religion of a human society, if the latter be a going concern, is always something to be respected. in considering, however, the relation of religion to custom, we are met by the apparent difficulty that, whereas custom implies "do," the prevailing note of primitive religion would seem rather to consist in "do not." but there is really no antagonism between them on this account. as the old greek proverb has it, "there is only one way of going right, but there are infinite ways of going wrong." hence, a nice observance of custom of itself involves endless taboos. since a given line of conduct is lucky, then this or that alternative course of behaviour must be unlucky. there is just this difference between positive customs or rites, which cause something to be done, and negative customs or rites, which cause something to be left undone, that the latter appeal more exclusively to the imagination for their sanction, and are therefore more conspicuously and directly a part of religion. "why should i do this?" is answered well-nigh sufficiently by saying, "because it is the custom, because it is right." it seems hardly necessary to add, "because it will bring luck." but "why should i not do something else instead?" meets, in the primitive society, with the invariable answer, "because, if you do, something awful will happen to us all." what precise shape the ill-luck will take need not be specified. the suggestion rather gains than loses by the indefiniteness of its appeal to the imagination. * * * * * to understand more clearly the difference between negative and positive types of custom as associated with religion, let us examine in some detail an example of each. it will be well to select our cases from amongst those that show the custom and the religion to be quite inseparable--to be, in short, but two aspects of one and the same fact. now nothing could be more commonplace and secular a custom than that of providing for one's dinner. yet for primitive society this custom tends to be likewise a rite--a rite which may, however, be mainly negative and precautionary, or mainly positive and practical in character, as we shall now see. the todas, so well described by dr. rivers, are a small community, less than a thousand all told, who have retired out of the stress of the world into the fastnesses of the nilgiri hills, in southern india, where they spend a safe but decidedly listless life. they are in a backwater, and are likely to remain there. at any rate, their religion is not such as to make them more enterprising. gods they may be said to have none. the bare names of certain deities of the hill-tops are retained, but whether these were once the honoured gods of the todas or, as some think, those of a former race, certain it is that there is more shadow than substance about them now. the real religion of the people centres round a dairy-ritual. from a practical and economic point of view, the work of the dairy consists in converting the milk of their buffaloes into the butter and buttermilk which constitute their staple diet. from a religious point of view, it consists in converting something they dare not eat into something they can eat. many, though not all, of their buffaloes are sacred, and their milk may not be drunk. the reason why it may not be drunk anthropologists may cast about to discover, but the todas themselves do not know. all that they know, and are concerned to know, is that things would somehow all go wrong, if any one were foolish enough to commit such a sin. so in the toda temple, which is a dairy, the toda priest, who is the dairyman, sets about rendering the sacred products harmless. the dairy has two compartments--one sacred, the other profane. in the first are stored the sacred vessels, into which the milk is placed when it comes from the buffaloes, and in which it is turned into butter and buttermilk with the help of some of the previous brew, this having meanwhile been put by in an especially sacred vessel. in the second compartment are profane vessels, destined to receive the butter and buttermilk, after they have been carefully transferred from the sacred vessels with the help of an intermediary vessel, which stands exactly on the line between the two compartments. this transference, being carried out to the accompaniment of all sorts of reverential gestures and utterances, secures such a profanation of the sacred substance as is without the evil consequences that would otherwise be entailed. thus the ritual is essentially precautionary. a taboo is the hinge of the whole affair. and the tendency of such a negative type of religion is to pile precautions on precautions. thus the dairyman, in order to be equal to his sacred office, must observe taboos without end. he must be celibate. he must avoid all contact with the dead. he is limited to certain kinds of food; which, moreover, must be prepared in a certain way, and consumed in a certain place. his drink, again, is a special milk, which must be poured out with prescribed formulas. he is inaccessible to ordinary folk save on certain days and in certain ways, their mode of approach, their salutations, his greeting in reply, being all regulated with the utmost nicety. he can only wear a special garb. he must never cut his hair. his nails must be suffered to grow long. and so on and so forth. such disabilities, indeed, are wont to circumscribe the life of all sacred persons, and can be matched from every part of the world. but they may fairly be cited here, as helping to fill in the picture of what i have called the precautionary or negative type of religious ritual. further, there is something rotten in the state of toda religion. the dairymen struck dr. rivers as very slovenly in the performance of their duties, as well as vague and inaccurate in their accounts of what ought to be done. indeed, it was hard to find persons willing to undertake the office. ritual duties involving uncomfortable taboos were apt to be thrust on youngsters. the youngsters, being youngsters, would probably violate the taboos; but anyway that was their look-out. from evasions to fictions is but a step. hence when an unclean person approached the dairyman, the latter would simply pretend not to see him. or the rule that he must not enter a hut, if women were within, would be circumvented by simply removing from the dwelling the three emblems of womanhood, the pounder, the sieve, and the sweeper; whereupon his "face was saved." now wherefore all this lack of earnestness? dr. rivers thinks that too much ritual was the reason. i agree; but would venture to add, "too much negative ritual." a religion that is all dodging must produce a sneaking kind of worshipper. now let us turn another type of primitive religion that is equally identified with the food-quest, but allied to its positive and active functions, which it seeks to help out. messrs. spencer and gillen have given us a most minute account of certain ceremonies of the arunta, a people of central australia. these ceremonies they have named _intichiuma_, and the name will probably stick, though there is reason to believe that the native word for them is really something different. their purpose is to make the food-animals and food-plants multiply and prosper. each animal or plant is attended to by the group that has it for a totem. (totemism amongst this very remarkable people has nothing to do either with exogamy or with lineage; but that is a subject into which it is impossible to go here.) the rites vary considerably from totem to totem, but a typical case or two may be cited. the witchetty-grub men, for instance, want the grubs to multiply, that there may be plenty for their fellows to eat. so they wend their way along a certain path which tradition declares to have been traversed by the great leader of the witchetty-grubs of the days of long ago. (these were grubs transformed into men, who became by reincarnation ancestors of the present totemites.) the path brings them to a place in the hills where there is a big stone surrounded by many small stones. the big stone is the adult animal, the little stones are its eggs. so first they tap the big stone, chanting an invitation to it to lay eggs. then the master of the ceremonies rubs the stomach of each totemite with the little stones, and says, "you have eaten much food." or, again, the kangaroo men repair to a place called undiara. it is a picturesque spot. by the side of a water-hole that is sheltered by a tall gum-tree rises a curiously gnarled and weather-beaten face of quartzite rock. about twenty feet from the base a ledge juts out. when the totemites hold their ceremony, they repair to this ledge. for here in the days of long ago the ancestors who are now reincarnated in them cooked and ate kangaroo food; and here, moreover, the kangaroo animals of that time deposited their spirit-parts. first the face of the rock below the ledge is decorated with long stripes of red ochre and white gypsum, to represent the red fur and white bones of the kangaroo. it is, in fact, one of those rock-paintings such as the palaeolithic men of europe made in their caves. then a number of men, say, seven or eight, mount upon the ledge, and, whilst the rest sing solemn chants about the prospective increase of the kangaroos, these men open veins in their arms, so that the blood flows down freely upon the ceremonial stone. this is the first part of the rite. the second part is no less interesting. after the blood-letting, they hunt until they kill a kangaroo. thereupon the old men of the totem eat a little of the meat; then they smear some of the fat on the bodies of all the party; finally, they divide the flesh amongst them. afterwards, the totemites paint their bodies with stripes in imitation of the design upon the rock. a second hunt, followed by a second sacramental meal, concludes the whole ceremony. that their meal is sacramental, a sort of communion service, is proved by the fact that henceforth in an ordinary way they allow themselves to partake of kangaroo meat at most but very sparingly, and of certain portions of the flesh not at all. one more example of these rites may be cited, in order to bring out the earnestness of this type of religion, which is concerned with doing, instead of mere not-doing. there is none of the toda perfunctoriness here. it will be enough to glance at the commencement of the ritual of the honey-ant totemites. the master of the ceremonies places his hand as if he were shading his eyes, and gazes intently in the direction of the sacred place to which they are about to repair. as he does so, the rest kneel, forming a straight line behind him. in this position they remain for some time, whilst the leader chants in a subdued tone. then all stand up. the company must now start. the leader, who has fallen to the rear, that he may marshal the column in perfect line, gives the signal. then they move off in single file, taking a direct course to the holy ground, marching in perfect silence, and with measured step, as if something of the profoundest import were about to take place. i make no apology for describing these proceedings at some length. it is necessary to my argument to convey the impression that the essentials of religion are present in these apparently godless observances of the ruder peoples. they arise directly out of custom--in this case the hunting custom. their immediate design is to provide these people with their daily bread. yet their appeal to the imagination--which in religion, as in science, art, and philosophy, is the impulse that presides over all progress, all creative evolution--is such that the food-quest is charged with new and deeper meaning. not bread alone, but something even more sustaining to the life of man, is suggested by these tangled and obscure solemnities. they are penetrated by quickenings of sacrifice, prayer, and communion. they bring to bear on the need of the hour all the promise of that miraculous past, which not only cradled the race, but still yields it the stock of reincarnated soul-force that enables it to survive. if, then, these rites are part and parcel of mere magic, most, or all, of what the world knows as religion must be mere magic. but it is better for anthropology to call things by the names that they are known by in the world of men--that is, in the wider world, not in some corner or coterie of it. * * * * * in order to bring out more fully the second point that i have been trying to make, namely, the close interdependence between religion and custom in primitive society, let me be allowed to quote one more example of the ritual of a rude people. and again let us resort to native australia, though this time to the south-eastern corner of it; since in australia we have a cultural development on the whole very low, having been as it were arrested through isolation, yet one that turns out to be not incompatible with high religion in the making. initiation in native australia is the equivalent of what is known amongst ourselves as the higher education. the only difference is that, with them, every one who is not judged utterly unfit is duly initiated; whereas, with us, the higher education is offered to some who are unfit, whilst many who are fit never have the luck to get it. the initiation-custom is intended to tide the boys over the difficult time of puberty, and turn them into responsible men. the whole of the adult males assist in the ceremonies. special men, however, are told off to tutor the youth--a lengthy business, since it entails a retirement, perhaps for six months, into the bush with their charges; who are there taught the tribal traditions, and are generally admonished, sometimes forcibly, for their good. further, this is rather like a retirement into a monastery for the young men, seeing that during all the time they are strictly taboo, or in other words in a holy state that involves much fasting and mortification of the flesh. at last comes the time when their actual passage across the threshold of manhood has to be celebrated. the rites may be described in one word as impressive. society wishes to set a stamp on their characters, and believes in stamping hard. physically, then, the lads feel the force of society. a tooth is knocked out, they are tossed in the air to make them grow tall, and so on--rites that, whilst they may have separate occult ends in view, are completely at one in being highly unpleasant. spiritual means of education, however, are always more effective than physical, if designed and applied with sufficient wisdom. the bull-roarer, of which something has been already said, furnishes the ceremonies with a background of awe. it fills the woods, that surround the secret spot where the rites are held, with the rise and fall of its weird music, suggestive of a mighty rushing wind, of spirits in the air. not until the boys graduate as men do they learn how the sound is produced. even when they do learn this, the mystery of the voice speaking through the chip of wood merely wings the imagination for loftier flights. whatever else the high god of these mysteries, daramulun, may be for these people--and undoubtedly all sorts of trains of confused thinking meet in the notion of him--he is at any rate the god of the bull-roarer, who has put his voice into the sacred instrument. but daramulun is likewise endowed with a human form; for they set up an image of him rudely shaped in wood, and round about it dance and shout his name. daramulun instituted these rites, as well as all the other immemorial rites of the assembled tribe or tribes. so when over the heads of the boys, prostrated on the ground, are recited solemnly what mr. lang calls "the ten commandments," that bid them honour the elders, respect the marriage law, and so on, there looms up before their minds the figure of the ultimate law-giver; whilst his unearthly voice becomes for them the voice of the law. thus is custom exalted, and its coercive force amplified, by the suggestion of a power--in this case a definitely personal power--that "makes for righteousness," and, whilst beneficent, is full of terror for offenders. * * * * * and now it may seem high time to pass on from the sociological and external view that has hitherto been taken of primitive religion to a psychological view of it--one that should endeavour to disclose the hidden motives, the spiritual sources, of the beliefs that underlie and sustain the customary practices. but precisely at this point the anthropological treatment of religion is apt to prove unsatisfactory. history can record that such and such is done with far more certainty than that such and such a state of mind accompanies and inspires the doing. besides, the savage is no authority on the why and wherefore of his customs. "however else would a reasonable being think of acting?" is his sufficient reason, as we have already seen. not but what the higher minds amongst savages reflect in their own way upon the meaning of their customs and rites. but most of this reflection is no more than an elaborate "justification after the event." the mind invents what mr. kipling would call a "just-so story" to account for something already there. how it might have come about, not how it did come about, is all that the professed explanation amounts to. and when it comes to choosing amongst mere possibilities, the anthropologist, instead of consulting the savage, may just as well endeavour to do it for himself. now anthropological theories of the origin of religion seem to me to go wrong mainly because they seek to simplify too much. having got down to what they take to be a root-idea, they straightway proclaim it _the_ root-idea. i believe that religion has just as few, or as many, roots as human life and mind. the theory of the origin of religion that may be said to hold the field, because it is the view of the greatest of living anthropologists, is dr. tylor's theory of animism. the term animism is derived from the latin _anima_, which--like the corresponding word _spiritus_, whence our "spirit"--signifies the breath, and hence the soul, which primitive folk tend to identify with the breath. dr. tylor's theory of animism, then, as set forth in his great work, _primitive culture_, is that "the belief in spiritual beings" will do as a definition of religion taken at its least; which for him means the same thing as taken at its earliest. now what is a "spiritual being"? clearly everything turns on that. dr. tylor's general treatment of the subject seems to lay most of the emphasis on the phantasm. a phantasm (as the etymology of the word shows) is essentially an appearance. in a dream or hallucination one sees figures, more or less dim, but still having "vaporous materiality." so, too, the shadow is something without body that one can see; though the breath, except on a frosty day, shows its subtle but yet sensible nature rather by being felt than by being seen. now there can be no doubt that the phantasm plays a considerable part in primitive religion (as well as in those fancies of the primitive mind that have never found their way into religion, at all events into religion as identified with organized cult). savages see ghosts, though probably not more frequently than we do; they have vivid dreams, and are much impressed by their dream-experiences; and so on. besides, the phantasm forms a very convenient half-way house between the seen and the unseen; and there can be no doubt that the savage often says breath, shadow, and so forth, when he is trying to think and mean something immaterial altogether. but animism would seem sometimes to be used by dr. tylor in a wider sense, namely, as "a doctrine of universal vitality." in dealing with the myths of the ruder peoples, as, for example, those about the sun, moon, and stars, he shows how "a general animation of nature" is implied. the primitive man reads himself into these things, which, according to our science, are without life or personality. he thinks that they have a different kind of body, but the same kind of feelings and motives. but this is not necessarily to think that they are capable of giving off a phantasm, as a man does when his soul temporarily leaves him, or when after death his soul becomes a ghost. there need be nothing ghost-like about the sun, whether it is imagined as a shining orb, or as a shining being of human shape to whom the orb belongs. there is not anything in the least phantasmal about the greek god apollo. i think, then, that we had better distinguish this wider sense of animism by a different name, calling it "animatism," since that will serve at once to disconnect and to connect the two conceptions. i am not sure, however, how far we ought to press this "doctrine of universal vitality." does a savage, for instance, when he is hammering at a piece of flint think of it as other than a "thing," any more than we should? i doubt it. he may say "confound you!" if it suddenly snaps in two, just as we might do. but though the language may seem to imply a "you," he would mean, i believe, to impute to the flint just as much, or as little, of personality as we should mean to do when using similar language. in other words, i believe that, within the world of his ordinary work-a-day experience, he recognizes both things and persons; without giving a thought, in either case, to the hidden principles that make them be what they are, and act as they do. when, on the other hand, the thing, or the person, falls within the world of supernormal experience, when they strike the imagination as wonderful and wonder-working, then there is much more reason why he should seek to account to himself for the mystery in, or behind, the strange appearance. howitt, who knew his australian natives intimately, cites the following as "a good example of how the native mind works." to the black-fellow his club or his spear are part and parcel of his ordinary life. there is no, "medicine," no "devil," in them. if they are to be made supernaturally potent, they must be specially charmed. but it is quite otherwise with his spear-thrower or his bull-roarer. the former for no obvious reason enables him to throw his spear extraordinarily far. (i have myself seen an australian spear, with the help of the spear-thrower, fly a hundred and fifty yards, and strike true and deep at the end of its flight.) the latter emits the noise of thunder, though a mere chip of wood on the end of a string. these, then, are in themselves "medicine." there is "virtue" in, or behind, them. is, then, to attribute "virtue" the same thing, necessarily, as to attribute vitality? are the spear-thrower and the bull-roarer inevitably thought of as alive? or are they, as a matter of course, endowed with soul or spirit? or may there be also an impersonal kind of "virtue," "medicine," or whatever the wonder-working power in the wonder-working thing is to be called? now there is evidence that the savage himself, in speaking about these matters, sometimes says power, sometimes vitality, sometimes spirit. but the simplest way of disposing of these questions is to remember that such fine distinctions as these, which theorists may seek to draw, do not appeal at all to the savage himself. for him the only fact that matters is that, whereas some things in the world are ordinary, and can be reckoned on, other things cannot be reckoned on, but are wonder-working. moreover, of wonder-working things, some are good and some are bad. to get all the good kind of wonder-workers on to his side, so as to confound the bad kind--that is what his religion is there to do for him. "may blessings come, may mischiefs go!" is the import of his religious striving, whether anthropologists class it as spell or as prayer. now the function of religion, it has been assumed, is to restore confidence, when man is mazed, and out of his depth, fearful of the mysteries that obtrude on his life, yet compelled, if not exactly wishful, to face them and wrest from them whatever help is in them. this function religion fulfils by what may be described in one word as "suggestion." how the suggestion works psychologically--how, for instance, association of ideas, the so-called "sympathetic magic," predominates at the lower levels of religious experience--is a difficult and technical question which cannot be discussed here. religion stands by when there is something to be done, and suggests that it can be done well and successfully; nay, that it is being so done. and, when the religion is of the effective sort, the believers respond to the suggestion, and put the thing through. as the latin poet says, "they can because they think they can." what, from the anthropological point of view, is the effective sort of religion, the sort that survives because, on the whole, those whom it helps survive? it is dangerous to make sweeping generalizations, but there is at any rate a good deal to be said for classing the world's religions either as mechanical and ineffective, or as spiritual and effective. the mechanical kind offers its consolations in the shape of a set of implements. the "virtue" resides in certain rites and formularies. these, as we have seen, are especially liable to harden into mere mechanism when they are of the negative and precautionary type. the spiritual kind of religion, on the other hand, which is especially associated with the positive and active functions of life, tends to read will and personality into the wonder-working powers that it summons to man's aid. the will and personality in the worshippers are in need not so much of implements as of more will and personality. they get this from a spiritual kind of religion; which in one way or another always suggests a society, a communion, as at once the means and the end of vital betterment. to say that religion works by suggestion is only to say that it works through the imagination. there is good make-believe as well as bad; and one must necessarily imagine and make-believe in order to will. the more or less inarticulate and intuitional forces of the mind, however, need to be supplemented by the power of articulate reasoning, if the will is to make good its twofold character of a faculty of ends that is likewise a faculty of the means to those ends. suggestion, in short, must be purged by criticism before it can serve as the guide of the higher life. to bring this point out will be the object of the following chapter. chapter ix morality space is running out fast, and it is quite impossible to grapple with the details of so vast a subject as primitive morality. for these the reader must consult dr. westermarck's monumental treatise, _the origin and development of the moral ideas_, which brings together an immense quantity of facts, under a clear and comprehensive scheme of headings. he will discover, by the way, that, whereas customs differ immensely, the emotions, one may even say the sentiments, that form the raw material of morality are much the same everywhere. here it will be of most use to sketch the psychological groundwork of primitive morality, as contrasted with morality of the more advanced type. in pursuance of the plan hitherto followed, let us try to move yet another step on from the purely exterior view of human life towards our goal; which is to appreciate the true inwardness of human life--so far at least as this is matter for anthropology, which reaches no farther than the historic method can take it. it is, of course, open to question whether either primitive or advanced morality is sufficiently of one piece to allow, as it were, a composite photograph to be framed of either. for our present purposes, however, this expedient is so serviceable as to be worth risking. let us assume, then, that there are two main stages in the historical evolution of society, as considered from the standpoint of the psychology of conduct. i propose to term them the synnomic and the syntelic phases of society. "synnomic" (from the greek _nomos_, custom) means that customs are shared. "syntelic" (from the greek _telos_, end) means that ends are shared. the synnomic phase is, from the psychological point of view, a kingdom of habit; the syntelic phase is a kingdom of reflection. the former is governed by a subconscious selection of its standards of good and bad; the latter by a conscious selection of its standards. it remains to show very briefly how such a difference comes about. the outstanding fact about the synnomic life of the ruder peoples is perhaps this--that there is hardly any privacy. of course, many other drawbacks must be taken into account also--no wide-thrown communications, no analytic language, no writing, no books, and so on; but perhaps being in a crowd all the time is the worst drawback of all. for, as disraeli says in _sybil_, gregariousness is not association. constant herding and huddling together hinders the development of personality. that independence of character which is the prime condition of syntelic society cannot mature, even though the germs be there. no one has a chance of withdrawing into his own soul. therefore the individual does not experience that silent conversation with self which is reflection. instead of turning inwards, he turns outwards. in short, he imitates. but how, it may be objected, does evolution take place, if every one imitates every one else? certainly, it looks at first sight like a vicious circle. nevertheless, there is room for a certain progress, or at any rate for a certain process of change. to analyse its psychological springs would take us too long. if a phrase will do instead of an explanation, we may sum them up, with the brilliant french psychologist, tarde, as "a cross-fertilization of imitations." we need not, however, go far to get an impression of how this process of change works. it is going on every day in our midst under the name of "change of fashion." when one purchases the latest thing in ties or straw hats, one is not aiming at a rational form of dress. if there is progress in this direction, it is subconscious. the underlying spiritual condition is not inaptly described by dr. lloyd morgan as "a sheep-through-the-gapishness." from a moral point of view, this lack of capacity for private judgment is equivalent to a want of moral freedom. we have seen how relatively external are the sanctions of savage life. this does not mean, of course, that there is no answering judgment in the mind of the individual when he follows his customs. he says, "it is the custom; therefore it is right." but this judgment can scarcely be said to proceed from a truly judging, that is to say, critical, self. the man watches his neighbours, taking his cue from them. his judgment is a judgment of sense. he does not look inwards to principle. a moral principle is a standard that can, by means of thought, be transferred from one sensible situation to another sensible situation. the general law, and its application to the situation present now to the senses, are considered apart, before being put together. consequently, a possible application, however strongly suggested by custom, fashion, the action of one's neighbours, one's own impulse or prejudice, or what not, can be resisted, if it appear on reflection not to be really suited to the circumstances. in short, in order to be rational and "put two and two together," one must be able to entertain two and two as distinct conceptions. perceptions, on the contrary, can only be compared in the lump. just as in the chapter on language we saw how man began by talking in holophrases, and only gradually attained to analytic, that is, separable, elements of speech, so in this chapter we have to note the strictly parallel development from confusion to distinction on the side of thought. savage morality, then, is not rational in the sense of analysed, but is, so to speak, impressionistic. we might, perhaps, describe it as the expression of a collective impression. it is best understood in the light of that branch of social psychology which usually goes by the name of "mob-psychology." perhaps mob and mobbish are rather unfortunate terms. they are apt to make us think of the wilder explosions of collective feeling--panics, blood-mania, dancing-epidemics, and so on. but, though a savage society is by no means a mob in the sense of a weltering mass of humanity that has for the time being lost its head, the psychological considerations applying to the latter apply also to the former, when due allowance has been made for the fact that savage society is organized on a permanent basis. the difference between the two comes, in short, to this, that the mob as represented in the savage society is a mob consisting of many successive generations of men. its tradition constitutes, as it were, a prolonged and abiding impression, which its conduct thereupon expresses. savage thought, then, is not able, because it does not try, to break up custom into separate pieces. rather it plays round the edges of custom; religion especially, with its suggestion of the general sacredness of custom, helping it to do so. there is found in primitive society plenty of vague speculation that seeks to justify the existing. but to take the machine to bits in order to put it together differently is out of the reach of a type of intelligence which, though competent to grapple with details, takes its principles for granted. when progress comes, it comes by stealth, through imitating the letter, but refusing to imitate the spirit; until by means of legal fictions, ritual substitutions, and so on, the new takes the place of the old without any one noticing the fact. freedom, in the sense of intellectual freedom, may perhaps be said to have been born in one place and at one time--namely, in greece in the fifth and fourth centuries b.c.[ ] of course, minglings and clashings of peoples had prepared the way. ideas begin to count as soon as they break away from their local context. but greece, in teaching the world the meaning of intellectual freedom, paved a way towards that most comprehensive form of freedom which is termed moral. moral freedom is the will to give out more than you take in; to repay with interest the cost of your social education. it is the will to take thought about the meaning and end of human life, and by so doing to assist in creative evolution. [footnote : political freedom, which is rather a different matter, is perhaps pre-eminently the discovery of england.] chapter x man the individual by way of epilogue, a word about individuality, as displayed amongst peoples of the ruder type, will not be out of place. there is a real danger lest the anthropologist should think that a scientific view of man is to be obtained by leaving out the human nature in him. this comes from the over-anxiety of evolutionary history to arrive at general principles. it is too ready to rule out the so-called "accident," forgetful of the fact that the whole theory of biological evolution may with some justice be described as "the happy accident theory." the man of high individuality, then, the exceptional man, the man of genius, be he man of thought, man of feeling, or man of action, is no accident that can be overlooked by history. on the contrary, he is in no small part the history-maker; and, as such, should be treated with due respect by the history-compiler. the "dry bones" of history, its statistical averages, and so on, are all very well in their way; but they correspond to the superficial truth that history repeats itself, rather than to the deeper truth that history is an evolution. anthropology, then, should not disdain what might be termed the method of the historical novel. to study the plot without studying the characters will never make sense of the drama of human life. it may seem a truism, but is perhaps worth recollecting at the start, that no man or woman lacks individuality altogether, even if it cannot be regarded in a particular case as a high individuality. no one is a mere item. that useful figment of the statistician has no real existence under the sun. we need to supplement the books of abstract theory with much sympathetic insight directed towards men and women in their concrete selfhood. said a vedda cave-dweller to dr. seligmann (it is the first instance i light on in the first book i happen to take up): "it is pleasant for us to feel the rain beating on our shoulders, and good to go out and dig yams, and come home wet, and see the fire burning in the cave, and sit round it." that sort of remark, to my mind, throws more light on the anthropology of cave-life than all the bones and stones that i have helped to dig out of our mousterian caves in jersey. as the stock phrase has it, it is, as far as it goes, a "human document." the individuality, in the sense of the intimate self-existence, of the speaker and his group--for, characteristically enough, he uses the first person plural--is disclosed sufficiently for our souls to get into touch. we are the nearer to appreciating human history from the inside. some of those students of mankind, therefore, who have been privileged to live amongst the ruder peoples, and to learn their language well, and really to be friends with some of them (which is hard, since friendship implies a certain sense of equality on both sides), should try their hands at anthropological biography. anthropology, so far as it relates to savages, can never rise to the height of the most illuminating kind of history until this is done. it ought not to be impossible for an intelligent white man to enter sympathetically into the mental outlook of the native man of affairs, the more or less practical and hardheaded legislator and statesman, if only complete confidence could be established between the two. that there are men of outstanding individuality who help to make political history even amongst the rudest peoples is, moreover, hardly to be doubted. thus messrs. spencer and gillen, in the introductory chapter of their work on the central australians, state that, after observing the conduct of a great gathering of the natives, they reached the opinion that the changes which undoubtedly take place from time to time in aboriginal custom are by no means wholly of the subconscious and spontaneous sort, but are in part due also to the influence of individuals of superior ability. "at this gathering, for example, some of the oldest men were of no account; but, on the other hand, others not so old as they were, but more learned in ancient lore or more skilled in matters of magic, were looked up to by the others, and they it was who settled everything. it must, however, be understood that we have no definite proof to bring forward of the actual introduction by this means of any fundamental change of custom. the only thing that we can say is that, after carefully watching the natives during the performance of their ceremonies and endeavouring as best we could to enter into their feelings, to think as they did, and to become for the time being one of themselves, we came to the conclusion that if one or two of the most powerful men settled upon the advisability of introducing some change, even an important one, it would be quite possible for this to be agreed upon and carried out." this passage is worth quoting at length if only for the admirable method that it discloses. the policy of "trying to become for the time being one of themselves" resulted in the book that, of all first-hand studies, has done most for modern anthropology. at the same time messrs. spencer and gillen, it is evident, would not claim to have done more than interpret the external signs of a high individuality on the part of these prominent natives. it still remains a rare and almost unheard-of thing for an anthropologist to be on such friendly terms with a savage as to get him to talk intimately about himself, and reveal the real man within. there exist, however, occasional side-lights on human personality in the anthropological literature that has to do with very rude peoples. the page from a human document that i shall cite by way of example is all the more curious, because it relates to a type of experience quite outside the compass of ordinary civilized folk. here and there, however, something like it may be found amongst ourselves. my friend mr. l.p. jacks, for instance, in his story-book, _mad shepherds_, has described a rustic of the north of england who belonged to this old-world order of great men. for men of the type in question can be great, at any rate in low-level society. the so-called medicine man is a leader, perhaps even the typical leader, of primitive society; and, just because he is, by reason of his calling, addicted to privacy and aloofness, he certainly tends to be more individual, more of a "character," than the general run of his fellows. i shall slightly condense from howitt's _native tribes of south-east australia_ the man's own story of his experience of initiation. howitt says, by the way, "i feel strongly assured that the man believed that the events which he related were real, and that he had actually experienced them"; and then goes on to talk about "subjective realities." i myself offer no commentary. those interested in psychical research will detect hypnotic trance, levitation, and so forth. others, versed in the spirit of william james' _varieties of religious experience_, will find an even deeper meaning in it all. the sociologist, meanwhile, will point to the force of custom and tradition, as colouring the whole experience, even when at its most subjective and dreamlike. but each according to his bent must work out these things for himself. in any case it is well that the end of a book should leave the reader still thinking. the speaker was a wiradjuri doctor of the kangaroo totem. he said: "my father is a lizard-man. when i was a small boy, he took me into the bush to train me to be a doctor. he placed two large quartz-crystals against my breast, and they vanished into me. i do not know how they went, but i felt them going through me like warmth. this was to make me clever, and able to bring things up." (this refers to the medicine-man's custom of bringing up into the mouth, as if from the stomach, the quartz-crystal in which his "virtue" has its chief material embodiment or symbol; being likewise useful, as we see later on, for hypnotizing purposes.) "he also gave me some things like quartz-crystals in water. they looked like ice, and the water tasted sweet. after that, i used to see things that my mother could not see. when out with her i would say, 'what is out there like men walking?' she used to say, 'child, there is nothing.' these were the ghosts which i began to see." the account goes on to state that at puberty our friend went through the regular initiation for boys; when he saw the doctors bringing up their crystals, and, crystals in mouth, shooting the "virtue" into him to make him "good." thereupon, being in a holy state like any other novice, he had retired to the bush in the customary manner to fast and meditate. "whilst i was in the bush, my old father came out to me. he said, 'come here to me,' and then he showed me a piece of quartz-crystal in his hand. when i looked at it, he went down into the ground; and i saw him come up all covered with red dust. it made me very frightened. then my father said, 'try and bring up a crystal.' i did try, and brought one up. he then said, 'come with me to this place.' i saw him standing by a hole in the ground, leading to a grave. i went inside and saw a dead man, who rubbed me all over to make me clever, and gave me some crystals. when we came out, my father pointed to a tiger-snake, saying, 'that is your familiar. it is mine also.' there was a string extending from the tail of the snake to us--one of those strings which the medicine-men bring up out of themselves. my father took hold of the string, and said, 'let us follow the snake.' the snake went through several tree-trunks, and let us through them. at last we reached a tree with a great swelling round its roots. it is in such places that daramulun lives. the snake went down into the ground, and came up inside the tree, which was hollow. we followed him. there i saw a lot of little daramuluns, the sons of baiame. afterwards, the snake took us into a great hole, in which were a number of snakes. these rubbed themselves against me, and did not hurt me, being my familiars. they did this to make me a clever man and a doctor. "then my father said, 'we will go up to baiame's camp.' [amongst the wiradjuri, baiame is the high god, and daramulun is his son. what 'little daramuluns' may be is not very clear.] he got astride a thread, and put me on another, and we held by each other's arms. at the end of the thread was wombu, the bird of baiame. we went up through the clouds, and on the other side was the sky. we went through the place where the doctors go through, and it kept opening and shutting very quickly. my father said that, if it touched a doctor when he was going through, it would hurt his spirit, and when he returned home he would sicken and die. on the other side we saw baiame sitting in his camp. he was a very great old man with a long beard. he sat with his legs under him, and from his shoulders extended two great quartz-crystals to the sky above him. there were also numbers of the boys of baiame, and of his people who are birds and beasts. [the totems.] "after this time, and while i was in the bush, i began to bring crystals up; but i became very ill, and cannot do anything since." _november, _. bibliography introductory note.--it is impossible to provide a bibliography of so vast a subject, even when first-class authorities only are referred to; whilst selection must be arbitrary and invidious. here books written in english are alone cited, and those mostly the more modern. the reader is advised to spend such time as he can give to the subject mostly on the descriptive treatises. a few very educative studies are marked by an asterisk. in many cases, to save space, merely the author's name with initials is given, and a library catalogue must be consulted, or a list of authors such as is to be found, _e.g._ at the end of westermarck's works. a. theoretical general.--e.b. tylor, _anthropology_* (best manual); _primitive culture_* (the greatest of anthropological classics); lord avebury's works; _anthropological essays presented to e.b. tylor_. antiquity of man.--w.j. sollas, _ancient hunters and their modern representatives_ (best popular account). subject difficult without special knowledge, to be derived from, _e.g._ sir j. evans (stone implements); j. geikie (geology of ice age), etc. see also brit. mus. guides to stone age, bronze age, early iron age. race and geographical distribution.--a.c. haddon, _races of man_ and _the wanderings of peoples_ (best short outlines to work from); fuller details in j. deniker, a.h. keane; and, for europe, w.z. ripley. see also brit. mus. guide to ethnological collections. social organization and law.--j.g. frazer, _totemism and exogamy_*; l.h. morgan, _ancient society_*; e. westermarck, _history of human marriage_*; e.s. hartland, _primitive paternity_; a. lang, _the secret of the totem_; n.w. thomas, _kinship organization and group marriage in australia_; h. webster, _primitive secret societies_. religion, magic, folk-lore.--j.g. frazer, _the golden bough_* ( rd edit.); e.s. hartland, _the legend of perseus_ (esp. vol. ii); a. lang, _myth, ritual and religion_,* _the making of religion_, etc.; w. robertson smith, _early religion of the semites_*; f.b. jevons, a.c. crawley, d.g. brinton, g.l. gomme, l.r. farnell, r.r. marett, etc. morals.--e. westermarck, _origin and development of the moral ideas_*; e.b. tylor, _contemp. rev._ xxi-ii; l.t. hobhouse, _morals in evolution_; a. sutherland, _origin and growth of the moral instinct_. miscellaneous.--language: e.j. payne, _history of the new world called america_,* vol. ii. art: y. hirn, _origins of art_.* economics: p.j.h. grierson, _the silent trade_. b. descriptive australia.--b. spencer and f.j. gillen, _native tribes of central australia_,* _northern tribes of central australia_; a.w. howitt, _native tribes of south-east australia_*; j. woods (and others), _native tribes of south australia_; l. fison and a.w. howitt, _kamilaroi and kurnai_; h. ling roth, _aborigines of tasmania_. oceania and indonesia.--r.h. codrington, _the melanesians_*; b.h. thompson, _the fijians_; a.c. haddon (and others), _report of cambridge expedition to torres straits_; c.g. seligmann (for new guinea); g. turner, w. ellis, e. shortland, r. taylor (for polynesia); a.r. wallace, _malay archipelago_; c. hose and w. mcdougall (for indonesia). asia.--j.j.m. de groot, _the religious system of china_; w.h.r. rivers, _the todas_*; and a host of other good authorities for india, _e.g._ sir h.h. risley, e. thurston, w. crooke, t.c. hodson, p.r.t. gurdon, c.g. and b.z. seligmann (veddas of ceylon); e.h. man, _journ. r. anthrop. instit._ xii (andamanese); w. skeat (for malay peninsula). africa.--south: h. callaway, e. casalis, j. maclean, d. kidd. east: a.c. hollis, j. roscoe, w.s. and k. routledge, a. werner. west: m.h. kingsley, a.b. ellis. madagascar: w. ellis. america.--a vast number of important works, see esp. _smithsonian institution_, _reports of the bureau of ethnology_ (j.w. powell, f. boas, f. cushing, a.c. fletcher, m.c. stevenson, j.r. swanton, c. mindeleff, s. powers, j. mooney, j.o. dorsey, w.j. hoffman, w.j. mcgee, etc.); l.h. morgan (on iroquois), j. teit, c. hill tout; c. lumholtz, _unknown mexico_; sir e. im thurn, _among the indians of guiana_. europe.--ancient: l.r. farnell, _cults of the greek states_; j.e. harrison, _prolegomena to greek religion_; w. warde fowler, _religious experience of the roman people_; _anthropology and the classics_, etc. modern: g.f. abbott, c. lawson (to compare modern with ancient), folk-lore society's publications, etc. c. subsidiary c. darwin, _descent of man_ (part i); w. bagehot, _physics and politics_*; w. james, _varieties of religious experience_*; w. mcdougall, _introduction to social psychology_.* and in this series geddes and thomson, newbigin, myres, mcdougall, keith. index adultery, africans, , , , , , , , , age-grades, alpine race, altamira, americans, , , , - , , , , - , , , , , andamanese, , , anglo-saxons, animatism, animism, , anthropo-geography, , , - , , anthropoid apes, , , - , , , , , anthropology, - , , , , , asiatics, , , , , - , - , - , , , , , , - , , , , - athapascan languages, atlantic phase of culture, aurignac, australians, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , - bagehot, w., , , , baiame, , balfour, h., basque language, , , biology, , bison, , , , blood-revenge, - boas, f., , borneo, , brandon, , bronze-age, , , bull-roarer, - , , , burial, , , , , , bushmen, , , , , , , butler, s., buzz, calaveras skull, cannibalism, cartailhac, e., carthage, caste, , cave-paintings, , - , chelles, china, , , , chukchis, clan, , , , , , class (matrimonial), climate, - , , , , cogul, collective responsibility, , colour, - commont, v., confederacy, consanguinity, conservatism of savage, , , , , , counting, , , cranial index, cranz, d., creswell crags, cro-magnon, custom, , - , - , , , , , dahomey, , dairy-ritual, - daramulun, , , darwin, c., - , , , , , , demolins, e., , differential evolution, dog, dubois, e., duel, , , egypt, , , , endogamy, , environment, , , , , - eoliths, - eskimo, , , , eugenics, , , , eurasian region, - europeans, - , , - , , - , , , , , , , , , , , evans, sir j., , evolution, - , , , - , , exogamy, , - , , , , , experimental psychology, , family, , , , , , family jurisdiction, flint-mining, , folk-lore, , frazer, j.g., , , freedom, , , , , , fuegians, - , galley hill skull, , gargas, - genealogical method, gesture-language, , ghosts, , , gibraltar skull, greece, , , , , greenwell, w., grime's graves, haddon, a.h., , haeckel, e., hand-prints, harrison, b., , head-form, - , head-hunting, heidelberg mandible, history, , - , , , , , hittites, hobhouse, l.t., holophrase, - , horse, , , , howitt, a.w., , , humility, ice-age, , , , , , , , icklingham, imagination, , , , incest, , india, individuality, , - indo-european languages, indonesia, , , , initiation, , , , , - , - instinct, , , , - intichiuma ceremonies, , , - iron-age, , jacks, l.p., james, w., jersey, , , , kellor, f.a., kent's cavern, kingship, , , , kinship, , knappers, , koryaks, la chapelle-aux-saints, lamarck, j.b., , la naulette mandible, lang, a., , language, , - lapps, law, , - lecky, t., le moustier, , - , le play, f., levy-bruhl, l., lineage, , lloyd morgan, c., local association, luck, , , , mcdougall, w., madagascar, , magic, , , , , - , , , malaya, , , malthus, t., , mammoth, , , , man, e.h., , mas d'azil, masks, matriarchate, matrilineal, matrilocal, matripotestal, , medicine-man, - mediterranean race, , , melanesians, , , mendelism, mentone, military discipline, , miscegenation, mob-psychology, , , - moieties, morality, , - mother-right, , , myres, j.l., nation, natural selection, - , nature, , , , , neanderthal race, , , - , , , negative rites, - , negritos, , - , , , negro race, , , , neolithic age, , - , , , niaux, - nordic race, ordeal, , pacation, , painted pebbles, palaeolithic age, , - , , papuasians, patagonians, patrilineal, patrilocal, patripotestal, , payne, e.j., persecuting tendency, perthes, boucher de, phantasm, philosophy, - , , , phratry, pictographs, pithecanthropus erectus, , policy, - polynesians, , , , positive rites, - , pottery, , pre-dravidians, pre-historic chronology, pre-history, , , , pre-natal environment, prestwich, sir j., profane vessels, property, , , , proto-history, , quartz crystals, - race, , - , , ratzel, f., reincarnation, , , reindeer, , , , , religion, , , , - , - , - ridgeway, w., rites, , - , river-phase of culture, rivers, w.h.r., , , rutot, a., , sacramental meal, sacredness, , , , , , , , , , st. acheul, , , sanction, , savagery, , science, - secret societies, seligmann, c.g. and b.z., , sex-totems, shaw, b., slander, slavery, smith, w. robertson, snare, f., social organization, - , - solutre, , spear-thrower, spencer, b., and gillen, f.j., , , , , spirit, , steinmetz, s.r., stratigraphical method, - suggestion, - , - survivals, sutherland, a., sympathetic magic, , synnomic phase of society syntelic phase of society, taboo, - , , tasmanians, - thames gravels, - , theft, todas, - torres straits, totemism, , - , , , - , tribe, tylor, e.b., , - use-inheritance, , variation, - veddas, , , wallace, a.r., , , wealden dome, weismann, a., , westermarck, e., witchcraft, , the home university library _of modern knowledge_ is made up of absolutely new books by leading authorities. the editors are _professors gilbert murray_, _h.a.l. fisher_, _w.t. brewster_, _and j. arthur thomson_. cloth bound, good paper, clear type, pages per volume, bibliographies, indices, also maps or illustrations where needed. each complete and sold separately. c. per volume american history [_order number_] . the colonial period ( - ). by charles mclean andrews, professor of american history, yale. the fascinating history of the two hundred years of "colonial times." . the wars between england and america ( - ). by theodore c. smith, professor of american history, williams college. a history of the period, with especial emphasis on the revolution and the war of . . from jefferson to lincoln ( - ). by william macdonald, professor of history, brown university. the author makes the history of this period circulate about constitutional ideas and slavery sentiment. . the civil war ( - ). by frederic l. paxson, professor of american history, university of wisconsin. . reconstruction and union ( - ). by paul leland haworth, a history of the united states in our own times. general history and geography . the ancient east. by d.g. hogarth, m.a., f.b.a., f.s.a. connects with prof. myres's _dawn of history_ (no. ) at about b.c. and reviews the history of assyria, babylon, cilicia, persia and macedon. . the navy and sea power. by david hannay, author of _short history of the royal navy_, etc. a brief history of the navies, sea power, and ship growth of all nations, including the rise and decline of america on the sea, and explains the present british supremacy thereon. . latin america. by william r. shepherd, professor of history, columbia. with maps. the historical, artistic, and commercial development of the central south american republics. . the ocean. a general account of the science of the sea. by sir john murray, k.c.b., naturalist h.m.s. "challenger," - , joint author of _the depths of the ocean_, etc. . exploration of the alps. by arnold lunn, m.a. . germany of to-day. by charles tower. . napoleon. by h.a.l. fisher, vice-chancellor of sheffield university. author of _the republican tradition in europe_, etc. . the dawn of history. by j.l. myres, professor of ancient history, oxford. . rome. by w. warde fowler, author of _social life at rome_, etc. "a masterly sketch of roman character and what it did for the world."--_london spectator_. . the growth of europe. by granville cole, professor of geology, royal college of science, ireland. a study of the geology and physical geography in connection with the political geography. . medieval europe. by h.w.c. davis, fellow at balliol college, oxford, author of _charlemagne_, etc. . the history of england. by a.f. pollard, professor of english history, university of london. . poland. by w. alison phillips, university of dublin. a history with special emphasis upon the polish question of to-day. . belgium. by r.c.k. ensor, sometime scholar of balliol college. the geographical, linguistic, historical, artistic, and literary associations. . the french revolution. by hilaire belloc. . a short history of war and peace. by g.h. perris, author of _russia in revolution_, etc. . history of our time ( - ). by g.p. gooch. a "moving picture" of the world since . . the papacy and modern times. by rev. william barry, d.d., author of _the papal monarchy_, etc. the story of the rise and fall of the temporal power. . polar exploration. by dr. w.s. bruce, leader of the "scotia" expedition. emphasizes the results of the expeditions. . the opening-up of africa. by sir h.h. johnston. the first living authority on the subject tells how and why the "native races" went to the various parts of africa and summarizes its exploration and colonization. . the civilization of china. by h.a. giles, professor of chinese, cambridge. . peoples and problems of india. by sir t.w. holderness. "the best small treatise dealing with the range of subjects fairly indicated by the title."--_the dial_. . modern geography. by dr. marion newbigin. shows the relation of physical features to living things and to some of the chief institutions of civilization. . master mariners. by john r. spears, author of _the history of our navy_, etc. a history of sea craft adventure from the earliest times. social science . the negro. by w.e. burghardt dubois, author of _souls of black folks_, etc. a history of the black man in africa, america or wherever else his presence has been or is important. . co-partnership and profit sharing. by aneurin williams, chairman, executive committee, international co-operative alliance, etc. explains the various types of co-partnership or profit-sharing, or both, and gives details of the arrangements now in force in many of the great industries. . political thought: from herbert spencer to the present day. by ernest barker, m.a. . political thought: the utilitarians. from benthan to j.s. mill. by william l. davidson. . unemployment. by a.c. pigou, m.a., professor of political economy at cambridge. the meaning, measurement, distribution, and effects of unemployment, its relation to wages, trade fluctuations, and disputes, and some proposals of remedy or relief. . common-sense in law. by prof. paul vinogradoff, d.c.l., ll.d. social and legal rules--legal rights and duties--facts and acts in law--legislation--custom--judicial precedents--equity--the law of nature. . elements of political economy. by s.j. chapman, professor of political economy and dean of faculty of commerce and administration, university of manchester. . the science of wealth. by j.a. hobson, author of _problems of poverty_. a study of the structure and working of the modern business world. . parliament. its history, constitution, and practice. by sir courtenay p. ilbert, clerk of the house of commons. . liberalism. by prof. l.t. hobhouse, author of _democracy and reaction_. a masterly philosophical and historical review of the subject. . the stock exchange. by f.w. hirst, editor of the london _economist_. reveals to the non-financial mind the facts about investment, speculation, and the other terms which the title suggests. . the socialist movement. by j. ramsay macdonald, chairman of the british labor party. . the evolution of industry. by d.h. macgregor, professor of political economy, university of leeds. an outline of the recent changes that have given us the present conditions of the working classes and the principles involved. . elements of english law. by w.m. geldart, vinerian professor of english law, oxford. a simple statement of the basic principles of the english legal system on which that of the united states is based. . the school: an introduction to the study of education. by j.j. findlay, professor of education, manchester. presents the history, the psychological basis, and the theory of the school with a rare power of summary and suggestion. . irish nationality. by mrs. j.r. green. a brilliant account of the genius and mission of the irish people. natural science . disease and its causes. by w.t. councilman, m.d., ll.d., professor of pathology, harvard university. . sex. by j. arthur thompson and patrick geddes, joint authors of _the evolution of sex_. . plant life. by j.b. farmer, d.sc., f.r.s., professor of botany in the imperial college of science. this very fully illustrated volume contains an account of the salient features of plant form and function. . the origin and nature of life. by benjamin m. moore, professor of bio-chemistry, liverpool. . chemistry. by raphael meldola, f.r.s., professor of chemistry, finsbury technical college. presents the way in which the science has developed and the stage it has reached. . electricity. by gisbert kapp, professor of electrical engineering, university of birmingham. . the making of the earth. by. j.w. gregory, professor of geology, glasgow university. maps and figures. describes the origin of the earth, the formation and changes of its surface and structure, its geological history, the first appearance of life, and its influence upon the globe. . man: a history of the human body. by a. keith, m.d., hunterian professor, royal college of surgeons. shows how the human body developed. . nerves. by david fraser harris, m.d., professor of physiology, dalhousie university, halifax. explains in non-technical language the place and powers of the nervous system. . an introduction to science. by prof. j. arthur thomson, science editor of the home university library. for those unacquainted with the scientific volumes in the series, this would prove an excellent introduction. . evolution. by prof. j. arthur thomson and prof. patrick geddes. explains to the layman what the title means to the scientific world. . astronomy. by a.r. hinks, chief assistant at the cambridge observatory. "decidedly original in substance, and the most readable and informative little book on modern astronomy we have seen for a long time."--_nature_. . psychical research. by prof. w.f. barrett, formerly president of the society for psychical research. a strictly scientific examination. . the evolution of plants. by dr. d.h. scott, president of the linnean society of london. the story of the development of flowering plants, from the earliest zoological times, unlocked from technical language. . matter and energy. by f. soddy, lecturer in physical chemistry and radioactivity, university of glasgow. "brilliant. can hardly be surpassed. sure to attract attention."--_new york sun_. . psychology, the study of behaviour. by william mcdougall, of oxford. a well digested summary of the essentials of the science put in excellent literary form by a leading authority. . the principles of physiology. by prof. j.g. mckendrick. a compact statement by the emeritus professor at glasgow, for uninstructed readers. . anthropology. by r.r. marett, reader in social anthropology, oxford. seeks to plot out and sum up the general series of changes, bodily and mental, undergone by man in the course of history. "excellent. so enthusiastic, so clear and witty, and so well adapted to the general reader."--_american library association booklist_. . crime and insanity. by dr. c.a. mercier, author of _text-book of insanity_, etc. . the animal world. by prof. f.w. gamble. . introduction to mathematics. by a.n. whitehead, author of _universal algebra_. philosophy and religion . a history of freedom of thought. by john b. bury, m.a., ll.d., regius professor of modern history in cambridge university. summarizes the history of the long struggle between authority and reason and of the emergence of the principle that coercion of opinion is a mistake. . missions: their rise and development. by mrs. mandell creighton, author of _history of england_. the author seeks to prove that missions have done more to civilize the world than any other human agency. . ethics. by g.e. moore, lecturer in moral science, cambridge. discusses what is right and what is wrong, and the whys and wherefores. . the literature of the old testament. by george f. moore, professor of the history of religion, harvard university. "a popular work of the highest order. will be profitable to anybody who cares enough about bible study to read a serious book on the subject."--_american journal of theology_ . the making of the new testament. by b.w. bacon, professor of new testament criticism, yale. an authoritative summary of the results of modern critical research with regard to the origins of the new testament. . a history of philosophy. by clement c.j. webb, oxford. . the problems of philosophy. by bertrand russell, lecturer and late fellow, trinity college, cambridge. . buddhism. by mrs. rhys davids, lecturer on indian philosophy, manchester. . english sects: a history of nonconformity. by w.b. selbie, principal of manchester college, oxford. . comparative religion. by prof. j. estlin carpenter. . religious development between old and new testaments. by r.h. charles, canon of westminster. shows how religious and ethical thought grew between b.c. and a.d. literature and art . euripides and his age. by gilbert murray, regius professor of greek, oxford. . chaucer and his times. by grace e. hadow, lecturer lady margaret hall, oxford; late reader, bryn mawr. . ancient art and ritual. by jane e. harrison, ll.d., d.litt. "one of the most important books of ."--_new york times review_. . the victorian age in literature. by g.k. chesterton. . milton. by john bailey. . dr. johnson and his circle. by john bailey. johnson's life, character, works, and friendships are surveyed; and there is a notable vindication of the "genius of boswell." . the newspaper. by g. binney dibble. the first full account, from the inside, of newspaper organization as it exists to-day. . painters and painting. by sir frederic wedmore. with half-tone illustration. . the literature of germany. by j.g. robertson. . great writers of america. by w.p. trent and john erskine, of columbia university. . the renaissance. by edith sichel, author of _catherine de medici, men and women of the french renaissance_. . dante. by jefferson b. fletcher, columbia university, an interpretation of dante and his teachings from his writings. . an outline of russian literature. by maurice baring, author of _the russian people_, etc. tolstoi, tourgenieff, dostoieffsky, pushkin (the father of russian literature), saltykov (the satirist), leskov, and many other authors. . the english language. by l.p. smith. a concise history of its origin and development. . medieval english literature. by w.p. ker, professor of english literature, university college, london. "one of the soundest scholars. his style is effective, simple, yet never dry."--_the athenaeum_. . elizabethan literature. by j.m. robertson, m.p., author of _montaigne and shakespeare, modern humanists_. . modern english literature. by g.h. mair. from wyatt and surrey to synge and yeats. "one of the best of this great series."--_chicago evening post_. . shakespeare. by john masefield. "one of the very few indispensable adjuncts to a shakespearean library."--_boston transcript_. . landmarks in french literature. by g.l. strachey, scholar of trinity college, cambridge. "it is difficult to imagine how a better account of french literature could be given in pages."--_london times_. . architecture. by prof. w.r. lethaby. an introduction to the history and theory of the art of building. . writing english prose. by william t. brewster, professor of english, columbia university. "should be put into the hands of every man who is beginning to write and of every teacher of english that has brains enough to understand sense."--_new york sun_. . william morris: his work and influence. by a. clutton brock, author of _shelley: the man and the poet_. william morris believed that the artist should toil for love of his work rather than the gain of his employer, and so he turned from making works of art to remaking society. . shelley, godwin and their circle. by h.n. brailsford. the influence of the french revolution on england. other volumes in preparation henry holt and company west d street new york the progress of ethnology an account of recent archÆological, philological and geographical researches in various parts of the globe. tending to elucidate the physical history of man. by john russell bartlett, cor. sec. of the american ethnological society, and foreign cor. sec. of the new york hist. society. second edition. new york: bartlett & welford, astor house. . new york: william van norden, printer, no. william street. contents. north america. explorations and discoveries in the mounds and other earth-works in ohio. similar researches and their results in mississippi and louisiana.... mr. jomard's essay on the tablet found in the grave creek mound in virginia, p. . california and new mexico--recent explorations in these countries, with accounts of the navijo and moqui indians; architectural remains on the banks of the gila.... french explorations in the isthmus of panama, p. . researches in greenland, and the arctic regions; geographical and historical results.... late attempts for exploring the northern portions of the american continent, p. . south america. details of the scientific expedition under count castelnau, sent by the french government for exploring the interior of south america.... english expedition under lord ranelagh--other scientific expeditions.... peruvian antiquities, etc. etc., p. . africa. recent attempts for exploring the interior of africa.... mr. thomson's journey from sierra leone.... mr. duncan's journey northward from dahomey. missionary operations at the gaboon.... mr. richardson's journey into the great desert of sahara.... the french expedition up the senegal, under mr. raffenel.... extensive project for the exploration of soudan, in central africa.... proposed expedition for penetrating the country from the eastern side.... contributions to the geography of southern africa.... mr. maizan's unfortunate attempt to reach the interior from zanzibar, p. . algiers--scientific explorations by the french government; interesting results; errors respecting the desert of sahara, p. . discovery of the ancient lybian alphabet, by m. de saulcy, p. . the berbers; late researches into their language, p. . madagascar; recent visits of the french, p. . egypt; results of the late explorations; state of hieroglyphic and coptic literature; egyptian history and chronology, p. . eastern archipelago. borneo--mr. brooke's colony; the dyaks.... the dutch and other european colonies in the east indies.... new caledonia islands.... the sooloo islands. the nicobar islands, p. . australia; accounts of late explorations, by count strzelecki, dr. leichardt and others, p. . asia. asia minor--interesting discoveries in lycia, p. . arabia--historical and philological results of the researches in southern arabia, the country of the ancient himyarites; importance of these discoveries in elucidating scriptural history, p. . the caucasus--exploration by m. hommaire de hell.... sclavonic mss. and inscriptions, p. . assyria and persia--history of the study of the ancient arrow-headed inscriptions.... extraordinary results therefrom.... the zendavesta.... the zend language.... the great inscription of darius.... explorations at nineveh. journeys of dr. robert; of prince waldemar, etc., p. . siberia--journeys of count middendorff and others; geographical and ethnographical results, p. . india--progress of civilization; importance of missionary labors, p. . siam--decline of boodhism; extension of christianity, p. . cochin-china--visit of mr. hedde to turon, in annam, p. . china--latest accounts from, p. . corea--efforts of the catholic missionaries to christianize the natives, p. . manchuria....mongolia--recent accounts from these countries; journey of rev. mr. huc, in mongolia, p. . lew-chew islands--attempt to establish a mission, by rev. mr. forcade; notices of the people, their manners, customs, and language, p. . japan--recent attempts to communicate with the japanese; peculiarities of this people.... general view of the languages of the japanese, coreans, chinese, and cochin-chinese, p. . the progress of ethnology and geography. north america. i have the pleasure of laying before the new york historical society a brief account of the progress which has been made during the past year towards extending our knowledge of the globe, particularly with reference to its geography, and to those nations whose history is imperfectly known. the subject is one that more properly belongs to ethnology, but the historical results which are deduced from these enquiries come within the scope of the objects, the elucidation of which belongs to this society. a new impulse has lately been given to the study of american antiquities. a brief account of recent investigations carried on in a portion of the west and south will show that we possess much that is interesting, and which will throw light on a neglected branch of aboriginal history and ethnology. every enquirer into the origin and purposes of the monuments and ancient remains of the mississippi valley has regretted the limited number and poorly attested character of the facts, of which the public are in possession, respecting them. the practical investigations made from time to time by various individuals, have not been sufficiently thorough and extensive, nor have they developed sufficient data to warrant or sustain any definite or satisfactory conclusions. they have served rather to provoke enquiries which they could in no degree satisfy, than to afford information on the subject with which they were connected. it was under a strong sense of the deficiencies in our stock of information in this branch of knowledge, that two gentlemen of chillicothe, ohio, dr. davis and mr. e.g. squier, undertook the exploration of the ancient remains which abound in the state of ohio, and particularly of those in the valley of the scioto river. it is known that there exists in this region vast numbers of mounds, of various dimensions, and extensive embankments of earth, enclosing in some instances many acres of ground. beside these there are ditches, walls, causeways and other works of a greater or less extent. the examination of these, by opening the mounds, and making accurate surveys of the other works constitute the labors of these gentlemen, some of the results of which may be stated in anticipation of a full account which will shortly appear. though their labors at first promised to end in increased doubt and uncertainty, they were abundantly rewarded as their enquiries progressed. out of confusion, system began to develope itself, and what seemed accidents, were found to be characteristics. what was regarded as anomalous, was recognized as a type and feature of a class, and apparent coincidences became proofs of design. for instance, it was remarked among the numerous tumuli opened, that certain ones were stratified, while others were homogeneous in their composition. further observation showed that stratified tumuli occupy a certain fixed position with regard to other works, which the unstratified tumuli do not. still further examinations demonstrated that the contents of those respective tumuli are radically and invariably different. here then was established: st. that the mounds are not, as is generally supposed, identical in character and purpose. d. that one class occupies a fixed position with regard to works of a different character, the design of which is to be determined, to some degree, by the peculiarities and the contents of this description of mounds, etc. it will be seen, at once, that a close observation of facts of this kind is absolutely essential, to arrive at any reasonable conclusions, regarding the purposes of these ancient structures, their origin, or the character or customs of the people by whom they were built. the investigations of dr. davis and mr. squier, were therefore conducted so as to permit the escape of no fact which might tend to elucidate the mystery in which our antiquities are shrouded. the excavations were made under their personal direction, and the results may be briefly stated, without detailing the facts in support of each conclusion, as follows. the number of enclosures or earthworks which have been surveyed by them, and of which they have taken careful admeasurements, exceeds _ninety_. the number of tumuli which have been excavated and their characteristics noted, amounts to _one hundred and fifteen_. of the first class of works, it has been sufficiently demonstrated, that a small proportion were intended for works of defence; that another portion were sacred places, or in some way connected with religious or superstitious rites, while a third and much the larger number are entirely inexplicable in our present state of information. the tumuli are divided into three grand classes, which are broadly marked in the aggregate, though there are individual instances of an anomalous character. these are: st. tumuli of sepulture, each containing a single skeleton enclosed in a rude, wooden coffin, or an envelope of bark or matting, and occurring in isolated or detached groups. d. tumuli of sacrifice, containing symmetrical altars of stone or burnt clay, occurring within or in the immediate vicinity of enclosures, and always stratified. d. places of observation, or mounds raised upon elevated or commanding positions. within these monuments have been found implements and ornaments of silver, copper, lead, stone, ivory and pottery, fashioned into a thousand forms, and evincing a skill in art, to which the existing race of indians, at the time of their discovery, could not approach. marine shells, mica from the primitive regions, native copper from the shores of lake superior, galena from the upper mississippi, cetacean teeth, pearls and instruments of _obsidian_, show the extent of communication and intercourse had by the authors of these ancient works. sculptures of animals, birds and reptiles have been found in great numbers and variety, exhibiting a skill which few could now surpass. also, sculptures of the human head, disclosing most probably the character of the physiognomy, as well as the manner of adjusting the hair, the head dress and ornaments of the mound-builders. careful admeasurements of the earth works which abound in the ohio valley, have been made by the gentlemen alluded to, in which the interesting fact has been developed, that many of them are perfect circles and squares, and hence that the people by whom they were constructed had some means of determining angles and of constructing circles. in some of those earth-heaps, sufficient remains to show that when in a perfect state, they resembled the _teocallis_ or terraced edifices of mexico and yucatan, though they were composed wholly of wood and earth. the number of works manifestly connected in some way with their religion, guide us to some estimate of the prominence which their superstitions occupied, and that a religious system existed among them, in some degree resembling that of the ancient mexicans. the immense tumuli heaped over the remains of the dead, show the regard which they attached to their chiefs, and the veneration in which they held their memory. the number and extent of their remains of all kinds, which occupy the fertile valleys, and which are confined almost entirely to them, indicate that an immense population once existed there, that it was stationary and therefore agricultural;[ ] and if agricultural and stationary, that a different organization of society, different manners and customs, different impulses and feelings existed among them, than are to be found among the hunter and nomadic tribes, discovered by europeans in possession of the country. another class of antiquities has been discovered by these gentlemen, of which we only have the particulars in a letter. these consist of rocks sculptured with figures of men, of birds and animals. they are cut in outline, the lines being from one half to three quarters of an inch deep by about the same width. only those on the sides of the rocks are visible. those on the upper or horizontal faces are nearly obliterated. one represents an elk and is said to be very spirited. what may result from the future researches of dr. davis and mr. squier, remains to be seen; but sufficient has been developed to show that a people, radically different from the existing race of indians, once occupied the valley of the mississippi, and built the singular monuments in which it abounds. these also show that they were to a certain extent advanced in the arts and civilization. in short that they closely resembled in the character of their structures, ornaments and implements of war and husbandry, the races of central america; if they were not indeed their progenitors or an offshoot from them. many facts strongly point to such a conclusion and farther observations carefully conducted, will probably enable us to settle the question beyond a doubt. a detailed account of the researches of the gentlemen alluded to, accompanied by numerous engravings representing the implements, ornaments and sculptures, &c., discovered in their excavations;--surveys of the various earth works, forts and enclosures in the scioto valley, will be given in the second volume of the transactions of the american ethnological society, now preparing for publication. they are still actively engaged in their labors, and intend, should the facilities be extended them to carry on their operations, to examine every ancient relic to be found in ohio and the adjacent parts, where these remains exist. among the explorations which have been carried on in the united states, none possess a greater interest than those of dr. m.w. dickeson, in the south western states, chiefly in mississippi, though in some instances extending to alabama, louisiana, and texas. dr. dickeson has laid open or examined one hundred and fifty mounds and tumuli, of various dimensions and collected a vast number of interesting relics, which illustrate the customs and arts of the ancient people who built them. the mounds vary from three to ninety feet in height, and from twelve to three hundred feet in diameter at the base. the seltzer town mound contains a superficies of eight acres on its summit. on digging into it vast quantities of human skeletons were found, chiefly with their heads flattened, and measuring generally six feet in length. numerous specimens of pottery, including finely finished vases filled with pigments, ashes, ornaments, and beads, were also found. the north side of this mound is supported with a wall two feet thick, of sun dried bricks, filled with grass, rushes and leaves. in order to ascertain whether this immense tumulus was artificial or not, dr. benbrook, sank a shaft forty two feet, and found it artificial or made ground to that depth. immense quantities of bones, both of men and animals, among the latter the head of a huge bear, were thrown out. other excavations were made in this tumulus with the same result, thus showing it to have been a vast mausoleum or cemetery of the ancient race. the mounds are generally in systems varying from seven to ten, which dr. dickeson has divided into six classes as follows: _out post_, _ramparts or walls_, _telegraphs or look outs_, _temples_, _cemeteries_, and _tent mounds_. the first is seldom more than thirty feet at the base by ten feet high. their shape varies, presenting sometimes a pyramid, at others a cone, or rhomboid. walls surround the second class, which are from ten to fifteen feet in heighth, the same across the top, and from forty to fifty feet at the base. the "_look out_" mounds are seldom under sixty feet high. of this class, dr. dickeson has examined upwards of ninety. they are generally on the summit of a hill, overlooking the bottom lands. here they stand some three hundred feet above the bottom lands, commanding an extensive prospect, and in some instances one may see the peaks of several systems of mounds in the distance. the "_temple mounds_" are seldom more than twenty feet high, and stratified with ashes, loam, gravel, &c. they all have an earthen floor. dr. dickeson has, but in a single instant, found a skeleton in these mounds, and in this, he thinks the subject a choctaw indian recently placed there. it lay in a horizontal position, differing from the usual mode of burial, which is the sitting posture. the "_cemeteries_" are oval, and from six to ten feet high, filled with bones, lying east and west, and when incased in sarcophagi, the rows run in the same direction. in some instances dr. dickeson found the bones lying in heaps, promiscuously. these he believes to have been the _canaille_. the "_tent or structure mounds_" are small, and a short distance below their surface, fragments of brick and cement are found in great quantities; sometimes skeletons and pottery. never more than six skeletons are found together, and more care is shown in the burial of these than in the "cemetery mounds." in one instance an angular tumulus was seen by the doctor, with the corners quite perfect, formed of large bricks, bearing the impression of an extended hand.[ ] many mounds and tumuli are advantageously situated on the tops of ridges, surrounded with walls. some of the latter have crumbled away, while others remain strong and perpendicular. in many instances, the walls that surround these groups of mounds, form perfect squares and circles. dr. dickeson adds that, "if from the centre of one of these groups a circle were traced, it would strike the centre of each mound, both large and small." they contain numerous fragments of walls, images, pottery, ornaments, etc. etc. the "temples" are generally situated among the hills and ravines, with perpendicular escarpments, improved by artificial fortifications. the enclosures often embrace upwards of thirty acres. the great enclosure at "the trinity" contains upwards of one hundred and fifty acres, and is partially faced with sundried brick. upon the plantation of mr. chamberlain in mississippi, the temple is flanked with several _bastions_, besides _squares_, _parallels_, _half moons_, and ravines with perpendicular escarpments for its defence. the ditches and small lakes are frequently chained for miles and filled with water, intended, the doctor thinks, for outworks. in these, bricks are found both at the bottom and on the sides. among the rubbish and vegetable deposits taken from them to put on the land, ornaments, and other relics are found. wells and reservoirs, completely walled with burnt clay, are found in louisiana; near which are "systems," or groups of mounds so regular and strongly fortified, that they became the retreat of pirates and robbers who infested the rivers, greatly disturbing the early settlers, after the massacre of the natchez indians by the french. the natchez built large dikes or ditches, and upon the counterscarp piled up huge ramparts, which they made almost impregnable, by having one side flanked by the slope of a hill, surrounded by precipices. they are sometimes situated on the level "bottoms."[ ] in these cases one side invariably faces a creek or bayou, or is in its bend, making the creek serve as a formidable ditch, offering a serious impediment to an enemy's approach. the other two sides are protected by parallel walls or half moons, with gateways leading to the citadel. these walls have indications of having been faced with dry masonry. the east and west corners are generally flanked with a small oval mound. in these tumuli and mounds numerous ornaments and pottery were found by dr. dickeson, buried with the occupants, such as idols, clay stamps, mica mirrors, stone axes, and arrow heads, silver and copper ornaments, rings, beads of jasper, chalcedony, agate, &c., similar to those found in peru and mexico. several pearls of great beauty and lustre, an inch in diameter, have been found. by an examination of the skulls, dr. d. discovered that _dentistry_ had been extensively practised by this ancient people, as plugging the teeth, and inserting artificial ones, was common. in one instance, five artificial teeth were found inserted in one subject. ovens were found containing pottery partially baked, three feet below the surface, with large trees covering them, exhibiting an age of upwards of five hundred years. magazines of arrow points, in one instance a "wagon body full," (about twenty bushels), lying within the space of a few feet. in a small mound in adams county, dr. d. found three large jars holding upwards of ten gallons of arrow points elaborately finished; and three similar in dimensions and finish, have lately been received by dr. morton, of philadelphia, from south carolina. carvings representing the english bull dog, the camel and lama, have been found by dr. dickeson, from forty to sixty feet below the surface of the mound. the bricks, to which allusion has been made, are of various colors; some of a bright red, others dark brown, various shades of purple and yellow. forty stamps of baked clay, containing a variety of figures used for stamping their skins. pieces of coin, two of which found near natches, had the figure of a bird on one side, and on the reverse an animal. the pottery found is quite extensive, some mounds have been opened in which were upwards of sixty vases, some quite plain, and others elaborately ornamented. of the pottery, dr. dickeson has succeeded in getting upwards of a hundred fine specimens to philadelphia, which are deposited with his other indian relics and fossils, in the museum of the academy of natural sciences. dr. dickeson has kindly furnished me a catalogue of his collection of relics, from which i have selected the following to give an idea of the extent and variety of the objects found: arrow points of jasper, chalcedony, obsidian, quartz, &c., &c. arrow points, finely polished, under one inch in length. arrow points, finely polished, under half an inch in length. unfinished arrow and spear points. small stone axes. quoits, weights, &c. paint mullers. corn grinders. large stone mortars. small earthen heads of men, women and boys. stone statues, erect and sitting. a great variety of personal ornaments of jasper, chalcedony, pottery, beads, pearls, war clubs, war axes, mica mirrors, carved ornaments, arm bracelets, bone carvings, earthen plates, handled saucers, earthen lamps, a variety of vessels for culinary purposes, stone chisels, two copper medals, the tusk of a mastodon, six feet long, elaborately carved with a serpent and human figures; cylindrical tubes of jasper perforated, ornaments in pumice, (lava), seals, bricks, jars, cups and vases in every variety. in addition to these, dr. dickeson has made a collection of upwards of sixty crania of the ancient mound builders, out of many thousand skeletons discovered by him in his several explorations. these possess much interest in an ethnographic point of view, for the rigid test to which all his results have been subjected, have satisfied him that these skulls belong to the ancient race. like the gentlemen in ohio, whose labors have been noticed, the doctor can at once detect the mounds and remains of the ancient, from those of the modern race. some mounds he has found to be the work of three periods. at the top were the remains of the present race of indians; digging lower he found these remains accompanied by ancient spanish relics, of the period of the earliest spanish visit to these parts; and below these, he discovered the remains and relics of the ancient race. the inscribed tablet discovered in the grave-creek mound, virginia, and which was noticed by mr. schoolcraft in the first volume of the transactions of the american ethnological society, continues to excite much interest. mr. jomard of the french institute, read a second paper on that subject last year, before the academy of inscriptions and belles-lettres at paris, a copy of which he has transmitted to the society.[ ] he distinctly shows, that the letters of this curious inscription are identically the same as those of the libyan on the monument of thugga,[ ] and of the tuarycks used at this day. it is worthy of remark, that mr. hodgson in his "notes on africa,"[ ] arrived at the same conclusion, without the knowledge that mr. jomard, some years previously, had asserted the libyan character of this inscription, in a first note on the subject.[ ] such a coincidence gives force to the views adopted by both these gentlemen. the results to which the french savant has arrived, in his enquiry into this engraved stone or tablet, possess much interest, as it is the only relic yet discovered in north america, of an inscription bearing alphabetic characters,[ ] which have been satisfactorily identified as such. this numidian inscription, which title we may now apply to the engraved tablet in question, will be again alluded to, when we come to speak of the philological discoveries in northern africa, and of the libyan alphabet. in conclusion mr. jomard observes, that at a remote period the libyan language was spoken by various tribes in northern africa, and that it was a language written with characters, such as we now find on the thugga edifice and other monuments; that it is still written with the same characters, particularly in the vicinity of fezzan and in the deserts traversed by the tuarycks, although this method of writing has been to so great an extent supplanted by arabic letters that we must consider the berber language, the language of syouah, sokna, audjelah, and gherma, as representing the remains of the ancient libyan language in use in the most remote period; and finally, that in the interior of america, on a monument of which the age is unknown, but anterior to the settlement by europeans, we find an engraved stone, bearing signs perfectly resembling the characters traced by the modern tuarycks and by their ancestors, upon the rocks of libya. mr. jomard's pamphlet contains an engraved table, in which are given, in parallel columns, the characters on the american tablet, the tuaryck alphabet, the thugga characters, and their value in hebrew and arabic. in connexion with this subject it may be added, that m. berthelot, a learned traveller, states that there exists a striking affinity between the names of places and of men in the ancient language of the canaries and certain carib words.[ ] the contiguity of the canaries to the african continent is such, that we can readily suppose their ancient inhabitants to have had communication with it, whereby the libyan language became known to them. a new field of enquiry is thus opened to philologists, and we may here seek for the means to unravel one of the most difficult questions connected with the origin of the american race, and the means by which they reached this continent, for we never have been among those who believed that america derived the mass of her population, her men and animals, from asia, by the way of behring's straits. the author of a late work on california, new mexico, &c., brings to our notice a tribe of indians known as the munchies (mawkeys) or white indians.[ ] "this remarkable nation occupies a valley among the _sierra de los mimbros_ chain of mountains, upon one of the affluents of the river gila, in the extreme northwestern part of the province of sonora. they number about eight hundred persons. their country is surrounded by lofty mountains at nearly every point, is well watered and very fertile. their dwellings are excavated in the hill-sides, and frequently cut in the solid rock. they subsist by agriculture, and raise great numbers of horses, cattle and sheep. among them are many of the arts and comforts of civilized life. they spin and weave, and make butter and cheese, with many of the luxuries known to more enlightened nations. their government is after the patriarchal order, and is purely republican in its character. in morals they are represented as honest and virtuous. in religion they differ but little from other indians. their features correspond with those of europeans, with a fair complexion and a form equally if not more graceful. in regard to their origin, they have lost all knowledge or even tradition; neither do their characters, manners, customs, arts or government savor of modern europe." another tribe of indians called the navijos, of whom we know but little, except that they have long had a place on the maps, is noticed by the same author. they occupy the country between the del norte and the sierra anahuac, in the province of sonora, and have never succumbed to spanish domination. "they possess a civilization of their own. most of them live in houses built of stone, and cultivate the ground--raising vegetables and grain for a subsistence. they also raise large numbers of horses, cattle and sheep--make butter and cheese, and spin and weave." the blankets manufactured by these indians are superior in beauty of color, texture and durability to the fabrics of their spanish neighbors. their government is in strict accordance with the welfare of the whole community. dishonesty is held in check by suitable regulations, industry is encouraged by general consent, and hospitality by common practice. as warriors they are brave and daring, making frequent and bold excursions into the spanish settlements, driving off herds of cattle, horses and sheep, and spreading terror and dismay on every side. as diplomatists, in imitation of their neighbors, they make and break treaties whenever interest and inclination prompts them.[ ] the navijo country is shut in by high mountains, inaccessible from without, except by limited passes through narrow defiles, well situated for defence on the approach of an invading foe. availing themselves of these natural advantages, they have continued to maintain their ground against fearful odds, nor have they suffered the spaniards to set foot within their territory as conquerors. the relations above given of the mawkeys and navijos (pronounced _navihoes_, and sometimes so written), correspond with the accounts that from time to time have been brought to us, by hunters and trappers who have occasionally visited them. a few years since there appeared in the newspapers an account of both these tribes, by a trapper. he stated that the mawkeys had "light, flaxen hair, blue eyes and skins of the most delicate whiteness."[ ] i have two other accounts wherein both are described much as before stated. their manufactures are particularly dwelt upon. some of them wore shoes, stockings and other garments of their own make. their stone houses are noticed as well as their large herds of cattle,--also their cultivation of fruits and vegetables. they raise cotton, which they manufacture into cloth, as well as wool. fire arms are unknown to them. "their dress is different from that of other indians, and from their spanish neighbors. their shirts, coats and waistcoats are made of wool, and their small clothes and gaiters of deer skin." these accounts might be considered fanciful, had we not high authority which fully corroborates them. humboldt says, "the indians between the rivers gila and colorado, form a contrast with the wandering and distrustful indians of the savannas to the east of new mexico. father garces visited the country of the moqui, and was astonished to find there an indian town with two great squares, houses of several stories, and streets well laid out, and parallel to one another. the construction of the edifices of the moqui is the same with that of the _casas grandes_ on the banks of the gila."[ ] in mr. farnham's late work on california, is a notice of the navijos from dr. lyman's report. the author begins by saying, that "they are the most civilized of all the wild indians of north america."[ ] their extensive cultivation of maize and all kinds of vegetables--their rearing of "large droves of magnificent horses, equal to the finest horses of the united states in appearance and value," and their large flocks of sheep are also noticed. from the fleece of the sheep which is long and coarse resembling mohair, "they manufacture blankets of a texture so firm and heavy as to be perfectly impervious to water." they make a variety of colors with which they dye their cloths, besides weaving them in stripes and figures. they are constantly at war with the mexicans, but stand in fear of the american trappers, with whom they have had some severe skirmishes, which resulted much to their disadvantage.[ ] it is believed by baron humboldt and by others, that in the navijos and mawkeys we see the descendants of the same race of indians which cortez and the spanish conquerors found in mexico, in a semi-civilized state. we are unable to state whether any affinity exists between their language and the other mexican dialects, as no vocabularies have been collected. the whiteness of their skins, their knowledge of the useful arts and agriculture, and the mechanical skill exhibited in their edifices at the present day, bear a striking analogy with the mexican people at the period of the conquest, and as m. humboldt observes, "appears to announce traces of the cultivation of the ancient mexicans." the indians have a tradition that leagues north from the moqui, near the mouth of the rio zaguananas, the banks of the nabajoa were the first abode of the aztecs after their departure from atzlan. "on considering the civilization," adds baron humboldt, "which exists on several points of the northwest coast of america, in the moqui and on the banks of the gila, we are tempted to believe (and i venture to repeat it here) that at the period of the migration of the toltecs, the acolhues and the aztecs, several tribes separated from the great mass of the people to establish themselves in these northern regions."[ ] connected with this subject and in evidence of the identity of these tribes with the aztecs, it should be stated that there exists numerous edifices of stone in a ruined state, on the banks of the gila, some of great extent, resembling the terraced edifices and teocallis of mexico and yucatan. one of these structures measures four hundred and forty-five feet in length by two hundred and seventy in breadth, with walls four feet in thickness. it was three stories high, with a terrace. the whole surrounding plain is covered with broken pottery and earthen ware, painted in various colors. vestiges of an artificial canal are also to be seen.[ ] among the fragments are found pieces of obsidian, a volcanic substance not common to the country, and which is also found in the mounds in the mississippi and ohio valleys, in both cases applied to the same uses. some valuable contributions to the geography and ethnology of the vast region lying between the rocky mountains and upper california and oregon, have been made by capt. fremont of the u.s. corps of engineers. the expedition under his command traversed the great desert, and examined portions of the country not before visited by white men. the information collected by this enterprising traveller will be of much service to the country in the new relations which may arise between the united states and california, as well as to persons who are seeking new homes in oregon. the report of captain, (now col.) fremont has been so widely circulated, and rendered so accessible to all who feel an interest in the subject, that it would be superfluous to give any analysis of the work at this time. so satisfactory were the results of the expedition of this accomplished officer to the country and the government, that he has again been sent to make further explorations of the country south of that previously visited by him, and which lies between santa fé and the pacific ocean. colonel fremont has in this expedition already rendered important services to the country, having the command of a detachment of troops in upper california. this armed body of men will give him great advantages over an ordinary traveller in a wild and inhospitable country, where there are still tribes of indians which have not yet been subjugated by the spaniards, and which an unprotected traveller could not approach. much interest has been awakened from the accounts already received from col. fremont, and it is to be hoped that ere long we shall be placed in possession of full reports of his explorations, which must throw much light on the geography of this vast region, its aboriginal inhabitants, productions, climate, &c. an exploratory journey in the isthmus of panama has recently been made by m. hillert, which has resulted in adding much important information to our previous knowledge of the country. it is known that there have been many surveys of the isthmus, with the view of opening a water communication between the oceans on either side. such was the primary object of mr. hillert, who, it appears has also made enquiries as to the practicability of making a rail road across it. his observations on the junction of the two oceans by means of a canal have appeared in the bulletin of the geographical society of paris for , (pp. and ), together with various letters from him on other subjects which attracted his attention. among other things mr. hillert has made known a most valuable anti-venomous plant, the guaco, a creeping plant, which abounds in the forest of the isthmus, the virtues of which were made known to him by the indians. after rubbing the hands with the leaves of this plant, a person may handle scorpions and venomous insects with impunity, and mosquitoes after sucking the blood of those who had taken it inwardly died instantly. the geology and botany of the country received particular attention. m. hillert proposes to introduce several of the most useful plants and vegetables into the french dominions in senegal or algeria, among them the plant from which the panama hats are made. so valuable are the labors of this gentleman considered, that the french commission has awarded him the orleans prize, for having introduced into france the most useful improvement in agriculture. some ancient monumental edifices were discovered in the isthmus, not far from the river atrato, and others near the mines of cano; besides these an ancient canal cut through the solid rock in the interval which separates the rivers atrato and darien. note.--the following list embraces all the books relating to oregon, california, and mexico, printed during the last two years. narrative of the exploring expedition to the rocky mountains, in the year , and to oregon and north california, in the years - , by capt. j.c. fremont of the topographical engineers, under the orders of col. j.j. abert, vo. washington, . exploration du territoire de l'oregon, des californies, et de la mer vermeille, executée pendant les années , et , par m. duflot de mofras, attaché à la légation de france à mexico. vols. vo. and folio atlas of maps and plates. paris, . the oregon territory, claims thereto, of england and america considered, its condition and prospects. by alexander simpson, esq. vo. london, . the oregon territory, a geographical and physical account of that country and its inhabitants. by rev. c.g. nicholay. mo. london, . the oregon question determined by the rules of international law. by edward j. wallace of bombay. vo. london, . the oregon question. by the hon. albert gallatin. vo. new york, . the oregon question examined, in respect to facts and the laws of nations. by travers twiss, d.c.l. vo. london, . the oregon question as it stands. by m.b. sampson. london, . prairiedom; rambles and scrambles in texas and new estremadura. by a southron. mo. new york, . life in california during a residence of several years in that territory. by an american. to which is annexed an historical account of the origin, customs and traditions of the indians of alta california, from the spanish. post vo. new york, . an essay on the oregon question, written for the shakespeare club. by e.a. meredith. montreal, . the topic no. . the oregon question. to. london, . life in prairie land. by mrs. eliza w. farnham. mo. new york, . green's journal of the texan expedition against mier; subsequent imprisonment of the author; his sufferings, and final escape from the castle of perote. with reflections upon the present political and probable future relations of texas, mexico, and the united states. illustrated by drawings taken from life by charles m'laughlin, a fellow-prisoner. engravings. vo. travels over the table lands and cordilleras of mexico, in - . with an appendix on oregon and california. by albert m. gilliam, late u.s. counsul, california. vo. philadelphia, . recollections of mexico. by waddy thompson, esq., late minister plenipotentiary of the u.s. at mexico. vo. new york, . altowan; or incidents of life and adventure in the rocky mountains. by an amateur traveller. edited by james watson webb. vol. mo. new york, . scenes in the rocky mountains, oregon, california, new mexico, texas, and grand prairies, including descriptions of the different races inhabiting them, &c. by a new englander. mo. philadelphia, . history of oregon and california, and the other territories on the north west coast of north america: from their discovery to the present day. accompanied by a geographical view of those countries. by robert greenhow. vo. third edition. boston, . greenland and the arctic regions. the royal society of northern antiquaries published, in , grönlands historiske mindesmærker, (the historical monuments of greenland), vol. iii., ( pages, with copperplates), which closes this work. the st and d volumes, (pp. and respectively), were published in . after professor rafn had finished the compilation of his separate work, _antiquitates americanæ_, which was published by the society in , he connected himself with professor finn magnusen, for the purpose of editing--also under the auspices of the society--the great collection of original written sources of the ancient history of that remarkable polar land, which was first seen in , and colonized in . with a view of doing all that lay in its power to throw light on ancient greenland, the society, during the ten years from to , caused journies to be undertaken and explorations to be performed in such of the greenland firths as were of the greatest importance in respect of the ancient colonization. by excavations made among the ruins remaining from the ancient colony, there was obtained a collection of inscriptions and other antiquities, which are now preserved in the american museum erected by the society, and drawings were taken of the ground plans of several edifices. of the reports received on this occasion, we must in an especial manner notice, as exhibiting evidence of the most assiduous care, and as moreover embracing the most important part of the country, the exploration undertaken by the rev. george t. joergensen, of the firths of igalikko and tunnudluarbik, where the most considerable ruins are situated. the present, vol. iii., contains, extracts from annals, and a collection of documents relating to greenland, compiled by finn magnusen; (to this part appertains a plate exhibiting seals of the greenland bishops); ancient geographical writings, compiled by finn magnusen and charles c. rafn; the voyages of the brothers zeno, with introductory remarks and notes by dr. bredsdorff; a view of more recent voyages for the re-discovery of greenland, by dr. c. pingel, an antiquarian chorography of greenland, drawn up by j.j.a. warsaae, from the accounts furnished by various travellers of the explorations undertaken by them. the work is closed by a view of the ancient geography of greenland, by professor charles c. rafn, based on a collation of the notices contained in the ancient manuscripts and the accounts of the country furnished by the travellers. to which is added a list of the bishops and a chronological conspectus of the ancient and modern history of the country, a historical index of names, a geographical index, and an antiquarian index rerum. copperplate maps are annexed of the two most important districts of ancient greenland--the eastern settlement, (eystribygd), and the western settlement, (vestribygd), exhibiting the position of the numerous ruins. moreover, plans and elevations of the most important ecclesiastical ruins and other rudera; also delineations of runic stones and other northern antiquities found in greenland. _scripta historica islandorum_, latine reddita et apparatu critico instructa, curante societate regia antiquariorum septentrionalium. vol. xii. the edition first commenced by the society, of the historical sagas recording events which happened out of america, (iceland, greenland and vinland), particularly in norway, sweden and denmark, in the original icelandic text with two translations, one into latin, and another into danish, ( vols.) has now been brought to a completion, by the publication of the above mentioned volume, (pp. in vo.) wherein are contained regesta geographica to the whole work, which for this large cyclus of sagas may be considered as tantamount to an old northern geographical gazetteer, in as much as attention has also been paid to other old northern manuscripts of importance in a geographical point of view. complete, however, it cannot by any means be called, neither as regards iceland especially and other lands in america, whose copious historical sources have, in the present instance, been but partially made use of, nor also as regards the european countries without the scandinavian north, for whose remote history and ancient geography the old northern writings contain such important materials, but it is to be hoped that the society will in due time take an opportunity of extending its labors in that direction also. the present volume does, however, contain a number of names of places situated without the bounds of scandinavia in countries of which mention is made in the writings published in the work itself. to the name of each place is annexed its icelandic or old danish form, and the position of the place is investigated by means of comparison with other historical data and with modern geography. sir john franklin who left about two years on a voyage of exploration, in the arctic regions of america, remains in those inhospitable parts. much anxiety is felt for him as no tidings have been received from him. it is to be hoped that his voyage will prove successful and that before the close of the present year, he may return. the hudson's bay company has lately fitted out an expedition, for the purpose of surveying the unexplored portion of the coast on the northeast angle of the north american continent. the expedition, which consists of thirteen persons, is under the command of one of the company's officers. it started on the th july, in two boats, under favorable circumstances;--the ice having cleared away from the shores of the bay at an earlier period of the year than usual.[ ] a memoir on the indian tribes beyond the rocky mountains, and particularly those along the shores of the pacific ocean, from california to behring's straits, with comparative vocabularies of their languages, is preparing for publication by the hon. albert gallatin, from authentic materials. mr. hale, philologist of the united states exploring expedition, has made a valuable contribution to the ethnology of this region, in his volume, entitled "ethnology and philology," being the seventh volume of the u.s. exploring expedition. recent works on the arctic regions. barrow's (sir j.) voyages of discovery and research within the arctic regions, from the year to the present time, in search of a north-west passage, from the atlantic to the pacific; with two attempts to reach the north pole. abridged from the official narratives, with remarks by sir john barrow. vo. london, . americas arctiske landes gamle geographie efter de nordiske oldskriefter ved c.c. rafn. vo. copenhagen, . south america. the french expedition which has been engaged for the last three years in exploring the interior of south america, has at length reached lima, from which place count castelnau has transmitted a detailed report of his journey, to the french minister of public instruction.[ ] this expedition is by far the most important that has yet been sent out for the exploration of south america, and has already traversed a large portion of its central parts, little known to geographers. their first journey was across the country from rio janeiro to goyaz, on the head waters of the river araguay (lat. ° ´ s. long. ° ´ w.) which river they descended to its junction with the tocantiu, and then returned by the last named river and the desert of the chavantes. they made another journey to the north of cuyaba, to explore the diamond mines, and examine the sources of the paraguay and arenos. in the next journey,[ ] the particulars of which have just been communicated from lima, the expedition descended the rivers cuyaba and san lorenzo to paraguay. during this voyage they entered the country of the guatos indians, one of the most interesting tribes of the american aborigines. "the features of these indians," says the count, "are extremely interesting;--never in my life having seen finer, or any more widely differing from the ordinary type of the red man. their large, well opened eyes, with long lashes, nose aquiline and admirably modelled, and a long, black beard, would make them one of the finest races in the world, had not their habit of stooping in the canoe bowed the legs of the greater number. their arms, consisting of very large bows, with arrows seven feet long, demand great bodily strength--and their address in the use of them passes imagination. these savages are timid, nevertheless, and of extreme mildness. by taking them for our guides, and attaching them by small presents, we were enabled to explore parts wholly unknown, of that vast net-work of rivers which they are constantly traversing." in paraguay the party met a tribe of the celebrated guaycurus nation. these people are eminently equestrian--transporting their baggage, women and effects of every kind on horseback, across the most arid deserts. they are mortal foes to the spaniards, and a terror to the whole frontier. they wear their hair long, and paint themselves, black or red, after a very grotesque and irregular fashion; the two sides of their bodies are generally painted in a different manner. "their chief arms are the lance, knife, and a club, which they throw with great precision at a full gallop. their hats are made of hides. each warrior has his mark, which he burns with a red hot iron on all that belongs to him--his horses, dogs and even wives. one of the most atrocious traits in the manners of this people, is that of putting to death all children born of mothers under thirty years of age." after traversing the country between paraguay and brazil, the expedition proceeded north by the river paraguay, and passed the mouths of the san lorenzo, where it entered the great lake gaiva, and from thence the greater lake uberava, the limits of which could not be traced, being lost in the horizon. an indian told the count that he had travelled for three whole days in his canoe, without finding its extremity, which supposes a length of twenty-five or thirty leagues. this great inland sea is unknown to geographers. at villa maria a caravan of mules awaited the travellers, when they entered the desert or gran chaco, as it is called, and proceeded to the town of matto-grosso, which is considered the most pestiferous place in the world. out of a population of souls, there were found but four whites, of whom three were officers of the government; all the rest was composed of blacks and indians of every variety and color, who alone are able to support this terrible climate. from this place the expedition proceeded to santa cruz of the sierra, where they found bread, of which they had been deprived for two years; after a month's repose, a journey of eight days brought the party to chuquisaca, in bolivia, and from thence by potosi to lima. the results of this expedition are already of great interest. it will make known people, the names of which were unknown to geographers. rivers which appear on our maps are found not to exist, while hitherto unknown rivers and large bodies of water have been discovered. many geographical positions have been determined, and the particulars of the trade which is extensively carried on in the centre of this vast continent by means of caravans of mules, are made known. m. de castelnau has paid particular attention to the productions of the country, with a view of introducing such as are valuable into the french colony of algeria. large collections in natural history have already been received at the museum in paris; observations on terrestrial magnetism and meteorology have been made, in fact, no department of science seems to have been neglected by the expedition, which will reflect great credit on its distinguished head, count castelnau, as well as on the french government, by whose liberality and zeal for the promotion of science it has been supported. from lima, count castelnau intended to prosecute further researches in the country of the incas, after which he would proceed to the amazon river. peru. some interesting remains of the ancient peruvians, have lately been brought to light in the province of chachapoyas, about five hundred and fifty miles north of lima and two hundred and fifty miles from the coast. the particulars of these ruins were communicated by señor nieto to the prefect of the department.[ ] "the principal edifice is an immense wall of hewn stone, three thousand six hundred feet in length, five hundred and sixty feet in width and one hundred feet high.[ ] it is solid in the interior and level on the top, upon which is another wall six hundred feet in length, of the same breadth and height as the former, and like it solid to its summit. in this elevation, and also in that of the lower wall, are a great many rooms eighteen feet long and fifteen wide, in which are found neatly constructed niches, containing bones of the ancient dead, some naked and some in shrouds or blankets," placed in a sitting posture. from the base of this structure commences an inclined plane gradually ascending to its summit, on which is a small watch tower. from this point, the whole of the plain below, with a considerable part of the province, including the capital, eleven leagues distant, may be seen. in the second wall or elevation are also openings resembling ovens, six feet high, and from to feet in circumference. in these, skeletons were found. the cavities in the adjoining mountain were found to contain heaps of human remains perfectly preserved in their shrouds, which were made of cotton of various colors. still farther up this mountain was "a wall of square stones, with small apertures like windows, but which could not be reached without a ladder," owing to a perpendicular rock which intervened. the indians have a superstitious horror of the place, in consequence of the mummies it contains, and refused to assist the exploring party, believing that fatal diseases would be produced by touching these ghastly remains of their ancestors. they were therefore compelled to abandon their researches, though surrounded by objects of antiquity of great interest. mr. chas. frederick neumann, a distinguished oriental scholar of munich, has lately published a work "on the condition of mexico in the fifth century of our era, according to chinese writers." it purports to be an account of that country, called fu-sang, in the chinese annals. de guignes, in his celebrated work on china, supposes that america was the country referred to, while klaproth, on the contrary, believes it to be japan. it is stated in the english papers[ ] that an expedition, which promises the most important results, both to science and commerce, is at this moment fitting out for the purpose of navigating some of the great unexplored rivers of south america. it is to be under the command of lord ranelagh; and several noblemen and gentlemen have already volunteered to accompany his lordship. the enterprising and scientific band will sail as soon as the necessary arrangements are completed. he proposes to penetrate, by some of the great tributaries of the amazon, into the interior of bolivar--for which purpose a steamer will be taken out in pieces. returning to the amazon, he will ascend this great river to its highest sources. the distance and means of communication between the pacific and the basin of the amazon will be minutely examined. another scientific expedition has been sent out by the french government to its west india colonies and the northerly parts of south america, under m. charles deville, a report from whom was read at a meeting of the paris academy of sciences in june last. its publication was recommended. the french government gave notice to the same academy, at its meeting on the st august last, of an intended expedition by lieut. tardy montravel, to the amazon river and its branches, with the steamer alecton and the astrolabe corvette; and invited the academy to prepare a programme with a view to facilitate the researches which m. de montravel is charged to make. note.--the following is a list of the books relating to south america which have recently been published. historia fisica y politica de chile segun documentos adquiredos en esta republica durante doze anos de residencia en ella, y publicada bajo los auspicios del supremo gobierno. livr. vo. with an atlas of plates. paris. . memoria geografico economico-politica del departmento de venezuela, publicada en por el intendente de ejercito d. jose m. aurrecoechea, quien la reimprime con varias notas aclaratorias y un apendice. quarto. madrid. . twenty-four years in the argentine republic, embracing the author's personal adventures, with the history of the country, &c. &c., with the circumstances which led to the interposition of england and france. by col. j.a. king. vol. mo. new york. . travels in the interior of brazil, principally through the northern provinces, and the gold and diamond districts, in - . by george canning. vo. london. . travels in peru, during the years - , on the coast, and in the sierra, across the cordilleras and the andes, into the primeval forests. by dr. j.j. tschudi. vols. mo. new york. . mr. thomas ewbank is preparing for the press a work on brazil, being observations made during a twelve months' residence in that country. from a personal acquaintance with this gentleman, his reputation as a man of observation, and his well known capacity as a writer, we think a valuable book may be expected. africa. the zeal which was manifested a few years since for the discovery and exploration of the interior of africa, and which seemed to have terminated with the landers, and the unsuccessful voyage of the steamers up the niger, has again shown itself, and we now find as much curiosity awakened, and as much zeal manifested for geographical discovery in this vast continent, and the solution of questions for ages in doubt, as has been exhibited at any former period. the travels of m. d'abaddie, dr. beke, isenberg, and others make known to us the immense extent and windings of the bahr-el-abiad and the bahr-el-azrek, or the white and blue nile, but they have not yet been traced to their rise, and the solution of the question of the true source of the nile, remains still unsettled. we have received from mr. jomard, member of the french institute, a work entitled "observations sur le voyage au darfour" from an account given by the sheikh mohammed-el-tounsy, accompanied by a vocabulary of the language of the people, and remarks on the white nile by mr. jomard. this is a valuable contribution to our knowledge of a portion of the interior of africa, only known to us by the visit of mr. browne in , and forms a link in the chain between lake tchad and a region of country quite unexplored, and of which we have no knowledge whatever. we have some information of interest, relating to senegal, communicated to the royal geographical society of london,[ ] being a narrative of mr. thomson, linguist to the church missionary society at sierra leone, from that place to timbo, the capital of futah jallo. his place is about four hundred miles northeast of sierra leone. "the principal object of the mission, was to open a road for a regular line of traffic through that country, between the colony and the negro states on the joliba or niger." mr. thomson's narrative is full of interest and shows the great hardships to be encountered in effecting a communication with the interior. no man could be better prepared for such an enterprize, both by knowledge of the languages of the country, and the manners of the people; zeal, perseverance, and courage, also were prominent traits in his character; yet his enterprize failed and death cut him off, when on the point of starting for the eastward. an expedition more successful in its results, has been undertaken in dahomey on the guinea coast, the particulars of which are given in the journal of the royal geographical society of london, (vol. .) this journey was performed by mr. john duncan, from cape coast to whyddah, and from the latter about five hundred miles due north, through the dahomey country to adofoodiah. although the king of ashantee had refused permission for mr. duncan to pass through his territory, and had endeavored to prejudice the king of dahomey against him, he was received with great kindness by the latter, and every facility given him to travel in his dominions. a guard of one hundred men was furnished to accompany him--a path was cleared for upwards of one hundred miles, and arrangements made so that at every village through which he passed, provisions were always waiting, ready cooked for them. among the strange things seen by this traveller was a review of six thousand female troops, well armed and accoutred. their appearance, for an uncivilized nation, was surprising, and their performance still more so. the slave trade is carried on extensively in dahomey. in the market of adofoodiah, articles from the mediterranean, and from bornou in the interior were exposed for sale, showing the immense extent of the trade of the country. he met people from timbuctoo and gathered some particulars of that remarkable city, as well as some information respecting mungo park's death. this enterprising traveller has lately been provided with the means to enable him to set out on a new journey with a determination to penetrate the country to timbuctoo, from whence he will endeavour to follow the niger to its mouth. the american missionaries at the gaboon, (western africa), with a view of establishing a mission in the pong-wee country have been preparing a grammar of the pong-wee language, the peculiarities of which are such as to deserve notice. the missionaries call it "one of the most perfect languages of which they have any knowledge. it is not so remarkable for copiousness of words as for its great and almost unlimited flexibility. its expansions, contractions, and inflections though exceedingly numerous, and having, apparently, special reference to euphony, are all governed by grammatical rules, which seem to be well established in the minds of the people, and which enable them to express their ideas with the utmost precision. how a language so soft, so plaintive, so pleasant to the ear, and at the same time so copious and methodical in its inflections, should have originated, or how the people are enabled to retain its multifarious principles so distinctly in their minds as to express themselves with almost unvarying precision and, uniformity, are points which we do not pretend to settle. it is spoken coastwise nearly two hundred miles, and perhaps with some dialectic differences, it reaches the congo river. how far it extends into the interior is not satisfactorily known."[ ] an attempt to penetrate this continent from the north has been made by mr. james richardson, by advices from whom it appears that on the d november, , he had reached ghadames, in the great desert, where he had been residing for three months, and whence he was to start on the following day, with a negro and a moor, for soudan. if successful in reaching that country, he intended to proceed to timbuctoo and other parts of the interior. mr. richardson was well received by the people and sultan of ghadames; but his journey to sackatoo the capital of soudan, which would take three months to accomplish, through some of the wildest tribes and without any guarantee from the english or ottoman government, was considered foolhardy and desperate.[ ] later accounts state that mr. richardson had returned after a successful exploration in the very centre of the great zahara, and that he has collected important information relating to the slave trade, one of the objects of his undertaking. we shall look forward with interest to the publication of his travels.[ ] the details of the expedition under m. raffenel of the french navy and other scientific gentlemen, up the senegal, have just been published.[ ] the party ascended the senegal to the river falémé, and from the mouth of the falémé they penetrated the country to sansanzig. they then visited the gold mines of kenieba, on the bambouk, the country of galam, bondou and woolli, and returned by the river gambia. seven months were spent on this expedition. they found the country beautiful, but its cultivation neglected, and of course little was produced. they visited the place where the french were formerly established, with the view of making treaties with the natives for its occupation anew. few traces of the colony were to be found. they were kindly received by the various tribes of aborigines, wherever they went; though when at the extreme point of their journey, owing to the wars among the natives, they did not think it safe to proceed farther. the results of the expedition are interesting to science, as well as to the friends of humanity, who wish to improve the condition of this people. for the more complete exploration of this portion of the african continent, it has been proposed to send another expedition under m. raffenel for the purpose. this gentleman has submitted a memoir to the minister of marine, by whom it was presented to the geographical society of paris. the result was favorable, and mr. raffenel has been provided with instructions for his guidance in his proposed journey. a journey of exploration and civilization in soudan, is about to be undertaken by four jesuits from rome--bishop casolani, and fathers ryllo, knoblica, and vinco. casolani and ryllo will start from cairo in january, --having previously obtained a firman from constantinople; and, proceeding through upper egypt, nubia, and thence by kordofau and darfour, they hope to reach bornou,--and meet there their brethren, who travel by the way of tripoli and mouryok. should they be fortunate enough to meet, it will then be determined which route shall afterwards be followed. they have determined to accomplish what they have undertaken, or perish in the attempt. from the high character of all the parties, great hopes are entertained of the result of this journey. they are all men of extensive learning, and familiar with the languages, manners and customs of the east.[ ] a project is on foot in london and a prospectus has been issued for a new expedition of discovery to penetrate the interior of africa from the eastern side. many advantages are presented by beginning the work of exploration here; among them, the populousness and civilization of eastern africa, which is in general superior to that of the western coast. the languages of the former bear a close affinity to each other, and extend over a very large space, which is not the case with the latter. "the absence of foreign influence, (particularly of the portuguese, by whom the slave trade is carried on), and the readiness of the sultan of muscat to listen to british counsels," are strong inducements to carry out the scheme proposed.[ ] lieutenant ruxton of the royal navy, who has lately made an interesting journey into africa from the southwestern coast, near the island of ichaboe, is about to undertake a second journey with the intention of crossing the continent from this point to the eastern coast, under the sanction of the british government. some valuable contributions have been made to our knowledge of the geography of southern africa by mr. cooley[ ] and mr. mcqueen,[ ] which tend to elucidate portions of this continent hitherto enveloped in much obscurity. mr. cooley's investigations relate to the country extending from loango and congo, the portuguese settlements in western africa, to the eastern coast between zanzibar and sofala, in lat. ° south. he commences by examining the statements of the portuguese geographers of the th century, lopez, joao dos santos, do couto, and pigafetta. "the information collected by lopez, was elaborated by pigafetta into a system harmonizing with the prevalent opinions of the age, and in this form was published in . yet in the midst of this editor's theories, we can at times detect the simple truth." much confusion seems to have arisen by misapplying the names of lakes, rivers and people, as this information was in a great degree derived from natives, and not properly understood by the persons who received it from them. mr. cooley, by a rigid examination of these various statements, together with the accounts derived from later writers and from native traders, has been enabled to rectify the errors which had crept in, and clear up much that had been considered fabulous. the great lake called n'yassi, and the natives occupying the country around it, are among the most interesting subjects of our author's enquiries. this lake, or sea, as it is called by the natives, is some five or six hundred miles from the eastern coast. its breadth in some places is about fifteen miles, while in others, the opposite shores cannot be seen. its length is unknown, neither extremity having been traced. it probably exceeds five hundred miles, according to the best authority. numerous islands filled with a large population, are scattered among its waters. it is navigated by bark canoes, twenty feet long, capable of holding twenty persons. its waters are fresh, and it abounds in fish. the people seem more advanced in civilization than any african nations south of the equator, of which we have knowledge. pereira, who spent six months at cazembe, in , describes the people as similar, in point of civilization, to the mexicans and peruvians, at the time of the conquest. the nation called the monomoesi, or mucaranga, north of the lake, as well as the movisa, on its opposite shores, are a tall and handsome race, with a brown complexion. "they are distinguished for their industry, and retain the commercial habits for which they were noted two centuries and a half ago, when their existence was first known through the portuguese. they descend annually to zanzibar in large numbers. the journey to the coast and back again, takes nine or ten months, including the delay of awaiting the proper season for returning. they are clothed in cotton of their own manufacture; but the most obvious mark of their superiority above other nations of eastern africa is, that they employ beasts of burden, for their merchandize is conveyed to the coast laden on asses of a fine breed." mr. cooley believes that "the physical advantages and superior civilization of these tribes, who are not negroes," explain the early reports which led the portuguese to believe that the empire of prestor john was not far off. mr. m'queen's memoirs consist of the details of a journey made by lief ben saeid, a native of zanzibar, to the great lake n'yassi, or maravi, alluded to in mr. cooley's memoir. this visit was made in the year . the facts collected corroborate what has been stated by mr. cooley. he found the country level, filled with an active population, civil to strangers, and honest in their dealings. a very extensive trade was carried on in ivory, and a peculiar oil, of a reddish color. the manumuse (mono-moezi) are pagans, and both sexes go nearly naked. near the lake there are no horses or camels, but plenty of asses, and a few elephants. the houses on the road and at the lake, are made of wood and thatched with grass. dogs are numerous, and very troublesome. some are of a very large kind.[ ] the region which forms the subject of the memoirs just alluded to, is doubtless one of the most interesting fields for exploration of any on the african continent. the languages spoken by the several nations between the two oceans, which are here separated by a space of sixteen or seventeen hundred miles, in a direct line, are believed to belong to one great family, or at least to present such traces of affinity, that an expedition, if sufficiently strong, aided by interpreters from the zanzibar coast or the monomoezi tribes, might traverse the continent without difficulty. obstacles might be thrown in the way by the portuguese traders, who would naturally feel jealous at any encroachments by rival nations; but by a proper understanding, these might be overcome, and this interesting and hitherto unknown portion of central africa be laid open to commerce and civilization. the latest attempt to explore this region was that of m. maizan, a young officer in the french navy, who towards the close of the year , set out for the purpose. in april, , he left zanzibar, furnished with a firman from sultan said to the principal chiefs of the tribes of the interior, though in reality they enjoyed the most complete independence. having been warned that a chief, named pazzy, manifested hostile intentions towards him, he stopped some time on his way, and after having acquired information relating to the country he wished to survey, he made a grand _détour_ round the territory over which this savage chief exercised his authority. after a march of twenty days, he reached the village of daguélamohor, which is but three days' journey from the coast in a direct line, where he awaited the arrival of his baggage, which he had entrusted to an arab servant. this man, it appears, had communication with pazzy, and had informed him of the route his master had taken. pazzy, with some men of his tribe, overtook m. maizan towards the end of july, at daguelamohor, and surrounded the house in which he lived. after tying him with cords to a palisade, the savage ordered his men to cut the throat of their unfortunate victim.[ ] mr. m'queen gives some particulars obtained from a native african relating to the country between lake tchad, or tshadda and calabar. this portion of the african continent has never been visited by europeans, and although little can be gained of its geography from the statements of this man, there is much in them that is interesting on the productions of the country, the natives, their manners, customs, &c. algiers. the publication by the french government of the results of the great scientific expedition to algeria has thrown much light on the districts embraced in algiers and the regency of tunis, as well as on the countries far in the interior. among the subjects which have received the particular attention of the commission, are, . an examination of the routes followed by the arabs in the south of algiers and tunis; . researches into the geography and commerce of southern algiers, by capt. carette; . a critical analysis of the routes of the caravans between barbary and timbuctoo, with remarks on the nature of the western sahara, and on the tribes which occupy it, by m. renou; . a series of interesting memoirs on the successive periods of the political and geographical history of algiers from the earliest period to the present time, by m. pelissier; . the history of africa, translated from the arabic of mohammed-ben-abi-el-raini-el-kairouani, by m. remusat, giving a particular account of the earliest musselman period. gen. marey in an account of his expedition to laghouat in algeria, published in algiers in , has contributed important information on this country, which deserves a rank with the great work of the scientific expedition.[ ] in this work the author has corrected the erroneous opinion which has long been held, of the barrenness of the sahara. among the arabs this word _sahara_ does not convey the idea which the world has generally given it, of a desert or uninhabitable place, but the contrary. like every country, it presents some excellent and luxuriant spots, others of a medium quality as to soil, and others entirely barren, not susceptible of cultivation. by _sahara_, the arabs mean a country of pastures, inhabited by a pastoral people; while, to the provinces between the atlas mountains and the sea, they apply the name of _tell_, meaning a country of cereals, and of an agricultural people. m. carette, in his exploration of this region, has also discovered the false notion long imbibed in relation to it. "the sahara," says he, "was for a long time deformed by the exaggerations of geographers, and by the reveries of poets. called by some the great desert, from its sterility and desolation, by others the country of dates, the sahara had become a fanciful region, of which our ignorance increased its proportions and fashioned its aspect. from the mountains which border the horizon of tell, to the borders of the country of the blacks, it was believed that nature had departed from her ordinary laws, renouncing the variety which forms the essential character of her works, and had here spread an immense and uniform covering, composed of burning plains, over which troops of savage hordes carried their devastating sway. such is not the nature, such is not the appearance of the sahara." this region, occupying so large a portion of the african continent, "is a vast archipelago of oases, of which each presents an animated group of towns and villages. around each is a large enclosure of fruit trees. the palm is the king of these plantations, not only from the elevation of its trunk, but from the value of its product, yet it does not exclude other species. the fig, the apricot, the peach and the vine mingle their foliage with the palm." the algerine sahara has lately been the object of a special work of col. daumas who intends completing the researches begun by gen. marey and the members of the scientific commission. he has made an excursion to the borders of the desert, and has collected much that is new and interesting in ethnology, particularly relating to the tuarycks, a great division of the berber race whose numerous tribes occupy all the western part of the great desert.[ ] among the interesting ethnological facts which the late expeditions in this region have brought to light, is that of the existence of a white race, inhabiting the aures mountains, (_mons aurarius_) in the province of constantine.[ ] dr. guyon, of the french army of africa, took advantage of an expedition sent out by general bedeau to the aures, to collect information about this people, to whom other travellers had referred. he describes them as having a white skin, blue eyes and flaxen hair. they are not found by themselves, but predominate more or less among various tribes. they hold a middle rank, and go but rarely with the kabyles and the arabs. they are lukewarm in observances of the koran, on which account the arabs esteem them less than the kabyles. they are more numerous in the tribe of the mouchaïas, who speak a language in which words of teutonic origin have been recognized. in constantine where they are numerous, they exercise the trades of butcher and baker. late writers believe that they are the remains of the vandals driven from the country by belisarius. m. bory de saint vincent in making some observations to the academy of sciences, on the paper of dr. guyon, exhibited portraits of individuals of this white race, which had been engraved for the scientific commission, and stated his belief that they were evidently of the northern gothic and vandal type.[ ] in northern africa, an important discovery has lately been made of the ancient libyan alphabet, by mr. f. de saulcy, member of the french institute. this curious result has been produced, by a study of the bilingual inscription on the monument of thugga, which is published in the first volume of the transactions of the ethnological society of new york. the reading of the phoenician part of this bilingual inscription having been established, the value of the libyan or numidian letters of the counter part, has been as clearly proved, as the hieroglyphic part of the rosetta stone has been established, from a comparison with the greek text of that bilingual inscription. by this discovery, a vast progress has been made in the ethnography and history of ancient africa. two facts of the greatest consequence have been established by it:--that the libyan language was that of numidia, at the early period of its history, when the phoenicians were settled there; that the numidians of that early day, used their own peculiar letters for writing their own language. to these facts, may be added another of no less ethnographic value; that the present numidian or berber race of the great sahara, who are called tuarycks, make use of these identical letters at this day. for this recent and valuable acquisition to science, we are again indebted to mr. de saulcy,[ ] who has published a tuaryck alphabet as communicated to him by mr. boisonnet, captain of artillery at algiers. it was furnished to him by an educated native of the oasis of touat, in the great sahara, and is called by him _kalem-i-tefinag_.[ ] what the _writing of tefinag_ means, it would be curious to know. this touatee, abd-el-kader, has promised more extended information, in relation to the writing of the tuarycks, than which, no more valuable contribution to african ethnography can be imagined. he asserts that, the tuarycks engrave or scratch on the rocks of the sahara, numerous inscriptions, either historic or erotic. this subject has been alluded to by mr. hodgson, in his "_notes on africa_" in which he mentions the tuaryck letters copied by denham and clapperton. the impulse first given by our countryman mr. wm. b. hodgson, in his researches into the berber language, and the ethnographic facts which were the results of his elucidations, has extended to england, france and germany, and the last two years have been productive of several valuable and important works, including grammars and dictionaries of the berber language. these have added greatly to our previous knowledge of the ancient and primitive people, who at a remote period, coeval with that of the ancient egyptians occupied the northern part of africa. mr. de saulcy has already unravelled the intricacy of the demotic writing of egypt and the popular characters of ancient libya. he is thus working at both ends of the libyan chain. he will find the berber thread at the oasis of ammon, and at meröe. we shall thus probably find, that the berber language was the original tongue of that part of ethiopia. dr. lepsius found in that region, numerous inscriptions in the egyptian demotic, and in greek characters, but written in an unknown language. he strongly suspects, that the old ethiopian blood will be found in the berber veins; and that the nubian language has strong affinities with the berber. when these inscriptions in an unknown language are decyphered, it will be known how far the interpretation of egyptian mythology and the local names, heretofore proposed by mr. hodgson, is to be received as plausible. he has proposed the berber etymologies of aman or ammon as water; themis as fire or purity; thot as an eye; edfou and tadis as the sun. books on algiers. algeria and tunis in . an account of a journey made through the two regencies, by viscount fielding and capt. kennedy. vols, post vo. london, . le maroc et ses caravanes, ou relations de la france avec cet empire, par r. thomassy. vo. paris . exploration scientifique de l'algeria pendant les années , , . publié par l'ordre du gouvernment et avec le concours d'une commission académique. vols, folio. (now in the course of publication.) recherches sur la constitution de la propriété territoriale dans le pays mussulmans et subsidiairement en algeria; par m. worms. vo. paris, . a visit to the french possessions in algiers in . by count st. marie. post vo. london, . afrique (l') française, l'empire du maroc et les déserts de sahara. histoire nationale des conquêtes, victoires et nouvelles découvertes des français depuis la prise d'alger jusqu'à nos jours; par p. christian. vo. algeria en ; par j. desjobert. vo. paris, . guide du voyageur en algeria. itinéraire du savant, de l'artiste, de l'homme du monde et du colon; par quetin. mo. paris, . le sahara algerien. etude geographiques, statistiques et historiques sur la region au sud des établissements françaises en algérie; par col. daumas vo. paris, . l'afrique française l'empire de maroc et les deserts de sahara, conquêtes et découvértes des français. royal vo. dictionnaire de géographie économique, politique et historique de l'algérie. avec une carte. mo. paris, . géographie populaire de l'algérie, avec cartes. mo. . histoire de nos colonies françaises de l'algérie et du maroc; par m. christian. vols. vo. paris, . the following list embraces the latest publications on africa generally. voyage dans l'afrique occidentale, comprenant l'exploration du senegal depuis st. louis jusqu'à la félemé jusqu'à sansandig; des mines d'or de keniéba, dans le bambouk; des pays de galam, boudou et wooli; et de la gambia; par a. raffenel. vo. and folio atlas. paris, . viaggi nell' africa occidentale, di _toto omboni_, gia medico di consiglié nel regno d'angola e sue dispendenze, vo. milan, . a visit to the portuguese possessions in south western africa. by dr. tams. vols. vo. life in the wilderness; or, wanderings in south africa. by henry w. methuen. post vo. london, . voyage au darfour par le cheykh mohammed ebn-omar el-tounsy; traduit de l'arabe par dr. perron; publié par les soins de m. jomard. royal vo. maps. paris, . observations sur le voyage au darfour suivies d'un vocabulaire de la langue des habitans et de remarques sur le nil blanc supérieur; par m. jomard. . essai historique sur les races anciennes et modernes de l'afrique septentrionale, leurs origines, leurs mouvements et leurs transformations depuis l'antiquité jusqu'à nos jours; par pascal duprat. vo. paris, . madagascar.--the island of madagascar has recently attracted and continues to occupy attention in france. in m. guillian, in command of a french corvette, was sent by the governor of the isle of bourbon to this island, to select a harbor safe and convenient of access, and to obtain information relative to the country and its inhabitants. after visiting various parts of the island on its western side, in which fourteen months were spent, m. guillian returned to bourbon, and in the results of his visit were published in paris. the first part of this work gives a history of the sakalave people, who occupy the western parts of the island. the second details the particulars of the voyage made in and , embracing the geography, commerce and present condition of the country, an abstract of which is given in the bulletin of the geographical society of paris, feb. . so important were the results of the visit of m. guillian that a new expedition has been sent to madagascar under his direction, with instructions for a more extended examination, particularly in relation to its animal and vegetable productions. a more extensive work by m. de froberville, is preparing for publication in paris, in which more attention will be given to the ethnography of this important island. documents sur l'histoire, la géographie et le commerce de la partie occidentale de l'île de madagascar; recueillis et redigés par m. guillian, vo. paris, . histoire d'établissement français de madagascar, pendant la restauration, précédée d'une description de cette île, et suivie de quelques considérations politiques et commerciales sur l'expédition et la colonisation de madagascar. par m. carayon, vo. paris, . histoire et géographie de madagascar, depuis la découverte de l'île en , jusqu'au récit des derniers événements de tamative; par m. descartes. vo. paris, . madagascar expedition de . par m. le capitaine de frégate jourdain. _revue de l'orient_, tom. ix. april, . a short memoir on madagascar is contained in the "bulletin de la société de géographie, july, ," by m. bona christave. etchings of a whaling voyage, with notes of a sojourn in the island of zanzibar, and a history of the whale fishery, by j.r. browne. vo. new york, . egypt. i have hesitated, in the superficial view i propose to take in noticing the ethnological and archæological researches of the day, as to whether i ought to speak of the land of the pharaohs. the explorations have been on so grand a scale, and the results so astounding, that one is lost in amazement in attempting to keep pace with them. in england, france, germany and italy, egyptian archæology is the most fruitful topic among the learned. in paris, it forms the theme of lectures by the most distinguished archæologists, and the subject absorbs so much interest in germany, that the king of prussia has established a professorship at the royal university for egyptian antiquities and history, which he has assigned to professor lepsius, the most accomplished scholar in egyptian learning, and who was at the head of the scientific commission sent by his majesty to explore the valley of the nile. it will be remembered that in addition to the immense and costly work published by napoleon, there have since been published the great national works of champollion, by the french government, and of rossellini by the tuscan government. these are to be immediately followed by the great work of lepsius, who has just returned from egypt, laden with innumerable treasures, the results of three years of most laborious and successful explorations. this undertaking is at the expense of the king of prussia, one of the most enlightened monarchs of europe, and who, at the present moment, is doing more in various parts of the world for the advancement of science than any now living. but the french government, which has always been foremost in promoting such explorations, is determined not to be superseded by the learned prussian's researches in egyptian lore. an expedition has been organized under m. prisse, for a new survey and exploration of egypt. mr. prisse is an accomplished scholar, versed in hieroglyphical learning, and author of a work on egyptian ethnology. he will be accompanied by competent artists, will go over the same ground as lepsius, and make additional explorations. as regards the eminent men who have won brilliant distinction in the career of egyptian studies, it is out of the question here to analyze their books: it must suffice to state, that all have marched boldly along the road opened by _champollion_, and that the science which owed its first illustration to young, to the champollions, to the humboldts, to salvolini, to rosellini, to nestor l'hote, and to whose soundness the great de sacy has furnished his testimony, counts at this day as adepts and ardent cultivators, such scholars as letronne, biot, prisse, bunsen, lepsius, burnouf, pauthiér, lanci, birch, wilkinson, sharpe, bonomi, and many more.[ ] a few important results of the late explorations in egypt, and researches into her hieroglyphics and history, it may be well to mention. prof. schwartze, of berlin, is publishing a work on egyptian philology, entitled _das alte Ægypten_. some idea may be formed of the erudition of german philologists, and the extent to which their investigations are carried, when we state that this savant has completed the first part of the first volume of this work, which embraces quarto pages! and this is but a beginning. de saulcy has made great advances in decyphering the demotic writing of egypt, in which, from champollion's death to , little had been done. he has now translated the whole of the demotic text on the rosetta stone, so that we may consider this portion of egyptian literature as placed on a firm basis. farther elucidations of the coptic language have been made. this, it will be remembered, is the language into which the ancient egyptian merged, and is the main instrument by which a knowledge of the latter must be obtained. recently a discovery has been made by arthur de rivière, at cairo, in an ancient coptic ms. containing part of the old testament. the manuscript was very large and thick, and on separating the leaves was found to contain a pagan manuscript in the same language, the only one yet discovered.[ ] on a farther examination of this manuscript, it proved to be a work on the religion of the ancient egyptians. the translation of this curious document is looked for with much interest. m. prisse is publishing at the expense of the french government, the continuation of champollion's great work on egypt and nubia-- plates are in press. mr. birch, of london, has nearly ready for the press a work on the titles of the officers of the pharaonic court. he has discovered in hieroglyphical writing those of the _chief butler_, _chief baker_, and others, coeval with the pyramids and anterior to joseph. he has also discovered upon a tablet at the louvre (age of thotmes iii. b.c. ) his conquest of nineveh, shinar, and babylon, and with the _tribute_ exacted from those conquered nations. the intense interest which egyptian archæology is exciting in europe will be seen from the list of new books on the subject. the most remarkable discoveries, and in which the greatest advances has been made, are in monumental chronology. through the indefatigable labors of the prussian savant, lepsius, primeval history has far transcended the bounds to which champollion and rosellini had carried it. they fixed the era of menes, the first pharaoh of egypt, at about , b.c. böckh, of berlin, from astronomical calculations, places it at b.c. henry of paris, in his "_l'Égypte pharaonique_," from historical deductions, places the era at b.c. barucchi, of turin, from critical investigations, at b.c., and bunsen, in his late work entitled "egypt's place in the world's history," from the most laborious hierological and critical deductions, places the era of menes at b.c. i should do wrong to speak of the labors of foreign savans, without alluding to what has been done in this country. dr. morton, it is known, has published a work on egyptian ethnography, from crania in his possession furnished by mr. gliddon, which reflects great credit on his scholarship, and has been highly commended in europe. the late mr. pickering, of boston, was one of the few who cultivated hieroglyphical literature in america. but perhaps the american people, as a mass, owe a deeper debt of gratitude to mr. geo. r. gliddon, for his interesting lectures on egypt and her literature, and to his work entitled chapters on egyptian antiquities and hieroglyphics, than to any other man. mr. gliddon, by a long residence in egypt, and by a close study subsequently of her monuments, has been enabled to popularize the subject, and by the aid of a truly magnificent and costly series of illustrations of the monuments, the sculptures, the paintings and hieroglyphics of egypt, to make this most interesting and absorbing subject, comprehensive to all. the results of these egyptian investigations will doubtless be startling to many; for if the facts announced are true, and we see no reason to believe otherwise, it places the creation of man far, very far, beyond the period usually assigned to him in the chronology of the hebrew bible. but again, it must be observed that the common chronology gives the shortest period for that event. if other scriptural chronologies are adopted, we gain two or three thousand years for the creation of man, which gives us quite time enough to account for the high state of civilization and the arts in egypt, four thousand years b.c. but we do not fear these investigations--truth will prevail, and its attainment can never be detrimental to the highest interests of man. i must also acknowledge the obligation i am under for the use of many splendid and valuable books relating to egypt, from mr. richard k. haight. this gentleman, with an ample fortune at his command, and with a taste for archæological studies, acquired by a personal tour among the monuments of egypt, has collected a large and valuable library of books on egypt, including all the great works published by the european governments on that country. this costly and unique collection, which few but princes or governments possess, he liberally places at the command of scholars, who, for purposes of study, may require them. mr. haight's interest in archæological researches has been noticed in paris, in an article by de saulcy, member of the institute of france, in a memoir entitled, "l'etude des hieroglyphics." speaking of mr. gliddon's success in the united states in popularizing hieroglyphical discoveries, de saulcy justly remarks--"il a été puissamment secondé, dans cette louable entreprise, par une de ces nobles intelligences dont un pays s'honore; m. haight, l'ami, le soutien, dévoué de tous les hommes de science, n'a pas peu contribué, par sa généreuse assistance, a répandre aux etats-unis les belles découvertes qui concernent les temps pharaoniques." _revue des deux mondes._ paris, june , . the following list embraces the late works relating to egypt: the oriental album; or historical, pictorial, and ethnographical sketches, illustrating the human families in the valley of the nile: by e. prisse. folio. london, . the history of egypt, from the earliest times till the conquest by the arabs, a.d. . by samuel sharpe. vo. london, . a pilgrimage to the temples and tombs of egypt, nubia, and palestine, in -' , by mrs. romer. vols. vo. london, . l'Égypte au xix siècle, histoire militaire et politique, anecdotique et pittoresque de mehemet ali, etc.; par e. gouin. illustrée de gravures. panorama d'Égypte et de nubie avec un texte orné, de vignettes; par hector horeau. folio. recherches sur les arts et métiers de la vie civile et domestique des anciens peuples de l'Égypte, de la nubie et de l'Éthiopie, suivi de détails sur les moeurs et coûtumes des peuples modernes des mêmes contrées; par m. frederic cailliand. folio. paris, -' . plates. das tödtenbuch der Ægypten nach dem hieroglyphischen papyrus in turin, von dr. r. leipsius. leipsig. schwartze. das alte Ægypten, oder sprache, geschichte, religion und verfassung d. alt. Ægypt. vols. to. leipsig. Ægyptens stelle in der weltgeschichte: von carl j. bunsen. vols. vo. manetho und die hundssternperiode, ein beitrag zur geschichte der pharaonen: von august böckh. vo. berlin, . macrizi's geschichte der copten. aus den handschriften zu gotha und wién, mit Übersetzungen and anmerkungen. von wüstenfeld. to. göttingen, . monuments de l'Égypte et de la nubie. notices descriptives conformes aux manuscrits autographes rédigés sur les lieux par champollion le jeune. folio. paris, -' . l'Égypte pharaonique, ou histoire des institutions qui régirent les Égyptiens sous leur rois nationaux. par d.m.j. henri. vols. vo. paris, . discorso critici sopra la cronologia egizia; del prof. barucchi. to. turin. voyage en Égypte, en nubie, dans les déserts de beyonda, des bycharís, et sur les côtes de la mer rouge: par e. combes. vols. vo. paris, . the eastern archipelago. borneo.--among the most remarkable and successful attempts to open a communication with the natives of the east india islands, is that of mr. james brooke. this gentleman, prompted solely by a desire to improve the condition of the people of borneo, and at the same time to explore this hitherto unknown region, has established himself at sarawak, on the northwestern part of the island, miles from singapore. such was the interest manifested by him on his arrival in the country to promote the good of the people, and to suppress the piracies which have been carried on for many years by the malays, and certain tribes associated with them, that the then reigning rajah, muda hassim, resigned to him his right and title to the government of the district, in which he was afterwards established by the sultan of borneo. the success that has attended mr. brooke's government, among a barbarous people, whose intercourse with foreigners had been confined to the malays and chinese, is most remarkable. possessed of an independent fortune, of the most enlarged benevolence; familiar with the language, manners, customs and institutions of the people by which he is surrounded, with a mind stored with knowledge acquired from extensive travel and intercourse with various rude nations, he seems to have been prepared by providence for the task which he has attempted, and which has thus far been crowned with success. capt. keppel's narrative of his expedition to borneo, and mr. brooke's journal, furnish some interesting ethnological facts. the dyaks, or aboriginal inhabitants of borneo, are divided into numerous lesser tribes, varying in a slight degree in their manners and customs. their language belongs to the polynesian stock, on which has been ingrafted, particularly along the coast, a large number of malayan words. it also exhibits evidences of migrations from india at remote periods. in speaking of the sibnowans, mr. brooke observes that "they have no idea of a god, and though they have a name for the deity, (battara, evidently of hindoo origin), with a faint notion of a future state, the belief seems a dead letter among them. they have no priests, say no prayers, make no offerings to propitiate the deity; and of course have no occasion for human sacrifices, in which respect they differ from all other people in the same state of civilization, who bow to their idols with the same feelings of reverence and devotion, of awe and fear, as civilized beings do to their invisible god."[ ] from their comparatively innocent state, mr. brooke believes they are capable of being easily raised in the scale of society. "their simplicity of manners, the purity of their morals and their present ignorance of all forms of worship, and all idea of future responsibility, render them open to conviction of truth and religious impression, when their minds have been raised by education."[ ] it is a well known fact, that since the establishment of europeans in the eastern archipelago, the tendency of the polynesian races has generally been to decay. the case of mr. brooke, however, now warrants us in hoping that such a result need not necessarily and inevitably ensue. while success has attended this gentleman at the north, the american missionaries, among the dutch possessions farther south, have totally failed in their objects. they attribute the unwillingness of the dyaks to submit to their instruction, to the influence of the malays, whose interests are necessarily opposed to those of the missionaries, for, it is evident that once under the guidance of the latter, the dyaks will see their own degraded and oppressed condition, and submit to it no longer. mr. youngblood says that "so prejudiced are the dyaks, that i have been unable to obtain a few boys to instruct, of which i was very desirous."[ ] the dutch have long had trading establishments in borneo, but they had made no efforts either to suppress the piracies, or improve the moral and social condition of its inhabitants. its great value has now become so apparent, that unless they keep pace with, and follow the example set by the english, they will be in danger of having it wrested from their hands by the more enlightened policy of the latter. borneo produces all the valuable articles of commerce common to other islands of the eastern archipelago. its mineral productions are equally rich, and include gold dust, diamonds, pearls, tin, copper, antimony, and coal. the interior is quite unknown. it is three times larger than great britain, and is supposed to contain about , , of people. i have purposely avoided speaking of the trade and commerce of the islands of the eastern archipelago, as they are subjects which do not fall within the sphere of our enquiries, in a review like the present; although the productions, the trade and commerce of nations are properly a branch of ethnological enquiry, in a more enlarged view. an interesting pamphlet, embodying much valuable information on the commerce of the east, has been lately published by our townsman, mr. aaron h. palmer. this gentleman is desirous that the united states government should send a special mission to the east indies, as well as to other countries of asia, with a view to extend our commercial relations. the plan is one that deserves the attention of our people and government, and i am happy to state that it has met with favor from many of our merchants engaged in the commerce of the east, as well as from some distinguished functionaries of the government.[ ] england, france, prussia, denmark, and holland, have at the present moment, expeditions in various parts of the east indies and oceanica, planned for the pursuit of various scientific enquiries and the extension of their commerce. with the exception of prussia, these nations seem to be desirous to establish colonies; and they have, within a few years, taken up valuable positions for the purpose. is it not then the duty of our government to be represented in this new and wide field? our dominions now extend from ocean to ocean, and we talk of the great advantages we shall possess in carrying on an eastern trade; but how greatly would our advantages be increased by having a depot or colony on one of the fertile islands contiguous to china, java, borneo, japan, the philippines, &c. an extended commerce demands it, and we hope the day is not distant when our government may see its importance. england, france, spain, portugal and holland have possessions in the east. the former, always awake to her commercial interests, now has three prominent stations in the china sea,--singapore, borneo, and hongkong. but even these important points do not satisfy her, and she looks with a longing eye towards chusan, a point of great importance, commanding the trade of the northern provinces of china, and contiguous to corea and japan. the "friend of india," a leading paper, "is possessed with a most vehement desire," says the editor of the "china mail," "that the british, without infringing their 'political morality,' could contrive some means of obtaining the cession of chusan, which, in their hands, he believes, could be converted into a second singapore, and become one of the largest mercantile marts of the east."[ ] it is evident from what has been stated, and from the opinions expressed in foreign journals, that the attention of the civilized world has been suddenly attracted to the eastern archipelago, and it is only surprising, considering the knowledge possessed by the european nations, of the rich productions of these islands, and the miserable state in which a large portion of their inhabitants live, that efforts have not before been made to colonize them, and bring them under european rule. the spaniards contented themselves with the philippines, but the dutch, more enterprising, as well as more ambitious, extended their conquests to sumatra, java, the moluccas, and recently to bali, sumbawa, timor and celebes. but these are not all, for wherever our ships push their way through these innumerable islands, they find scattered, far and wide, their unobtrusive commercial stations, generally protected by a fort and a cruiser. it is said that the natives feel no attachment for their dutch rulers, which, as they possess so wide spread a dominion in the archipelago, is much to be regretted; for this feeling of animosity against them, may effect the relations that may be hereafter formed between the aboriginal races and other christian people. attempts will doubtless be made to prejudice the natives against the english, but the popularity of mr. brooke at sarawak, in borneo, his kindness to the natives, and the destruction of the pirates by the british, will no doubt gain for them throughout the archipelago, a name and an influence which the jealousies of other nations cannot counteract. the natives of these islands except those of the interior, are strictly a trading and commercial people. addicted to a seafaring life, and tempted by a love of gain, they traverse these seas in search of the various articles of commerce which are eagerly sought after by traders for the european, india, and chinese markets. piracy, which abounds in this region, grows out of this love of trade--this desire for the accumulation of wealth--and we believe that nothing would tend to suppress crime so effectually as the establishment of commercial ports throughout the archipelago. it is said that the population embraced in the twelve thousand islands of which polynesia consists, amounts to about forty millions. no part of the world equals it in the great variety and value of its products. there is scarcely an island but is accessible in every direction, abounding in spacious bays and harbors, and the larger ones in navigable rivers. the people are generally intelligent, and susceptible of a higher degree of cultivation than the natives of africa, or of many parts of the adjacent continent. to obtain a station or an island in this vast archipelago, we should require neither the outlay of a large sum of money, nor the loss of human life; no governments would be subjected, or kings overthrown. civilization and its attendant blessings would take the place of barbarism, idolatry would be supplanted by christianity, and the poor natives, now bowed down by cruelty and oppression, would, under the care of an enlightened government, become elevated in the scale of social existence. the cultivation of spices in the archipelago, and the acts by which the monopoly is secured by the dutch in the moluccas, reflect little credit on human nature. "no where in the world have the aboriginal tribes been treated with greater cruelty; and in some cases literal extermination has overtaken them. their tribe has been extinguished, they have been cut off to a man, and that merely lest, in order to obtain a humble subsistence, they should presume to trade on their own account in those costly spices, the sale of which, without right or reason, holland has hitherto thought proper to appropriate to herself. no form of servitude, moreover, equals the slavery of those who are engaged in the culture of the nutmeg-tree. they toil without hope. no change ever diversifies their drudgery; no holiday gladdens them; no reward, however trifling, repays extra exertion, or acts as a stimulus for the future. the wretched slave's life is one monotonous round, a mere alternation of toil and sleep, to be terminated only by death."[ ] the northern portions of new guinea, as well as other islands, are in the same latitude as banda and amboyna, and produce the nutmeg and other spices. they might be extensively cultivated by the natives, if encouragement was given them; and a sufficient supply obtained for all the markets of europe and america. the island of bali, lying east of java, from which it is separated by a narrow strait, has recently been subjected by the dutch. some difficulty growing out of the commerce with the people, is the alleged cause. it is an island of great importance to holland, and would seriously injure her commerce with java, should any other european nation take it under its protection, or plant a colony there. a slight pretext therefore sufficed for its annexation. new caledonia islands. later information has been received from the catholic missionaries in new caledonia; for it seems that even in those distant and barbarous islands both protestant and catholic are represented. the propaganda annals contain some interesting accounts of the natives of these islands, and of other facts of importance in ethnology. two catholic missionaries, the rev. mr. rougeyron and the rev. mr. colin, had been twenty months on these islands, during which time they had accomplished nothing in the way of conversions, and but little towards improving the moral condition of the natives. it was hardly time to expect much, as they had only then begun to speak the language of the country, which they found very difficult to acquire. the natives are a most lazy and wretched people. they cultivate the ground with the aid of a piece of pointed wood, or with their nails, but never in proportion to their wants. for the greater part of the year they are compelled to live upon a few fish, shell-fish, roots and the bark of trees, and at times when pressed by hunger, worms, spiders and lizards are eagerly devoured by them. they are cannibals in every sense of the word, and openly feed on the flesh of their enemies. yet they possess the cocoa, banana and yam, with a luxuriant soil, from which, with a little labor, an abundance could be raised. among no savage tribes are the women worse treated than here. they are completely at the mercy of their cruel and tyrannical husbands. compelled to carry burdens, to collect food, and cultivate the fields, their existence promises them but little enjoyment; and when there is any fruit or article of delicacy procured, it is at once _tabooed_ by the husband, so that she cannot touch it but at the peril of her life. the missionaries had begun to expostulate with the natives on the horrors of eating their prisoners, and other vices to which they were addicted, and observe that "a happy change has already taken place among them; that they were less disposed to robbery, and that their wars are less frequent."[ ] they are beginning to understand the motive which brought the missionaries to them, and already show a desire to be instructed. the protestant missions have not accomplished any more than the catholic's among these savages. the latest accounts state that four of the native teachers who had been converted to christianity, had been cruelly murdered, and that such was the hostility of the chiefs at the isle of pines, that the prospects of the missionaries were most discouraging.[ ] sooloo islands.--mr. itier, attaché to the french mission in china, has recently visited a cluster of islands lying to the northeast of borneo, between that island and mindanao.[ ] his researches on the natural history and geology of these islands, are of much interest. the soil is exceedingly fertile, and the climate more healthy than is usual in intertropical climates. the sugar cane, cocoa, rice, cotton, the bread fruit, indigo, and spices of all kinds, are among their products. fruits and vegetables of a great variety, are abundant, and of a superior quality. nine-tenths of the soil is still covered with the primitive forest, of which teak-wood, so valuable in shipbuilding, forms a part. a considerable commerce with china and manilla is carried on, and from ten to twelve thousand chinese annually visit the island of basilan, the most northerly of the group, to cultivate its soil, and take away its products. the peculiar situation of these islands, and their contiguity to the philippines, to celebes, borneo, manilla, china, and singapore, make them well adapted for a european colony. in fact, there do not appear to be any islands of the east indies of equal importance, and there can be no doubt that with the present desire manifested by european nations for colonizing, this desirable spot will ere long be secured by one of them. the sooloo group embraces sixty inhabited islands, governed by a sultan, residing at soung. one of these would be an advantageous point for an american colony or station. the same gentleman has presented to the geographical society of paris, the journal of a voyage and visit to the philippine islands, from which it appears that that large and important croup is not inferior in interest to the sooloo islands. the natural history and geology, the soil and its products, the manners and customs of the people, their commerce and political history, are described in detail.[ ] the group embraces about twelve hundred islands, with a population of , , , of whom about , are chinese, , spaniards, , of a mixed race, and the remainder natives. the nicobar islands, a group nineteen in number, in the bay of bengal, have again attracted the attention of the danish government, by which an expedition has been sent with a view to colonize them anew. the danes planted a colony there in , but were compelled to abandon it in consequence of the insalubrity of the climate. subsequently the french made an attempt with no better success. recent publications on the eastern archipelago and polynesia. ethnology and philology. by horatio hale, philologist of the u.s. exploring expedition, imp. to. philadelphia, . reise nach java, und ausflüge nach den inseln mudura und s. helena; von dr. edward selberg, vo. oldenburg, . philippines (les), histoire, géographie, moeurs, agriculture, industrie et commerce des colonies espagnoles dans l'océanie; par _j. mallat_, vols. vo., avec un atlas in folio. paris, . the expedition of h.m.s. dido, for the suppression of piracy; by the hon. capt. keppell, with extracts from the journal of james brooke, esq. vols. vo. london, . reprinted in new york. trade and travel in the far east; or recollections of twenty-one years passed in java, singapore, australia and china, by g.f. davidson, post vo. london, . typee: narrative of a four months' residence among the natives of the marquesas islands, by herman melville. mo. new york, . besides these, the missionary herald, the baptist missionary magazine, the london evangelical magazine, the annals of the society for the propagation of the faith, as well as other similar journals, contain many articles of great interest on the various islands of the eastern archipelago and the south sea islands. australia. this vast island continues to attract the attention of geographers and naturalists. its interior remains unknown, notwithstanding the various attempts which have been made from various points to penetrate it. the explorations of scientific men during the last four years have been productive of valuable information relating to its geography, ethnography, geology and natural history. among the most eminent and successful in this field, is the count de strzelecki. this gentleman, as early as the year , made an extensive tour into the southwestern part of australia, in which he discovered an extensive tract called gipp's land, containing an extent of five thousand six hundred square miles, a navigable lake and several rivers, and from the richness of the soil, presenting an inviting prospect to settlers. his explorations were continued during the years ' and ' , and in the following year the results were given to the public,[ ] "comprehending the fruits of five years of continual labor during a tour of seven thousand miles on foot. this work treats, within a moderate compass, of the history and results of the surveys of those countries, of their climate, their geology, botany and zoology, as well as of the physical, moral and social state of the aborigines, and the state of colonial agriculture, the whole illustrated by comparisons with other countries visited by himself in the course of twelve years travel through other parts of the world." for these extensive explorations and discoveries, and for his valuable work in which they are embodied, the royal geographical society of london awarded the "founders" gold medal to count strzelecki.[ ] additional information to our knowledge of australia is contained in capt. stokes's late work detailing the discoveries made by himself and other officers attached to h.m.s. beagle. these discoveries consist of a minute examination of a large part of the coast of that island, of several rivers on its northern and northwestern sides, and of expeditions into the interior. natives were seen in small numbers in various parts, all of whom were in the lowest state of barbarism. a remarkable diversity of character was noticed, however, among the natives of different localities, some being most kindly disposed, and approaching the strangers without fear, as though they were old acquaintances, whilst others manifested the greatest hostility and aversion. in the instances referred to, they had never seen white men before. capt. stokes says his "whole experience teaches him that these were not accidental differences, but that there is a marked contrast in the disposition of the various tribes, for which he will not attempt to account."[ ] the natives at port essington, on the north, appear to be in some respects superior to those in other parts of the island. their implements of war and their canoes show a connexion with the malays. they also have a musical instrument made of bamboo, the only one yet found among them.[ ] the rite of circumcision was practised on the northern coast near the gulf of carpentaria. on the southern coast, at the head of the australian bight, it had before been noticed by mr. eyre.[ ] for the practice of this ancient rite at such remote distances, and confined to within such narrow limits, we can only account, by some early migration or visit of people by whom it was practised. nothing has yet been done towards a comparison of the languages spoken by the australian tribes. in the late cruise of capt. stokes, natives of the south were taken to the northern parts of the island, but in their intercourse with the people of the latter, they were unable to make themselves understood. it is possible, however, that like the languages of the american indians, though they may exhibit a wide difference in words for similar objects, the grammatical structure may be the same. this is a more important test in ethnological comparison, and should be applied before any of the aboriginal tribes of australia are extinct. by far the most important journey yet accomplished for the exploration of australia, is that of dr. leichardt. this gentleman, accompanied by mr. gilbert, a naturalist, and six others, started from moreton bay, on the southeastern shore of the island, in october, , to penetrate to port essington, on its most northerly point; in order, if possible, to open a direct route to sydney. several months after the party left, reports were brought to moreton bay that they had been cut off by the natives. this was proved to be untrue by an expedition sent out for the purpose, who traced the travellers four hundred miles into the interior. dr. leichardt found it impossible to penetrate into the interior in a direct course, on account of high table-land, and the absence of water; and this circumstance compelled him to keep within six or seven degrees of the coast. their six months' provisions being exhausted, the only resource of the party was the horses and stock bullocks,--and with these the strictest economy was necessary. one was killed as provision for a month--sometimes a horse, at others a bullock. for six months prior to reaching port essington, the party were reduced to a quarter of a pound of meat per day--frequently putrescent--unaccompanied with salt, bread, or any kind of vegetable. in the neighborhood of the gulf of carpentaria, mr. gilbert, the naturalist, was surprised by the natives, and killed. the remainder reached port essington on the d of december, .[ ] the narrative of dr. leichardt's expedition has not yet been published in detail. the report[ ] which has appeared consists chiefly of notices of the geography of the region traversed, the soil, productions, climate, &c. he encountered natives in many places, sometimes in considerable numbers. by some they were kindly received, by others treated as enemies. their characteristics are not noticed. the most extraordinary feature in dr. leichardt's narrative is the constant succession of water. although the season was an exceedingly dry one, no rain having fallen for seven months, yet from the commencement to the close of his year and a half's expedition, throughout the whole length and breadth of the vast region he traversed, he was continually meeting with fresh water, in the forms of "pools, lagoons, brooks, wells, water-holes, rocky basins, living springs, swamps, streams, creeks or rivers." the soil in many places was of the best kind, covered with luxuriant grass and herbs. of the former, some twenty kinds were seen. in lat. ° ´ he found a level country, openly timbered, with fine plains, extending many miles in length and breadth. the flats bordering the creeks and rivers were covered with tall grass, and the table-lands presented equally attractive features. "the whole country along the east coast of the gulf of carpentaria is highly adapted for pastoral pursuits. cattle and horses would thrive exceedingly well, but the climate and soil are not adapted to sheep. large plains, limited by narrow belts of open forest land; fine grassy meadows along frequent chains of lagoons, and shady forest land along the rivers, render this country inviting to the squatter." dr. leichardt thinks there are many districts suitable for the cultivation of rice and cotton. in regard to a communication between the settlements, it is the decided opinion of the doctor, that no line of road can be effected direct from fort bourke to the northern settlement. a route from moreton bay to the gulf of carpentaria will be easily constructed. the whole coast is backed by ranges of mountains, consisting, nearest the sea, generally of granite and basaltic rocks, which he calls the granite range; behind this is a second range of sandstone. descending from this and again rising, they entered upon the table-land; which they could nowhere penetrate, so as to determine what might be the character of the central country. it was covered with a dense shrub, had no water; and frequently there was difficulty in descending from it, owing to the perpendicular cliffs and deep ravines. they passed several rivers all of which ran easterly towards the coast. after reaching the gulf of carpentaria, they again ascended the table-land, and suffered extremely for want of water. the country beneath them was delightful to look at, but they were unable to descend to it, until they reached the dip towards the alligaters. here the country surpassed in fertility any thing that they had seen. by later advices from sydney, it appears that this enterprising and zealous traveller, is again making arrangements for another expedition to explore the interior of this great island.[ ] the doctor now proposes to leave moreton bay and endeavor to trace the sources of the rivers which flow into the gulf of carpentaria. he will then proceed northwest, penetrating directly across the unknown and unexplored interior, forming the are of a circle, to swan river. this will be the most daring journey yet attempted; but under the direction of one who has already shown so much perseverance and undergone such severe hardships, it is to be hoped that his efforts may be crowned with success. an expedition for the exploration of australia, under the command of sir thomas l. mitchell, is at present employed in traversing the unknown parts of this vast country. when last heard from, the expedition had reached the latitude of ° ´ longitude ° ´. the particulars of dr. leichardt's journey have been sent to him to guide him in his course of future operations.[ ] the following list embraces the latest works on australia. physical description of new south wales and van dieman's land, accompanied by a geographical map, by p.e. de strzelecki. vo. . south australia and its mines; with an account of captain grey's government, by fr. dutton. vo. london, . history of new south wales, from its settlement to the close of the year , by thomas h. braim. vols. post, vo. london, . reminiscences of australia, with hints on the squatters' life, by c.p. hodgson. post, vo. london, . a visit to the antipodes; with some reminiscences of a sojourn in australia. by a squatter. vo. london, . enterprise in tropical australia. by george w. earl. vo. london, . impressions of savage life, and scenes in australia and new zealand. by g.f. augas. vols. vo. london, . travels in new south wales. by alexander majoribanks. mo. lond. . simmonds' colonial magazine contains a vast deal of information relating to australia, as well as to other british colonies, and is unquestionably the best book of reference on subjects relating to the history and present condition of the british colonies of any work extant. asia. lycia, asia minor. this interesting region has been further explored by two english gentlemen, lieut. spratt, r.n., and professor forbes, who, accompanied by the reverend e.t. daniel, embarked from england in the year , in h.m. ship beacon, for the coast of lycia, for the purpose of bringing home the remarkable monuments of antiquity discovered by sir charles fellows. this gentleman, it will be remembered, was the first who in modern times successfully explored the interior. he visited the sites of many ancient cities and towns; copied numerous inscriptions, by means of which he was enabled to identify the names of fifteen out of eighteen cities; and made sketches of the most interesting sculptures and monuments. it is remarkable that a country so often spoken of by the greek and roman historians should not have sooner attracted attention, when districts contiguous to, as well as far beyond, have been so thoroughly explored. the ruins on the southern coast of asia minor, were first made known by captain beaufort, who discovered them when employed in making a survey of this coast. several travellers subsequently made short excursions into the country; but it was not until mr. now sir charles fellows, in and , made his visits and explorations, that the riches of the interior in historical monuments were disclosed. the relics of antiquity brought to light in these researches, consist first of the ruins of large cities, many of which, by reason of their isolated situation among the high lands and mountains, seem to have been preserved from the destruction which usually attends depopulated cities situated in more accessible places. these ruined cities contain amphitheatres more or less spacious, and generally in a good state of preservation, temples, aqueducts, and sepulchral monuments, together with numbers of lesser buildings, the dwelling houses of the inhabitants. the ruins of christian churches are also found in many places, and in one instance a large and elegant cathedral; the purposes of these are satisfactorily made out by their inscriptions; and the date of their erection, when not otherwise known, may be fixed by their style of architecture. the most numerous as well as the most interesting monuments of these ancient cities, are their sepulchres. in some instances where a mountain or high rock is contiguous, it is pierced with thousands of tombs, presenting an appearance similar to petræa in idumea, sometimes called the city of the dead. the roads in all directions are lined with tombs and sarcophagi, many of them covered with elaborate sculptures and inscriptions. it is by means of the latter, which abound and which exist in a fine state of preservation, that the names of the cities are identified and other historical facts brought to light. the following is a translation of the most common form of sepulchral inscription. "this tomb apollonides, son of molissas, made for his wife and children: and if any one violates it, let him pay a fine." coins too are found, which possess considerable historic interest. in architecture, we find excellent specimens of the several grecian orders, exhibiting both the perfection and declension of the art. the works of sir charles fellows abound in architectural representations. a pointed arch was discovered by lieut. spratt and professor forbes in the interior of a tomb (a sketch of which is given) among the ruins of antiphellas. this conclusively shows, that this peculiar form of the arch was not first introduced with gothic architecture, as has been generally believed, but belongs to a period anterior to the christian era. an inscription in the lycian and latin was found on the monument. the language of the ancient lycians is an important discovery which has resulted from these researches. a bilingual inscription in lycian and greek first led to the key, and similar inscriptions, subsequently discovered, have furnished sufficient materials for ascertaining the values of the several letters of the alphabet, which consists of twenty-seven letters, two of which are still doubtful. able disquisitions on the language have been written by mr. sharpe and professor grotefend. in regard to the antiquity of the monuments, and the people who spoke the language called lycian, now first made known through these inscriptions, we are enabled to arrive at conclusions which fix their era with some degree of certainty. the earliest inscription yet decyphered is a bilingual one, which consists of an edict, in which the name of harpagus, or his son, a well known personage, is mentioned; which would give a date of to b.c. this is about the period of the earliest arrow-head inscriptions yet known--namely, those at behistun, of the age of darius, decyphered by major rawlinson. the language belongs to the same family as the zend and old persian, and is supposed to have been in use in the same age as the former, and along with that of the persepolitan inscriptions. the sculptures too, bear some resemblance to the figures on the persian monuments, particularly the well known figure with an umbrella, so common on the latter. other reasons are adduced by scholars for fixing the date of the lycian language not before the fifth century b.c., or to the age of herodotus. this historian was from the adjoining province of caria; and as might be expected, gives accounts of the lycians before his time, but does not say that they spoke a language different from his own, or from that of the entire region,--a fact that he would not have overlooked had such been the case. it is believed that cyrus, when he subjected this country, brought in some people from his persian dominions, who afterwards became the dominant party, and introduced their language.[ ] it is surprising to find the names of these lycian cities so well preserved when the descendants of its ancient inhabitants have been so entirely swept out of the country, and replaced by a people differing in manners, in religion, and having no interest connected with the locality to induce them to respect the relics or names, and keep alive the memory, of the former possessors of the soil. travels in lycia, milytas and the cibyrates, in company with the late rev. e.t. daniel, by lieut. spratt, r.n., and prof. e. forbes. vols. vo. lond. . a journal written during an excursion in asia minor, by charles fellows. royal vo. london, . an account of discoveries in lycia, in . by charles fellows, royal vo. an essay on the lycian language. by daniel sharpe. (in the appendix to fellows' journal.) arabia. if we now turn to the discoveries that have recently been made in the southern part of arabia, we find much in them worthy of attention. this country, called in the scriptures hazarmaveth, by the natives hadramaut, and by the classical writers of antiquity, arabia felix, is celebrated as being the kingdom of the queen of sheba, who visited solomon, as well as for the gold, gems, frankincense and other precious productions, which it furnished in ancient times. it is represented by the greek and roman writers as a populous country, with many extensive cities, abounding in temples and palaces; though the palpable fables with which these accounts are intermingled, show that at least they had no personal knowledge of the facts, but retailed them at second hand. after europe had awoke from the intellectual slumber of the dark ages, the arabs were long regarded only as objects of religious and political abhorrence. the discovery of the route to india by the cape of good hope, at the close of the fifteenth century, by diverting the channel of indo-european traffic from the red sea, left the countries bordering upon it in such a state of solitude, that when better feelings began to prevail, there was no means of obtaining any direct information respecting them. in , the illustrious pococke, by the publication of his specimens of ancient arabian history, extracted from native authors, created a curiosity respecting southern arabia and its ancient inhabitants, which successive collections of a similar nature, down to our own times, have served rather to increase than to gratify. the researches of niebuhr, seetzen, and burckhardt, in the latter part of the last, and the beginning of the present century, made us somewhat acquainted with the western extremity of this country, along the shores of the red sea; but before the investigations of which we are about to speak, its southern coast had never been accurately explored, and the great body of the interior, with its once famous capital, mareb, remained, as it ever had been, completely unknown to and unvisited by the natives of europe. the hordes of pirates, which until twenty years ago infested the persian gulf, caused the government of british india to order a complete survey of its islands and both its shores, with the view of laying bare their haunts, and putting an end to their depredations. in , after this service had been performed, the project then recently set on foot of establishing a steam communication between england and bombay, caused orders to be issued for a similar examination of the red sea. the attention of the officers composing the expedition, was not restricted to the technical duties in which they were chiefly engaged. it was well known that information of every kind would be prized by the government which they served; and this, together with the monotony of life on board ship on the one hand, and the novelty of the scenes by which they were surrounded on the other, seems to have created among them a spirit of emulation that led to the most interesting discoveries respecting both the geography and the antiquities of the adjacent countries. among the most intelligent and enterprising of these officers was the late lieut. wellsted, who thus describes his reflections on joining the expedition in the red sea, on the th october, . "from the earliest dawn of history, the northern shores of the red sea have figured as the scene of events which both religious and civil records have united to render memorable. here moses and the patriarchs tended their flocks, and put in motion those springs of civilization, which, from that period, have never ceased to urge forward the whole human race in the career of improvement. on the one hand the valley of the wanderings, commencing near the site of memphis, and opening upon the red sea, conducts the fancy along the track pursued by the hebrews during their flight out of egypt; on the other hand are mount sinai, bearing still upon its face the impress of miraculous events, and beyond it that strange, stormy, and gloomy-looking sea, once frequented by phoenician merchants' ships, by the fleets of solomon and pharaoh, and those barks of later times which bore the incenses, the gems, the gold and spices of the east, to be consumed or lavishly squandered upon favorites at the courts of macedonia or rome. but the countries lying along this offshoot of the indian ocean, have another kind of interest, peculiar perhaps to themselves. on the arabian side we find society much what it was four thousand years ago; for amidst the children of ishmael it has undergone but trifling modifications. their tents are neither better nor worse than they were when they purchased joseph of his brethren, on their way to egypt; the sheikhs possess no other power or influence than they enjoyed then; the relations of the sexes have suffered little or no changes; they eat, drink, clothe themselves, educate their children, make war and peace, just as they did in the day of the exodus. but on the opposite shores, all has been change, fluctuation, and decay. while the bedouins have wandered with their camels and their flocks, unaspiring, unimproving, they have looked across the gulf and beheld the egyptian overthrown by the persian, the persian by the greek, the greek by the roman, and the roman in his turn by a daring band from their own burning deserts. they have seen empires grow up like jonah's gourd. war has swept away some; the varieties and luxuries of peace have brought others to the ground; and every spot along these shores is celebrated." when the northeastern and the western shores of the arabian peninsula had thus been investigated, there still remained to be explored the south eastern shore, the coast of the anciently renowned province of hadramaut, extending from tehama, on the red sea, to the province of oman, at the entrance to the persian gulf; and it is to the discoveries made in this almost unknown part of the world that i now wish more particularly to allude. in the year capt. haines, the commander of the expedition and the present governor of aden, published his survey of about two fifths of this coast, extending from the straits of bab-el-mandeb as far east as missenaat, in long. ° east of greenwich.[ ] in the year , he published his further survey of about an equal portion extending to cape isolette, in long. ° ´, leaving about one fifth of the whole extent on the eastern end still to be explored.[ ] in june, , adolphe baron wrede, a hanoverian gentleman, made an excursion from makallah on the coast, into the interior of the country. he visited among other places an extensive valley called wadi doan, which he thus describes. "the sudden appearance of the wadi doan, took me by surprise and impressed me much with the grandeur of the scene. the ravine, five hundred feet wide and six hundred feet in depth, is enclosed between perpendicular rocks, the debris of which form in one part a slope reaching to half their height. on this slope, towns and villages rise contiguously in the form of an amphitheatre; while below the date grounds, which are covered with a forest of trees, the river about twenty feet broad and enclosed by high and walled embankments is seen winding through fields laid out in terraces, then pursuing its course in the open plain, irrigated by small canals branching from it. my first view of the valley disclosed to me four towns and four villages, within the space of an hour's distance." he also gives an account of some curious spots of quicksand, in the midst of the great desert of el-akkaf, which are regarded with superstitious horror by the wandering bedouins. a cord of sixty fathoms in length with a plummet at the end, which he cast into one of them, disappeared in the course of five minutes. his narrative is published in the fourteenth volume of the journal of the royal geographical society of london. in spite of the glowing descriptions of ancient authors, the idea hitherto entertained of this region in modern times, has been that of a succession of desert plains and sand-hills, with nothing to give animation to the arid scene but solitary groups of bedouins and occasionally a passing caravan. the recent explorations, however, of which the one just quoted is a specimen, show that this is far from being a correct view of the entire country. the coast is thickly studded with fishing-villages and small seaports, which still carry on, though on a diminished scale, the trade with india and the persian gulf, which has existed ever since the dawn of history. it is true, the general appearance of the country along the coast, consisting as it does of successive ranges of sand-hills, is such as to naturally give rise to the views entertained and promulgated by navigators, who have had no opportunity of visiting the interior. but the deeper researches that have been made during the last ten or twelve years, show that these opinions are very erroneous; for besides that there are a number of green valleys running down to the coast, produced by streams provided with water for at least a good part of the year, no sooner has the traveller surmounted the first range of sand-hills, than his sight begins to be regaled with numerous well watered valleys and mountains covered with verdure. besides this, even in those parts of the country where the surface is naturally a desert plain, the inhabitants have possessed from the remotest times the art of forming flourishing oases, in which to establish their hamlets and towns; an operation which, as wellsted remarks, is effected with a labor and skill that seem more chinese than arabian. this traveller says: "the greater part of the face of the country being destitute of running streams on the surface, the arabs have sought in elevated places for springs or fountains beneath it. a channel from this fountain-head is then, with a very slight descent, bored in the direction in which it is to be conveyed, leaving apertures at regular distances, to afford light and air to those who are occasionally sent to keep it clean. in this manner water is frequently conducted from a distance of six or eight miles, and an unlimited supply is thus obtained. these channels are usually about four feet broad and two feet deep, and contain a clear and rapid stream. few of the large towns or oases but had four or five of these rivulets or feleji running into them. the isolated spots to which water is thus conveyed possess a soil so fertile, that nearly every grain, fruit, or vegetable, common to india, arabia, or persia, is produced almost spontaneously; and the tales of the oases will be no longer regarded as an exaggeration, since a single step conveys the traveller from the glare and sand of the desert into a fertile tract, watered by a hundred rills, teeming with the most luxuriant vegetation, and embowered by lofty and stately trees, whose umbrageous foliage the fiercest rays of a noontide sun cannot penetrate."[ ] these oases and the towns situated in them, date from various periods; some of those already discovered being evidently of considerable antiquity. in describing some of these towns, wellsted says: "the instant you step from the desert within the grove, a most sensible change of the atmosphere is experienced. the air feels cold and damp; the ground in every direction is saturated with moisture; and from the density of the shade, the whole appears dark and gloomy. to avoid the damp and catch an occasional beam of the sun above the trees, the houses are usually very lofty. a parapet encircling the upper part is turreted; and on some of the largest houses guns are mounted. the windows and doors have the saracenic arch; and every part of the building is profusely decorated with ornaments of stucco in bas relief, some in very good taste. the doors are also cased with brass, and have rings and other massive ornaments of the same metal." these descriptions relate to the province of oman, the eastern extremity of southern arabia. the glimpses already obtained of this ancient and famous land, sufficiently prove that the fortunate traveller who shall succeed in obtaining access into the interior of the country, which has always been a _terra incognita_ to europeans and their descendants, will find an abundance of objects of interest to reward his zeal and self-devotion. there is however another class of interesting objects, relating to the ancient history of the country, which i have not alluded to until now, because i wish to speak of them more particularly. these are the ancient _inscriptions_, of which a number have already been discovered and in part decyphered. several arabian writers have stated that there existed in the southern part of their country, before the time of mohammed, a kind of writing which they call himyaritic, after the name of the ancient inhabitants of the country, the beni himyar. but the confused nature of these accounts, together with the arab practice of giving the name of himyaritic to every ancient mode of writing which they were unable to read, caused the story to be regarded as little better than fabulous. in the year the late baron de sacy published a learned treatise on the subject, in which he collected all the arabian accounts; but no further progress was made in the enquiry, until the discovery of a number of inscriptions on various massy ruins situated along the coast and in the interior, by officers attached to the surveying expedition already spoken of, in the years and ' . copies of these inscriptions were transmitted to the late dr. gesenius of halle, one of the first orientalists of europe. after making some progress in the investigation, he gave up the subject to his colleague dr. rödiger, who had devoted himself to it with great ardor and success. the latter published a copious dissertation containing the results he had arrived at, which he reprinted in by way of an appendix to his german edition of wellsted's travels in arabia. by comparing the characters of the inscriptions with the himyaritic alphabets contained in some arabic manuscripts and with the present ethiopic alphabet, he was enabled to ascertain the powers of the letters, and even to interpret, with various degrees of certainty, many portions of the inscriptions themselves. thus, these venerable records, which in all probability have for many ages been dumb to every human being, are in a fair way of being made to yield up to modern scientific research whatever information they may contain. that this information must be interesting and valuable to the historian is inferred from the imposing nature of the structures on which they are found, and whose existence but a few years ago was as little looked for in this part of the world as in the forest wilds of oregon. a full account of these discoveries and of the attempts at decyphering the inscriptions was published in in the first volume of the transactions of the ethnological society of this city. i will therefore merely proceed to state what has been accomplished in the matter since the time when that account closes. in the beginning of , the same year in which m. wrede made his exploration, a french physician of the name of arnaud being then at jiddah, received from m. fresnel, the french consular agent at that port, accounts of the himyaritic inscriptions discovered by the officers of the indian navy, and of the interest they had created in europe. m. arnaud's enthusiasm being excited on the subject, he resolved to take a share in these arduous researches. the grand object of his ambition was to reach mareb, the ancient capital of hadramaut and the residence of the famous queen of sheba, whose name according to the arabians was balkis. two english officers had undertaken the journey several years ago, and had reached sana, a town within three or four days' journey of it; but the suspicions of the native authorities becoming excited, their further progress was prevented. the mode of proceeding adopted by m. arnaud, who spoke the arabic fluently, was to travel as a mussulman, in company with a caravan going to the place. his plan was happily crowned with success. in the middle of july he reached the city, where he saw the imposing remains of the ancient dam, said to have been built across the valley of mareb by balkis herself, and which, by collecting an immense body of water near the metropolis, whence the surrounding country was irrigated, had given rise to the fertility and beauty for which the region was celebrated in ancient times. on these remains m. arnaud discovered a number of inscriptions, as also among the ruins of the former city; among the most remarkable of these is one called harem balkis, which is thought to be the remains of the palace of the ancient sabean kings. the inscriptions of which mr. arnaud brought away copies with him amount to fifty-six in number. the tour of m. wrede was also not unproductive in this respect. he copied, among others, a long inscription in wadi doan; which, according to the interpretations that have since been made of it, contains a list of kings more copious than those which have been left us by albulfeda and other historians of the middle ages. when m. arnaud returned to jiddah from his hazardous and toilsome expedition, m. fresnel, who had originally moved him to the undertaking, set about studying the new inscriptions, aided by the previous labors of the german scholars and his own knowledge of arabic and the modern himyaritic. possessing a far more abundant supply of materials than had been collected before, he was able to assign to a few doubtful characters their proper values. he transmitted to paris a fair copy of the original inscriptions, and also a transcription of them in the arabic character, showing how they should be read. a fount of himyaritic types having been constructed for the express purpose at the imprimerie royale, they were all published in the course of last year in the journal asiatique, together with several letters on the subject from m. fresnel. the form of the characters in these inscriptions is essentially the same as in those discovered before; but, whereas the former ones all read from right to left like the arabic of the present day, some of the new ones are found to read alternately from right to left and from left to right, like some of the inscriptions of ancient greece. m. fresnel's attention has been mainly directed to the collection and identification of the proper names of persons, deities, and places, in which the inscriptions abound, and in which he recognises many names mentioned in scripture, and in greek, roman, and arabian authors. thus he identifies the deity 'athtor with the ashtoreth or venus of the hebrews. he finds in an inscription at hisn ghorab the word kaná, showing the correctness of the conclusion already arrived at that this is the _cane emporium_ of ptolemy. he identifies the ruins of kharibeh, a day's journey to the west of mareb, with the caripeta of pliny, the furthest point reached by the roman commander, Ælius gallus, in his expedition into arabia felix, in the reign of augustus cæsar. he has also recognised many names of himyaritic sovereigns mentioned by arabian writers, among others those of the grandfather and uncle of queen balkis. m. fresnel has also begun to translate the inscriptions connectedly, a work of great labor and difficulty. he has already furnished an improved reading and translation of one at sana, which had been copied before by english officers, and interpreted by gesenius and rödiger, and has offered a translation of another found by m. arnaud, on the hiram balkis at mareb. the discoveries already brought to light, merely serve to show the richness of the mine that yet remains to be explored. other expeditions are now planning, or in progress of execution, for penetrating into other parts of the country; and eminent scholars are busied in elucidating the treasures which the enterprize of travellers is bringing to light. their united exertions cannot fail, at least, to accumulate many curious particulars relative to the history of one of the most remarkable and least known nations of past ages. the rev. t. brockman, who was sent by the royal geographical society of england for the purpose of geographical and antiquarian research in the arabian peninsula, had proceeded up the coast from aden to shehar, midway between aden and muscat, and had coasted along to cape ras al-gat. subsequently in attempting to reach muscat, he was arrested by sickness at wadi beni jabor, where after a few days he died. his papers, which will be sent to the geographical society, are thought to contain matters of interest respecting this region.[ ] the following list embraces all of consequence that has been written on southern arabia and the himyaritic inscriptions. pococke, specimina historiæ veterum arabum. oxford, , reprinted . de sacy, sur divers Évènemens de l'histoire des arabes avant mahomet, in mém. de lit. de l'acad. française, vol. l. paris, . historia jemanæ, e cod. ms. arabico, ed. g.t. johannsen. bonn, . travels in arabia, by lieut. wellsted, vols. vo. london, . memoir on the south coast of arabia, by capt. harris. journal royal geographical society, vol. vi. ix. narrative of a journey from mokha to sana: by c.j. cruttenden.--ibid. vol. viii. gesenius, Über die himjaritischen sprache und schrift, halle, . rödiger, versuch über die himjaritischen schriftmonumente. halle, . this was republished, with many improvements, in an appendix to the author's german translation of wellsted's travels. vols. halle, . ewald, on an inscription recently dug up in aden, zeitschrift für die kunde des morgenlandes, . the historical geography of arabia, or the patriarchal evidences of revealed religion. by the rev. charles forster, vols. vo. london, . f. fresnel. letters to m. jules mohl, on the himyaritic inscriptions. paris, . account of an excursion to hadramaut, by adolph baron wrede. journal royal geographical society, vol. xiv. memoir of the south and east coast of arabia, by capt. s.b. harris.--ibid. vol. xv. sclavonic mss.--it is stated in the russian papers that m. grigorowitsch, professor of the sclavonic tongues in the imperial university of kasan, has returned to that capital from a two year's journey in the interior of turkey, by order of the russian government, in search of the graphic monuments of the ancient sclavonic nations. he has brought home fac-similes of many hundred inscriptions, and , sclavonian manuscripts-- of which are said to be very ancient, and of great importance. the caucasus.--the results of a scientific expedition for the exploration of the steppes of the caspian sea, the caucasus, and of southern russia, under the direction of m. hommaire de hell, has lately been published. this portion of the east has been little noticed by travellers, and the present work has therefore added much to our previous knowledge of the country. it is accompanied by a large map, on which the geographical and geological peculiarities are defined with great minuteness and elegance.[ ] assyria and persia. the discoveries recently made, and the researches now in progress in those regions of the world known in ancient times as assyria, babylonia and persia, are among the most interesting and important of the age. of the ancient assyrians and babylonians we know nothing, but what we find in the bible, or what has been preserved and handed down to us by the greek historians. unlike egypt, who has left so many records of her greatness, of her knowledge of the arts, and of her advancement in civilization, in the numerous and wonderful monumental remains in the valley of the nile, the assyrians were supposed to have left nothing, no existing monuments as evidences that they ever had an existence, save in the vast and misshapen heaps along the banks of the euphrates and tigris, believed to wash the spots where the great cities of nineveh and babylon once stood. the site of nineveh still remains doubtful; and so literally have the prophecies in regard to babylon been fulfilled, that nothing but vast heaps of rubbish, of tumuli, and traces of numerous canals, remains. the language of the assyrians is unknown, and the impressions of characters in the form of a wedge or arrow-head stamped upon the bricks and other relics dug from these heaps, have been looked upon as mysterious and cabalistic signs, rather than the representatives of sounds, or belonging to a regular form of speech. for more than twenty centuries, these countries have been as a blank on the page of history; and all we have gathered from them consists in the observations of curious travellers, who, at the risk of their lives, have ventured to extend their wanderings this way. pietro della valle, le brun, niebuhr, ker porter, rich, and ouseley, have given us descriptions of the ancient remains in persia and assyria, particularly those at persepolis, pasargadæ, and babylon. these consist of views of the monuments and sculptures, together with copies of the inscriptions in the cuneiform, or arrow-head character. the object of the edifices, the subject of the sculptures, and the meaning of the inscriptions, were wholly matters of conjecture; and it seemed a hopeless task to arrive at any conclusions in relation to them, until some key should be discovered, by the means of which the language should be made known, and the numerous inscriptions decyphered. no bilingual tablet, such as the rosetta stone of egypt, had been discovered; and, although it appeared that many of the inscriptions were recorded in three different languages, no means seemed to exist by which philologists could obtain a clue to their meaning. with this dark prospect in view, the task of decyphering the arrow-headed characters was attempted by m. grotefend, one of the most sagacious and distinguished philologists of europe. the particulars of the attempt and its results, we shall briefly state. at persepolis it is known are extensive ruins, chiefly belonging to a large edifice, with every indication that this edifice was originally a royal palace. history and tradition supported this belief; and the general character of the sculptures and architecture, together with the inscriptions, would carry its origin back to a period some centuries before the christian era. it was doubtless the work of one of the great monarchs of persia; of cyrus, cambyses, xerxes, darius, or some other with whom history is familiar.[ ] on some of the monuments at persepolis, are inscriptions in the pehlvi character, parts of which have been decyphered by m. de sacy. in one of these, the titles and name of a king are often repeated; these titles m. grotefend thought might be repeated in the same manner in the arrow-head characters.[ ] over the doorways and in other parts of this edifice, are portraits, evidently of kings, as there is always enough in the dress and insignia of a monarch to enable one to detect him on any ancient monument. over these portraits are inscriptions; these it was natural to suppose related to the person represented, and if so, contained the name of the king and his titles. such would be the conclusion of any one who reflected on the subject, and such was the belief of m. grotefend and other philologists. in these inscriptions one group of characters was repeated more frequently than any other, and all agreed that the decyphering of this group would furnish a key to the whole. on this group of characters then our savans set to work. according to the analogy of the pehlvi inscriptions, decyphered by de sacy, it was believed that the inscriptions then under consideration, mentioned the name of a king son of another king, that is the names of father and son. m. grotefend first examined the bas-reliefs at persepolis, to ascertain the particular age of the persian kings to which they belonged, in order that he might discover the names applicable to the inscription. a reference to the greek historians convinced him that he must look for the kings of the dynasty of the achæmenides, and he accordingly applied their names to the characters of the inscriptions. "these names could obviously not be cyrus and cambyses, because the names occurring in the inscriptions do not begin with the same letter; cyrus and artaxerxes were equally inapplicable, the first being too short and the latter too long; there only remained therefore the names of darius and xerxes;" and these latter agreed so exactly with the characters, that mr. grotefend did not hesitate to select them. the next step was to ascertain what these names were in the old persian language, as they come to us through the greek, and would of course differ somewhat from the original. the ancient zend, as preserved in the zendavesta, furnished the only medium through which the desired information could be obtained.[ ] he next ascertained that xerxes was called _kshershe_ or _ksharsha_; and darius, _dareush_. a farther examination gave him the name of _kshe_ or _ksheio_ for 'king.'[ ] the places or groups of characters corresponding with these names, were then analyzed and the value of each character ascertained. these were then applied to other portions of the inscriptions, and led to the translation of two short ones, as well as to the formation of a considerable portion of the alphabet. such was the result of professor grotefend's labors up to the year . his first discovery was made and announced as early as , but an account of his system of interpretation did not appear until , in the appendix to the third german edition of heeren's researches. this was afterwards enlarged in the translation of heeren published at oxford in , when it was first made known to english readers. in he published a treatise containing an account of all the persepolitan inscriptions in his possession, and another in on those of babylon. the brilliant success which attended grotefend's earlier efforts, soon attracted the attention of other philologists to the subject. m. saint martin read a memoir before the asiatic society of paris in , but did not make any additions to our previous knowledge. professor rask next took it up, and discovered the value of two additional characters. m. burnouf followed in , with an elaborate memoir, in which he disclosed some important discoveries.[ ] professor lassen, in his memoir published in , and in a series of papers continued up to the present day,[ ] has identified at least twelve characters, which had been mistaken by all his predecessors, and which, says maj. rawlinson, "may entitle him almost to contest with professor grotefend the palm of alphabetical discovery." in , major rawlinson, then residing in persia, turned his attention to the subject, and decyphered some of the proper names on the tablets at hamadan. in the following year he applied himself to the great inscription at behistun, the largest and most remarkable that is known in persia, and succeeded in making out several lines of its contents. the result of major rawlinson's first attempt at decyphering the behistun inscription, was the identification of several proper names, and consequently the values of additional characters towards the completion of the alphabet.[ ] but more was wanted than the alphabet, which only enabled the student to make out proper names, but not to advance beyond; and it was the lack of this knowledge which prevented the sagacious and indefatigable grotefend from carrying out to any great extent, the discoveries which he had so well begun. the language of the inscriptions must next be studied; and as the zend had been the medium through which the first links in the chain of interpretation had been obtained, it was naturally resorted to for aid to farther progress. the zendavesta, with the researches of anquetil du perron, and the commentary at the yaçna by m. burnouf, wherein the language of the zendavesta is critically analyzed, and its grammatical structure developed, furnished the necessary materials. to the latter work, and the luminous critique of m. burnouf, major rawlinson owes the success of his translations; as he acknowledges that by it he "obtained a general knowledge of the grammatical structure of the language of the inscriptions." but the zend was not of itself sufficient to make out all the words and expressions in the behistun and other inscriptions. other languages contemporary with that of the inscription and of the zend must be sought for, to elucidate many points which it left obscure.[ ] the sanscrit was the only one laying claim to a great antiquity, whose grammatical structure was sufficiently developed to render it useful in this enquiry. a knowledge of this language had previously been acquired by major rawlinson, and he was therefore fully prepared for the arduous task he had undertaken. neither of these, it must be observed, was the language of the inscriptions, which it is believed had ceased to be a living form of speech, at the period when the sanscrit and zend were in current use. it is unnecessary to note in detail the difficulties and great labor attending the decyphering of the behistun tablets, on which major rawlinson was occupied from time to time during a space of ten years. his discoveries were announced in london, in a memoir read before the royal asiatic society in , but were not published in extenso until . briefly to sum up the results of his labors, it will suffice to state that they present "a correct grammatical translation of nearly four hundred lines of cuneiform writing, a memorial of the time of darius hystaspes, the greater part of which is in so perfect a state as to afford ample and certain grounds for a minute orthographical and etymological analysis, and the purport of which to the historian, must be of fully equal interest with the peculiarities of the language to the philologist." in a few cases it may be found necessary to alter or modify some of the significations assigned; but there is no doubt but that the general meaning of every paragraph is accurately determined, and that the learned orientalist has thus been enabled "to exhibit a correct historical outline, possessing the weight of royal and contemporaneous recital, of many great events which preceded the rise and marked the career of one of the most celebrated of the early sovereigns of persia." such is the history of this great discovery, which has placed the name of major rawlinson among the most distinguished oriental scholars of the age. he will rank among the laborers in cuneiform writing, where champollion does among the decypherers of egyptian hieroglyphics; for though, like champollion, he did not make the first discoveries in his branch of palæography, he is certainly entitled to the honor of reducing it to a system, by ascertaining the true powers of a large portion of the alphabet, and by elucidating its grammatical peculiarities, so that future investigators will find little difficulty in translating any inscription in the particular class of characters in question. the cuneiform (wedge-shaped) or arrow-headed character is a system of writing peculiar to the countries between the euphrates and the persian frontier on the east. various combinations of a figure shaped like a wedge, together with one produced by the union of two wedges, constitute the system of writing employed by the ancient assyrians, babylonians, medes, and the achæmenian kings of persia. the character seems to have been as extensively employed in this portion of the world, as the roman letters now are in europe. particular arrangements or combinations of these characters apparently belonged to different nations, speaking different languages. when and where this system of writing originated is not known. professor westergaard[ ] thinks that "babylon was its cradle, whence it spread in two branches, eastward to susiana, and northward to the assyrian empire, from whence it passed into media, and lastly into ancient persia, where it was much improved and brought to its greatest perfection." major rawlinson makes of the arrow-headed writing three great classes or divisions, the _babylonian_, _median_ and _persian_. the first of these he thinks is unquestionably the oldest. "it is found upon the bricks excavated from the foundations of all the buildings in mesopotamia, babylonia, and chaldea, that possess the highest and most authentic claims to antiquity;" and he thinks it "not extravagant therefore to assign its invention to the primitive race which settled in the plain of shinar."[ ] in the recent excavations made by m. botta and mr. layard, on or near the site of ancient nineveh, numerous inscriptions in this form of the arrow-head character were found. it also occurs in detached inscriptions from the mediterranean to the persian mountains. a comparison of the various inscriptions in the babylonian class of writing has led major rawlinson to believe that it embraces five distinct varieties, which he calls the primitive babylonian, the achæmenian babylonian, the medo-assyrian, the assyrian, and the elymæan.[ ] the peculiarities of these several varieties, with the countries in which they are found, are pointed out in the second chapter of our author's learned memoir on cuneiform writing. the median and persian classes are peculiar to the trilingual tablets of persia, and are better known than the first class or babylonian. mr. westergaard[ ] divides the cuneiform writing into five classes: the _assyrian_; the _old babylonian_; and the three kinds on the trilingual tablets of persia, which embrace the _median_ and _persian_ varieties, and the one called by rawlinson the _achæmenian babylonian_. the history we have already given of the progress made in decyphering these characters applies exclusively to one of the varieties on the tablets of persia. the inscriptions on these monuments are almost invariably repeated in three sets of characters, and doubtless in three different languages. the characters of what appears in each case to be the primary or original inscription, of which the others are translations, are of the simplest construction, and consequently were the first to attract the attention of decypherers, and to yield to their efforts. the language in which they are written has been found to exhibit close affinities both to the sanscrit and to the zend, and is now termed by philologists the old persian. the system of writing is alphabetic, that is to say, each character represents a single articulate sound; whereas that of the other two species is at least in a great measure syllabic, which renders the task of decyphering them much more difficult. for our knowledge of the second variety of characters on the persian trilingual tablets, we are indebted to the labors and sagacity of professor westergaard.[ ] these characters had remained entirely undecyphered until the first kind had been completely made out. it was evident that the inscriptions in the second kind of character were but a translation of those in the first; and with this supposition, this learned orientalist began the task of decyphering, by identifying the proper names darius, hystaspes, cyrus, xerxes, persians, ionians, &c., which frequently occur in the inscriptions decyphered by major rawlinson. having obtained these, he next analyzed each and ascertained the phonetic values of the several characters of which they are composed. by this means, he was enabled to construct an alphabet. he next examined the introductory words and the titles of the sovereigns, and finally the entire inscriptions, all of which he has most satisfactorily made out, and with them has reconstructed the language in which they are written. in his learned and elaborate article detailing the process of this discovery, professor westergaard gives a systematic classification of the characters, one hundred in number, of which seventy-four are syllabic, twenty-four alphabetic, and two signs of division between words. the character of the language, which for convenience sake he terms median, he does not pretend to decide, though he considers that it belongs to the scythian rather than to the japhetic class of languages; in which opinion major rawlinson coincides. the oriental journal alluded to in the second note to p. , contains several learned papers by professors westergaard and lassen, on the arrow-headed inscriptions. in the third sort of persepolitan characters, termed the achæmenian babylonian, some advances have been made by major rawlinson. the contents of the other portions of these tablets being known, he pursued the course adopted by professor westergaard, namely that of identifying the groups of characters corresponding with the proper names in the other inscriptions. he has thus been enabled to ascertain the phonetic values of a large number of characters which must in time lead to a knowledge of the rest of the alphabet. a beginning in this direction was also made by professor grotefend, who in his memoirs of and , singles out and places in juxtaposition the names of cyrus, hystaspes, darius and xerxes, in the first and third species of persepolitan writing. there is every reason to hope that the labors of the three accomplished oriental scholars, rawlinson, lassen, and westergaard, which have been so far crowned with success, will add to their fame by making out the characters and language of this species of writing also. a high degree of interest is attached to it, not only on account of the information it embodies, but in regard to the nation to which it is assignable. it will be recollected, that besides these three sorts of persepolitan writing, there are two other distinct classes of arrow-head characters, called babylonian and assyrian. little or nothing has yet been accomplished towards decyphering them; which is owing to the fact that they are of a very complicated nature, and that they have hitherto been found alone, that is to say not accompanied by a version in any other language or character. a parisian savant, m.j. löwenstern, who has applied himself to the study of the assyrian tablets, published in an essay on the monument recently discovered by m. botta at khorsabad near mosul, in which he thinks he has made out the groups which stand for the words _great king_, and also several alphabetical characters. further investigations can alone determine whether or not his conclusions are correct. it will be necessary to state some of the historical facts brought to light by the labors of major rawlinson, to which we have alluded. the great tablet at behistun relates exclusively to darius. "to this monarch," says major rawlinson, "insatiable in his thirst of conquest, magnificent in his tastes, and possessed of an unlimited power, we are indebted for all that is most valuable in the palæography of persia. imbued, as it appears, with an ardent passion for monumental fame, he was not content to inscribe the palaces of his foundation at persepolis with a legend commemorative of their erection, or with prayers invoking the guardianship of ormuzd and his angels, but he lavished an elaborate workmanship on historic and geographic records in various quarters of his empire, which evince considerable political forethought, an earnest regard for truth, and an ambition to transmit the glories of his reign to future generations, to guide their conduct and invite their emulation. at persepolis, the high place of persian power, he aspired to elevate the moral feelings of his countrymen, and to secure their future dominancy in asia, by displaying to them their superiority over the feudatory provinces of the empire,[ ] while upon the sacred rock of baghistan, he addressed himself in the style of an historian, to collect the genealogical traditions of his race, to describe the extent and power of his kingdom, and to relate, with a perspicuous brevity worthy of imitation, the leading incidents of his reign. his grave relation of the means by which, under the care and favor of a beneficent providence, the crown of persia first fell into his hands, and of the manner in which he subsequently established his authority, by the successive overthrow of the rebels who opposed him, contrasts strongly but most favorably with the usual emptiness of oriental hyperbole." the following are some of the translations from the great inscription at behistun, which embraces upwards of four hundred lines in the arrow-headed characters. in major rawlinson's memoir, are given fac-similes of the original inscriptions, a transcription of the same in roman letters with an interlineal translation in latin, and a translation in english. accompanying these, is a critical commentary on each line, together with notes, rendering the whole as clear as possible. "i am darius, the great king, the king of kings, the king of persia, the king of (the dependent) provinces, the son of hystaspes, the grandson of arsames, the achæmenian. "says darius the king:--my father was hystaspes; of hystaspes, the father was arsames; of arsames, the father was ariyaramnes; of ariyaramnes, the father was teispes; of teispes, the father was achæmenes. "says darius the king:--on that account, we have been called achæmenians: from antiquity we have been unsubdued; from antiquity those of our race have been kings. "says darius the king:--there are eight of my race who have been kings before me, i am the ninth; for a very long time we have been kings. "says darius the king:--by the grace of ormuzd, i am king; ormuzd has granted me the empire. "says darius the king:--these are the countries which have fallen into my hands--by the grace of ormuzd, i have become king of them--persia, susiana, babylonia, assyria, arabia, egypt; those which are of the sea, sparta and ionia; armenia, cappadocia, parthia, zarangea, aria, chorasmia, bactria, sogdiana, the sacæ, the sattagydes, arachosia, and the mecians; the total amount being twenty-one countries. "says darius the king:--these are the countries which have come to me; by the grace of ormuzd, they have become subject to me--they have brought tribute to me. that which has been said unto them by me, both by night and by day, it has been performed by them. "says darius the king:--ormuzd has granted me the empire. ormuzd has brought help to me until i have gained this empire. by the grace of ormuzd, i hold this empire. "says darius the king:-- ... he who was named cambyses, the son of cyrus of our race, he was here king before me. there was of that cambyses a brother named bartius; he was of the same father and mother as cambyses. cambyses slew this bartius. when cambyses slew that bartius, the troubles of the state ceased which bartius had excited. then cambyses proceeded to egypt. when cambyses had gone to egypt, the state became heretical; then the lie became abounding in the land, both in persia and in media, and in the other provinces." he then goes on to speak of the rebellions in his dominions after the death of cambyses, of the magian who declared himself king, and that no one dared to resist him. he continues: "every one was standing obediently around the magian, until i arrived. then i abode in the worship of ormuzd; ormuzd brought help to me. on the th day of the month bagayadish, i slew the magian and the chief men who were his followers. by the grace of ormuzd, i became king; ormuzd granted me the sceptre." he then says, he "established his race on the throne, as in the days of old," prohibited the sacrificial worship introduced by the magian, and restored the old families to office,--all of which was accomplished by the aid of ormuzd. the people of susiana and babylon then became rebellious. he slew the leader of the former. "says darius the king:--then i proceeded to babylon against that natitabirus, who was called nabokhadrosser (nebuchadnezzar). the forces of natitabirus held the tigris; there they had come and they had boats. then i placed a detachment on rafts. i brought the enemy into difficulty; i assaulted the enemy's position. ormuzd brought help to me; by the grace of ormuzd, i succeeded in passing the tigris. then i entirely defeated the army of that natitabirus. on the th day of the month of atriyata, then it was that we thus fought." darius then continued his march to babylon, where he was met by the army of natitabirus; he gave him battle and defeated him, driving his army into the water. he then took babylon. it would appear from what this monarch relates, that he had a pretty rebellious set of subjects, who took advantage of his absence at babylon. the inscription continues. "says darius the king:--whilst i was at babylon, these are the countries that revolted against me; persis, susiana, media, assyria, armenia, parthia, margiana, sattagydia and sacia." he then gives the names of the rebellious leaders and of the officers sent to subjugate them; the forts, villages, or cities, where battles were fought; the day of the month when they took place, and the result, in every case, by the help of ormuzd. one example will suffice. after speaking of the revolt of armenia, the inscription continues. "says darius the king:--then dadarses by name, an armenian, one of my servants, him i sent to armenia. i thus said to him: 'greeting to thee, the rebel state that does not obey me, smite it.' then dadarses marched. when he reached armenia, then the rebels having collected came before dadarses arraying their battle ... by name, a village of armenia, there they engaged. ormuzd brought help to me; by the grace of ormuzd, my forces entirely defeated that rebel army. on the th of the month thurawahara, then it was a battle was fought by them." in this manner we have the whole history of the reign of darius king of persia, who filled the throne b.c. and it may truly be said that no monument of remote antiquity which has been preserved to modern times, at all equals it in importance. the inscriptions of egypt are far more ancient, but consist of fragments, which, excepting the tables of kings, do not throw much light on history. nothing is more interesting in the details given by the persian king of his successes, than his acknowledgment of an overruling power, a supreme being, who protected him and aided him in all his battles. from the closing part of this remarkable tablet, which consists of twenty paragraphs, we select the following. "says darius the king:--this is what i have done. by the grace of ormuzd have i achieved the performance of the whole. thou whoever hereafter may peruse this tablet, let it be known to thee, that which has been done by me, that it has not been falsely related. "says darius the king:--ormuzd is my witness, that this record i have faithfully made of the performance of the whole. "says darius the king:--by the grace of ormuzd, there is much else that has been done by me that upon this tablet has not been inscribed.... if thou publish this tablet to the world, ormuzd shall be a friend to thee, and may thy offspring be numerous. "says darius the king:--if thou shalt conceal this record, thou shalt not thyself be recorded; may ormuzd be thy enemy, and mayest thou be childless. "says darius the king:--as long as thou mayest behold this tablet and these figures, thou mayest not dishonor them; and if from injury thou shalt preserve them, may ormuzd be a friend to thee, and may thy offspring be numerous, and mayest thou be long lived, and that which thou mayest do may ormuzd bless for thee in after times." the great inscription from which we have made these extracts, is sculptured in three languages, and in three different forms of the arrow-headed character, the particulars of which have been stated. there are a few imperfections and cracks in the stone which made certain words and sentences unintelligible; these will be corrected when the other two inscriptions are decyphered. in the midst of these records is a piece of sculpture in relief, representing darius followed by two of his officers, with his foot upon a man, who raises his hands before him, and nine other figures representing the rebellious leaders whom he had severally conquered. they are connected by a rope around their necks and have their hands tied behind, and are probably portraits of the persons they represent. beneath each is engraved his name, as in the extract given. "this natitabirus was an impostor: he thus declared, i am nabokhadrosser, the son of nabonidas; i am king of babylon." the discoveries of professor westergaard, to whom we are indebted for the key to the second or median form of the arrow-headed character, require notice. this accomplished orientalist, on his return from an archæological tour in india and persia, under the patronage of the king of denmark, brought with him, among other literary treasures, copies of a great number of inscriptions in the arrow-headed character. while in persepolis he carefully examined all the inscriptions which those wonderful ruins still retain. those which had already been published, he accurately compared with the original monuments, and the remainder he copied entire. this gentleman went thoroughly furnished with all the preparatory knowledge that could be gained in europe to ensure success. he had shown himself by his publications to be an excellent sanscrit scholar; besides which he had acquired as complete a knowledge of the zend language as it is possible to do at present, and was well acquainted with all that had been effected in the way of decyphering the inscriptions. having thus so greatly the advantage of his predecessors, niebuhr, ker porter, and rich, it is not to be wondered at that his transcripts are proportionably more accurate and complete. it has long been known that all the inscriptions at persepolis are triple, like those on the behistun tablets, before described. those of the first or simplest variety, have all been translated by professor lassen,[ ] to whom professor westergaard transmitted them. accompanying his translations are critical and explanatory remarks, proving conclusively the correctness of his version. the inscriptions at and near persepolis, relate to xerxes. they do not possess the historical value that the tablets of his father do on the rocks of behistun, but consist of praises of ormuzd for blessings he had received, and of himself for the additions he made to the royal palace at persepolis. the following is a translation of an inscription on the wall of an immense portal at nakshi regib, two miles from persepolis.[ ] "ormuzd (is) the great god. he created this earth; he created the heavens; he created mortals; he created the fortune of mortals. he made king xerxes the only king of many, the only emperor of many. "i xerxes (am) the great king, the king of kings, the king of realms inhabited by many nations; the sustainer, the author of this great land; the son of king darius, the achæmenide. "i (am) the noble xerxes, the great king. by the will of ormuzd, i have built this portal to be entered by the people. let the persians abide, let them congregate under this portal, and in this palace--the palace which my father built for abiding in. by the will of ormuzd we built them. "i (am) the noble king xerxes. protect me o ormuzd; and also this kingdom, and this my palace, and my father's palace protect, o admirable ormuzd." no inscriptions have yet been found in persia of artaxerxes, the first son of xerxes. a vase, however, was discovered at venice by sir j.g. wilkinson, bearing an inscription in hieroglyphics, and in the three species of arrow-headed characters so common in persia. this vase and its inscriptions have been examined by m. letronne and m. longpérier, who do not hesitate to ascribe it to artaxerxes the first, or longimanus, whose names and titles have been made out both in the hieroglyphics and cuneiform characters.[ ] an inscription of great historical interest of artaxerxes the third, has been found at persepolis.[ ] it is in only one species of the achæmenian writing, and is noticed by prof. westergaard as exhibiting "a most remarkable change and decay which the language must have undergone in the interval between the reigns of xerxes and this monarch." in a philological point of view, this fact is interesting as showing so early a decline of the persian language. but the most important part of this inscription consists of the genealogy of artaxerxes the third, from arsama, the greek arsames, the father of hystaspes, completely agreeing with that given by grecian historians. in this as well as in all the other inscriptions thus far decyphered, ormuzd is invariably invoked; he is called upon to aid them, and the several sovereigns acknowledge their gratitude to him as to an all-protecting providence for the blessings received. nineveh. we have received from m. mohl, of paris, an account of the researches of mm. botta and flandin,[ ] on or near the site of ancient nineveh. this volume contains letters from m. botta, giving the details of his discoveries, accompanied by fifty-five plates of sculptures, statues, and inscriptions. he penetrated into the interior of a large mound, where he found a series of halls and chambers, the walls of which were covered with paintings and relievos representing historical events, and scenes illustrating the manners and customs of the assyrians. the drawings and sculptures exhibit a higher state of art than the monuments of egypt. the figures are remarkably well drawn, both as it regards the anatomy and the costumes. the men appear to be more athletic than the egyptians--they wear long hair combed smooth over the top of the head, and curled behind. the beard is also long and always curled. their dresses are exceedingly rich and profuse in ornaments and trimmings. ear-rings, bracelets, and armlets, of various forms and elaborately wrought, are seen on most of the figures both of the men and women. the discoveries made by m. botta have induced others to explore the ground in that vicinity. an english traveller, mr. layard, has recently opened a mound many times larger than that excavated by the french. "it contains the remains of a palace, a part of which, like that at khorsabad, appears to have been burnt. there is a vast series of chambers, all built with marble, and covered with sculptures and inscriptions. the inscriptions are in the cuneiform character, of the class usually termed babylonian. it is possible that this edifice was built at an epoch prior to the overthrow of the assyrian empire by the medes and babylonians under cyaxares. many of the sculptures discovered by mr. layard are, even in the smallest details, as sharp and fresh as though they had been chiselled yesterday. among them is a pair of winged lions with human heads, about twelve feet high. they form the entrance to a temple. the execution of these figures is admirable, and gives the highest idea of the knowledge and civilization of the assyrians. there are many monsters of this kind, lions and bulls. the other reliefs consist of various divinities, some with eagles' heads--others entirely human but winged--with battle-pieces and sieges."[ ] other letters from mr. layard of a later date than that just mentioned, announce new discoveries. "another mine has been opened at nimroud; and every stroke of the pick-axe brings new wonders to light." old nineveh, whose very existence had become little better than a vague historic dream, is astonishing the world by her buildings her sculptures, and her many thousands of inscriptions, which have been brought to light by the explorations of mr. layard.[ ] "he has opened fourteen chambers and uncovered two hundred and fifty sculptured slabs. the grand entrance previously described led him into a hall above two hundred and fifty feet long and thirty broad--entirely built of slabs of marble covered with sculptures. the side walls are ornamented with bas-reliefs of the highest interest--battles, sieges, lion-hunts, &c.; many of them in the finest state of preservation, and all executed with extraordinary spirit. they afford a complete history of the military art of the assyrians; and prove their intimate knowledge of many of those machines of war, whose invention is attributed to the greeks and romans--such as the battering ram, the tower moving on wheels, the catapult, &c. nothing can exceed the beauty and elegance of the forms of various arms, swords, daggers, bows, spears, &c. in this great hall are several entrances, each formed by winged lions, or winged bulls.[ ] these lead to other chambers; which again branch off into a hundred ramifications. every chamber is built of marble slabs covered with sculptures or inscriptions." the excavations thus far only extend to one corner of a great mound, the largest on the plain, measuring about one thousand eight hundred feet by nine hundred. the wonders that may be brought to light from a more complete survey of this vast heap of ruins, will be looked forward to with intense interest. all are familiar with the accounts of the building of this city by asshur, (whence the name assyria), and of the first empire under nimrod. in this short record we have the first traces of political institutions and of great cities. they burst upon us, and as suddenly disappear from the world's history for more than a thousand years. a learned author of the last century[ ] has endeavored to throw distrust on all that the greek writers have written about these countries, because in the persian historians he could not recognise the great cyrus and other prominent characters which fill important places in the grecian annals. but the revelations already made through the arrow-headed inscriptions must remove these doubts, as they substantiate in a remarkable degree the assertions of the greek writers. the observations of a learned orientalist are so well adapted to this subject that i cannot forbear quoting them. "the formation of mighty and civilized states being admitted even by our strictest chronologers to have taken place at least twenty-five centuries before our era, it can but appear extraordinary, even after taking into account violent revolutions, that of so multitudinous and great existences, only such scanty documents have come down to us. but, strange to say, whenever a testimony has escaped the destruction of time, instead of being greeted with a benevolent though discerning curiosity, the unexpected stranger is approached with mistrustful scrutiny, his voice is stifled with severe rebuke, his credentials discarded with scorn, and by a predetermined and stubborn condemnation, resuscitating antiquity is repelled into the tomb of oblivion."[ ] a journey of much interest was undertaken by dr. robert in _ , who was directed by the french government to continue, in the west of the himalaya range and the high region adjacent, the geographical, physical, and ethnographical observations which had been begun by m. jaquemont. the latest accounts from this intrepid traveller left him in the inaccessible valleys of chinese tartary, from whence it was his intention to pass through turkestan, for the purpose of entering china on the north.[ ] in the same distant region we hear of the journeys of h.r.h. prince waldemar, of prussia (cousin to the king). "consulting only his ardor for science, and burthened with the usual load carried by a traveller on foot, he scaled the lofty himmalayah, crossed the frontier of the celestial empire, and reached the table-land of thibet."[ ] the prince has already transmitted a large collection of objects of natural history, many of which are new, to berlin. it is his intention to return to europe by way of affghanistan, persia, and asia minor. the following list embraces the late works on assyria and persia, as well as those relating to the arrow-head inscriptions. the persian cuneiform inscriptions at behistun, decyphered and translated; with a memoir on persian cuneiform inscriptions in general, and on that of behistun in particular, by major h.c. rawlinson, vo., in the journal of the royal asiatic society. vol. . london, . on the decyphering of the second achæmenian or median species of arrow-headed writing; by n.l. westergaard, vo., in the mémoires de la société royale des antiquaires du nord. copenhagen, . lettres de m. botta sur les découvertes à khorsabad, près de ninive, publiées par m.j. mohl, vo., with plates. paris, . essai sur la numismatique des satrapies et de la phénicie, sous les rois achæmenides, par h. de luynes, to. paris, . the manual, formation and early origin of the hebrew letters and points, demonstrated and explained; also an elucidation of the so-called arrow-headed or cuneiform characters. vo. london, . essai de déchiffrement de l'Écriture assyrienne pour servir à l'explication du monument de khorsabad. par j. löwenstern. vo. paris, . die grabscrift des darius zu nakschi rustum erläutert. von f. hitzig. zurich, vo. . remarks on the wedge inscription recently discovered on the upper euphrates by the prussian engineer, capt. von mülbach. being a commentary on certain fundamental principles in the art of decyphering the "cuneatic" characters of the ancient assyrians, by g.f. grotefend. vo. in the papers of the syro-egyptian society. vol. i. london, . voyage en perse. de mm. eugene flandin et p. coste. recueil d'architecture ancienne, bas reliefs, inscriptions cuneiformes et pehlvis, plans topographiques et vues pittoresques. folio. plates and text. this magnificent work, the result of an expedition sent out by order of the french government, under the directions of the institute, and now published by a commission of savans, consisting of messrs burnouf, le bas, and leclerc, is in the course of publication. it will unquestionably be the most complete work ever published on this interesting country and will include the antiquities of babylon and nineveh. g.f. grotefend, neue beiträge zur erläuterung der persopolitanischen keilschrift, nebst einem anhange über die vollkommenheit der ersten art-derselben. hanover, . g.f. grotefend, neue beiträge zur erläuterung der babylonischen keilschrift, nebst einem anhange über die beschaffensheit des ältesten schriftdruck. hanover, . the valuable oriental journal edited by prof. lassen, entitled "zeitschrift für die kunde des morgenlandes," contains many papers of great interest on these subjects. siberia. to the love of science which the enlightened emperor of russia, has always manifested, we are indebted for an expedition, the most successful which has yet been undertaken for the exploration of the northern and eastern parts of siberia. the results of this extensive exploration of a region not before examined by scientific men, are of the greatest interest to science, and have earned for its distinguished and undaunted leader, prof. von middendorff, the applause of the savans of europe. not having seen any detailed account of this journey, i am indebted to sir r. murchison for some particulars of its results.[ ] the expedition traversed the whole extent of siberia, from east to west, and from south to north, even to the extreme northern headland of taimyr. "undaunted by the severe privations he had undergone in obtaining his knowledge of the far northern lands of siberia, he next undertook the not less arduous task of traversing the whole of that vast continent to the shantar isles, at its southeastern extremity, and thence to return to nertchinsk, along the chinese frontier. his journey through thickly-wooded rocks, deep morasses and over swollen rivers, was so successfully accomplished, that the stores he has brought back to st. petersburgh, will fully lay open the fauna and flora of a region never previously explored by a man of science." "floating down the sea of okotsk from udskoi in frail canoes, m. middendorff and his friends, braving shoals of floating ice and perpetual rains, reached nitka on the great shantar island. the wild regions which were traversed, in many parts could only be threaded by _following the tracks formed by bears beneath the dense matting of underwood and birch trees_" in his return journey, he examined the frontier line of china, a tract never explored even by a cossack, and ascertained that between the udskoi of the russians and the mouth of the amur, there is a considerable tract quite independent both of russia and china, and occupied by a people called guilaiques, who pay no tribute to either emperor. in addition to the several arduous journeys performed by this intrepid traveller and his companions, many questions hitherto unsolved were investigated and much new light added to our previous knowledge on these respective points. one was the real state of the question of the frozen subsoil of siberia. "by placing thermometers at various depths in the shaft at yakutsk, he has found that at its bottom, or at feet below the surface, the cold is ° ´´ réaumur, and that it is probable the frozen subsoil reaches to the great depth of about feet! notwithstanding this extraordinary phenomenon, the lateral extent of which has still to be determined, it appears that the culture of rye succeeds perfectly under favorable local conditions in those regions, and that the crops of grain are more abundant than in livonia!" m. middendorff has also thrown new light on the boreal range of vegetation. he has ascertained "that whilst rye, turnips, beets, and potatoes grow on the yenisei to latitude ° ´, indigenous plants, requiring less warmth, flourish much farther north, and that even trees with vertical stems reach to about ° north latitude, in that parallel of longitude!" this fact will show that geographers can no longer mark the limit of vegetation by a rectilinear zone, but must accommodate such line to climatological and local conditions. in regard to the mammoths, the fossil bones of which have been found in siberia, m. middendorff has shown that, in accordance with the views of professor owen, (who states that these quadrupeds were specially organized to live on the branches and leaves of such shrubs and trees as grow in boreal latitudes) there are still trees in latitude ° which would suffice for their sustenance. the ethnology of this region has been elucidated by our traveller, who by investigating the languages and physical characteristics of these remote tribes, has been enabled to affiliate them with their parent stocks. our knowledge of the geology and geography of the northern and southeastern extremities of siberia have been greatly extended by this journey; in fact no enquiry for the advancement of science and a knowledge of this far distant and hitherto unknown region, seems to have been neglected.[ ] another scientific expedition of an ethnological character is employed in siberia under the direction of m. castren, who has devoted much of his first report to the geography of the country. after speaking of the river irtisch and its fisheries, he gives some account of the ostiaks, the most ancient people of its banks. surrounded by russians and tartars, they have lost all their nationality except their language. the tartar influence is feeble, but that of russia is felt in their religion, their manners, their customs and even in their general mode of thinking. a paper containing "ethnological notes on siberia," by prof. von middendorff, was read at the late meeting of the british association for the advancement of science. "in this paper, the geographical boundaries of the different tribes were set forth, the tribes were enumerated and some of the characteristic peculiarities described. the st, was the ostiaks; these were stated to be of finnish origin, on both physiological and philological evidence. d, the samoiedes, who were of mongol descent. rd, the tunguses. th, the yakuts; the extent to which mongol features were found in a nation speaking a language akin to turkish, was insisted on. th, the yukagins; the physical peculiarities of which placed them along with the samoiedes. th, the ainos; these were the inhabitants of the kinule islands at the mouth of the arnus; of these there were two types, the finnish and the japanese. th, the kachkell; these were only known through the ainos." a geographical society has lately been founded at st. petersburg, to which the emperor proposed to give ten thousand silver rubles annually. the first great exploratory expedition under the directions and patronage of this society will be directed along the eastern flank of the ural mountains, from the parallel of ° north (bogoslafsk) to the glacial sea. this survey is to be conducted by count a. von keyserling, already known to the public through his valuable geological co-operation in the work on russia, by sir r.i. murchison; and who by his sound acquirements in geology, zoology and geography, will it is presumed, during the ensuing three years, throw great additional light on the wild arctic ural which separates europe from asia, and which, inhabited by ostiaks and samoiedes, extends beyond the limits of arboreal vegetation. among numerous other objects, it is hoped that this expedition will elicit new results concerning the entombment and preservation of the mammoths.[ ] india. the obstacles which have existed in india, and which have retarded the extension of european civilization, will now be effectually removed by the noble step taken by lord hardinge, the governor general, for promoting education in that country.[ ] this benevolent and excellent man, whose well earned laurels on the field of battle are not more honorable than his philanthropic efforts in extending education among the natives of india, and in improving their social condition, "has directed the council of education and other authorities charged with the duty of superintending public instruction throughout the provinces subject to the government of bengal, to submit returns of the students who may be fitted according to their degrees of merit and capacity, for such of the various public offices, as with reference to their age, abilities and other circumstances, they may be deemed qualified to fill." as this order recognizes no distinction of schools, or castes, or religion, it will have a great influence on the people, towards inducing them to give their children the benefit of a good education, which to a great extent must be obtained through the christian missionaries. "it is," says the friend of india, "the most powerful impulse which the cause of education has received during the last twenty-five years. it makes the seminaries the nursery of the service, and the service the stimulant of the seminaries. it introduces the enlightened principles adopted by european governments, of recruiting the public service in every department from those who have earned distinctions in the public schools. at the same time it will be found instrumental in the highest degree in the general elevation of the country. it will transplant into the interior that european knowledge and science which has hitherto been confined to calcutta, and diffuse their influence through every district." the renunciation of idolatry must necessarily follow the first steps in this great work of reform, and we already see it noticed that in southern india, within the short period of three months, eight hundred and thirty-two persons renounced idolatry and embraced christianity. this large number was a part of the population of seven villages.[ ] such changes are not without their effects on the great mass of the natives, indeed it is only by removing from their minds the gross superstition in which they have been for ages immersed, that there can be a hope of improving their social condition. the wealthy hindoos cling to their ancient religion with greater tenacity as it totters towards its downfall, than when in its most flourishing state. alarmed at the innovations which european civilization and christianity have made, they are printing by subscription, a series of popular religious books in monthly numbers, on their doctrines, rites, superstitions and idolatry. fearing that the europeans and such as have been taught to observe these things with ridicule, might controvert them, they have confined the subscription to hindoos, and have directed that their books shall be rigidly kept from the hands of christians. the mahommedans too, in bengal, are greatly alarmed at the danger to which their religion is exposed. they have prepared tracts and books in opposition to christianity, and have sent, or are sending emissaries in every direction, with a view to strengthen the tottering cause of their false prophet.[ ] a mahommedan merchant in bombay has printed at his own expense, two thousand copies of the koran for gratuitous distribution, at a cost of several thousand dollars. in former times the efforts of the missionaries were directed to proselyting among the hindoos and other idolaters of the east, without first making themselves acquainted with the fabric which they were laboring so earnestly to demolish. nursed and educated as the natives were in the doctrines and superstitions which for ages their forefathers had venerated and professed, the efforts of the missionaries and of others who labored to improve their condition were unattended with success--and a conflict between oriental and european civilization--between hindooism and christianity--between the false science of the shastres and the enlightenment of europe, for a long time existed; and it seemed doubtful whether truth or falsehood would triumph. now, the system is changed, and a course is pursued which bids fair to produce the most wonderful effects on the people of india and china. it has been asserted that the missionary enterprise in india was a failure, and did not warrant the large sums expended there. those who are unfriendly to the cause do not see that more than half the amount there expended was for educating the people, for improving their social condition, for translating valuable books into their various languages and for establishing among them that mighty engine of civilization and reform, the printing press.[ ] but it is not merely in the translation and distribution of these books, that the missionaries have rendered so much service. in this labor it is true they have contributed greatly towards disseminating christian truth and useful knowledge among a large class of people, and have improved their religious, their moral and their social condition. but to europe and to the learned world they have also furnished a vast deal of philological knowledge, elucidating and developing languages scarcely known beyond the precincts of the several countries in which they were spoken. many of these languages, too, were previously unwritten; and from this rude state the missionaries have trained and moulded them into forms adapted to written speech. while speaking of the labors of the missionaries in the east, i should do great injustice to catholics not to speak of their efforts to improve the moral and religious condition of the people in these distant countries. in the most barbarous and secluded portions of the earth do we find these devoted men diligently laboring to elevate the condition of the natives. in many do we see a zeal and devotedness, an endurance of hardships, of the most severe privations, and often martyrdom itself, which has never been surpassed in the annals of missionary enterprise. neither françois xavier, nor ignatius loyola, so famous among the pioneers of the eastern missions, ever exhibited a greater zeal or devotedness than we now witness among the catholic missionaries in thibet, china, corea, the islands of the eastern archipelago and oceanica. they too have added much to our stock of knowledge of the inhabitants, their manners and customs, and their languages. their narratives give us particular accounts of the productions of the countries in which they reside, their trade, commerce, and all that interests us. siam. an interesting fact connected with the progress of european civilization, and the extension of christianity in the kingdom of siam, seems deserving of notice in this place. it was communicated by the american mission in that country. "the king of siam despatched one of his ships to ceylon about the close of last year, to carry back some ceylonese boodhists whom he had invited to siam, two or three years before, and also to send a fresh ecclesiastical embassy to that island--regarded by all boodhists as very sacred--to make further religious researches in the primitive nursery of their faith. that embassy fulfilled its mission, and returned to siam in june, bringing a letter to his majesty from a high priest of boodh in ceylon, written in english, and stating in substance, that the religion of boodh had become almost extinct in ceylon, chiefly through the influence of the christian religion, and the schools and seminaries of the missionaries and english residents in that part of the world; and that, if some aid from abroad could not be obtained to prop up crumbling boodhism in that island, it must soon become utterly extinct. the writer expressed much pain at the thought, that the very birth place of his religion should not have some permanent witness of it; and requested that his majesty, in his pious zeal for boodhism, would send him funds, with which he might build a _wat_ (religious house) and support priests in honor of his god. he suggested that this would be a noble work for a great king, and one that would confer upon him the highest honors of boodhism."[ ] the following list embraces the recent works on india. travels in the kashmir and the punjab; containing a particular account of the sikhs. from the german of baron hugel, with notes by major jervis, royal vo. london, . the punjaub; being a brief account of the country of the sikhs, its extent, history, commerce, productions, religion, &c., to the recent campaign of the sutelege. by lt. col. steinbach, post, vo. london, . a peep into turkistan; by capt. r. burslem, vo. london, . travels in the punjab, affghanistan and turkistan, to balk, bokhara and herat, by mohan lal, vo. london, . history of the punjab, and of the rise, progress and present condition of the sikhs, vols. post, vo. london, . the history of the sikhs, with a personal narrative of the war between the british and the sikhs. by w.l. mcgregor, vols. vo. london, . the sikhs and affghans, immediately before and after the death of runjeet singh. by shahamat ali, post, vo. london, . the hindoo castes; or history, manners and customs of the castes or sects of the brahmins of british india, with highly colored plates: by e.a. rodriguez, numbers. cochin-china, china, manchuria, corea, and japan. cochin-china. m. hedde has published a few notices of a visit to turon in annam in , on his passage from singapore to macao.[ ] he represents the country as altogether in a wretched, declining condition, misgoverned and beggared by despotic officers, presenting a painful contrast in its general prosperity with the chinese empire. the present monarch is named thieufri (or yuen-fuh-siuen in chinese) and succeeded his father ming-ming or minh-menh in , but no improvement in the domestic or foreign administration of the government has taken place. several cochin-chinese youth have been educated at singapore, and the king purchased two steamers several years ago from the dutch, but the natives probably were too little acquainted with the machinery and motive power to make the least use of them, as nothing has since been heard of them. the country is highly favored by its natural advantages and navigable rivers for maintaining a large population, but oppression on the part of the rulers and ignorance among the people, vitiate the sources of national prosperity. the port of turon alone, is open in annam for foreign trade, but no american vessels have been there for a cargo since lieut. white's unsuccessful voyage in the franklin in . capt. percival of the u.s. ship constitution anchored there in may, , but no official account of his visit has been published, which if the rumors of his firing upon the town are true, is not strange. the peacock and enterprize also anchored there in , but mr. roberts, the american diplomatic agent, was too ill to have any communications with the authorities. china. the late war between england and china has directed the attention of other nations towards that empire in an unusual degree. except the immediate details of the contest and the personal incidents connected with it, however, the works of those officers who have written upon that war, have not contained so much information as was expected by some, but quite as much as could be collected under the circumstances. the war was almost wholly a maritime one, confined to attacks upon cities and forts upon the coast and rivers, by both the army and navy, and few or none of the officers were acquainted with the language of the people, so that little information could be obtained from those natives whom suspicion or terror did not drive away. the region around ningpo, chusan and the mouth of the yangtsz kiang, has been described with more minuteness than any other part of the maritime provinces; and the careful survey of the coast from amoy to shanghai, with the chusan and pescadore archipelagoes by captains collinson, and kellet and others, has left little to be done for the navigator's benefit, in making known the hydrography of this part of china. the general topography of china is, however, but little better known now than it was at the close of the general survey of the jesuits in , and their maps form the basis of the best extant. the embassy sent by the french government in , under m. th. de lagrené, to form a commercial treaty with china, was furnished on a most liberal scale with everything necessary to make the greatest improvement of the opportunities offered to examine into the mechanical arts and productions of the land. four gentlemen were attached to the ambassador's suite, to make inquiries into the various agricultural and mechanical arts of the chinese, one of whom, m. isidore hedde, was especially designated to investigate everything relating to the growth and preparation of silk. in pursuance of this object, he visited the city of tuchan fu, which lies a few miles northwest of shanghai, and is the capital of the province of kiangsu. this place is probably the second or third city in the empire, canton or hangchau fu being the only ones which can compete with it for wealth and beautiful manufactures. it lies in a highly cultivated region, and is connected with peking and other large places, through the grand canal and the yangtsz kiang. m. hedde went in a chinese dress, and succeeded in visiting the principal buildings in the city, such as the provincial mint, the hall of examination, an establishment for the education of unhappy females destined for sale for the amusement of the opulent, and some manufactories. the suburbs of suchau, as is the case with most chinese cities, exceed that part within the walls, and here he found most of the craftsmen in iron, ivory, gold, silver, wood, bone, horn, glass, earth, paper, cotton and silk. his errand being chiefly to examine the silken fabrics, he noticed whatever was peculiar in spinning, dyeing and weaving, in the shops he entered. the chinese have no such immense establishments as are found in this country, where large buildings accommodate an immense quantity of machinery and numerous workmen, but all their products are made by manual labor in small establishments. m. hedde was struck with the immense population of the city and its environs, including a floating suburb of great extent, the whole comprising a population of not far from two millions. the chinese census gives an average of over nine hundred souls to a square mile in the province of kiangsu, and every opportunity which has been offered for examining it, has added new evidence to the truth of this statement, though closer investigation and further travel is necessary before we can give implicit reliance to the assertions made on this subject. two english missionaries have lately gone long journeys into the interior, but as protestants have no coadjutors among the people away from the ports, who would be willing to receive and conceal them; and as their system of operations aims rather to impart a true knowledge of christianity than to make many converts to a form of worship, these excursions have not been frequently made. one of the two here referred to, was across the country from ningpo to canton, by the same route lord macartney came, and the other was up the yangtsz kiang. two american missionaries visited the large city of changchau fu near amoy in , where they were received with civility though not with kindness. mr. robert fortune, sent out to china by the horticultural society, has lately returned to england, with new plants of great beauty, and a large collection of botanical and ornithological specimens, among which are doubtless many not heretofore described. mr. fortune visited all the ports, and made excursions in their neighborhoods, and his reception among the people was generally kind. the people in the cities of ningpo and shanghai, and their vicinities, compare favorably for their kindness and general courtesy, with the coarse mannered natives of canton. the opening of this great empire to the commercial enterprise of western nations, has given rise to anticipations of an extensive trade, and the importation of cotton and woolen fabrics during the last few years has been increasing; and if it was not for the abominable traffic in opium, which is both impoverishing and destroying the chinese, there would be every reason for believing the commerce with china would soon be one of the largest branches of trade. the principal articles in which it is most likely to increase are tea and silk, but there is a great assortment of other productions, which can be taken in exchange for the cloths, metals and wares of the west. mr. montgomery martin for a short time colonial treasurer of hongkong, has collected all the statistics bearing on this subject in his work, which will aid in forming an opinion on this point. commercially, politically and religiously, the chinese empire now presents a most interesting spectacle, and the experiment of regenerating it and introducing it into the family of nations, without completely disorganizing its present form of government and society, will constantly go on and attract still more and more the notice of christendom. the probabilities at present are in favor of a successful issue, but it is impossible to contemplate the desolating effects of the use of opium, brought to the people in such quantities, without great apprehension as to the result. the lava like progress of the power of great britain in asia, has just commenced on the borders of china, and when the country is drained of specie in payment for this drug, there is reason to fear that the native government will be unable to carry on its operations and maintain its authority. corea. since the extermination of the catholic priests from corea in , the most rigid measures have been adopted to exclude all foreigners; in fact, the determination on the part of the government of corea to prevent all intercourse between its people and those of other countries seems to have been adopted from its neighbor of japan. these measures are even extended to the chinese, against whom a strong natural antipathy exists, growing out of the persecutions formerly inflicted on the coreans by them. accurate descriptions of europeans are kept at the various posts on the frontier, and from their well known characteristics they are easily distinguished. the coreans themselves on leaving their country for china for purposes of trade, receive a passport, which on returning must be given back or they are not permitted to enter. many christians still remain in corea, and though they are subject to persecution, the minds of the people are well disposed towards the christian religion. the literary class hold it in the highest estimation, and seem only to be waiting for the moment when they will be free to declare in its favor.[ ] farther accounts from this country have lately appeared in the annals of the propaganda society,[ ] in a letter from keemay kim a native of corea, and a christian, who had just completed his studies at macao in china. he was sent on a mission to the christians in corea, but owing to the vigilance observed on the frontiers of that country, was unable to enter it. determined to persevere in the attempt, he posted on to hoong-tchoong, a small frontier town near the mouth of a river which separates corea from manchuria, where he waited until the period arrived when the great fair was to take place at kee-eu-wen, the nearest town in corea, four leagues distant. "they supply the coreans with dogs, cats, pipes, leather, stag's horns, copper, horses, mules and asses; and receive in exchange, baskets, kitchen utensils, rice, corn, swine, paper, mats, oxen, furs and small horses." a few officers are permitted to trade every year, but they are closely guarded. all others who pass the frontier are made slaves or massacred at once. our traveller here met a few corean christians in the immense crowd which had come to traffic, and whom he recognised by a badge previously agreed upon; but so great was the confusion and hurry on the occasion, added to the fear of being recognized, that the interview does not seem to have been productive of good, or increased our information of the people or country. since the great persecution a few years since, the church had been at rest; and though a few converts had been made, the faithful had retired to the southern provinces for better security. they still entertained the idea of introducing a european missionary through the north, though with the knowledge that if discovered by the authorities, instant death would follow. such is the zeal and perseverance with which these men pursue their philanthropic and christian labors. the fair to which allusion has been made, is thus described by our corean. the traders cannot begin their operations until a signal is given, by hoisting a flag and beating the gong, "when the immense and densely packed crowd rush to the market place; coreans, chinese, and manchus, are all mingled together. each speaks in his own tongue, and so great is the uproar produced by this mass of people, that the echoes of the neighboring mountains repeat their discordant shouts." "four or five hours is the whole time allowed for buying and selling; consequently, the tumult which takes place, the quarrels which arise, the blows which are exchanged, and the plundering which goes on, give the place more the look of a city taken by storm and given up to pillage, than that of a fair." at evening, when the signal is given, the strangers are driven out by the soldiers with the points of their lances. manchuria. the vast regions of manchuria, lying north of corea to the hing-an or yablonoi mountains, and east of the sialkoi to the ocean, are inhabited by various tribes speaking different dialects and subsisting principally by hunting and fishing. the manchus are now the dominant race, but some of the tribes near the sea and in taraka island, bear no tributary relations to them, if indeed they are much acquainted. since the conquest of china, the manchus have gone on steadily improving this part of their possessions by stationing agricultural troops at the principal ports of observation, and collecting the hunters around these points as much as possible. criminals are also constantly banished there, who carry with them their arts, and by their industry both maintain themselves and set an example to the nomads. the southern part called shingking, has become well cultivated in many parts, and considerable trade is carried on at kinchau with other parts of china. manchuria produces pulse, maize, (indian corn), millet, barley and buckwheat; pulse, drugs and cattle, form the leading articles of trade. the climate of this country is so inhospitable, as to prove a serious obstacle in the way of its settlement and cultivation. the manchus have no national literature; all the books written in their language are translations of chinese works, made under the superintendence of the academies at moukden and peking. their written characters are derived from the mongols, but have undergone many changes. the emperors have taken great pains to elevate their countrymen by providing them with the best books in chinese literature, and compelling them to go through the same examinations before they can attain any office; but the numerical superiority of the chinese and their active habits, give them so much the advantage, that except in their own country, the manchus find it difficult to preserve their native tongue to the second generation. mongolia. the last volume of the annals of the propaganda society contains an interesting narrative of a journey into mongolia, by the rev. mr. huc.[ ] this vast country, covering a million of square miles, consists of barren deserts and boundless steppes. in the limits allotted each corps, there is seldom more than one town, where the chief resides. the people live in tents, without any permanent residence. they move from place to place, with the changes of the seasons, or when their immense herds of oxen, camels and horses have exhausted the grass around their encampment. to-day presents an animated scene of hundreds of tents, filled with an active population; the children playing as happy and contented as though surrounded with every luxury a civilized life affords; the women cooking their food and drawing water from a well just dug; and the men, mounted on horseback, are galloping over the plain, keeping their countless herds from straying away. to-morrow, this picturesque and animated scene will be changed to a dreary and forbidding desert. men, flocks, and tents have vanished, and nought remains to mark the visit of this wandering race, but the curling smoke of their unquenched fires, or the birds of prey hovering over the carcase of some dying camel, or feeding on the remains of their late repast. the mongols are irreclaimable nomads, though some tribes of them, as the tsakhars, ortous, and solous, cultivate the soil. the four khanates of the kalkas are called outer mongolia, and comprise within their borders, several well built towns, though none of any size, compared with the cities in china. few chinese have settled among the mongols, except near the great wall, nor will they allow them to do so, as there is a deep antipathy between the two races. the mongols of the present day have probably made no advances in civilization over their ancestors in the days of genghis and kublai. the approaches of the british power up the valley of the sutlej, into the regions lying along the base of the western himalayas, are such that they will ere long come in contact with tibet through ladak, and with yarkand through badakshan. but there is probably more geographical than ethnological information to be gained by traversing these elevated regions, where stupendous mountains and arid deserts offer nothing to tempt man from the fertile plains of india and china. two romish missionaries have lately arrived in canton from h'lassa in tibet, by the overland route through patang in sz'chuen to the capital of kwangsi, and thence to canton. this route has never been described by any traveller. lewchew islands. this group of islands, including the madjico sima, lying between it and formosa, form a dependency of the principality of satzuma, in the southwest of japan, though the rulers are allowed a limited intercourse with china through fuhchau fu. during the late war between england and china, the transport indian oak was lost on lewchew,[ ] august , , and the crew were treated with great kindness, and provided with a vessel, in which they returned to chusan. every effort was made by the authorities to prevent the officers and men from examining the island, but their kindness to the unfortunate people thus cast on their shores, made such an impression, that a mission to the islanders was determined upon in london, by some naval gentlemen connected with the expedition, and a society formed. the rev. b.j. bettelheim was appointed to the post, and had reached canton in march, . he afterwards proceeded on his voyage, and his journal received at hongkong, from napa, contains a few details of interest, but shows plainly that the authorities are decided in refusing to allow foreigners to settle in their territories. an attempt has been made by the romish missionaries to establish a mission in this group.[ ] the rev. w. forcade and an associate were left on lewchew in may, , and after a residence of fifteen months were able to transmit some notices of their treatment to the directors, through sir edward belcher, r.n. who stopped at napa in august, . on their arrival, m. forcade and his companion were conducted to their dwelling, where they were surrounded by a numerous guard under the control of officers, and attended by domestics, as they were told, "to charm their leisure moments." their table was bountifully supplied, and everything they could ask to make them comfortable was granted them, except their liberty. whenever they went abroad, they were accompanied by a guard, but allowed to hold no intercourse with the natives; they had not been able to proceed beyond twelve miles into the interior, but as far as they had opportunities of conversing with the natives, found them simple and courteous in their manners, and disposed to talk when not under surveillance. it is probable, however, that under such restraint as these gentlemen were placed, it is not likely that they had attained to such fluency in the language as to be able to hold very ready communication with natives met in this hasty manner. the intentions of the government were plain, however, not to allow them to disseminate their doctrines, (if it had learned their real object), nor, by intercourse with the people, become acquainted with their character, or the state of the country. no assistance was granted them in learning the language, and they were forbidden to adopt the native costume. notwithstanding this opposition, they had been able to acquire a partial knowledge of the language, and to compile a vocabulary of six thousand words. permission to preach the christian religion was not granted them, lest, as the authorities said, the chinese, to whom they are tributary, would break off all intercourse; but the real reason was doubtless their fear of the japanese. yet these obstacles did not dishearten them, and they seem determined to persevere in their attempts, though it is not unlikely that when mr. bettelheim arrives, the authorities will take measures for deporting them all. the lewchewans are intimately connected with the japanese. the language is the same, with unimportant dialectical variations, and chinese letters and literature are in like manner cultivated by both. in personal appearance, however, the two people are very unlike. the lewchewans are not on an average over five feet four inches high, slightly built, and approach the malayan cast of features more than the chinese. they are darker than the chinese, and their mild traits of character, unwarlike habits, and general personal appearance, suggests the idea that they are akin to the aborigines of formosa and luçonia by descent, while their proximity and subjugation to their powerful neighbors on the north and west, have taught them a higher civilization, and introduced arts and sciences unknown to their early conquerors. when lewchew was subjugated by the japanese, it was agreed that embassies with tribute might be sent to peking, and according to the chinese account, they come to that court twice in three years.[ ] the secretary or deputy embassador in , was drowned in his passage from peking to fuhchau. this embassy is a source of considerable profit to the lewchewans, for their junks, which are built on the chinese model, have free entrance to fuhchau, and all the goods they import and export, are passed without duty. the travelling expenses of the embassy to and from the capital are also defrayed, and permission is given them to study chinese when in the country. this intercourse is therefore both honorable and profitable to the lewchewans, but the chinese are not allowed to trade there, and the only act of sovereignty the emperor exercises, according to m. forcade, is to send a delegate to sanction the accession of a new incumbent of the throne--whom, however, it would be ridiculous for him to refuse. he adds, "in conversation, if one is a stranger, the lewchewans will be continually dwelling on china, they will boast about it, they will relate its history, they will describe its provinces and its cities; but japan is never mentioned! such are the words, but the facts are quite another thing." the real character of the connection between lewchew and japan is not well ascertained. no japanese officers are seen on landing, and the officers appointed to attend the people of the indian oak, exhibited the greatest alarm when a few were seen at a distance, while the party were taking a walk. the trade between the two countries is confined to the ports of napa and kagosima, between which the vessels of both nations pass; the junks from other parts of japan are not permitted to resort to napa, but it is not probable that the prince of satzuma has the right of appointing the residents, or whatever authorities are sent thither. m. forcade says there were from ten to fifteen japanese vessels in the port, but when the american ship morrison was there, in , there were only five. lackered-ware, grass cloth, sugar, and earthen-ware, are exported to kagosima, and a great assortment of metallic articles, cloths, provisions, and stationery taken in exchange. the country in the vicinity of napa, and towards shudi, the capital, is highly cultivated, and the people appear to be as well clothed, and possess as many of the comforts and elegancies of life as their neighbors. they still retain enough of their own customs, however, to distinguish them from the japanese, even if their physical appearance did not point them out as distinct. m. forcade says that there is reason for supposing christianity to have been implanted in lewchew at the same time it was introduced into japan, but lewchew at that time seems to have been much less dependant upon japan than subsequently; and it is not probable that much was done to proselyte its inhabitants. he mentions that a cross is cut on the end of the rampart where foreigners land, who are thus obliged to trample on this symbol; but no other visitors mention any such sculpture or custom. the landing place at napa is a long stone jetty, stretching across the beach, which at low tide, prevents boats approaching the shore. japan. this country has recently attracted increased attention on the part of commercial nations, and several foreign ships have lately appeared on the coasts, whose reception has only shown the vigilance of the authorities in taking every precaution neither to offend nor receive their unwelcome visitors. the dutch and chinese are still the only nations allowed to trade with the japanese, and the news brought by the latter people of the troubles they have lately gone through with their foreign customers, has probably only more strongly convinced the siogoun and his ministers of the propriety of their seclusive policy. nor is there much reason to doubt that the chinese and japanese have avoided the fate of the natives of luçonia, java, and india, by shutting out foreigners from free access and intercourse with their people, and owing to their seclusion, have remained independent to this day. the works of siebold upon the natural history and political condition of the country and its inhabitants, are now slowly publishing in paris, but with such luxury of execution as to place them beyond the reach of most persons who might be desirous to examine them. the visits of two american ships to the bay of yedo, has directed the public eye again to the empire. the first was that of the whaler manhattan, captain cooper, who was led to think of going into the port by having taken eleven shipwrecked men off a small island near the bonin islands, in april, , lying southeast of nippon. as he was going north, he fell in with a water-logged junk from nambu, laden with rice and fish, from which he received eleven more, and soon after made the eastern coast in the principality of simosa. here he landed two men, and proceeding towards cape king, landed two more, who made their way to yedo. owing to north winds, he was blown off the coast twice, and when he approached the estuary leading to the capital, he was taken in tow and carried up to the anchorage. interpreters came off to the vessel, who could speak english sufficiently well to carry on an imperfect communication, who informed captain cooper that his wants would be supplied, but none of his company allowed to land. a triple cordon of boats was placed around the ship, consisting of upwards of a thousand small boats, displaying numerous flags, and containing as many armed men as if the country was in danger of attack. the ship was visited by crowds of natives of all ranks, who behaved with great decorum while gratifying their curiosity, but no trade was allowed. many officers of high rank came on board and examined the ship, and took an inventory of every article belonging to the rescued seamen, before they were allowed to land. the ship was gratuitously supplied with provisions and a few spars, to the value of about $ , but the captain was again and again enjoined not to return there on any account. when he inquired what he should do if he again came across the siogoun's subjects in like distress, and exposed to a cruel death, he was told, "leave them to their fate, or take them where the dutch can get them." the men rescued from starvation and death, were, however, deeply sensible of the kindness which had been shown them. after a stay of eight or ten days, captain cooper was towed out of the port, and down the bay to the coast, and the last injunction was only a repetition of the first order, not to come again. this reception, though it presents no encouragement to hope for a relaxation of the policy, deemed by the siogoun at once his safety and his profit, is less likely to call for summary chastisement than the rude repulse the american ship morrison received in , when she entered the bay of yedo on the same errand, and was driven away by cannon balls and armed gunboats. captain cooper represents the country in this portion of it as clothed with verdure, and under a high state of cultivation. the proximity of the mountains in idzu, produces constant showers, which covers the highest peaks with forests and shrubbery. terrace cultivation is extensively practiced, and constant labor is demanded to supply subsistence to the dense population, who still at times suffer severely for want of food. the capital could not well be seen from the ship, and its enceinte was so filled with trees, that its dimensions could not accurately be defined. no towers or pagodas were seen elevating themselves above the dull monotony of the buildings. the harbor was covered with vessels, at anchor and moving about; some of them unwieldy, open-stern junks, designed for the coast trade, others light skiffs and boats, used for communicating with vessels in the harbor and the shore. the greatest part of the coasting trade centres at yedo, owing to the large amount of taxes paid the siogoun in kind, and the supplies the princes receive from their possessions while they reside in the capital, both of which causes operate to develope the maritime skill of the people, and increase the amount of tonnage. the shortsighted policy which confines the energies and capital of a seagoing people like the japanese, within their own shores is, however, less a matter of wonder than the despotic power which could compel them to stay at home two centuries ago, at a time when their merchants and agents were found from acapulco to bangkok. the japanese empire presents the greatest feudal government now existing, and on that account is peculiarly interesting to the student of political science. in some respects, the people are superior to the chinese, but are inferior in the elements of national wealth and progress. they belong to the mongolian race, but are darker than the chinese, and not as tall, though superior in stature to the lewchewans. they approximate to the kamtschatdales in their square build, short necks, large heads, and short lower limbs. they are of a light olive complexion, but seldom exhibit a florid, ruddy countenance. among the articles obtained from the junk by captain cooper, was a map of japan, including part of yesso. it is four feet square, drawn on the proportion of less than one degree to two inches, and contains the names of all the places there is room for. it is cut on wood, and painted to show the outlines of the chief principalities; the relative importance of the places is shown by writing their names in different shaped cartouches, but from the space occupied by the chinese characters, there is probably not one-tenth of all the towns inserted. the distances between the principal points along the coast are stated, and on some of the leading thoroughfares inland. the map is evidently the original of krusenstern's "carte de nippon," published by the russian board of longitude, and is drawn up from trigonometrical surveys. the degrees of latitude bear the same numbers as upon european maps; the meridians are reckoned from yedo. the existence of such maps among the people indicates that a good knowledge of their own country is far more extensively diffused than among the chinese, whose common maps are a standing reproach to them, while they have others so much more accurate. the coast from cape king northward to simosa, for the space of two degrees, was found by captain cooper to be better delineated upon this map than upon his own charts. these seas present a fine field for hydrographic surveys, and it would greatly advance the security of navigation on the eastern shores of asia, and redound to the honor of our own land, if the american government would despatch two small vessels to survey the seas and shores between luçonia and kamtschatka. the visit of commodore biddle to the bay of yedo, has added nothing to our knowledge of its shores. his polite dismissal, and the refusal of the government to entertain any commercial relations with the americans, only add force to the injunction to captain cooper the year before, not to return, and shows more strongly that while the japanese rulers are determined to maintain their secluded policy, they wish to give no cause for retaliatory measures on the part of their unwelcome visitors, and mean to keep themselves as well informed as they can upon foreign politics. the subject of foreign intercourse between the two great nations of eastern asia and europeans since it commenced three centuries since, is an instructive one; and the general impression left upon the mind of the candid reader, is that foreign nations have themselves chiefly to thank for their present seclusion from those shores, and the restrictions in their commerce. rear-admiral cecille has also paid a visit to some part of japan, quite recently, but met with no success in his endeavors to enter into negotiation. the great object in view in making these attempts to improve the intercourse with japan, is to find new markets for western manufactures. it is quite doubtful, however, whether the japanese have many articles suitable for foreign markets. their lackered-ware is exceedingly beautiful, but it would not be so prized when it became more common. copper and tea would form the basis of exports, and perhaps some silk fabrics, but china furnishes now all that is wanted of them both, and can do so to any extent. until a taste for such foreign manufactures, as woolens, cutlery, glass-ware, calicoes, &c., is created among them, and they are willing to adapt their own products to the tastes of their customers, it does not seem likely that a trade at all proportioned to the estimated population and riches of the country, would soon be established. the japanese are afraid of the probable results of a more extended intercourse, and deem it to be the safest course to run no risks; and if they read the pages of their early intercourse with the portuguese, spanish and dutch, they must feel they would run many serious risks by granting a trade. if the siogoun and his advisers could be rightly informed, however, there are grounds for believing the present policy would be considerably relaxed. learning is highly honored in japan, and books are as cheap and common as in china. the written language is a singular and most difficult mixture of chinese characters, with the syllabic symbols adopted by the japanese, rendering its perusal a great labor, more so than that of chinese, because chinese must first be mastered. the spoken language is polysyllabic and harmonious, and possesses conjugations, tenses, cases, &c., to facilitate its perspicuity, and increase its variety of expressions. the arts in which they chiefly excel are in the manufacture of silken and linen goods, copper-ware, lackered-ware, porcelain and basket work. their cutlery is despicable, and the specimens of their carving, which are seen abroad, do not equal those produced by the chinese. agriculture is pursued on much the same system as in china--minute subdivision of the soil and constant manuring, together with frequent watering. rice and fish are the staples of food; vegetables are used in great abundance, but meats only sparingly. the habits and sports of the people are influenced so much by the peculiar notions attending a feudal society, such as adherence to the local prince, and maintenance of his honor, wearing coats of arms, privileged orders, and hereditary titles, that there is little similarity in the state of society in japan and china, notwithstanding a similar religion and literature. the japanese were called the spaniards of the east by xavier, and the comparison is good at this day. they have, perhaps, more genius and imagination than the chinese, but are not as peaceable or industrious. general view of the languages of the japanese, coreans, chinese and cochinchinese. the four nations here briefly noticed; viz., the japanese, coreans, chinese and cochinchinese, have been collectively called the _chinese language nations_, from the peculiar relations and connections they have had through the medium of that language. the relation has throughout been one of a literary character, fostered to some extent by religious prejudices, but depending chiefly for its permanence and extension upon the superiority of the writings of the chinese. it is, in some respects, without a parallel in the history of man. while european languages have all been indebted for many of their words to the two leading ancient tongues of that continent, their bases have been diverse, and the words they have imported from greek and latin have undergone various changes, so much so as sometimes hardly to be recognized. this is not the case with these four nations of eastern asia. they have all adopted the characters used by the leading nation without alteration, and with them, of course, have to a very great degree, taken her authors, her books, her knowledge and her opinions, as their own. one of the most observable features of the national character of the chinese, is its conservative inclinations. not only is it seen in the actions of government and in the writings of scholars, but still more in the habits of the people and their modes of thinking. it has been cherished by that government, as it is by all governments, as a sure and safe principle of preservation, but it is also advocated by the people. the geographical position of china has isolated it from all western nations, while the political, literary and social superiority of its people over the contiguous nations, has combined to foster their conceit and affectation of supremacy, and make them disinclined to have any intimate or equal relations with others. but one of the strongest and most comprehensive of these conservative influences has arisen from the nature of the language, strengthened by the extent to which education has been diffused among the people. the language is of such a character, combining mystery and difficulty with elegance and ingenuity, as greatly to captivate a people who have time and inclination to trace out the marks and veins on the pavement in the temple of science, but not the invention or investigation to seek out and explore its hidden chambers. the character of this language and the nature of the connection between the nations who use it, may here be briefly exhibited. the chinese ascribe the invention of their characters to tsang kieh, one of the principal ministers or scholars in the reign of hwangti, about years before christ; and although there is no very certain information recorded respecting their origin, there is nothing which seems to be fabulous or supernatural. the characters first depicted were the common objects in nature and art, as the sun, rain, man, parts of the body, animals, a house, &c., and were probably drawn sufficiently accurate to be detected without much if any explanation. they were all described in outline, and generally with far less completeness than the egyptian symbols. it is not known how many of the primitive characters were made, but one feature attached to them all,--none of them contained any clue to the sound. the inventors must necessarily, one would suppose, have soon perceived this radical defect in their symbols, but they either saw the incompatibility of uniting the phonetic and pictorial modes, or else were so pleased with their varied pictures and symbols, that they cared very little how the reader acquired the sounds. at first, too perhaps, the number of persons who spoke this language was so small, that there was little difficulty in making them all acquainted with the meaning of the symbols, and when once their meaning was learned, they were of course called by the name of the thing represented, which everybody knew. the necessity of incorporating some clue to the sound of the thing, or idea denoted, became more and more evident, however, as the variety of the symbols multiplied, and the number of people increased. one of the strongest evidences, that the designing of these symbols was contemporary with the earliest days of the chinese as a people, is deduced from the fact that they are all monosyllabic; the radical words in all languages are mostly of this character, but in nearly all others, the single sounds soon coalesce and combine, while in chinese this has been prevented by the nature of the written language. there is not, so far as the nature of the case goes, any reason why the sounds of chinese characters should all be monosyllabic, any more than the arabic numerals. but not only was the increase of inhabitants, as we suppose, a reason for making the symbols phonetic, the need of reducing the labor of learning the ever growing list, and the difficulty of distinguishing between species of the same genus and things of the same sort, was a still stronger motive. this was done by the combination of a leading type with some other well understood character, chosen quite arbitrarily, but possessing the _same sound_ as the new object to be represented. thus, supposing a new fish called _pih_ was to be represented by a character; by taking the symbol for _fish_ and joining it to any well known character pronounced _pih_, no matter what was its meaning, the compound symbol clearly expressed, to those who understood its elementary parts, the _fish pih_. but neither does this compound contain any more clue to its sound to those unacquainted with the component elements, than its marks and hooks do of its meaning to those who have never learned them. when once the form and meaning of the primitive symbols have been learned, however, the meaning and sounds of the compound ones can, in many cases, be inferred to a greater or less degree; but so varied has been the principle of combination, that no dependence can be placed upon such etymologies for the meaning. in the various mutations the written language has undergone, the sound is not now so certain as it was probably at first; but in the majority of characters, it can be inferred with a considerable degree of certainty, though the idea is exhibited so indefinitely as to afford almost no assistance in guessing at it. a dictionary is indispensable in ascertaining the meaning, and almost as necessary to learn the sound of all chinese characters. the meaning can be explained without any greater trouble than in other languages, but the sounds of characters can only be given by quoting other characters of the same sound, which the scholar is supposed to know, if he knows enough to use the dictionary. these remarks will, perhaps, explain the general composition of chinese characters. by far the greater part of them are now formed, either of the original pictorial symbols, greatly modified, indeed, and changed from their likeness to the things they stand for, or of those joined to each other in a compound character, partly symbolical and partly phonetic. the former part is called the _radical_, the latter the _primitive_. the chinese divide the characters into six classes, viz., imitative symbols, or those original figures which bore a resemblance to the forms of material objects; indicative symbols, where the position of the two parts point out the idea; symbols combining ideas, a class not very unlike the preceding, but more complex; inverted symbols; metaphoric symbols, as that of the natural heart, denoting the affections; and lastly, phonetic symbols. out of twenty-four thousand two hundred and thirty-five characters, (nearly all the different ones there are in the language), twenty-one thousand eight hundred and ten of them are phonetic, or as much so as the nature of their composition would allow, though there is no other clue to the sound than to learn the sound of the parts or of the whole, either from the people themselves or from a dictionary. the chinese tyro learns the sounds of most of the characters, as boys do the names of minerals, by tradition. as he stands before his master, he and the whole class hear from his mouth their names, and repeat them until they are remembered. consequently, almost an infinite variety in the sounds of the characters arise from this mode of learning them, while the meanings remain fixed; though there still remains enough resemblance in the sounds to show their common origin, as, _bien_, _meen_, _mien_, and _meeng_, all meaning _the face_, and written with the same character. the local differences in pronunciation are so great within a few hundred miles, in some parts of china, that the people barely understand each other when they speak; and even in two towns fifty miles apart, the local patois can be detected, though the dissimilarity is not so great as to prevent their inhabitants conversing together. for purposes of intercourse among civilians, who being from distant parts of the empire, might otherwise find considerable difficulty in making themselves understood if each spoke his own local patois, there is a court dialect which not only civilians, but all educated men are obliged or expected to understand. this is the common pronunciation over the northeastern provinces of chihli, shantung, nganhwui, and kiangsu, and somewhat in the contiguous provinces also, though everywhere in these regions with some slight local variations. this dialect is called _kwan hwa_, and has been usually termed the _mandarin[ ] dialect_, but it is properly the chinese spoken language, and the variations from it are the dialects and patois. it is evident, however, that one sound of a character is no more correct than another; for there being no sound in any character, each one calls it as he has been taught, while all give it the same meaning, exactly as europeans do with the numerals. of course, no one can read or write chinese before he has studied it, and the apparent singularity of people from china, japan, and annam all being able to communicate by writing but not converse by speech, is easily explained by the different sounds they give the characters. it is, however, really no more singular than that scholars in all christian nations understand each others' music and arithmetic, after they have learned those sciences and the mode of notation. the diversity of pronunciations tends naturally to break up the nation into small communities, and the chinese owe their present homogeneity and grandeur in no small degree to their written language; for, however, a man may differ in his speech, he is sure that he will be everywhere understood when he writes, and will understand every one who writes to him. it has also been a bond of union from its extensive literature, at once the pride of its own scholars, and the admiration of surrounding nations. it is perhaps owing to the fact that the literature of china contains the canons of the budhist religion and the ethics of confucius, that it was adopted by the japanese, coreans and annamese. these nations have taken the characters of the chinese language, and given them such names as pleased them. in japan and corea, there has been no uniform rule of adoption, but the annamese, who formerly had more intimate connexions with china than at present, approach much nearer to the sounds spoken by the chinese. the nature of the relations between these three nations and china, therefore, somewhat resembles that which european nations, we may suppose, now would have towards ancient greece and rome, if they still existed as independent powers, and should be visited by scholars from the shores of the baltic, whose native countries, however, had risen no higher in civilization and morals than their source. the comparison is not complete in all respects, but near enough for analogy. the japanese have never paid tribute to china, but have been invaded by her armies, and in their turn have ravaged the eastern coasts of the continent. the isolated policy their rulers have adopted, has prevented our tracing those philological comparisons between their original language and those of siberia or central asia, which would elucidate its origin. the japanese up to the time of the sixteenth daïri, named ouzin tenwo, had no written character, all the orders of government being proclaimed viva voce. in the year b.c. , this monarch sent an embassy to the southern part of corea, to obtain learned persons who could introduce the civilization and literature of china into his dominions, and obtained wonin, who fulfilled the royal wishes so satisfactorily, that the japanese have since accorded him divine honors. since his day, the chinese characters have been employed among the japanese. however, as the construction of the japanese language differs materially from that of the chinese, and as the same chinese character has many meanings, which would be expressed by different words in the native japanese, confusion and difficulty arose in the use of the symbolic characters. but it was not until the eighth century, that a remedy was provided by the invention of a syllabary, a middle contrivance, partaking chiefly of the nature of an alphabet but containing some traces of hieroglyphics. the characters of this syllabary were formed by taking chinese characters, either in whole or in part, and using them phonetically, but as indivisible syllables. consequently, every one of them contained a vowel sound, rendering the language very euphonous. the characters in this syllabary were called _katakana_, i. e. "parts of letters." there were at first forty-seven, but another was added some years after in order to express the final _n_, as _ma-mo-ra-n_, instead of _ma-mo-ra-nu_, making forty-eight, the present number. this syllabary and that invented for the cherokees by guess, are the only two in the world. the number of sounds has been increased from forty-eight to seventy-three, by the addition of diacritical marks to some of the syllables. this syllabary enabled the japanese to express the sounds of their vernacular without difficulty. but the long use of the chinese had already introduced a great number of sounds from that language into it, besides giving the people a liking for the elegant and ingenious combinations of that unwieldy medium of thought, so that the scholars in the country still cultivated the more difficult language, and wrote their books in it. the incorporation of chinese sounds into the native japanese, seems to have arisen from the necessity of distinguishing between the various meanings of the chinese character, so that while the native word would express one, the original sound would express another, but the unchangeable symbol stand for both to the eye. the admiration of the chinese characters, led in time to the invention of a second syllabary, having the same sounds but far more difficult to learn from the number of characters in it and their complicated forms. it is called _hirakana_, or "equal writing," because it is intelligible without the addition of chinese characters; it is now the common medium of communication, in epistolary composition of all kinds, story books, and other everyday uses. there are one hundred and one characters in the _hirakana_, or nearly three modes of writing each of the forty-eight syllables, and they are run together as rapidly and far more fancifully than in our own running-hand, when that is compared with the roman character. the characters are mostly contractions of chinese characters used simply as phonetic symbols, without any more reference to their meaning than in the _katakana_. the more ancient of the two is now usually employed in dictionaries, by the side of chinese characters in books to explain them to the reader, or at their bottom to indicate the case of the word. in reading a chinese book, a good japanese scholar makes a kind of running translation into his own vernacular, sometimes giving the sound, and sometimes giving the sense, and the _katakana_ is used in the latter case, to indicate the tense, or case of the native word. having the chinese language as well as its native stores to draw from, the japanese is both copious and flexible, and by its syllabic construction, also euphonious and mellifluous, in these respects being far superior to the chinese. the following stanza is from one of the dutch writers; it is written with thirty-one syllables. kokorodani makotono, michi ni kanai naba, inorazu totemo kamiya mamoran. there are still two other syllabaries, one called _manyo-kana_, and the other _yamato-kana_, both of which are formed of still more complicated chinese characters, also used phonetically. neither of these syllabaries is generally used entirely alone, but the three are joined together or interchanged somewhat according to the fancy of the writer, in a manner similar to archdeacon wrangham's famous echo poem. such a complicated mode of writing has this unfortunate result, however, of so seriously obstructing the avenues to the temple of science, that the greatest part of the common people are unable to enter, and must be content with admiring the structure afar off. most of them content themselves with learning to write and read in the _hirakana_, and get as much knowledge of chinese as will enable them to read the names of places, signs, people, &c., for which those characters are universally used. besides the phonetic use of chinese characters in these syllabaries, they are employed very extensively as words, with their own meanings, partly because they are more nervous and expressive in the estimation of the writer than the vernacular, and partly to show his learning and shorten his labor. commonly, characters so used are called by their japanese meanings, but sometimes too by their chinese names.[ ] the connection between the chinese and japanese, therefore, is very intimate, and presents a curious instance of assimilation between a symbolic and syllabic language, though at the cost of much hard study and labor to acquire the mongrel compound. it is another example of asiatic toil upon the media of thought, rather than investigations in the world of thought and science itself; for no people who possessed invention, research, or science, would ever have encumbered themselves with so burdensome a vehicle of communication. the chinese do not attend to the japanese language, and have no knowledge of its structure, or the principles on which it has combined with their own. their intercourse with japan is entirely commercial; that of the japanese with them, chiefly literary. the coreans have also adopted the chinese character, but without many of the elaborate modifications in use among the japanese. they have had more intercourse with the chinese, but have not been able to make their polysyllabic words assimilate with the monosyllables of the chinese. they have invented an alphabet, the letters of which combine to form syllables, and these syllabic compounds are then used like the japanese characters to express their own words. the original letters consist of fifteen consonants, called _ka_, _na_, _ta_, _la_ or _ra_, _ma_ or _ba_, _pa_, _sa_ or _sha_, _nga_, _tsa_ or _cha_, _ts´a_ or _ch´a_, _k´a_, _t´a_, _p´a_, _ha_, and _wa_; and eleven vowels, _a_, _ya_, _o_, _yo_, _oh_, _yoh_, _ú_, _yú_, _u_, _í_, and _âh_. the combinations of these form altogether one hundred and sixty-eight syllables, the last fourteen of which are triply combined by introducing the sound of _w_ between the consonants and some of the vowels, as _kwa_, _ts´hwo_, &c. the sounds and meanings of chinese characters are expressed in this syllabary in the duoglott works prepared by the coreans for learning chinese; while it is used by itself in works intended for the natives. the coreans have not, like the japanese, unnecessarily increased the difficulty of their own language by employing a great number of signs for the same sound, but are content with one series. it is to be hoped that this facility results in a greater diffusion of knowledge among the people. the japanese have the inflections of cases, moods, tenses and voices, in their language; but these features are denoted in corean by the collocation of the words, and the words themselves remain unchanged as in chinese. the sounds of the corean are pleasant, and both it and the japanese allow many alterations and elisions for the sake of euphony. further investigation will probably show some connection originally between the corean and manchu languages, though the former of these has been more modified by the chinese than the latter.[ ] the people of annam have adopted the chinese characters without making a syllabary or alphabet to express their own vernacular. the inhabitants of this country are evidently of the same race as the chinese, and now acknowledge a nominal subjection to the emperor of china by sending a triennial embassy to peking, partly commercial and partly tributary. the sounds given to the chinese characters are, however, so unlike those given them in china, that the two nations cannot converse with each other. the annamese have many sounds in their spoken language which no chinese can enunciate. the court dialect is learned by educated men, and books are written and printed in chinese. the sounds given to the characters are all monosyllabic, and slight analogies can be traced running through the variations; but they offer very little assistance to any one, who, knowing only one mode of pronunciation, wishes to learn the other. much of the interest connected with the investigation of the chinese and its cognate tongues, arises from the immense multitudes which speak and write them; and from the influence which china has, through the writings of her sages, exerted over the minds and progress of her neighbors. there is nothing like it in european history; but the spell cast over the intellects of the millions in eastern asia, by the writings of confucius, mencius, and their disciples, is likely erelong to be broken by the infusion of christian knowledge, the extension of commerce, and a better understanding of their political and social rights by the multitudes who now adopt them. for much of the information embraced in this memoir on china, japan, and the adjacent countries, i am indebted to the chinese repository, (a monthly journal printed at canton), and more especially to one of its accomplished editors, mr. s. wells williams. this gentleman during a residence of twelve years in china, has made himself familiar with the written and spoken language of the chinese, and is ranked, by some of the eminent sinologists of europe, among the profoundest adepts in that branch of literature and philology. mr. williams has also studied the japanese language, which he reads and speaks; and is probably the only man in america familiar with the languages of china and japan. several natives of japan, driven by adverse winds from their native shores, found their way to china, and were subsequently taken by an american ship to yedo, but were not permitted to land. from these men, mr. williams has learned the spoken japanese, and as much of the written language as they could impart. this gentleman is at present in new york making arrangements for getting founts of chinese, japanese, and manchu type, for printing in these languages. the chinese repository is a monthly journal, printed at canton, and is edited by the rev. dr. bridgman and mr. williams. it contains much valuable information relating to china, japan, and the eastern archipelago, and frequently memoirs, translated from the japanese and chinese. on the whole, it may with truth be said to embody more information than any other work extant, on these countries. mr. williams has now in press a new work on the chinese empire, which will contain an account of its general political divisions, including manchuria, mongolia, ili and tibet, their geographical and topographical features. the natural history of china; its government, laws, literature, language, science, industry and arts. social and domestic life--history and chronology--religion; christian missions; intercourse with other nations; and a full account of the late war with england. the history of the introduction of christianity into china, in the seventh century of the christian era, the traces of which still exist; and of the jews in china, are subjects which are now attracting attention. it would occupy too much space to give any particulars in this brief memoir. in the list of late works on china, will be found references to such books as treat of the subject, to which the attention of the reader is directed. the syrian monument which has been often referred to, is one of great interest, and is believed by all who have examined the subject, to be genuine. this monument was discovered by some chinese workmen, in the year , in or near the city of singan, the capital of the province of shensi, and once the metropolis of the empire. the monument was found covered with rubbish, and was immediately reported to the magistrate, who caused it to be removed to a pagoda, where it was examined by both natives and foreigners, christians and pagans. it was a slab of marble, about ten feet long and five broad. it contained on one side a chinese inscription, which was translated by father kircher into latin, and by dalquié into french. mr. bridgman has given an english translation, and has published the three versions, accompanied by the original chinese, with explanatory notes. this inscription commemorates the progress of christianity in china, and was erected in the year of the christian era . mr. bridgman who is one of the most learned in the chinese language, says in conclusion, that "there are strong internal evidences of its being the work of a professor of christianity, and such we believe it to be."[ ] other portions of this memoir might be very much enlarged, but would extend it beyond the bounds of the _resumé_, which it is intended to give. there are besides other countries and people, accounts of which it would be desirable to give place to, particularly those of central asia, but they are unavoidably passed over from the space that would be required to do them justice. the object of this paper is to awaken the attention of readers to the geographical and ethnographical discoveries made within the last few years, all of which have a bearing on the history and progress of the human race. if the author has succeeded in so doing, he will feel abundantly repaid for his labor. the recent works on china are embraced in the following list. china; political, commercial and social; with descriptions of the consular ports of canton, amoy, ningpo and shanghai, etc., etc. by r. montgomery martin. london, . chinese commercial guide. macao, . voyage of the nemesis; by w.d. barnard. vols. vo. london, . d ed. mo. . events in china. by granville loch, r.n. . war in china. by lieut. ochterlony. . the land of sinim, with a brief account of the jews and christians in china, by a missionary. mo. n.y., . sketches of china. by j.f. davis. vols. mo. . the jews in china. by j. finn. mo. london, . les juifs de la chine, par h. hirsch, (extrait des israélites de france). . relation des voyages faits par les arabes et les persans dans l'inde et à la chine, dans le ixth siècle de l'ère chrétienne, par m. reinaud. paris, . vols. mo. three years wanderings in china. by robert fortune. vo. london, . the philological and other works on china, by m. pauthier, a distinguished french scholar, are among the most valuable works in this department of learning. they embrace the following. sinico-Ægyptiaca, essai sur l'origine et la formation similaire des écritures figuratives chinoise et Égyptienne, etc. vo. de l'origine des différents systèmes d'écriture. to. examen méthodique des faits qui concernent le thian-tchu ou l'inde; traduit du chinois. vo. documents statistiques officiels sur l'empire de la chine; traduits du chinois. vo. la chine, avec planches. vo. la chine ouverte, aventures d'un fan-kouei dans le pays de tsin; illustré par auguste borget. vo. paris, . la chine et les chinois, par le même. vo. paris, . systema phoneticum scripturæ sinicæ, auctore. j.m. callery. vols. royal vo. macao, . narrative of the second campaign in china, by r.s. mackenzie. mo. london. a work by g. tradescant lay; and another by professor kid, have also been published on china. footnotes: [ ] in a paper read by mr. schoolcraft before the american ethnological society, it was clearly shown by existing remains, in michigan and indiana, plans of which were exhibited, that vast districts of country, now covered by forests and prairies, bear incontestable proofs of having been subject to cultivation at a remote period and before the forest had begun its growth. [ ] this figure of an extended hand is the most common of all the symbols of the aboriginal tribes of america. it is found on the ancient temples, and within the tombs of yucatan. at the earliest period it was used by the indians, in the united states, and at the present time, it is employed by the roving bands and large tribes from the mississippi to the rocky mountains, and from texas northward. [ ] "bottoms" and "bottom lands," are terms applied to the flat lands adjoining rivers. in the state of new york they are called "flats"--as the "mohawk flats." [ ] second note sur une pierre gravée trouvé dans un ancien tumulus americain, et à cette occasion, sur l'idiome libyen, par m. jomard. vo. paris, . [ ] see mr. catherwood's paper on the thugga monument and its inscriptions, in the ethnolg. trans. vol. i. p. . [ ] notes on africa. p. [ ] the essay here alluded to, was the reply of mr. jomard to a note addressed to him by mr. eugene vail, in , announcing the discovery of the inscribed tablet in the grave-creek mound, and requesting his opinion in relation to it. in this reply, mr. jomard stated that they were of the same character with the inscriptions found by major denham in the interior of africa, as well as in algiers and tunis. this note was inserted in mr. vail's work entitled "_notice sur les indiens de l'amerique du nord_." paris, . this work is scarcely known in the united states. [ ] i am aware that many believe the sculptures on the dighton rock to contain several alphabetic characters. prof. rafn in his learned and ingenious memoir on this inscription, supports this view. in fact, mr. jomard himself hints at their phoenician origin. [ ] histoire naturelle des canaries. tom. i. p. [ ] scenes in the rocky mountains, oregon, california, &c., by a new englander. p. . [ ] scenes in the rocky mountains, california, &c. by a new englander. p. . [ ] auburn (new york) banner, . [ ] political essay on new spain. vol. , p. . (london ed. in vols. vo.) [ ] life and travels in california. p. . [ ] dr. lyman states, that "in the autumn of , an american trader with thirty-five men, went from bents fort to the navijo country, built a breastwork with his bales of goods, and informed the astonished indians, that he had 'come into their country to trade or fight, which ever they preferred.' the campaigns of the old trappers were too fresh in their memory to allow hesitation. they chose to trade, and soon commenced a brisk business." [ ] humboldt's political essay on new spain. vol. , p. . on the testimony of the missionaries of the _collegio de queretaro_, versed in the aztec language, m. humboldt states, that the language spoken by the moqui indians is essentially different from the mexican language. in the seventeenth century, missionaries were established among the moquis and navijos, who were massacred in the great revolt of the indians in . [ ] clavigero, hist. mexico. vol. , p. . humboldt's polit. essay on new spain, vol. . p. . a more detailed account of these remains, may be found in the appendix to castaneda's "_relation du voyage de cibola en _," published in the "_relations et memoirs originaux_" of ternaux-compans. the state of the country, the manners and customs of the indians, and their peculiar state of civilization are given at length, and are interesting in this enquiry. the notice of the "_grande maison, dite de moctezuma_," is extracted from the journal of father pedro font, who traversed this country to monterey, on the pacific, in . [ ] report to the royal geographical society, london, nov. , . [ ] nouvelles annales des voyages. feb. . p. . [ ] london athenæum, aug. , , in which is a condensed account of this journey. [ ] simmond's colonial magazine. vol. v. p. . [ ] there is evidently some mistake in these dimensions, which would give a mass of masonry many times larger than the great pyramid at ghizeh. [ ] london athenæum, nov. . . [ ] journal of the geographical society. vol. . [ ] missionary herald, vol. . p. . [ ] london athenæum, march , . [ ] ibid. oct. , . [ ] bulletin de la société de géographie. rapport par m. roger. . p. . [ ] london athenæum, july , . [ ] london athenæum, july, . [ ] the geography of n'yassi, or the great lake of southern africa, investigated, with an account of the overland route from the quanza, in angola, to the zambezi, in the government of mozambique, by wm. desbrough cooley, in the journal of the royal geographical society, london. vol. xv. [ ] notes on african geography, by james m'queen.--_ibid._ contributions towards the geography of africa, by james mcqueen, in simmond's colonial magazine, vol. vi. [ ] journal of the royal geographical society, vol. , p. . [ ] nouvelles annales des voyages: may, , p. . [ ] bulletin de la société de géographie de france, for , p. . [ ] notice sur le progrès des découvertes géographiques pendant l'année, , par v. de st. martin. bulletin de la société de géographie, p. . [ ] nouvelles annales des voyages. notes ethnologiques, sur la race blanche des aures. par m. guyon. janvier, , p. . [ ] comptes-rendus de l'académie des sciences, dec. . [ ] revue archæologique, nov. . [ ] the incident which led to the discovery of this alphabet is deserving of notice. an algerine named sidy-hamdan-ben-otsman-khodja, who had gained the confidence of the duke of rovigo, then governor of algiers, was in correspondence with the bey of constantine. the hadji ahmed, to render this correspondence more sure, wrote his letters in conventional signs, known among certain arabs by the name of _romouz_. ali the son of sidy-hamdan, who was the bearer of these missives, had lived a long time in france as an officer in the employ of the sublime porte; and in his hands m. boisonnet one day discovered the letters of hadji ahmed. on glancing his eye over one of these documents he discovered at the top (_en vedette_) two groups of signs, which, from their situation, he readily imagined might be the equivalents of the arab sacramental words, _praise be to god_, with which all good musselmen generally begin an epistle. with this supposition he applied the alphabetic value to each character, and thus obtained the value of six of these strange cyphers. the next day he obtained two of these documents or letters from ali, who little suspected what use he intended making of them. with these materials he diligently applied himself, and on the following morning sent him a complete translation of the letters. ali was greatly alarmed that mr. boisonnet had solved the enigma, but more so that he had thereby become acquainted with the correspondence. struck with the analogy between these characters and the lybian characters on the thugga monument, he applied the alphabet discovered by him, and the result is known.--_revue archæologique_, november, . [ ] see de saulcy. revue des deux mondes, june, . [ ] the accident which led to this second discovery deserves to be mentioned. the person into whose hands the manuscript fell, while examining the leaves which were remarkably thick, accidentally spilt a tumbler of water on it. in order to dry it he placed it in the sun in a window, when the parchment that was wet separated. he opened the leaves which had been sealed and found the pagan manuscript between them. a farther examination showed that the entire volume was similarly formed. [ ] keppell's borneo, vol. i. p. . [ ] keppell's borneo, vol. i. p. . [ ] missionary herald, vol. , p. . [ ] letter to the hon. c.j. ingersoll, chairman of the committee on foreign affairs, containing some brief notices respecting the present state, productions, trade, commerce, &c. of the comoro islands, abyssinia, persia, burma, cochin china, the indian archipelago, and japan; and recommending that a special mission be sent by the government of the united states, to make treaties and extend our commercial relations with those countries: by aaron h. palmer, councillor of the supreme court of the united states. [ ] see "china mail" newspaper, for march , . [ ] frazer's magazine, . in this magazine is an article of much interest on the commercial relations of the indian archipelago. [ ] annals of the propagation of the faith. sept. . [ ] london evangelical magazine, august, . [ ] bulletin de la société de géographie, . extrait d'une description de l'archipel des îles solo, p. . [ ] bulletin de la société de géographie, for , p. . [ ] physical description of new south wales and van dieman's land. [ ] address of lord colchester to count strzelecki on presenting him with the medal. [ ] discoveries in australia, vol. . p. . [ ] p. . [ ] vol. . p. . [ ] london athenæum, july , . ibid. aug. , . [ ] report of dr. leichardt's expedition, simmonds' colonial magazine, vol. , . [ ] london athenæum. nov. , . [ ] simmond's colonial magazine, nov. . [ ] herodotus, in speaking of the subjugation of lycia, by cyrus and harpagus, says; "when harpagus led his army towards xanthus, the lycians boldly advanced to meet him, and, though inferior in numbers, behaved with the greatest bravery. being defeated and pursued into their city, they collected their wives, children and valuable effects, into the citadel, and there consumed the whole in one immense fire.... of those who now inhabit lycia, calling themselves xanthians, _the whole are foreigners_, eighty families excepted."--_clio_, . see also _clio_, - . herodotus further states that the lycians originated from the cretans, a branch of the hellenic race; and strabo, in a fragment preserved from ephorus, states that the lycians were a people of greek origin, who had settled in the country previously occupied by the barbarous tribes of mylians and solymi. homer briefly alludes to the lycians, who, at the siege of troy, assisted the trojans under certain rulers whose names are mentioned.--_iliad_, b. v. and xii. [ ] journal of the royal geographical society of london. vol. ix. [ ] ibid. vol. xv. p. . [ ] wellsted's travels in arabia, vol. i. p. . [ ] particulars read to the meeting of royal geographical society of london, november , .--london ath. [ ] les steppes de la mer caspienne, le caucase, la crimée et la russie méridionale; voyage pittoresque, historique et scientifique; par x. hommaire de hell. vols. royal vo. and folio atlas of plates. paris, . [ ] i feel warranted in going back and tracing the progress of these discoveries, as so little is known of it by english readers. the translation of grotefend's essay in heeren's researches, was the only accessible original treatise on the subject, until the recent publications of major rawlinson and prof. westergaard. in germany, much has been written and some in france. these papers are chiefly in antiquarian or philological transactions and are scarcely known here. a full account of the discovery in question, of its progress and present state, seems therefore necessary. [ ] grotefend's essay on the cuneiform inscriptions, in heeren's asiatic nations. vol. ii. p. . [ ] the zendavesta is one of the most ancient as well as remarkable books that has come down to us from the east. it was first made known in europe in the year , by anquetil du perron, who brought it from surat in india, whither he went expressly to search for the ancient books of the east. he spent many years (seventeen it is said) in making a translation, which he accompanied with valuable notes, illustrative of the doctrines of zoroaster, and in elucidation of the zend language, in which this book was written. a great sensation was produced in europe among the learned at the appearance of the work. examined as a monument of the ancient religion and literature of the persians, it was differently appreciated by them. sir william jones[a] and others, not only questioned its authenticity, but denounced the translator in very harsh terms. but later writers, among these some of the most distinguished philologists of europe, are willing to let it rank among the earliest books of the east, and as entitled to an antiquity at least six centuries anterior to the christian era. the zendavesta (from _zend_ living, and _avesta_ word, i. e. "the living word") consists of a series of liturgic services for various occasions, and bears the same reference to the books of zoroaster that our breviaries and common-prayer books do to the bible. it embraces five books. . the _izechné_, "elevation of the soul, praise, devotion;" . the _vispered_, "the chiefs of the beings there named;" . the _vendidad_, which is considered as the foundation of the law; . the _yeshts sades_, or "a collection of compositions and of fragments;" . the book _siroz_, "thirty days," containing praises addressed to the genius of each day; and which is a sort of liturgical calendar.[b] the doctrines inculcated in the zendavesta are "the existence of a great first principle. time without beginning and without end. this incomprehensible being is the author of the two great active powers of the universe--ormuzd the principle of all good, and ahriman the principle of all evil. ormuzd is the first creative agent produced by the self-existent. he is perfectly pure, intelligent, just, powerful, active, benevolent,--in a word, the precise image of the element; the centre and author of the perfections of all nature." ahriman is the opposite of this. he is occupied in perverting and corrupting every thing good; he is the source of misery and evil. "ordained to create and govern the universe, ormuzd received the word, which in his mouth became an instrument of infinite power and fruitfulness."[c] "the first created man was composed of the four elements,--fire, air, water, and earth. "ormuzd to this perishable frame added an immortal spirit, and the being was complete." the soul of man consists of separate parts, each having peculiar offices. " . the principle of sensation. . the principle of intelligence. . the principle of practical judgment. . the principle of conscience. . the principle of animal life." after death, "the principle of animal life mingles with the winds," the body being regarded as a mere instrument in the power of the will. the first three are accountable for the deeds of the body, and are examined at the day of judgment. "this law or religion is still professed by the descendants of the persians, who, conquered by the mohammedans, have not submitted to the koran; they partly inhabit kirman and partly the western coast of india, to the north and south of surat."[d] the traces which are apparent in the zendavesta of hindoo superstitions, indicate that its author borrowed from the sacred books of india, while its sublime doctrines evidently point to the pentateuch. mr. eugene burnouf is now publishing at paris a new translation of the zendavesta from a sanscrit version under the title of "commentaire sur le yaçna," in which he has embodied a vast deal of oriental learning, illustrative of the geography, history, religion and language of ancient persia. the first volume was published in . [a] sir william jones's works. vol. x. p. . [b] see note to the "dabistan." pub. for the oriental translations fund. vol. i. p. . [c] frazer's history of persia. p. - . [d] note to the "dabistan." vol. . p. . by its editor, a. troyer. [ ] the modern title of the sovereign of persia, _shah_, is at once recognised in the ancient name _kshe_ or _ksha_ of the monuments. [ ] mémoire sur deux inscriptions cuneiforms, trouvées près d'hamadan. paris, . [ ] die alt-persischen keil-inschriften von persepolis. bonn, . the other papers of prof. lassen may be found in the "zeitschrift für die kunde des morgenlandes," a periodical work published at bonn, exclusively devoted to oriental subjects. it is the most learned work on oriental philology and archæology published in europe. [ ] while major rawlinson was occupied in persia, the subject was attracting much attention among the orientalists of europe. burnouf and lassen, as we have seen, then published the results of their investigations, which were afterwards found to be almost identical with those of major r. neither of these scholars was aware at the time of the others' labors. this is an interesting fact, and establishes the correctness of the conclusions at which they eventually arrived. [ ] the zend language is known to us chiefly by the "zendavesta." of its antiquity there is doubt. some philologists believe that it grew up with the decline of the old persian, or was formed on its basis, with an infusion from the sanscrit, median, and scythic languages. it was used in the time of darius hystaspes, b.c. , at which period zoroaster lived, who employed the zend in the composition of the "zendavesta." its antiquity has formed the subject of many memoirs; but late writers, among whom are rask, eugene burnouf, bopp, and lassen, have decided from the most severe tests of criticism, that the zend was an ancient language derived from the same source as the sanscrit, and that it was spoken before the christian era, particularly in the countries situated west of the caspian sea, in georgia, iran proper, and northern media. note to the dabistan, vol. i. p. . the only specimen of this language yet known, with the exception of a few mss. of little importance among the parsees, is the zendavesta. major rawlinson[a] adopts views at variance with those of the distinguished german philologists, in regard to the antiquity of the zend language. its "very elaborate vocalic organization," he thinks, "indicates a comparatively recent era for the formation of its alphabet;" and of the zend-avesta, he is of opinion that "the disfigurement of authentic history affords an argument of equal weight against the antiquity of its composition." he fully agrees, however, with all others as to the very remote composition of the books generally ascribed to zoroaster. in fact this is beyond all question, for plato mentions them (pol. b. xxx.). clemens of alexandria says they were known in the th century b.c. and many other ancient writers could be cited in proof of the same.[b] [a] see rawlinson. memoir on cuneiform inscriptions. note to page . [b] see a note to the "dabistan," vol. i. p. in which is given a list of all the ancient writers who mention zoroaster and his works. [ ] on the decyphering of the median species of arrow-headed writing, by n.l. westergaard, in the mémoires de la société royale des antiquaires du nord. copenhagen, . [ ] memoir on the cuneiform inscriptions, p. . [ ] ibid. p. . [ ] on the median variety of arrow-headed writing. mémoires de la société des antiquaires du nord, for . p. . [ ] zeitschrift für die kunde des morgenlandes. - . prof. westergaard has also published his paper in english, in the mémoires de la société royale des antiquaires du nord, copenhagen, , prefixing to it lassen's alphabet of the first sort of persepolitan writing. he was probably induced to do this by observing the limited extent to which the german language is cultivated by english scholars, insomuch that even rawlinson complains that he was unable to read any more of lassen's papers than his translations of the inscriptions, which are in latin. [ ] memoir on the persian cuneiform inscriptions. p. . [ ] zeitschrift für die kunde des morgenlandes, ' . [ ] for inscription see rich's babylon and persepolis, plate , and page . [ ] revue archæologique. october, . [ ] westergaard in mém. de la socié. royale des antiq. du nord, p. . ibid. p. . [ ] lettres de m. botta sur les découvertes à khorsabad, près de ninive; publiées par m.j. mohl. [ ] london times, june, . two interesting letters from mr. layard, dated august , , to mr. kellogg, of cincinnati, were read before the american ethnological society, at its meeting in february, giving further accounts of his discoveries. [ ] see london athenæum, oct. , , a letter from constantinople dated sept. . [ ] the prophet daniel in his vision of four beasts says, "the first was like a lion, and had eagles' wings; i beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man." _daniel, ch. vii. v. ._ the resemblance between the animal of daniel's vision and those recently discovered at nineveh is striking. [ ] richardson in the preface to his persian dictionary. [ ] preface to the "dabistan" published by the oriental trans. fund:--by a. troyer. vol. i. p. . [ ] annales des voyages, april, , p. . [ ] ld. colchester's address, journal of the royal geographical society, . [ ] address to the british association for the advancement of science, at its meeting, september, . [ ] the royal geographical society of london has conferred its victoria gold medal on prof. middendorff for his successful exploration. [ ] lord colchester's address before the royal geog. society. london, . [ ] missionary herald. vol. xli. p. . [ ] missionary herald. vol. xli. p. . [ ] english baptist missionary report for . p. . [ ] it appears that the baptist missionary society in the year ending in march, ,[a] expended in india $ , , of which sum nearly $ , , or rather more than one half, was expended in making translations of books into various languages. the remainder was for the support of the missionaries, their outfits and passages, the support of native teachers--schools &c. the languages and dialects which have been studied and elucidated and into which books have been translated may be summed up as follows. languages and dialects in india, do. do. in persia and the caucasian countries, do. in china and the indo-chinese countries, do. in polynesia. the translations consist of the whole or portions of the scriptures; books on religious or moral subjects; elementary works on science, popular histories, geography, &c. elementary books in the several departments of science and history constitute the greater variety, though of the whole number of works distributed, the bible and testament constitute by far the greatest part. for example, the english baptist missionary society printed and issued in the year ending march , fifty-five thousand copies of the bible and testament in the sanscrit, bengali, hindostani, and armenian languages. the number of books printed and distributed in india by the american board of commissioners for foreign missions was as follows. madras mission. in the tamil and english languages: the scriptures or portions of them--books of a religious character--elementary school books--tracts--periodicals and reports of benevolent associations bearing on the cause of christianity and the social and intellectual improvement of the population of india, there were printed at this single establishment, within a fraction of twenty-seven millions of pages--or, if in volumes of two hundred and seventy pages each, one hundred thousand volumes; but as there were many tracts, the number was doubtless double or treble. besides this there are six other large establishments in southern india, where books in the tamil language are printed, all under the control of missionary societies. ceylon mission. in the tamil and english languages were printed during the year, twenty-three thousand seven hundred and forty-four volumes, and one hundred and forty-five thousand tracts, amounting to six million one hundred and fifty-six thousand pages. siam mission. in the siamese language were printed in two years two million four hundred and sixty-two thousand pages. when so much is accomplished by one society, how vast must be the influence exerted by the various missionary and tract societies engaged in the same cause. [a] report of the english baptist missionary society for . [ ] missionary herald, vol. xlv. p. . [ ] chinese repository. vol. xv. p. . [ ] annals of the propaganda for . p. . [ ] ibid. july, . [ ] annals of the propaganda for september, . [ ] chinese repository, vol. xii. p. . [ ] annales de la propagation de la foi, july, . [ ] chinese repository, vol. xiv. p. . [ ] it is desirable that this word be expunged from all works on china and eastern asia, and the proper words _officers_, _authorities_, _magistrates_, &c., be used instead. every officer, from a prime minister to a constable or tide-waiter, is called a mandarin by foreigners, partly because those who write do not know the rank of the person, and partly from the common custom of calling many things in china by some peculiar term, as if they were unlike the same things elsewhere. [ ] chinese repository, vol. x, pp. - . [ ] chinese repository. vol. i., p. ; vol. ii., pp. - . [ ] chinese repository. vol. xiv. p. . transcriber's notes: obvious typesetting errors have been corrected. obvious spelling errors in foreign language references have been corrected. inconsistencies in spelling have been normalized unless otherwise noted below. questionable or vintage spelling has been left as printed in the original publication. footnotes in the original publication were marked with symbols at the page level. sequential footnote numbering has been applied and all footnotes have been relocated to the end of the text. variations in spelling for musselman/mussulman left as printed in original publication. punctuation marks to establish phrasing (i. e., commas and semi-colons) that were placed inside a closing parenthesis have been moved outside the parenthesis. page : a chapter heading entitled "north america." has been added for consistency with chapters listed in the publication's contents pages. page (footnote ): page number reference for "notes on africa" missing in original text. page (footnote ): "grande maison, dite de moetezuma" changed to "grande maison, dite de moctezuma". page : the second footnote on this page has been converted to appear as block text, consistent with the remainder of the publication in which lists of "recent works" appear at the conclusion of a given section. the footnote marker has been removed. page : removed stray opening quotation mark mid-sentence that was not closed. 'from the base of this structure "commences an inclined'. page : the footnote on this page has been converted to appear as block text, consistent with the remainder of the publication in which lists of "recent works" appear at the conclusion of a given section. the footnote marker has been removed. page : a chapter heading entitled "asia." has been added for consistency with chapters listed in the publication's contents pages. page (footnote ): the paragraph beginning "the first created man was composed of the four elements..." contains unmatched quotation marks in the original publication and has been left as printed. page (footnote b): opening text 'see a note to the "dabistan," vol. i. p. in which...' is missing the page number ("p.") in the original publication. page : changed "archæmenian" to "achæmenian" in the following sentence (as originally printed): "various combinations of a figure shaped like a wedge, together with one produced by the union of two wedges, constitute the system of writing employed by the ancient assyrians, babylonians, medes, and the archæmenian kings of persia." page : original publication is missing a numeral in what is presumably a year in the 's. transcribed here as " _ ". page : added a footnote marker for footnote at the end of this sentence: "the last volume of the annals of the propaganda society contains an interesting narrative of a journey into mongolia, by the rev. mr. huc." none http://www.archive.org/details/anthropologyassc brinrich transcriber's note two typographical errors were identified but not corrected in this e-book. they are marked with [tn- ] and [tn- ], which refer to notes at the end of the text. anthropology: as a science and as a branch of university education in the united states. by daniel g. brinton, a.m., m.d., ll.d., professor of american archæology and linguistics in the university of pennsylvania, and of general ethnology at the academy of natural sciences, philadelphia; corresponding member of the anthropological societies of washington, new york, paris, berlin, st. petersburg, vienna, munich, florence, etc. philadelphia: . prefatory note. this very brief presentation of the claims of anthropology for a recognized place in institutions of the higher education in the united states will, i hope, receive the thoughtful consideration of the officers and patrons of our universities and post-graduate departments. the need of such a presentation was urged upon me not long since by the distinguished president of a new england university. impressed with the force of his words, i make an earnest appeal to our seats of advanced learning to establish a branch of anthropology on the broad lines herein suggested. it may be but one chair in their faculties of philosophy; but the rightful claims of this science will be recognized only when it is organized as a department by itself, with a competent corps of professors and docents, with well-appointed laboratories and museums, and with fellowships for deserving students. who is the enlightened and liberal citizen ready to found such a department, and endow it with the means necessary to carry out both instruction and original research? i do not plead for any one institution, or locality, or individual; but simply for the creation in the united states of the opportunity of studying this highest of the sciences in a manner befitting its importance. anthropology, as a science, and as a branch of university education. _what anthropology is._ man himself is the only final measure of his own activities. to his own force and faculties all other tests are in the end referred. all sciences and arts, all pleasures and pursuits, are assigned their respective rank in his interest by reference to those physical powers and mental processes which are peculiarly the property of his own species. hence, the study of man, pursued under the guidance of accurate observation and experimental research, embracing all his nature and all the manifestations of his activity, in the past as well as in the present, the whole co-ordinated in accordance with the inductive methods of the natural sciences--this study must in the future unfailingly come to be regarded as the crown and completion of all others--and this is _anthropology_. _the value of anthropology._ the value of the applications of this science can scarcely be overestimated. in government and law, in education and religion, men have hitherto been dealt with according to traditional beliefs or _a priori_ theories of what they may or ought to be. when we learn through scientific research what they really are, we shall then, and then only, have a solid foundation on which to build the social, ethical and political structures of the future. it is the appreciation of this which has given the extraordinary impetus to the study of sociology--a branch of anthropology--within the last decade. anthropology alone furnishes the key and clue to history. this also is meeting recognition. no longer are the best histories mainly chronicles of kings and wars, but records of the development and the decline of peoples; and what constitutes a "people," and shapes its destiny, is the very business of ethnology to explain. so likewise in hygiene and medicine, in ethics and religion, in language and arts, in painting, architecture, sculpture and music, the full import and often unconscious intention of human activity can only be understood, and directed in the most productive channels, by such a careful historical and physical analysis as anthropology aims to present. _societies and schools for the study of anthropology._ the world of science has been recognizing more fully, year by year, the paramount importance of the systematic study of anthropology to the aspirations of modern civilization. the first anthropological society--that of paris--was founded by paul broca, in may, . it has been rapidly followed by the organization of similar societies in london, berlin, st. petersburg, vienna, brussels, munich, madrid, florence, washington, new york, and many other centres of enlightened thought. in the american association for the advancement of science organized its section of anthropology; and in the british association for the advancement of science followed this example. it is a well known fact that these sections are more attractive to the general public, and are better supplied with material than any other sections in the associations. this augurs well for the zeal with which students would welcome the creation of special departments for instruction in all branches of the science. the first school of anthropology was founded also by broca, at paris, in the year . it began with a corps of five professors, a number which it has now doubled, the demand for more extended instruction having steadily increased. the courses have been as well attended as any others, either at the collége de france, or at the sorbonne. a second school is organized in connection with the museum of natural history at the jardin des plantes. it has counted among its instructors various illustrious names, and its courses have also been highly popular. several of the german universities have organized a department of anthropology. in those of munich, berlin, marburg, and buda pesth the chairs are filled respectively by ranke, bastian, von den steinen, and von török. in the university of leipzig, dr. e. schmidt is _docent_ in anthropology; and the same position is held in berlin by dr. von luschan. in a number of other institutions, lectures on the branch are given. the first degree in anthropology was conferred by the university of munich three years ago. the university of brussels has established a full chair of anthropology, occupied by professor houze; and a similar position is filled in the musée polytechnique, at moscow, by professor dimitri anoutchine. in the united states, regular courses on physical anthropology and ethnology have been given by me for the last six years, at the academy of natural sciences, philadelphia. but the only educational institutions which have distinctly recognized the branch are clark university, worcester, mass., where dr. franz boas is _docent_ in anthropology, and which, in march of this year, conferred the first degree in anthropology given in america; and the university of chicago, in which dr. frederick starr is assistant professor of anthropology. i cannot learn that any full professorship of the science has been established in this country. considerable attention has been paid to the subject by the scientists connected with the national museum, the smithsonian institution, the army medical museum, and especially the bureau of ethnology at washington. the last mentioned, under the efficient administration of major j. w. powell, has enriched the literature of anthropology with a series of publications not exceeded in value by those of any other government. _subdivisions of anthropology._ the study of man in accordance with the laws of inductive research is, therefore, the aim and meaning of anthropology. the subject is a broad one,--in space, as wide as the world; in time, longer than all history; in depth, reaching to the innermost consciousness. a man may be regarded merely as a specimen of a certain species of vertebrates; or, in his multifarious relations as a member of a social organization. we may study him as a living being; or seek to trace his actions and origin in ages long before history begins. hence, anthropology is divided into several associated departments devoted to the exploration of its varied realms of research. they may conveniently be divided into four, of nearly equal importance. an acquaintance with all of them is essential to the equipment of a sound anthropologist. the first is the study of the physical nature of man, his anatomy, physiology and biology, so far as these bear on the distinctions of races, peoples, and nations. psychology, so far as it is an experimental and inductive science, belongs in this department. this general division has been called by french writers "special anthropology", and by the germans "somatic anthropology"; but we need for it a single term, and none better could be found than that suggested by the german expression. i call it, therefore, _somatology_, a word long since,[tn- ] domesticated in the vocabulary of english and american medical science, and explained in the dictionaries as "a discourse or discussion on the human body". the second division is _ethnology_. this is, in its methods, historic and analytic. it contemplates man as a social creature. it is more concerned with the mental, the psychical part of man, than with his physical nature, and seeks to trace the intellectual development of communities by studying the growth of government, laws, arts, languages, religions, and society. the third division, _ethnography_, is geographic and descriptive in its plans of research. it studies the subdivision and migrations of races, local traits, peculiarities and customs, and confines itself to matters of present observation. finally, _archæology_ comes in to supply the material which neither history nor present observation can furnish. it pries into the obscurity of the remotest periods of man's life on earth, and gathers thousands of facts forgotten by historians and overlooked by contemporaries. often these unconsidered trifles prove of priceless value, and furnish the key to the real life of ancient nations. _means of practical instruction._ anthropology is not a theoretical science. it is essentially experimental and practical, a science of observation and operative procedures. it cannot be learned by merely reading books and attending lectures. the student must literally put his hand to the work. for that reason every institution for teaching anthropology must have a laboratory attached to it; and in that laboratory the best part of the work will be done. such a laboratory will naturally be divided into two departments; one devoted to the study of the physical characteristics of man, the other to the investigation of the products of his industry. the former will be more especially related to the branch of somatology; the latter, to those of ethnology, ethnography, and archæology. the efforts of the laboratory instructors will be directed to training the perceptions of the students in the requirements of this science and to giving them the practical knowledge and manual dexterity necessary to employ its tests. connected with the laboratory, and really forming part of it, will be a museum, of such extent as circumstances permit. it will include crania and osteological specimens; art-products, arranged both ethnologically, that is, in series showing their evolution, and ethnographically, that is, illustrating the geographical provinces and ethnic areas from which they are derived; and archæological specimens typical of prehistoric and proto-historic culture. hand in hand with the laboratory work should proceed library labor. there is a strong tendency in students of sciences of observation to read only for immediate purposes and on current topics. few acquaint themselves with the history even of their own special branches; an ignorance which often results injuriously on the effectiveness of their work. to correct this, a series of tasks in the literature of the science should regularly be assigned. finally, all that has been proposed must be supplemented by a course of field-work, in which the student must be trained to apply his acquirements in really adding to the stores of knowledge by independent and unaided exertion. i do not rest satisfied with presenting these general statements. more detail will very properly be demanded by any one seriously considering the foundation of a chair or department in this branch. i have drawn up, therefore, and append, a scheme for a course or courses of lectures; a plan for laboratory instruction; another for library work; a sketch of what should be done in the field; and finally, i name a few of the best text-books on the various subdivisions of the general science. i would ask the particular attention of those interested in this science to the classification and nomenclature which i here present. it is the result of a careful collation of all the leading european writers on the subject and of consultation with several of the most thoughtful in this country. there is, unfortunately, considerable diversity in the arrangements and terms adopted by different authors, and it is most desirable that a uniform phraseology be adopted in all countries. that which i offer aims to be exhaustive of the science and to adopt, wherever practicable, the expressions sanctioned by the greater number of distinguished living authorities in its literature. general scheme for instruction in anthropology. synopsis of lecture course. principal subdivisions. i. _somatology._--physical and experimental anthropology. ii. _ethnology._--historic and analytic anthropology. iii. _ethnography._--geographic and descriptive anthropology. iv. _archæology._--prehistoric and reconstructive anthropology. i.--_somatology._ a. internal somatology. _a._ osteology.--bones of the skeleton, names, forms, measures, proportions, peculiarities, such as flattened tibia, perforated humerus, form of pelvis, os calcis, etc. craniology; measurements of skull and face, sutures, angles, nasal and orbital indices, dentition, artificial deformations. _b._ myology and splanchnology.--the muscular system and viscera so far as they concern racial peculiarities, as deficient calves, proportions of liver and lungs, etc. steatopygy. b. external somatology. stature and proportion. anthropomometry. tests for strength and endurance. color of skin, hair, and eyes. color scales. shape and growth of hairs. canons of proportion. physical beauty. c. psychology. application of experimental psychology to races. comparative rates of nervous impulse, sensation, muscular movements, and mental processes. right- and left-handedness. anomalous brain actions. d. developmental and comparative somatology. embryology of man. doctrines of heredity and congenital transmission. teratology, or the production of varieties and monstrosities. ethnic and racial anatomy. evolution of man. comparative anatomy of man and anthropoids. simian and lemurian analogies. fossil remains of man. biology of man. changes produced by nutrition (food supply), climate, humidity, altitude, etc. comparative physiology and pathology. medical geography. comparative nosology of different races. criminal anthropology. pathology of races. fertility and sterility of races. reproduction and stirpiculture. comparative longevity. immunity from disease. vital statistics. anatomical classifications of races. (historical review; present opinions.) ii.--_ethnology._ a. definitions and methods. meaning of race, people (_ethnos_, folk), nation, tribe. culture and civilization. measures and stages of culture. causes and conditions of ethnic progress. ethnic aptitudes for special lines of progress. ethnic psychology (völkerpsychologie). b. sociology. _a._ government.--primitive forms. the gens; the tribe; the confederacy; chieftainship; monarchy; theocracy; democracy, etc. _b._ marriage.--theories of primitive marriage; promiscuity; polygamy; polyandry; monogamy. limitations of marriage. forms and rites of marriage. laws of descent and consanguinity. social position of woman. gynocracy. _c._ laws.--origin of laws. primitive ethics. dualism of ethics. evolution of the moral sense. the taboo. blood revenge. tenures of land. classes above law. castes. privileged classes. codified laws. international laws. c. technology. _a._ the utilitarian arts.--manufacture of tools, utensils, weapons, and agricultural, etc., implements. architecture and building. clothing and fashions. means of transportation by land and water. agriculture. domestication of plants and animals. weights, measures, and instruments of precision. media of exchange, currency, money, articles of barter and commerce. _b._ the esthetic arts.--theory of the sense of the beautiful. decorative designs in line and color. skin-painting. tattooing. sculpture and modeling. music and musical instruments. scents and flowers. games and festivals. d. religion. _a._ psychological origin of religions.--principles and method of the science of religion. personal, family, and tribal religions. ancestral worship. doctrines of animism; fetichism; polytheism; henotheism; monotheism; universal religions. _b._ mythology.--definition and growth of myths. solar light and storm myths. creation and deluge myths. relation of myths to language. _c._ symbolism and religious art.--relation of symbolism to fetichism. primitive idols. charms and amulets. tokens. tombs, temples, altars. sacrifice. symbolism of colors and numbers. special symbols; the bird; the serpent; trees; the cross; the svastika; the circle, etc. _d._ religious teachers and doctrines.--the priestly class. shamanism. theocracies. secret orders. initiations. diviners. augurs and prophets. doctrines of soul. fatalism. _e._ analysis of special religions.--egyptian religion; buddhism; judaism; christianity; mohammedanism, etc. e. linguistics. _a._ gesture and sign language.--examples. plan of thought in relation to picture writing. _b._ spoken language.--articulate and inarticulate speech. imitative sounds. the phonology of languages. universal alphabets. logical relations of the parts of speech. the vocabulary and the grammar of languages. distinctions between languages and dialects. mixed languages and jargons. relations of language to ethnography. polyglottic and monoglottic peoples. causes of changes in language. extent and nature of such changes. examples. classifications of languages. relative excellence of languages. criteria of superiority. rules for the scientific comparison of languages. _c._ recorded language.--systems of recording ideas. thought-writing. pictography. symbolic and ideographic writing. examples. sound-writing. evolution of the phonetic alphabets. egyptian, cuneiform, chinese, aztec, and other phonetic systems. _d._ forms of expression.--rhythmical. origin of meter. poetry of primitive peoples. rhythm and rhyme. characters of prose. relation of prose and poetry to national language and character. dramatic. the primitive drama and its development. f. folk-lore. definition, nature, and value of folk-lore. methods of its study. relations to history and character of a people. traditional customs. traditional narratives. folk-sayings. superstitious beliefs and practices. iii.--_ethnography._ a. the origin and subdivisions of races. theories of monogenism and polygenism. doctrine of "geographical provinces" or "areas of characterization." the continental areas at the date of man's appearance on the earth. eurafrica, austafrica, asia, america, oceanica. causes and consequences of the migrations of races and nations. _a._ the eurafrican race.--types of the white race. its first home. early migrations. the south mediterranean branch (hamitic and semitic stocks). the north mediterranean branch (euskaric, aryan, and caucasic stocks). _b._ the austafrican race.--former geography of africa. the negrillos or pigmies. the true negroes. the negroids. the race in other continents. negro slavery. _c._ the asian race.--the sinitic branch (chinese, thibetans, indo-chinese). the sibiric branch (the tungusic, mongolic, tataric, finnic, arctic, and japanese groups). _d._ the american race.--peopling of america. groups of north and south american tribes. _e._ insular and litoral peoples.--the negritic stock (negritos, papuans, melanesians). the malayic stock (western malayans, eastern, or polynesians). the australic stock (australian tribes; dravidians and kols, of india). iv.--_archæology._ a. general archæology. _a._ geology of the epoch of man. late tertiary and quaternary periods. glacial phenomena. river drift. diluvial and alluvial deposits. physical geography of the quaternary. prehistoric botany and zoölogy. _b._ prehistoric ages.--the age of stone (chipped stone, or palæolithic period; polished stone, or neolithic period). the age of bronze. the age of iron. epochs, stations, and examples. methods of study of stone and bone implements, pottery, and other ancient remains. indications of prehistoric commerce. palethnology. proto-historic epoch. b. special archæology. egyptian, assyrian, phenician, classical, and medieval archæology. archæology of the various areas in america. art in stone, bone, shell, wood, clay, paper, etc., in these areas. laboratory work. a. physical laboratory. comparing and identifying bones. measuring skulls. dissections of anthropoids and human subjects. examination of brains. study of embryology and teratology. practical study of the hair, skin, nails, etc., of different races. use of color scales, etc. practice in anthropomometry, with the necessary instruments. testing for sense perceptions. b. technological laboratory. study of stone implements; simple and compound; rough and polished; primary and secondary chipping; cleavage; firing; bulb of percussion; mineralogy of implements; patine, etc. bone implements. study of metal implements. hammering, smelting, casting. results of exposure. analysis of alloys. coins, etc. study of pottery. pastes; burning; glazing; forms; decorative designs; painting and coloring. textile materials; ancient cloth and basket work; feather work. methods of making casts and models; taking squeezes, rubbings, copies, and photographs. drawing, shading, and coloring ethnographic charts. practice in preserving, mounting, arranging, and classifying specimens. tests for the detection of frauds. incrustations, dendrites, etc. practice in reducing unknown tongues to writing, by the ear. practice in the repetition of unfamiliar phonetic elements. study of the actions of the lingual muscles in the production of sounds. library work. researches in the history of anthropology. making lists of works and articles on special subjects, with brief abstracts. notes of the proceedings of anthropological societies and the contents of journals. presentation of the theories of particular writers on the science. familiarize the student with the past and present literature of his branch. field work. methods of surveying, photographing, and plotting ancient remains. plans for taking field-notes. instruction in the proper methods of opening mounds, shell heaps, etc., and in excavating rock-shelters and caverns. the preserving and packing of specimens. study of quaternary geology; alluvial deposits; river terraces; glacial scratches; moraines; river drift; loess; elevation and subsidence. the collection of languages and dialects; of folk-lore, and local peculiarities. text-books. as the plan of study here proposed is largely that which i have pursued and developed in my own lectures and published works on the subject, i may be permitted to insert the following list of these:-- _anthropology and ethnology._ to, pp. . in vol. i of the iconographic encyclopædia (philadelphia, ). _prehistoric archæology._ to, pp. . in vol. ii of the iconographic encyclopædia (philadelphia, ). _races and peoples; lectures on the science of ethnography._ vo, pp. (n. d. c. hodges, new york, ). _the american race; a linguistic classification and ethnographic description of the native tribes of north and south america._ vo, pp. (n. d. c. hodges, new york, ). in addition to these i would name the following as among the best works for the student of this branch:-- _anthropologische methoden._ by dr. emil schmidt (leipzig, ). _eléments d'anthropologie générale._ by dr. paul topinard (paris). also l'homme dans la nature (paris, ), by the same author. _précis d'anthropologie._ by hovelacque and hervé (paris). _allgemeine ethnographie._ by friederich müller. _die urgeschichte des menschen._ by moritz hoernes (leipzig, ). _la préhistorique antiquité de l'homme._ by g. de mortillet (paris). _anthropology._ by dr. tylor (new york). _elements[tn- ] de sociologie._ by ch. letourneau (paris). to this list i add the names of some others of the distinguished foreign living writers on various departments of anthropology:-- in france: bertrand, collignon, letourneau, de nadaillac. in england: buckland, flower, gallon, m. müller. in germany: andree, bastian, meyer, f. müller, ranke, schaafhausen, steinthal, virchow, ratzel, gerland. in italy: giglioli, mantegazza. it is highly likely that many modifications and improvements on this scheme will suggest themselves to instructors; but i may say for it that it is the carefully considered result of a comparison of the methods employed in the european schools, combined with a personal experience of some years in the presentation of the topics to classes. of course, the amount of attention which will be given to the separate divisions of the subject will depend on the position which the branch occupies in the student's plan of studies--whether a major or a minor. if the latter, he should attend a course of thirty or forty lectures about equally divided between the four headings under which the science is here presented, and should give double as many hours to laboratory work. this is the minimum which would give him any adequate notion of the science. if, on the other hand, it be taken as a major, or principal subject, the greater part of his time for two or three years will be fully occupied in preparing himself for independent work, or for the instruction of others. * * * * * transcriber's note: the following misspelling and typographical error were not corrected: page error tn- since, should read since tn- elements should read eléments man past and present cambridge university press c. f. clay, manager london: fetter lane, e.c. new york: g. p. putnam's sons bombay } calcutta } macmillan and co., ltd. madras } toronto: j. m. dent and sons, ltd. tokyo: maruzen-kabushiki-kaisha all rights reserved man past and present by a. h. keane revised, and largely re-written, by a. hingston quiggin and a. c. haddon reader in ethnology, cambridge cambridge at the university press preface to new edition those who are familiar with the vast amount of ethnological literature published since the close of last century will realize that to revise and bring up to date a work whose range in space and time covers the whole world from prehistoric ages down to the present day, is a task impossible of accomplishment within the compass of a single volume. recent discoveries have revolutionized our conception of primeval man, while still providing abundant material for controversy, and the rapidly increasing pile of ethnographical matter, although a vast amount of spade work remains to be done, is but one sign of the remarkable interest in ethnology which is so conspicuous a feature of the present decade. even to keep abreast of the periodical literature devoted to his subject provides ample occupation for the ethnologist and few are those who can now lay claim to such an omniscient title. under such circumstances the faults of omission and compression could not be avoided in revising professor keane's work, but it is hoped that the copious references which form a prominent feature of the present edition will compensate in some measure for these obvious defects. the main object of the revisers has been to retain as much as possible of the original text wherever it fairly represents current opinion at the present time, but so different is our outlook from that of that certain sections have had to be entirely rewritten and in many places pages have been suppressed to make room for more important information. in every case where new matter has been inserted references are given to the responsible authorities and the fullest use has been made of direct quotation from the authors cited. mrs hingston quiggin is responsible for the whole work of revision with the exception of chapter xi, revised by miss lilian whitehouse, while dr a. c. haddon has criticized, corrected and supervised the work throughout. a. h. q. a. c. h. _october_, . contents chap. page i. general considerations ii. the metal ages--historic times and peoples iii. the african negro: i. sudanese iv. the african negro: ii. bantus--negrilloes--bushmen-- hottentots v. the oceanic negroes: papuasians (papuans and melanesians)--negritoes--tasmanians vi. the southern mongols vii. the oceanic mongols viii. the northern mongols ix. the northern mongols (_continued_) x. the american aborigines xi. the american aborigines (_continued_) xii. the pre-dravidians: jungle tribes of the deccan, sakai, australians xiii. the caucasic peoples xiv. the caucasic peoples (_continued_) xv. the caucasic peoples (_continued_) appendix index list of illustrations (at the end of the volume) plate i. . hausa slave of tunis (western sudanese negro). . zulu girl, south africa (bantu negroid). , . abraham lucas, age , south africa (koranna hottentot). , . swaartbooi, age , south africa (bushman). plate ii. . andamanese (negrito). . semang, malay peninsula (negrito). . aeta, philippines (negrito). . central african pygmy (negrillo). - . tapiro, netherlands new guinea (negrito). plate iii. , . jemmy, native of hampshire hills, tasmania (tasmanian). , . native of oromosapua, kiwai, british new guinea (papuan). , . native of hula, british new guinea (papuo-melanesian). plate iv. . chinese man (mixed southern mongol). . chinese woman of kulja (mixed southern mongol). , . kara-kirghiz of semirechinsk. . kara-kirghiz woman of semirechinsk. . solon of kulja (manchu-tungus). plate v. . jelai, an iban (sea-dayak) of the rejang river, sarawak, borneo (mixed proto-malay). . buginese, celebes (malayan). . bontoc igorot, luzon, philippines (malayan). . bagobo, mindanao, philippines (malayan). , . kenyah girls, sarawak, borneo (mixed proto-malay). plate vi. . samoyed, tavji. . tungus. . ostiak of the yenesei (palaeo-siberian). . kalmuk woman (western mongol). . gold of amur river (tungus). . gilyak woman (n.e. mongol). plate vii. . ainu woman, yezo, japan (palaeo-siberian). . ainu man, yezo, japan (palaeo-siberian). , . fine and coarse types of japanese men (mixed manchu-korean and southern mongol.) . korean (mixed tungus-eastern mongoloid). . lapp (finnish). plate viii. . eskimo, port clarence, west alaska. . indian of the north-west coast of north america. ?kwakiutl (wakashan stock). . cocopa, lower california (yuman stock). . navaho, arizona (athapascan linguistic stock). , . buffalo bull ghost, dakota of crow creek (siouan stock). plate ix. . carib, british guiana. . guatuso, costa rica. . native of otovalo, ecuador. . native of zámbisa, ecuador. . tehuel-che man, patagonia. . tehuel-che woman, patagonia. plate x. . sita wanniya, a henebedda vedda, ceylon (pre-dravidian). . sakai, perak, malay peninsula (pre-dravidian). . irula of chingleput, nilgiri hills, south india (pre-dravidian). . paniyan woman, malabar, south india (pre-dravidian). . kaitish, central australia (australian). . mulgrave woman (australian). plate xi. , . dane (nordic). . dane (mixed alpine). . breton woman of guingamp (mixed alpine). . swiss woman (nordic). . swiss woman (alpine). plate xii. . catalan man, spain (iberian). . irishman, co. roscommon (mediterranean). , . kababish, egyptian sudan (mixed semite). . egyptian bedouin (mixed semite). . afghan of zerafshán (iranian). plate xiii. , . bisharin, egyptian sudan (hamite). . beni amer, egyptian sudan (hamite). . masai, british east africa (mixed nilote and hamite). . shilluk, egyptian sudan (nilote, showing approach to hamitic type). . shilluk, egyptian sudan (nilote). plate xiv. , . kurd, nimrud-dagh, lake van, kurdistan, asia minor (nordic). , . armenian, kessab, djebel akrah, kurdistan (armenoid alpine). . tajik woman of e. turkestan (alpine). . tajik of tashkend (mixed alpine and turki). plate xv. , . sinhalese, ceylon (mixed "aryan"). . hindu merchant, western india (mixed "aryan"). . kling woman, eastern india (dravidian). . linga banajiga, south india (dravidian). . vakkaliga, canarese, south india (mixed alpine). plate xvi. , . ruatoka and his wife, raiatea (polynesian). . tiawhiao, maori, new zealand (polynesian). . maori woman, new zealand (polynesian). , . girls of the caroline islands (micronesian). we offer our sincere thanks for the use of the following photographs: a. h. keane, _ethnology_ ( ), iv. , , , , ; ix. , ; xii. ; xiv. , . a. h. keane, _man, past and present_ ( ), i. ; ii. ; v. ; vi. , , ; vii. ; ix. , ; x. , ; xii. . a. r. brown, ii. . prof. r. b. yapp, ii. . field museum of natural history, chicago, ii. ; v. ; vii. , ; viii. , , , ; ix. , ; xv. , . dr wollaston, cf. _pygmies and papuans_, p. ; ii. , , . dr g. landtman, iii. , . anthony wilkin, iii. , . prof. c. g. seligman, v. ; (_the veddas_, pl. v) x. ; xii. , ; xiii. , , , , . l. f. taylor, v. . a. c. haddon, i. , , , ; iii. , ; iv. ; v. , ; vii. ; xi. , , ; xii. , ; xiii. ; xvi. , , , . miss m. a. czaplicka, vi. , , . dr w. crooke (cf. _northern india_, pl. iii), xv. . baelz, vii. , . bureau of american ethnology, viii. , . e. thurston (_castes and tribes of southern india_, ii. p. ), x. ; (ibid. iv. pp. , ), xv. ; xv. . sir baldwin spencer and f. j. gillen and messrs macmillan & co. (_across australia_, ii. fig. ), x. . prof. j. kollmann, xi. , . p. w. luton, xii. . prof. f. von luschan and the council of the royal anthropological institute (_journ. roy. anth. inst._, xli., pl. xxiv, , , pl. xxx, , ), xiv. , , , . dr w. h. furness, xvi. , . chapter i general considerations the world peopled by migration from one centre by pleistocene man--the primary groups evolved each in its special habitat-- pleistocene man: _pithecanthropus erectus_; the mauer jaw, _homo heidelbergensis_; the piltdown skull, _eoanthropus dawsoni_--general view of pleistocene man--the first migrations--early man and his works--classification of human types: _h. primigenius_, neandertal or mousterian man; _h. recens_, galley hill or aurignacian man-- physical types--human culture: reutelian, mafflian, mesvinian, strepyan, chellean, acheulean, mousterian, aurignacian, solutrian, magdalenian, azilian--chronology--the early history of man a geological problem--the human varieties the outcome of their several environments--correspondence of geographical with racial and cultural zones. in order to a clear understanding of the many difficult questions connected with the natural history of the human family, two cardinal points have to be steadily borne in mind--the specific unity of all existing varieties, and the dispersal of their generalised precursors over the whole world in pleistocene times. as both points have elsewhere been dealt with by me somewhat fully[ ], it will here suffice to show their direct bearing on the general evolution of the human species from that remote epoch to the present day. it must be obvious that, if man is specifically one, though not necessarily sprung of a single pair, he must have had, in homely language, a single cradle-land, from which the peopling of the earth was brought about by migration, not by independent developments from different species in so many independent geographical areas. it follows further, and this point is all-important, that, since the world was peopled by pleistocene man, it was peopled by a generalised proto-human form, prior to all later racial differences. the existing groups, according to this hypothesis, have developed in different areas independently and divergently by continuous adaptation to their several environments. if they still constitute mere varieties, and not distinct species, the reason is because all come of like pleistocene ancestry, while the divergences have been confined to relatively narrow limits, that is, not wide enough to be regarded zoologically as specific differences. the battle between monogenists and polygenists cannot be decided until more facts are at our disposal, and much will doubtless be said on both sides for some time to come[ ]. among the views of human origins brought forward in recent years should be mentioned the daring theory of klaatsch[ ]. recognising two distinct human types, neandertal and aurignac (see pp. , below), and two distinct anthropoid types, gorilla and orang-utan, he derives neandertal man and african gorilla from one common ancestor, and aurignac man and asiatic orang-utan from another. though anatomists, especially those conversant with anthropoid structure[ ], are not able to accept this view, they admit that many difficulties may be solved by the recognition of more than one primordial stock of human ancestors[ ]. the questions of adaptation to climate and environment[ ], the possibilities of degeneracy, the varying degrees of physiological activity, of successful mutations, the effects of crossing and all the complicated problems of heredity are involved in the discussion, and it must be acknowledged that our information concerning all of these is entirely inadequate. nevertheless all speculations on the subject are not based merely on hypotheses, and three discoveries of late years have provided solid facts for the working out of the problem. these discoveries were the remains of _pithecanthropus erectus_[ ] in java, in , of the mauer jaw[ ], near heidelberg, in , and of the piltdown skull[ ] in sussex in . although the mauer jaw was accepted without hesitation, the controversy concerning the correct interpretation of the javan fossils has been raging for more than twenty years and shows no sign of abating, while _eoanthropus dawsoni_ is too recent an intruder into the arena to be fairly dealt with at present. certain facts however stand out clearly. in late pliocene or early pleistocene times certain early ancestral forms were already in existence which can scarcely be excluded from the _hominidae_. in range they were as widely distributed as java in the east to heidelberg and sussex in the west, and in spite of divergence in type a certain correlation is not impossible, even if the piltdown specimen should finally be regarded as representing a distinct genus[ ]. each contributes facts of the utmost importance for the tracing out of the history of human evolution. _pithecanthropus_ raises the vexed question as to whether the erect attitude or brain development came first in the story. the conjunction of pre-human braincase with human thighbone appeared to favour the popular view that the erect attitude was the earlier, but the evidence of embryology suggests a reverse order. and although at first the thighbone was recognised as distinctly human it seems that of late doubts have been cast on this interpretation[ ], and even the claim to the title _erectus_ is called in question. the characters of straightness and slenderness on which much stress was laid are found in exaggerated form in gibbons and lemurs. the intermediate position in respect of mental endowment (in so far as brain can be estimated by cranial capacity) is shown in the accompanying diagram in which the cranial measurements of _pithecanthropus_ are compared with those of a chimpanzee and prehistoric man. the teeth strengthen the evidence, for they are described as too large for a man and too small for an ape. thus _pithecanthropus_ has been confidently assigned to a place in a branch of the human family tree. [illustration: position of p. erectus. (manouvrier, _bul. soc. d'anthrop._ , p. .)] the mauer jaw, the geological age of which is undisputed, also represents intermediate characters. the extraordinary strength and thickness of bone, the wide ascending ramus with shallow sigmoid notch (distinctly simian features) and the total absence of chin[ ] would deny it a place among human jaws, but the teeth, which are all fortunately preserved in their sockets, are not only definitely human, but show in certain peculiarities less simian features than are to be found in the dentition of modern man[ ]. [illustration: genealogical tree of man's ancestry. (a. keith, _the antiquity of man_, ; fig. , p. .)] the cranial capacity of the piltdown skull, though variously estimated[ ], is certainly greater than that of _pithecanthropus_, the general outlines with steeply rounded forehead resemble that of modern man, and the bones are almost without exception typically human. the jaw, however, though usually attributed to the same individual[ ], recalls the primitive features of the mauer specimen in its thick ascending portion and shallow notch, while in certain characters it differs from any known jaw, ancient or modern[ ]. the evidence afforded by the teeth is even more striking. the teeth of _pithecanthropus_ and of _homo heidelbergensis_ were recognised as remarkably human, and although primitive in type, are far more advanced in the line of human evolution than the lowly features with which they are associated would lead one to expect. the piltdown teeth are more primitive in certain characters than those of either the javan or the heidelberg remains. the first molar has been compared to that of taubach, the most ape-like of human or pre-human teeth hitherto recorded, but the canine tooth (found by p. teilhard in the same stratum in [ ]) finds no parallel in any known human jaw; it resembles the milk canine of the chimpanzee more than that of the adult dentition. it cannot be said that any clear view of pleistocene man can be obtained from these imperfect scraps of evidence, valuable though they are. rather may we agree with keith that the problem grows more instead of less complex. "in our first youthful burst of darwinianism we pictured our evolution as a simple procession of forms leading from ape to man. each age, as it passed, transformed the men of the time one stage nearer to us--one more distant from the ape. the true picture is very different. we have to conceive an ancient world in which the family of mankind was broken up into narrow groups or genera, each genus again divided into a number of species--much as we see in the monkey or ape world of to-day. then out of that great welter of forms one species became the dominant form, and ultimately the sole surviving one--the species represented by the modern races of mankind[ ]." we may assume therefore that the earth was mainly peopled by the generalised pleistocene precursors, who moved about, like the other migrating faunas, unconsciously, everywhere following the lines of least resistance, advancing or receding, and acting generally on blind impulse rather than of any set purpose. that such must have been the nature of the first migratory movements will appear evident when we consider that they were carried on by rude hordes, all very much alike, and differing not greatly from other zoological groups, and further that these migrations took place prior to the development of all cultural appliances beyond the ability to wield a broken branch or a sapling, or else chip or flake primitive stone implements[ ]. herein lies the explanation of the curious phenomenon, which was a stumbling-block to premature systematists, that all the works of early man everywhere present the most startling resemblances, affording absolutely no elements for classification, for instance, during the times corresponding with the chellean or first period of the old stone age. the implements of palaeolithic type so common in parts of south india, south africa, the sudan, egypt, etc., present a remarkable resemblance to one another. this, while affording a _prima facies_ case for, is not conclusive of, the migrations of a definite type of humanity. after referring to the identity of certain objects from the hastings kitchen-middens and a barrow near sevenoaks, w. j. l. abbot proceeds: "the first thing that would strike one in looking over a few trays of these implements is the remarkable likeness which they bear to those of dordogne. indeed many of the figures in the magnificent 'reliquiae aquitanicae' might almost have been produced from these specimens[ ]." and sir j. evans, extending his glance over a wider horizon, discovers implements in other distant lands "so identical in form and character with british specimens that they might have been manufactured by the same hands.... on the banks of the nile, many hundreds of feet above its present level, implements of the european types have been discovered, while in somaliland, in an ancient river valley, at a great elevation above the sea, seton-karr has collected a large number of implements formed of flint and quartzite, which, judging from their form and character, might have been dug out of the drift-deposits of the somme and the seine, the thames or the ancient solent[ ]." it was formerly held that man himself showed a similar uniformity, and all palaeolithic skulls were referred to one long-headed type, called, from the most famous example, the neandertal, which was regarded as having close affinities with the present australians. but this resemblance is shown by boule[ ] and others to be purely superficial, and recent archaeological finds indicate that more than one racial type was in existence in the palaeolithic age. w. l. h. duckworth on anatomical evidence constructs the following table[ ]. group i. early ancestral forms. _ex. gr. h. heidelbergensis._ group ii. _subdivision a. h. primigenius._ _ex. gr. la chapelle._ _subdivision b. h. recens_; with varieties { _h. fossilis. ex. gr. galley hill._ { _h. sapiens._ h. obermaier[ ] argues as follows: _homo primigenius_ is neither the representative of an intermediate species between ape and man, nor a lower or distinct type than _homo sapiens_, but an older primitive variety (race) of the latter, which survives in exceptional cases down to the present day[ ]. clearly then, according to the rules of zoological classification, we must term the two, _homo sapiens var. primigenius_, as compared with _homo sapiens var. recens_. whatever classification or nomenclature may be adopted the dual division in palaeolithic times is now generally recognised. the more primitive type is commonly called neandertal man, from the famous cranium found in the neandertal cave in , or mousterian man, from the culture associations. to this group belong the gibraltar skull[ ], and the skeletons from spy[ ], and krapina, croatia[ ], together with the later discoveries ( - ) at la chapelle[ ] (corrèze), le moustier[ ], la ferassie[ ] (dordogne) and many others. palaeolithic examples of the modern human type have been found at brüx (bohemia)[ ], brünn (moravia)[ ] and galley hill in kent[ ], but the most complete find was that at combe capelle in [ ]. the numerous skeletons found at cro-magnon[ ] and at the grottes de grimaldi at mentone[ ] though showing certain skeletal differences may be included in this group, the earliest examples of which are associated with aurignacian culture[ ]. from the evidence contributed by these examples the main characteristics of the two groups may be indicated, although, owing to the imperfection of the records, any generalisations must necessarily be tentative and subject to criticism. the la chapelle skull recalls many of the primitive features of the "ancestral types." the low receding forehead, the overhanging brow-ridges, forming continuous horizontal bars of bone overshadowing the orbits, the inflated circumnasal region, the enormous jaws, with massive ascending ramus, shallow sigmoid notch, "negative" chin and other "simian" characters seem reminiscent of _pithecanthropus_ and _homo heidelbergensis_. the cranial capacity however is estimated at over c.c., thus exceeding that of the average modern european, and this development, even though associated, as m. boule has pointed out, with a comparatively lowly brain, is of striking significance. the low stature, probably about mm. (under - / feet) makes the size of the skull and cranial capacity all the more remarkable. "a survey of the characters of neanderthal man--as manifested by his skeleton, brain cast, and teeth--have convinced anthropologists of two things: first, that we are dealing with a form of man totally different from any form now living; and secondly, that the kind of difference far exceeds that which separates the most divergent of modern human races[ ]." the earliest complete and authentic example of "aurignacian man" was the skeleton discovered near combe capelle (dordogne) in [ ]. the stature is low, not exceeding that of the neandertal type, but the limb bones are slighter and the build is altogether lighter and more slender. the greatest contrast lies in the skull. the forehead is vertical instead of receding, and the strongly projecting brow-ridges are diminished, the jaw is less massive and less simian with regard to all the features mentioned above. especially is this difference noticeable in the projection of the chin, which now for the first time shows the modern human outline. in short there are no salient features which cannot be matched among the living races of the present day. on the cultural side no less than on the physical, the thousands of years which the lowest estimate attributes to the early stone age were marked by slow but continuous changes. the reutelian (at the junction of the pliocene and pleistocene), mafflian and mesvinian industries, recognised by m. rutot in belgium, belong to the doubtful eolithic period, not yet generally accepted[ ]. the lowest palaeolithic deposit is the strepyan, so called from strépy, near charleroi, typically represented at st acheul, amiens, and recognised also in the thames valley[ ]. the tools exhibit deliberate flaking, and mark the transition between eolithic and palaeolithic work. the associated fauna includes two species of elephant, _e. meridionalis_ and _e. antiquus_, two species of rhinoceros, _r. etruscus_ and _r. merckii_, and the hippopotamus. it is possible that the mauer jaw and the piltdown skull belong to this stage. the chellean industry[ ], with the typical coarsely flaked almond-shaped implements, occurs abundantly in the south of england and in france, less commonly in belgium, germany, austria-hungary and russia, while examples have been recognised in palestine, egypt, somaliland, cape colony, madras and other localities, though outside europe the date is not always ascertainable and the form is not an absolute criterion[ ]. acheulean types succeed apparently in direct descent but the implements are altogether lighter, sharper, more efficient, and are characterised by finer workmanship and carefully retouched edges. a small finely finished lanceolate implement is typical of the sub-industry or local development at la micoque (dordogne). the chellean industry is associated with a warm climate and the remains of _elephas antiquus_, _rhinoceros merckii_ and hippopotamus. lower acheulean shows little variation, but with upper acheulean certain animals indicating a colder climate make their appearance, including the mammoth, _elephas primigenius_, and the woolly rhinoceros, _r. tichorhinus_, but no reindeer. the mousterian industry is entirely distinct from its predecessors. the warm fauna has disappeared, the reindeer first occurs together with the musk ox, arctic fox, the marmot and other cold-loving animals. man appears to have sought refuge in the caves, and from complete skeletons found in cave deposits of this stage we gain the first clear ideas concerning the physical type of man of the early palaeolithic period. typical mousterian implements consist of leaf-like or triangular points made from flakes struck from the nodule instead of from the dressed nodule itself, as in the earlier stages. the levallois flakes, occurring at the base of the mousterian (sometimes included in the acheulean stage), initiate this new style of workmanship, but the mousterian point shows an improvement in shape and a greater mastery in technique, producing a more efficient tool for piercing and cutting. scrapers, carefully retouched, with a curved edge are also characteristic, besides many other forms. the complete skeletons from le moustier itself, la chapelle, la ferassie, and krapina all belong to this stage, which marks the end of the lower palaeolithic period, the age of the mammoth. the upper palaeolithic or reindeer age is divided into aurignacian, solutrian, and magdalenian[ ] culture stages, with the azilian[ ] separating the magdalenian from the neolithic period. each stage is distinguished by its implements and its art. the aurignacian fauna, though closely resembling the mousterian, indicates an amelioration of climate, the most abundant animals being the bison, horse, cave lion, and cave hyena, and human settlements are again found in the open. among the typical implements are finely worked knife-like blades (châtelperron point, gravette point), keeled scrapers (tarté type), _burins_ or gravers, and various tools and ornaments of bone. art is represented by engravings and wall paintings, and to this stage belong statuettes representing nude female figures such as those of brassempouy, mentone, pont-à-lesse (belgium), predmost and willendorf, near krems. the neandertal type appears to have died out and aurignacian man belongs to the modern type represented at combe capelle. if the evidence of the figurines is to be accepted, a steatopygous race was at this time in existence, which sollas is inclined to connect with the bushmen[ ]. the solutrian stage is characterised by the abundance of the horse, replaced in the succeeding period by the reindeer. the solutrians seem to have been a warlike steppe people who came from the east into western europe. their subsequent fate has not been elucidated. the culture appears to have had a limited range, only a few stations being found outside dordogne and the neighbouring departments. the technique, as shown in the laurel-leaf and willow-leaf points, exhibits a perfection of workmanship unequalled in the palaeolithic age, and only excelled by late prehistoric knives of egypt. the rock shelter at la madeleine has given its name to the closing epoch of the palaeolithic age. the flint industry shows distinct decadence, but the working in bone and horn was at its zenith; indeed, so marked is the contrast between this and the preceding stage that breuil is convinced that "the first magdalenians were not evolved from the solutrians; they were new-comers in our region[ ]." the typical implements are barbed harpoons in reindeer antler (later that of the stag), often decorated with engravings. sculpture and engravings of animals in life-like attitudes are among the most remarkable records of the age, and the polychrome pictures in the caves of altamira, "the sistine chapel of quaternary art," are the admiration of the world[ ]. in the cave of mas-d'azil, between the magdalenian and neolithic deposits occurs a stratum, termed azilian, which, to some extent, bridges over the obscure transition between the palaeolithic and neolithic ages. the reindeer has disappeared, and its place is taken by the stag. the realistic art of the magdalenians is succeeded by a more geometric style. in flint working a return is made to aurignacian methods, and a particular development of pygmy flints has received the name _tardenoisian_[ ]. the characteristic implement is still the harpoon, but it differs in shape from the magdalenian implement, owing to the different structure of the material. painted pebbles, marked with red and black lines, in some cases suggesting a script, have given rise to much controversy. their meaning at present remains obscure[ ]. the question of prehistoric chronology is a difficult one, and the more cautious authorities do not commit themselves to dates. of late years, however, such researches as those of a. penck and e. brückner in the alps[ ] and of baron de geer and w. c. brøgger in sweden[ ], have provided a sound basis for calculations. penck recognises four periods of glaciation during the pleistocene period, which he has named after typical areas, the günz, mindel, riss and würm. he dates the würm maximum at between , and , years ago and estimates the duration of the riss-würm interglacial period at about , years. according to his calculations the chellean industry occurs in the mindel-riss, or even in the günz-mindel interval, but it is more commonly placed in the mild phase intervening before the last (würm) glaciation, this latter corresponding with the cold mousterian stage. at least four subsequent oscillations of climate have been recognised by penck, the achen, bühl, gschnitz and daun, and the correspondence of these with palaeolithic culture stages may be seen in the following table[ ]. penck and brückner obermaier and others rutot post-glacial {daun } azilian proto-neolithic} with {gschnitz} azilian } oscillations {bühl } magdalenian } neolithic {achen } magdalenian solutrian and } } aurignacian } iv. würm. th glacial } mousterian lower lower mousterian magdalenian and acheulean riss-würm. rd solutrian and chellean upper interglacial aurignacian mousterian warm mousterian iii. riss. rd glacial cold mousterian lower acheulean chellean mindel-riss. nd acheulean mauer jaw strepyan interglacial chellean pre-palaeolithic mesvinian mafflian ii. mindel. nd glacial } } } } günz-mindel. st } no artefacts } no artefacts interglacial } } } } i. günz. st glacial } } james geikie[ ], under the heading, "reliable and unreliable estimates of geological time," points out that the absolute duration of the pleistocene cannot be determined, but such investigations as those of penck "enable us to form some conception of the time involved." he accepts as a rough approximation penck's opinion that "the glacial period with all its climatic changes may have extended over half a million years, and as the chellean stage dates back to at least the middle of the period, this would give somewhere between , and , years for the antiquity of man in europe. but if, as recent discoveries would seem to indicate, man was an occupant of our continent during the first interglacial epoch, if not in still earlier times, we may be compelled greatly to increase our estimate of his antiquity" (p. ). w. j. sollas, on the other hand, is content with a far more contracted measure. basing his calculations mainly on the investigations of de geer, he concludes that the interval that separates our time from the beginning of the end of the last glacial episode is , years. he places the azilian age at b.c., the middle of the magdalenian age somewhere about b.c., mousterian , b.c., and the close of the chellean , b.c.[ ] but when all the changes in climate are taken into consideration, the periods of elevation and depression of the land, the transformations of the animals, the evolution of man, the gradual stages of advance in human culture, the development of the races of mankind, and their distribution over the surface of the globe, this estimate is regarded by many as insufficient. allen sturge claims "scores of thousands of years" for the neolithic period alone[ ], and sir w. turner points out the very remote times to which the appearance of neolithic man must be assigned in scotland. after showing that there is undoubted evidence of the presence of man in north britain during the formation of the carse clays, this careful observer explains that the carse cliffs, now in places to feet above the present sea-level, formed the bed of an estuary or arm of the sea, which in post-glacial times extended almost, if not quite across the land from east to west, thus separating the region south of the forth from north britain. he even suggests, after the separation of britain from the continent in earlier times, another land connection, a "neolithic land-bridge" by which the men of the new stone age may have reached scotland when the upheaved -foot terrace was still clothed with the great forest growths that have since disappeared[ ]. one begins to ask, are even , years sufficient for such oscillations of the surface, upheaval of marine beds, appearance of great estuaries, renewed connection of britain with the continent by a "neolithic land-bridge"? in the falkirk district neolithic kitchen-middens occur on, or at the base of, the bluffs which overlook the carse lands, that is, the old sea-coast. in the carse of gowrie also a dug-out canoe was found at the very base of the deposits, and immediately above the buried forest-bed of the tay valley[ ]. that the neolithic period was also of long duration even in scandinavia has been made evident by carl wibling, who calculates that the geological changes on the south-east coast of sweden (province of bleking), since its first occupation by the men of the new stone age, must have required a period of "at least , years[ ]." still more startling are the results of the protracted researches carried on by j. nüesch at the now famous station of schweizersbild, near schaffhausen in switzerland[ ]. this station was apparently in the continuous occupation of man during both stone ages, and here have been collected as many as , objects belonging to the first, and over referred to the second period. although the early settlement was only post-glacial, a point about which there is no room for doubt, l. laloy[ ] has estimated "the absolute duration of both epochs together at from , to , years." we may, therefore, ask, if a comparatively recent post-glacial station in switzerland is about , years old, how old may a pre- or inter-glacial station be in gaul or britain? from all this we see how fully justified is j. w. powell's remark that the natural history of early man becomes more and more a geological, and not merely an ethnological problem[ ]. we also begin to understand how it is that, after an existence of some five score millenniums, the first specialised human varieties have diverged greatly from the original types, which have thus become almost "ideal quantities," the subjects rather of palaeontological than of strictly anthropological studies. and here another consideration of great moment presents itself. during these long ages some of the groups--most african negroes south of the equator, most oceanic negroes (negritoes and papuans), and australian and american aborigines--have remained in their original habitats ever since what may be called the first settlement of the earth by man. others again, the more restless or enterprising peoples, such as the mongols, manchus, turks, ugro-finns, arabs, and most europeans, have no doubt moved about somewhat freely; but these later migrations, whether hostile or peaceable, have for the most part been confined to regions presenting the same or like physical and climatic conditions. wherever different climatic zones have been invaded, the intruders have failed to secure a permanent footing, either perishing outright, or disappearing by absorption or more or less complete assimilation to the aboriginal elements. such are some "black arabs" in egyptian sudan, other semites and hamites in abyssinia and west sudan (himyarites, fulahs and others), finns and turks in hungary and the balkan peninsula (magyars, bulgars, osmanli), portuguese and netherlanders in malaysia, english in tropical or sub-tropical lands, such as india, where eurasian half-breeds alone are capable of founding family groups. the human varieties are thus seen to be, like all other zoological species, the outcome of their several environments. they are what climate, soil, diet, pursuits and inherited characters have made them, so that all sudden transitions are usually followed by disastrous results[ ]. "to urge the emigration of women and children, or of any save those of the most robust health, to the tropics, may not be to murder in the first degree, but it should be classed, to put it mildly, as incitement to it[ ]." acclimatisation may not be impossible but in all extreme cases it can be effected only at great sacrifice of life, and by slow processes, the most effective of which is perhaps natural selection. by this means we may indeed suppose the world to have been first peopled. at the same time it should be remembered that we know little of the climatic conditions at the time of the first migrations, though it has been assumed that it was everywhere much milder than at present. consequently the different zones of temperature were less marked, and the passage from one region to another more easily effected than in later times. in a word the pleistocene precursors had far less difficulty in adapting themselves to their new surroundings than modern peoples have when they emigrate, for instance, from southern europe to brazil and paraguay, or from the british isles to rhodesia and nyassaland. what is true of man must be no less true of his works; from which it follows that racial and cultural zones correspond in the main with zones of temperature, except so far as the latter may be modified by altitude, marine influences, or other local conditions. a glance at past and existing relations the world over will show that such harmonies have at all times prevailed. no doubt the overflow of the leading european peoples during the last years has brought about divers dislocations, blurrings, and in places even total effacements of the old landmarks. but, putting aside these disturbances, it will be found that in the eastern hemisphere the inter-tropical regions, hot, moist and more favourable to vegetable than to animal vitality, are usually occupied by savage, cultureless populations. within the same sphere are also comprised most of the extra-tropical southern lands, all tapering towards the antarctic waters, isolated, and otherwise unsuitable for areas of higher specialisation. similarly the sub-tropical asiatic peninsulas, the bleak tibetan tableland, the pamir, and arid mongolian steppes are found mainly in possession of somewhat stationary communities, which present every stage between sheer savagery and civilisation. in the same way the higher races and cultures are confined to the more favoured north temperate zone, so that between the parallels of ° and ° (but owing to local conditions falling in the far east to ° and under, and in the extreme west rising to °) are situated nearly all the great centres, past and present, of human activities--the egyptian, babylonian, minoan (aegean), hellenic, etruscan, roman, and modern european. almost the only exceptions are the early civilisations (himyaritic) of yemen (arabia felix) and abyssinia, where the low latitude is neutralised by altitude and a copious rainfall. thanks also to altitude, to marine influences, and the contraction of the equatorial lands, the relations are almost completely reversed in the new world. here all the higher developments took place, not in the temperate but in the tropical zone, within which lay the seats of the peruvian, chimu, chibcha and maya-quiché cultures; the aztec sphere alone ranged northwards a little beyond the tropic of cancer. thus in both hemispheres the iso-cultural bands follow the isothermal lines in all their deflections, and the human varieties everywhere faithfully reflect the conditions of their several environments. footnotes: [ ] _ethnology_, chaps. v. and vii. [ ] see a. h. keane, _ethnology_, , chap. vii. [ ] h. klaatsch, "die aurignac-rasse und ihre stellung im stammbaum des menschen," _ztschr. f. eth._ lii. . see also _prähistorische zeitschrift_, vol. i. . [ ] cf. a. keith's criticisms in _nature_, vol. lxxxv. , p. . [ ] w. l. h. duckworth, _prehistoric man_, , p. . [ ] w. ridgeway, "the influence of environment on man," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._, vol. xl. , p. . [ ] e. dubois, "_pithecanthropus erectus_, transitional form between man and the apes," _sci. trans. r. dublin soc._ . [ ] o. schoetensack, _der unterkiefer des homo heidelbergensis_, etc., . [ ] c. dawson and a. smith woodward, "on the discovery of a palaeolithic skull and mandible," etc., _quart. journ. geol. soc._ . [ ] this was the view of a. smith woodward when the skull was first exhibited (_loc. cit._), but in his paper, "missing links among extinct animals," _brit. ass._ birmingham, , he is inclined to regard "piltdown man, or some close relative" as "on the direct line of descent with ourselves." for a. keith's criticism see _the antiquity of man_, , p. . [ ] w. l. h. duckworth, _prehistoric man_, , p. . [ ] for the relation between chin formation and power of speech, see e. walkhoff, "der unterkiefer der anthropomorphen und des menschen in seiner funktionellen entwicklung und gestalt," e. selenka, _menschenaffen_, ; h. obermaier, _der mensch der vorzeit_, , p. ; and w. wright, "the mandible of man from the morphological and anthropological points of view," _essays and studies presented to w. ridgeway_, . [ ] cf. w. l. h. duckworth, _prehistoric man_, , p. , and a. keith, _the antiquity of man_, , p. . [ ] a. smith woodward, c.c.; a. keith, c.c. [ ] g. g. maccurdy, following g. s. miller, _smithsonian misc. colls._ vol. , no. ( ), is convinced that "in place of _eoanthropus dawsoni_ we have two individuals belonging to different genera," a human cranium and the jaw of a chimpanzee. _science_, n.s. vol. xliii. , p. . see also appendix a. [ ] for a full description see _quart. journ. geol. soc._ march, . also a. keith, _the antiquity of man_, , p. , and pp. - . [ ] c. dawson and a. smith woodward, "supplementary note on the discovery of a palaeolithic human skull and mandible at piltdown (sussex)," _quart. journ. geol. soc._ april, . [ ] _the antiquity of man_, , p. . [ ] thus lucretius: "arma antiqua manus, ungues, dentesque fuerunt, et lapides, et item silvarum fragmina rami." [ ] _jour. anthrop. inst._ , p. . [ ] _inaugural address_, brit. ass. meeting, toronto, . [ ] m. boule, "l'homme fossile de la chapelle-aux-saints," _annales de paléontologie_, ( ). cf. also h. obermaier, _der mensch der vorzeit_, , p. . [ ] _prehistoric man_, , p. . [ ] _der mensch der vorzeit_, , p. . [ ] this is not generally accepted. see a. keith's diagram, p. and pp. - . [ ] w. j. sollas, "on the cranial and facial characters of the neandertal race," _phil. trans._ , cxciv. [ ] j. fraipont and m. lohest, "recherches ethnographiques sur les ossements humains," etc., _arch. de biologie_, . [ ] gorjanovi[vc]-kramberger, _der diluviale mensch von krapina in kroatia_, . [ ] m. boule, "l'homme fossile de la chapelle-aux-saints," _l'anthr._ xix. , and _annales de paléontologie_, ( ). [ ] h. klaatsch, _prähistorische zeitschrift_, vol. i. . [ ] peyrony and capitan, _rev. de l'ecole d'anthrop._ ; _bull. soc. d'anthr. de paris_, . [ ] g. schwalbe, "der schädel von brüx," _zeitschr. f. morph. u. anthr._ . [ ] makowsky, "der diluviale mensch in löss von brünn," _mitt. anthrop. gesell. in wien_, . [ ] see a. keith, _the antiquity of man_, , chap. x. [ ] h. klaatsch, "die aurignac-rasse," etc., _zeitschr. f. ethn._ lii. . [ ] l. lartet, "une sépulture des troglodytes du périgord," and broca, "sur les crânes et ossements des eyzies," _bull. soc. d'anthr._ de paris, . [ ] r. verneau, _les grottes de grimaldi_, - . [ ] for a complete list with bibliographical references, see h. obermaier, "les restes humains quaternaires dans l'europe centrale," _anthr._ , p. , , p. . [ ] a. keith, _the antiquity of man_, , p. . see also w. j. sollas, _ancient hunters_, , p. ff. [ ] h. klaatsch, "die aurignac-rasse," _zeitschr. f. eth._ , lii. p. . [ ] the mesvinian implements are now accepted as artefacts and placed by h. obermaier immediately below the chellean, though m. commont interprets them as acheulean or even later. see w. j. sollas, _ancient hunters_, , p. ff. [ ] r. smith and h. dewey, "stratification at swanscombe," _archaeologia_, lxiv. . [ ] so called from chelles-sur-marne, near paris. [ ] cf. j. déchelette, _manuel d'archéologie préhistorique_, i. , p. . [ ] from aurignac (haute-garonne), solutré (saône-et-loire), and la madeleine (dordogne). [ ] mas-d'azil, ariège. [ ] w. j. sollas, _ancient hunters_, , pp. - . [ ] "les subdivisions de paléolithique supérieur," _congrès internat. d'anth._ , xiv. pp. - . [ ] h. breuil and e. cartailhac, _la caverne d'altamira_, . for a list of decorated caves, with the names of their discoverers, see j. déchelette, _manuel d'archéologie préhistorique_, i. , p. . a complete _répertoire de l'art quaternaire_ is given by s. reinach, ; and for chronology see e. piette, "classifications des sédiments formés dans les cavernes pendant l'age du renne," _anthr._ . [ ] from la fère-en-tardenois, aisne. [ ] cf. w. j. sollas, _ancient hunters_, , pp. , f. [ ] _die alpen in eiszeitalter_, - . see also "alter des menschengeschlechts," _zeit. f. eth._ xl. . [ ] see w. j. sollas, _ancient hunters_, , p. . [ ] h. obermaier, _der mensch der vorzeit_, - , p. . [ ] _the antiquity of man in europe_, , p. . [ ] _ancient hunters_, , p. . [ ] _proc. prehist. soc. e. anglia_, . , p. . [ ] discourse at the r. institute, london, _nature_, jan. and , . [ ] _nature_, , p. . [ ] _tiden för blekings första bebyggande_, karlskrona, , p. . [ ] "das schweizersbild, eine niederlassung aus palaeolithischer und neolithischer zeit," in _nouveaux mémoires soc. helvétique des sciences naturelles_, vol. xxxv. zurich, . this is described by james geikie, _the antiquity of man in europe_, , pp. - . [ ] _l'anthropologie_, , p. . [ ] _forum_, feb. . [ ] the party of eskimo men and women brought back by lieut. peary from his arctic expedition in were unable to endure our temperate climate. many died of pneumonia, and the survivors were so enfeebled that all had to be restored to their icy homes to save their lives. even for the algonquians of labrador a journey to the coast is a journey to the grave. [ ] w. z. ripley, _the races of europe_, , p. . chapter ii the metal ages--historic times and peoples progress of archaeological studies--sequence of the metal ages--the copper age--egypt, elam, babylonia, europe--the bronze age--egypt and babylonia, western europe, the aegean, ireland--chronology of the copper and bronze ages--the iron age--hallstatt, la tène--man and his works in the metal ages--the prehistoric age in the west, and in china--historic times--evolution of writing systems-- hieroglyphs and cuneiforms--the alphabet--the persian and other cuneiform scripts--the mas-d'azil markings--alphabetiform signs on neolithic monuments--character and consequences of the later historic migrations--the race merges in the people--the distinguishing characters of peoples--scheme of classification. if, as above seen, the study of human origins is largely a geological problem, the investigation of the later developments, during the metal ages and prehistoric times, belongs mainly to the field of archaeology. hence it is that for the light which has in recent years been thrown upon the obscure interval between the stone ages and the strictly historic epoch, that is to say, the period when in his continuous upward development man gradually exchanged stone for the more serviceable metals, we are indebted chiefly to the pioneer labours of such men as worsaae, steenstrup, forchhammer, schliemann, sayce, layard, lepsius, mariette, maspero, montelius, brugsch, petrie, peters, haynes, sir j. evans, sir a. j. evans and many others, all archaeologists first, and anthropologists only in the second instance. from the researches of these investigators it is now clear that copper, bronze, and iron were successively in use in europe in the order named, so that the current expressions, "copper," "bronze," and "iron" ages remain still justified. but it also appears that overlappings, already beginning in late neolithic times, were everywhere so frequent that in many localities it is quite impossible to draw any well-marked dividing lines between the successive metal periods. that iron came last, a fact already known by vague tradition to the ancients[ ], is beyond doubt, and it is no less certain that bronze of various types intervened between copper and iron. but much obscurity still surrounds the question of copper, which occurs in so many graves of neolithic and bronze times, that this metal has even been denied an independent position in the sequence. but we shall not be surprised that confusion should prevail on this point, if we reflect that the metals, unlike stone, came to remain. once introduced they were soon found to be indispensable to civilised man, so that in a sense the "metal ages" still survive, and must last to the end of time. hence it was natural that copper should be found in prehistoric graves associated, first with polished stone implements, and then with bronze and iron, just as, since the arrival of the english in australia, spoons, clay pipes, penknives, pannikins, and the like, are now found mingled with stone objects in the graves of the aborigines. but that there was a true copper age[ ] prior to that of bronze, though possibly of not very long duration, except of course in the new world[ ], has been placed beyond reasonable doubt by recent investigations. considerable attention was devoted to the subject by j. h. gladstone, who finds that copper was worked by the egyptians in the sinaitic peninsula, that is, in the famous mines of the wadi maghára, from the fourth to the eighteenth dynasty, perhaps from to b.c.[ ] during that epoch tools were made of pure copper in egypt and syria, and by the amorites in palestine, often on the model of their stone prototypes[ ]. elliot smith[ ] claims that "the full story of the coming of copper, complete in every detail and circumstance, written in a simple and convincing fashion that he who runs may read," has been displayed in egypt ever since the year , though the full significance of the evidence was not recognised until reisner called attention to the record of pre-dynastic graves in upper egypt when superintending the excavations at naga-ed-dêr in [ ]. these excavations revealed the indigenous civilisation of the ancient egyptians and, according to elliot smith, dispose of the idea hitherto held by most archaeologists that egypt owed her knowledge of metals to babylonia or some other asiatic source, where copper, and possibly also bronze, may be traced back to the fourth millennium b.c. there was doubtless intercourse between the civilisations of egypt and babylonia but "reisner has revealed the complete absence of any evidence to show or even to suggest that the language, the mode of writing, the knowledge of copper ... were imported" (p. ). elliot smith justly claims (p. ) that in no other country has a similarly complete history of the discovery and the evolution of the working of copper been revealed, but until equally exhaustive excavations have been undertaken on contemporary or earlier sites in sumer and elam, the question cannot be regarded as settled. the work of j. de morgan at susa[ ] ( - ) shows the extreme antiquity of the copper age in ancient elam, even if his estimate of b.c. is regarded as a millennium too early[ ]. at the base of the mound on the natural soil, beneath meters of archaeological layers, were the remains of a town and a necropolis consisting of about tombs. those of the men contained copper axes of primitive type; those of the women, little vases of paint, together with discs of polished copper to serve as mirrors. at fara, excavations by koldewey in , and by andrae and nöldeke in on the site of shuruppak (the home of the babylonian noah) in the valley of the lower euphrates, revealed graves attributed to the prehistoric sumerians, containing copper spear heads, axes and drinking vessels[ ]. in europe, north italy, hungary and ireland[ ] may lay claim to a copper age, but there is very little evidence of such a stage in britain. to this period also may be attributed the nest or _cache_ of pure copper ingots found at tourc'h, west of the aven valley, finisterre, described by m. de villiers du terrage, and comprising pieces, with a total weight of nearly lbs.[ ] these objects, which belong to "the transitional period when copper was used at first concurrently with polished stone, and then disappeared as bronze came into more general use[ ]," came probably from hungary, at that time apparently the chief source of this metal for most parts of europe. of over copper objects described by mathaeus much[ ] nearly all were of hungarian or south german _provenance_, five only being accredited to britain and eight to france. the study of this subject has been greatly advanced by j. hampel, who holds on solid grounds that in some regions, especially hungary, copper played a dominant part for many centuries, and is undoubtedly the characteristic metal of a distinct culture. his conclusions are based on the study of about copper objects found in hungary and preserved in the buda pesth collections. reviewing all the facts attesting a copper age in central europe, egypt, italy, cyprus, troy, scandinavia, north asia, and other lands, he concludes that a copper age may have sprung up independently wherever the ore was found, as in the ural and altai mountains, italy, spain, britain, cyprus, sinai; such culture being generally indigenous, and giving evidence of more or less characteristic local features[ ]. in fact we know for certain that such an independent copper age was developed not only in the region of the great lakes of north america, but also amongst the bantu peoples of katanga and other parts of central africa. copper is not an alloy like bronze, but a soft, easily-worked metal occurring in large quantities and in a tolerably pure state near the surface in many parts of the world. the wonder is, not that it should have been found and worked at a somewhat remote epoch in several different centres, but that its use should have been so soon superseded in so many places by the bronze alloys. from copper to bronze, however, the passage was slow and progressive, the proper proportion of tin, which was probably preceded in some places by an alloy of antimony, having been apparently arrived at by repeated experiments often carried out with no little skill by those prehistoric metallurgists. as suggested by bibra in , the ores of different metals would appear to have been at first smelted together empirically, and the process continued until satisfactory results were obtained. hence the extraordinary number of metals, of which percentages are found in some of the earlier specimens, such as those of the elbing museum, which on analysis yielded tin, lead, silver, iron, antimony, arsenic, sulphur, nickel, cobalt, and zinc in varying quantities[ ]. some bronzes from the pyramid of medum analysed by j. h. gladstone[ ] yielded the high percentage of . of tin, from which we must infer, not only that bronze, but bronze of the finest quality, was already known to the egyptians of the fourth dynasty, _i.e._ b.c. the statuette of gudea of lagash ( b.c.) claimed as the earliest example of bronze in babylonia is now known to be pure copper, and though objects from tello (lagash) of earlier date contain a mixture of tin, zinc, arsenic and other alloys, the proportion is insignificant. the question of priority must, however, be left open until the relative chronology of egypt and babylonia is finally settled, and this is still a much disputed point[ ]. neither would all the difficulties with regard to the origin of bronze be cleared up should egypt or babylonia establish her claim to possess the earliest example of the metal, for neither country appears to possess any tin. the nearest deposit known in ancient times would seem to be that of drangiana, mentioned by strabo, identified with modern khorassan[ ]. strabo and other classical writers also mention the occurrence of tin in the west, in spain, portugal and the cassiterides or tin islands, whose identity has given rise to so much speculation[ ], but "though in after times egypt drew her tin from europe it would be bold indeed to suppose that she did so [in b.c.] and still bolder to maintain that she learned from northern people how to make the alloy called bronze[ ]." apart from the indigenous egyptian origin maintained by elliot smith (above) the hypothesis offering fewest difficulties is that the earliest bronze is to be traced to the region of elam, and that the knowledge spread from s. chaldaea (elam-sumer) to s. egypt in the third millennium b.c.[ ] there seems to be little doubt that the aegean was the centre of dispersal for the new metals throughout the mediterranean area, and copper ingots have been found at various points of the mediterranean, marked with cretan signs[ ]. bronze was known in crete before b.c. for a bronze dagger and spear head were found at hagios onuphrios, near phaistos, with seals resembling those of the sixth to eleventh dynasties[ ]. from the eastern mediterranean the knowledge spread during the second millennium along the ordinary trade routes which had long been in use. the mineral ores of spain were exploited in pre-mycenean times and probably contributed in no small measure to the industrial development of southern europe. from tribe to tribe, along the atlantic coasts the traffic in minerals reached the british isles, where the rich ores were discovered which, in their turn, supplied the markets of the north, the west and the south. even ireland was not left untouched by aegean influence, which reached it, according to g. coffey[ ], by way of the danube and the elbe, and thence by way of scandinavia, though this is a matter on which there is much difference of opinion. ireland's richness in gold during the bronze age made her "a kind of el dorado of the western world," and the discovery of a gold torc found by schliemann in the royal treasury in the second city of troy raises the question as to whether the model of the torc was imported into ireland from the south[ ], or whether (which j. déchelette[ ] regards as less probable) there was already an exportation of irish gold to the eastern mediterranean in pre-mycenean times. of recent years great strides have been made towards the establishment of a definite chronology linking the historic with the prehistoric periods in the aegean, in egypt and in babylonia, and as the estimates of various authorities differ sometimes by a thousand years or so, the subjoined table will be of use to indicate the chronological schemes most commonly followed; the dates are in all cases merely approximate. it has often been pointed out that there is no reason why iron should not have been the earliest metal to be used by man. its ores are more abundant and more easily reduced than any others, and are worked by peoples in a low grade of culture at the present day[ ]. iron may have been known in egypt almost as early as bronze, for a piece in the british museum is attributed to the fourth dynasty, and some beads of manufactured iron were found in a pre-dynastic grave at el gerzeh[ ]. but these and other less well authenticated occurrences of iron are rare, and the metal was not common in egypt before the middle of the second millennium. by the end of the second millennium the knowledge had spread throughout the eastern mediterranean[ ], and towards at latest iron was in common use in italy and central europe. chronological table. egypt[ ] babylonia[ ] aegean[ ] greece[ ] bronze age in europe[ ] dynasty i dynasty of opis ?early ?pre-mycenean dyn. of kish minoan i dyn. iii, dyn. of erech iv dyn. of akkad[ ] dyn. v nd dyn. of erech dyn. vi gutian early minoan ii period i. domination eneolithic dyn. of ur (implements dyn. ix of stone, dyn. of isin middle minoan i copper and dyn. xi mid. minoan ii bronze, poor dyn. xii st dyn. babylon mycenean i in tin) nd dyn. mid. minoan iii period ii dyn. xiii rd dyn. late minoan i dyn. xv period iii dyn. xviii late minoan mycenean ii ii late minoan iii dyn. xix period iv dyn. xx homeric age th dyn. dyn. xxi th to th dyn. close of bronze age[ ] dyn. xxii th dyn. hallstatt the introduction of iron into italy has often been attributed to the etruscans, who were thought to have brought the knowledge from lydia. but the most abundant remains of the early iron age are found not in tuscany, but along the coasts of the adriatic[ ], showing that iron followed the well-known route of the amber trade, thus reaching central europe and _hallstatt_ (which has given its name to the early iron age), where alone in europe the gradual transition from the use of bronze to that of iron has been clearly traced. w. ridgeway[ ] believes that the use of iron was first discovered in the hallstatt area and that thence it spread to switzerland, france, spain, italy, greece, the aegean area, and egypt rather than that the culture drift was in the opposite direction. there is no difference of opinion however as to the importance of this central european area which contained the most famous iron mines of antiquity. hallstatt culture extended from the iberian peninsula in the west to hungary in the east, but scarcely reached scandinavia, north germany, armorica or the british isles where the bronze age may be said to have lasted down to about b.c. over such a vast domain the culture was not everywhere of a uniform type and hoernes[ ] recognises four geographical divisions distinguished mainly by pottery and fibulae, and provisionally classified as illyrian in the south west, or adriatic region, in touch with greece and italy; celtic in the central or danubian area; with an off-shoot in western germany, northern switzerland and eastern france; and germanic in parts of germany, bohemia, moravia, silesia and posen. the hallstatt period ends, roughly, at b.c., and the later iron age takes its name from the settlement of _la tène_, in a bay of the lake of neuchâtel in switzerland. this culture, while owing much to that of hallstatt, and much also to foreign sources, possesses a distinct individuality, and though soon overpowered on the continent by roman influence, attained a remarkable brilliance in the late celtic period in the british isles. that the peoples of the metal ages were physically well developed, and in a great part of europe and asia already of aryan speech, there can be no reasonable doubt. a skull of the early hallstatt period, from a grave near wildenroth, upper bavaria, is described by virchow as long-headed, with a cranial capacity of no less than c.c., strongly developed occiput, very high and narrow face and nose, and in every respect a superb specimen of the regular-featured, long-headed north european[ ]. but owing to the prevalence of cremation the evidence of race is inadequate. the hallstatt population was undoubtedly mixed, and at glasinatz in bosnia, another site of hallstatt civilisation, about a quarter of the skulls examined were brachycephalic[ ]. their works, found in great abundance in the graves, especially of the bronze and iron periods, but a detailed account of which belongs to the province of archaeology, interest us in many ways. the painted earthenware vases and incised metal-ware of all kinds enable the student to follow the progress of the arts of design and ornamentation in their upward development from the first tentative efforts of the prehistoric artist at pleasing effects. human and animal figures, though rarely depicted, occasionally afford a curious insight into the customs and fashions of the times. on a clay vessel, found in at lahse in posen, is figured a regular hunting scene, where we see men mounted on horseback, or else on foot, armed with bow and arrow, pursuing the quarry (nobly-antlered stags), and returning to the penthouse after the chase[ ]. the drawing is extremely primitive, but on that account all the more instructive, showing in connection with analogous representations on contemporary objects, how in prehistoric art such figures tend to become conventionalised and purely ornamental, as in similar designs on the vases and textiles from the ancon necropolis, peru. "most ornaments of primitive peoples, although to our eye they may seem merely geometrical and freely-invented designs, are in reality nothing more than degraded animal and human figures[ ]." this may perhaps be the reason why so many of the drawings of the metal period appear so inferior to those of the cave-dwellers and of the present bushmen. they are often mere conventionalised reductions of pictorial prototypes, comparable, for instance, to the characters of our alphabets, which are known to be degraded forms of earlier pictographs. of the so-called "prehistoric age" it is obvious that no strict definition can be given. it comprises in a general way that vague period prior to all written records, dim memories of which--popular myths, folklore, demi-gods[ ], eponymous heroes[ ], traditions of real events[ ]--lingered on far into historic times, and supplied ready to hand the copious materials afterwards worked up by the early poets, founders of new religions, and later legislators. that letters themselves, although not brought into general use, had already been invented, is evident from the mere fact that all memory of their introduction beyond the vaguest traditions had died out before the dawn of history. the works of man, while in themselves necessarily continuous, stretched back to such an inconceivably remote past, that even the great landmarks in the evolution of human progress had long been forgotten by later generations. and so it was everywhere, in the new world as in the old, amongst eastern as amongst western peoples. in the chinese records the "age of the five emperors"--five, though nine are named--answers somewhat to our prehistoric epoch. it had its eponymous hero, fu hi, reputed founder of the empire, who invented nets and snares for fishing and hunting, and taught his people how to rear domestic animals. to him also is ascribed the institution of marriage, and in his time tsong chi is supposed to have invented the chinese characters, symbols, not of sounds, but of objects and ideas. then came other benevolent rulers, who taught the people agriculture, established markets for the sale of farm produce, discovered the medicinal properties of plants, wrote treatises on diseases and their remedies, studied astrology and astronomy, and appointed "the five observers of the heavenly bodies." but this epoch had been preceded by the "age of the three [six] rulers," when people lived in caves, ate wild fruits and uncooked food, drank the blood of animals and wore the skins of wild beasts (our old stone age). later they grew less rude, learned to obtain fire by friction, and built themselves habitations of wood or foliage (our early neolithic age). thus is everywhere revealed the background of sheer savagery, which lies behind all human culture, while the "golden age" of the poets fades with the "hesperides" and plato's "atlantis" into the region of the fabulous. little need here be said of strictly historic times, the most characteristic feature of which is perhaps the general use of letters. by means of this most fruitful of human inventions, everything worth preserving was perpetuated, and thus all useful knowledge tended to become accumulative. it is no longer possible to say when or where the miracle was wrought by which the apparently multifarious sounds of fully-developed languages were exhaustively analysed and effectively expressed by a score or so of arbitrary signs. but a comparative study of the various writing-systems in use in different parts of the world has revealed the process by which the transition was gradually brought about from rude pictorial representations of objects to purely phonetical symbols. as is clearly shown by the "winter counts" of the north american aborigines, and by the prehistoric rock carvings in upper egypt, the first step was a _pictograph_, the actual figure, say, of a man, standing for a given man, and then for any man or human being. then this figure, more or less reduced or conventionalised, served to indicate not only the term _man_, but the full sound _man_, as in the word _manifest_, and in the modern rebus. at this stage it becomes a _phonogram_, or _phonoglyph_, which, when further reduced beyond all recognition of its original form, may stand for the syllable _ma_ as in _ma-ny_, without any further reference either to the idea or the sound man. the phonogram has now become the symbol of a monosyllable, which is normally made up of two elements, a consonant and a vowel, as in the devanágari, and other syllabic systems. lastly, by dropping the second or vowel element the same symbol, further modified or not, becomes a _letter_ representing the sound _m_, that is, one of the few ultimate elements of articulate speech. a more or less complete set of such characters, thus worn down in form and meaning, will then be available for indicating more or less completely all the phonetic elements of any given language. it will be a true _alphabet_, the wonderful nature of which may be inferred from the fact that only two, or possibly three, such alphabetic systems are known with absolute certainty to have ever been independently evolved by human ingenuity[ ]. from the above exposition we see how inevitably the phoenician parent of nearly all late alphabets expressed at first the consonantal sounds only, so that the vowels or vowel marks are in all cases later developments, as in hebrew, syriac, arabic, greek, the italic group, and the runes. in primitive systems, such as the egyptian, sumerian, chinese, maya-quiché and mexican, one or more of the various transitional steps may be developed and used simultaneously, with a constant tendency to advance on the lines above indicated, by gradual substitution of the later for the earlier stages. a comparison of the sumerian cuneiform and egyptian hieroglyphic systems brings out some curious results. thus at an extremely remote epoch, some millenniums ago, the sumerians had already got rid of the pictorial, and to a great extent of the ideographic, but had barely reached the alphabetic phase. consequently their cuneiform groups, although possessing phonetic value, mainly express full syllables, scarcely ever letters, and rarely complete words. ideographs had given place first to phonograms and then to mere syllables, "complex syllables in which several consonants may be distinguished, or simple syllables composed of only one consonant and one vowel or _vice versa_[ ]." the egyptians, on the other hand, carried the system right through the whole gamut from pictures to letters, but retained all the intermediate phases, the initial tending to fall away, the final to expand, while the bulk of the hieroglyphs represented in various degrees the several transitional states. in many cases they "had kept only one part of the syllable, namely a mute consonant; they detached, for instance, the final _u_ from _bu_ and _pu_, and gave only the values _b_ and _p_ to the human leg [hieroglyph symbol] and to the mat [hieroglyph symbol]. the peoples of the euphrates stopped half way, and admitted actual letters for the vowel sounds _a_, _i_ and _u_ only[ ]." in the process of evolution, metaphor and analogy of course played a large part, as in the evolution of language itself. thus a lion might stand both for the animal and for courage, and so on. the first essays in phonetics took somewhat the form of a modern rebus, thus: [hieroglyph symbol] = _khau_ = sieve, [hieroglyph symbol] = _pu_ = mat; [hieroglyph symbol] = _ru_ = mouth, whence [hieroglyph symbol] = _kho-pi-ru_ = to be, where the sounds and not the meaning of the several components are alone attended to[ ]. by analogous processes was formed a true alphabet, in which, however, each of the phonetic elements was represented at first by several different characters derived from several different words having the same initial syllable. here was, therefore, an _embarras de richesses_, which could be got rid of only by a judicious process of elimination, that is, by discarding all like-sounding symbols but one for the same sound. when this final process of reduction was completed by the scribes, in other words, when all the phonetic signs were rejected except , _i.e._ one for each of the phonetic elements, the phoenician alphabet as we now have it was completed. such may be taken as the real origin of this system, whether the scribes in question were babylonians, egyptians, minaeans, or europeans, that is, whether the phoenician alphabet had a cuneiform, a hieroglyphic, a south arabian, a cretan (aegean), ligurian or iberian origin, for all these and perhaps other peoples have been credited with the invention. the time is not yet ripe for deciding between these rival claimants[ ]. but whatever be the source of the phoenician, that of the persian system current under the achaemenides is clear enough. it is a true alphabet of characters, derived by some selective process directly from the babylonian cuneiforms, without any attempt at a modification of their shapes. hence although simple compared with its prototype, it is clumsy enough compared with the phoenician script, several of the letters requiring groups of as many as four or even five "wedges" for their expression. none of the other cuneiform systems also derived from the sumerian (the assyrian, elamite, vannic, medic) appear to have reached the pure alphabetic state, all being still encumbered with numerous complex syllabic characters. the subjoined table, for which i have to thank t. g. pinches, will help to show the genesis of the cuneiform combinations from the earliest known pictographs. these pictographs themselves are already reduced to the merest outlines of the original pictorial representations. but no earlier forms, showing the gradual transition from the primitive picture writing to the degraded pictographs here given, have yet come to light[ ]. here it may be asked, what is to be thought of the already-mentioned pebble-markings from the mas-d'azil cave at the close of the old stone age? if they are truly phonetic, then we must suppose that palaeolithic man not only invented an alphabetic writing system, but did this right off by intuition, as it were, without any previous knowledge of letters. at least no one will suggest that the dordogne cave-dwellers were already in possession of pictographic or other crude systems, from which the mas-d'azil "script" might have been slowly evolved. yet e. piette, who groups these pebbles, painted with peroxide of iron, in the four categories of numerals, symbols, pictographs, and alphabetical characters, states, in reference to these last, that out of phoenician characters were equally azilian graphic signs. he even suggests that there may be an approach to an inscription in one group, where, however, the mark indicating a stop implies a script running semitic-fashion from right to left, whereas the letters themselves seem to face the other way[ ]. g. g. maccurdy[ ], who accepts the evidence for the existence of writing in azilian, if not in magdalenian times, notes the close similarity between palaeolithic signs and phoenician, ancient greek and cypriote letters. but j. déchelette[ ], reviewing (pp. , ) the arguments against piette's claims, points out in conclusion (p. ) the impossibility of admitting that the population of gaul could suddenly lose so beneficial a discovery as that of writing. yet thousands of years elapse before the earliest appearance of epigraphic monuments. [illustration: evolution of the sumerian cuneiforms.] a possible connection has been suggested by sergi between the mas-d'azil signs and the markings that have been discovered on the megalithic monuments of north africa, brittany, and the british isles. these are all so rudimentary that resemblances are inevitable, and of themselves afford little ground for necessary connections. primitive man is but a child, and all children bawl and scrawl much in the same way. nevertheless c. letourneau[ ] has taken the trouble to compare five such scrawls from "libyan inscriptions" now in the bardo museum, tunis, with similar or identical signs on brittany and irish dolmens. there is the familiar circle plain and dotted [symbol] [symbol], the cross in its simplest form [symbol], the pothook and segmented square [symbol], all of which recur in the phoenician, keltiberian, etruscan, libyan or tuareg systems. letourneau, however, who does not call them letters but only "signes alphabétiformes," merely suggests that, if not phonetic marks when first carved on the neolithic monuments, they may have become so in later times. against this it need only be urged that in later times all these peoples were supplied with complete alphabetic systems from the east as soon as they required them. by that time all the peoples of the culture-zone were well-advanced into the historic period, and had long forgotten the rude carvings of their neolithic forefathers. armed with a nearly perfect writing system, and the correlated cultural appliances, the higher races soon took a foremost place in the general progress of mankind, and gradually acquired a marked ascendancy, not only over the less cultured populations of the globe, but in large measure over the forces of nature herself. with the development of navigation and improved methods of locomotion, inland seas, barren wastes, and mountain ranges ceased to be insurmountable obstacles to their movements, which within certain limits have never been arrested throughout all recorded time. thus, during the long ages following the first peopling of the earth by pleistocene man, fresh settlements and readjustments have been continually in progress, although wholesale displacements must be regarded as rare events. with few exceptions, the later migrations, whether hostile or peaceful, were, for reasons already stated[ ], generally of a partial character, while certain insular regions, such as america and australia, remained little affected by such movements till quite recent times. but for the inhabitants of the eastern hemisphere the results were none the less far-reaching. continuous infiltrations could not fail ultimately to bring about great modifications of early types, while the ever-active principle of convergence tended to produce a general uniformity amongst the new amalgams. thus the great varietal divisions, though undergoing slow changes from age to age, continued, like all other zoological groups, to maintain a distinct regional character. flinders petrie has acutely observed that the only meaning the term "race" now can have is that of a group of human beings, whose type has become unified by their rate of assimilation exceeding the rate of change produced by foreign elements[ ]. we are also reminded by gustavo tosti that "in the actual state of science the word 'race' is a vague formula, to which nothing definite may be found to correspond. on the one hand, the original races can only be said to belong to palaeontology, while the more limited groups, now called races, are nothing but peoples, or societies of peoples, brethren by civilization more than by blood. the race thus conceived ends by identifying itself with nationality[ ]." hence it has been asked why, on the principle of convergence, a fusion of various races, if isolated long enough in a given area, may not eventually lead to a new racial type, without leaving any trace of its manifold origin[ ]. such new racial types would be normal for the later varietal groups, just as the old types were normal for the earlier groups, and a general application might be given to topinard's famous dictum that _les peuples seuls sont des réalités_[ ], that is, peoples alone--groups occupying definite geographical areas--have an objective existence. thus, the notion of race, as a zoological expression in the sense of a pure breed or strain, falls still more into the background, and, as virchow aptly remarks, "this term, which always implied something vague, has in recent times become in the highest degree uncertain[ ]." hence ehrenreich treats the present populations of the earth rather as zoological groups which have been developed in their several geographical domains, and are to be distinguished not so much by their bony structure as by their external characters, such as hair, colour, and expression, and by their habitats and languages. none of these factors can be overlooked, but it would seem that the character of the hair forms the most satisfactory basis for a classification of mankind, and this has therefore been adopted for the new edition of the present work. it has the advantage of simplicity, without involving, or even implying, any particular theory of racial or geographical origins. it has stood the test of time, being proposed by bory de saint vincent in , and adopted by huxley, haeckel, broca, topinard and many others. the three main varieties of hair are the _straight_, the _wavy_ and the so-called _woolly_, termed respectively _leiotrichous_, _cymotrichous_ and _ulotrichous_[ ]. straight hair usually falls straight down, though it may curl at the ends, it is generally coarse and stiff, and is circular in section. wavy hair is undulating, forming long curves or imperfect spirals, or closer rings or curls, and the section is more or less elliptical. woolly hair is characterised by numerous, close, often interlocking spirals, - mm. in diameter, the section giving the form of a lengthened ellipse. straight hair is usually the longest, and woolly hair the shortest, wavy hair occupying an intermediate position. scheme of classification. i. ulotrichi (woolly-haired). . the african negroes, negrilloes, bushmen. . the oceanic negroes: papuans, melanesians in part, tasmanians, negritoes. ii. leiotrichi (straight-haired). . the southern mongols. . the oceanic mongols, polynesians in part. . the northern mongols. . the american aborigines. iii. cymotrichi (curly or wavy-haired). . the pre-dravidians: vedda, sakai, etc., australians. . the "caucasic" peoples: a. southern dolichocephals: mediterraneans, hamites, semites, dravidians, indonesians, polynesians in part. b. northern dolichocephals: nordics, kurds, afghans, some hindus. c. brachycephals: alpines, including the short cevenoles of western and central europe, and tall adriatics or dinarics of eastern europe and the armenians of western asia. footnotes: [ ] thus lucretius: "posterius ferri vis est aerisque reperta, sed prior aeris erat quam ferri cognitus usus." [ ] j. déchelette points out that the term copper "age" is not justified for the greater part of europe, as it suggests a demarcation which does not exist and also a more thorough chemical analysis of early metals than we possess. he prefers the term aeneolithic (_aeneus_, copper, [greek: lithos], stone), coined by the italians, to denote the period of transition, dating, according to montelius, from about b.c. to b.c. _manuel d'archéologie préhistorique_, ii. , _age du bronze_, , pp. - , . [ ] _eth._, chap. xiii. [ ] see g. elliot smith, _the ancient egyptians_, , pp. - . [ ] paper on "the transition from pure copper to bronze," etc., read at the meeting of the brit. assoc. liverpool, . [ ] _loc. cit._ p. . but cf. h. r. hall, _the ancient history of the near east_, , pp. and _n._ . [ ] g. a. reisner, _the early cemeteries of naga-ed-dêr_ (university of california publications), , and _report of the archaeological survey of nubia_, - . [ ] "campagnes de - ," _comptes rendus de l'académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres_, , p. . [ ] cf. j. déchelette, _manuel d'archéologie préhistorique_, ii. , _age du bronze_, , pp. - . [ ] cf. l. w. king, _a history of sumer and akkad_, , p. . [ ] g. coffey, _the bronze age in ireland_, , p. . [ ] _l'anthropologie_, , p. sq. this antiquary aptly remarks that "l'expression âge de cuivre a une signification bien précise comme s'appliquant à la partie de la période de la pierre polie où les métaux font leur apparition." [ ] _l'anthropologie_, , p. sq. [ ] in _die kupferzeit in europa_, . [ ] "neuere studien über die kupferzeit," in _zeitschr. f. eth._ , no. . [ ] otto helm, "chemische untersuchungen vorgeschichtlicher bronzen," in _zeitschr. f. eth._ , no. . this authority agrees with hampel's view that further research will confirm the suggestion that in transylvania (hungary) "eine kupfer-antimonmischung vorangegangen, welche zugleich die bronzekultur vorbereitete" (_ib._ p. ). [ ] _proc. soc. bib. archaeol._ , pp. - . [ ] for the chronology of the copper and bronze ages see p. . [ ] copper and tin are found together in abundance in southern china, but this is archaeologically speaking an unknown land; "to search for the birth-place of bronze in china is therefore barren of positive results," _british museum guide to the antiquities of the bronze age_, , p. . [ ] t. rice holmes, _ancient britain_, , pp. - . [ ] _british museum guide to the antiquities of the bronze age_, , p. . [ ] j. de morgan, _les premières civilisations_, , pp. , ff. [ ] j. déchelette, _manuel d'archéologie préhistorique_, ii. , _age du bronze_, , pp. and ff. [ ] j. déchelette, _loc. cit._ p. _n._ [ ] g. coffey, _the bronze age in ireland_, , pp. v, . [ ] j. déchelette, _manuel d'archéologie préhistorique_, ii. , _age du bronze_, , p. _n._ [ ] _guide to the antiquities of the early iron age_ (british museum), , p. . [ ] wainwright, "pre-dynastic iron beads in egypt," _man_, , p. . see also h. r. hall, "note on the early use of iron in egypt," _man_, , p. . [ ] w. belck attributes the introduction of iron into crete in b.c. to the phoenicians, whom he derives from the neighbourhood of the persian gulf. he suggests that these traders were already acquainted with the metal in s. arabia in the fourth millennium, and that it was through them that a piece found its way into egypt in the fourth dynasty. "die erfinder des eisentechnik," _zeitschrift f. ethnologie_, . see also f. stuhlmann, _handwerk und industrie in ostafrika_, , p. ff., who on cultural grounds derives the knowledge of iron in africa from an asiatic source. [ ] e. meyer, "aegyptische chronologie," _abh. berl. akad._ , and "nachträge," _ib._ . this chronology has been adopted by the berlin school and others, but is unsatisfactory in allowing insufficient time for dynasties xii to xviii, which are known to contain to rulers. flinders petrie therefore adds another sothic period ( years, calculated from sothis or sirius), thus throwing the earlier dynasties a millennium or two further back. dynasty i, according to this computation starts in b.c. and dynasty xii at . h. r. hall, _the ancient history of the near east_, , p. . [ ] l. w. king, _the history of sumer and akkad_, , and "babylonia," hutchinson's _history of the nations_, . [ ] c. h. hawes and h. boyd hawes, _crete the forerunner of greece_, . [ ] j. déchelette, _manuel d'archéologie préhistorique_, ii. , _age du bronze_, , p. . [ ] j. déchelette, _loc. cit._ p. ff. based on the work of o. montelius and p. reinecke. [ ] the dynasty of akkad is often dated a millennium earlier, relying on the statement of nabonidus ( - b.c.) that narâm-sin (the traditional son of sargon of akkad) reigned years before him; but this statement is now known to be greatly exaggerated. see the section on chronology in the art. "babylonia," in _ency. brit._ . [ ] _guide to the antiquities of the early iron age_ (british museum), , p. . [ ] cf. j. déchelette, _manuel d'archéologie préhistorique_, ii. , _premier age du fer_, , pp. , - . [ ] _the early age of greece_, , pp. - . [ ] "die hallstattperiode," _ass. française p. l'av. des sciences_, , p. , and _kultur der urzeit_, iii. _eisenzeit_, , p. . [ ] "ein schädel aus der älteren hallstattzeit," in _verhandl. berlin. ges. f. anthrop._ , pp. - . [ ] _guide to the antiquities of the early iron age_ (british museum), , p. . [ ] hans seger, "figürliche darstellungen auf schlesischen gräbgefässen der hallstattzeit," _globus_, nov. , . [ ] _ibid._ p. . [ ] homer's [greek: hêmitheôn genos andrôn], _il._ xii. , if the passage is genuine. [ ] such as the greek _andreas_, the "first man," invented in comparatively recent times, as shown by the intrusive _d_ in [greek: andres] for the earlier [greek: aneres], "men." andreas was of course a greek, sprung in fact from the river peneus and the first inhabitant of the orchomenian plain (pausanias, ix. , ). [ ] for instance, the flooding of the thessalian plain, afterwards drained by the peneus and repeopled by the inhabitants of the surrounding mountains (rocks, stones), whence the myth of deucalion and pyrrha, who are told by the oracle to repeople the world by throwing behind them the "bones of their grandmother," that is, the "stones" of mother earth. [ ] such instances as george guest's cherokee system, and the crude attempt of a vei (west sudanese) negro, if genuine, are not here in question, as both had the english alphabet to work upon. a like remark applies to the old irish and welsh ogham, which are more curious than instructive, the characters, mostly mere groups of straight strokes, being obvious substitutes for the corresponding letters of the roman alphabet, hence comparable to the cryptographic systems of wheatstone and others. [ ] maspero, _the dawn of civilisation_, , p. . [ ] _ibid._ [ ] _ibid._ p. . [ ] see p. giles, art. "alphabet," _ency. brit._ . [ ] see a. j. booth, _the discovery and decipherment of the trilingual cuneiform inscriptions_, . [ ] _l'anthr_. xv. , p. . [ ] _recent discoveries bearing on the antiquity of man in europe_ (smithsonian report for ), , p. ff. [ ] _manuel d'archéologie préhistorique_, i. . [ ] "les signes libyques des dolmens," _bul. soc. d'anthrop._ , p. . [ ] _eth._ chap. xiii. [ ] _address_, meeting british assoc. ipswich, . [ ] _amer. j. of sociology_, jan. , pp. - . [ ] a. vierkandt, _globus_, , p. . [ ] _Éléments d'anthropologie générale_, p. . [ ] _rassenbildung u. erblichkeit_; _bastian-festschrift_, , p. . [ ] from gk. [greek: leios], smooth, [greek: kuma], wave, [greek: oulos], fleecy, and [greek: thrix], [greek: trichos], hair. j. deniker (_the races of man_, , p. ) distinguishes four classes, the australians, nubians etc. being grouped as _frizzy_. he gives the corresponding terms in french and german:--straight, fr. _droit_, _lisse_, germ. _straff_, _schlicht_; wavy, fr. _ondé_, germ. _wellig_; frizzy, fr. _frisé_, germ. _lockig_; woolly, fr. _crépu_, germ. _kraus_. chapter iii the african negro: i. sudanese conspectus--the negro-caucasic "great divide"--the negro domain-- negro origins--persistence of the negro type--two main sections: sudanese and bantus--contrasts and analogies--sudanese and bantu linguistic areas--the "drum language"--west sudanese groups--_the wolofs_: primitive speech and pottery; religious notions--_the mandingans_: culture and industries; history; the guiné and mali empires--_the felups_: contrasts between the inland and coast peoples; felup type and mental characters--_timni_--african freemasonry--_the sierra leonese_--social relations--_the liberians_--_the krumen_--_the upper guinea peoples_--table of the gold coast and slave coast tribes--ashanti folklore--fetishism; its true inwardness--ancestry worship and the "customs"--the benin bronzes--_the mossi_--african agnostics--central sudanese--general ethnical and social relations--_the songhai_--domain--origins-- egyptian theories--songhai records--_the hausas_--dominant social position--speech and mental qualities--origins--_kanembu_; _kanuri_; _baghirmi_; _mosgu_--ethnical and political relations in the chad basin--the aborigines--islám and heathendom--slave-hunting--arboreal strongholds--mosgu types and contrasts--the cultured peoples of central sudan--kanem-bornu records--eastern sudanese--range of the negro in eastern sudan--_the mabas_--ethnical relations in wadai-- _the nubas_--the nubian problem--nubian origins and affinities-- the negro peoples of the nile-congo watersheds--political relations--two physical types--_the dinka_--linguistic groups-- mental qualities--cannibalism--the african cannibal zone--arts and industries--high appreciation of pictorial art--sense of humour. conspectus of sudanese negroes. #present range.# _africa south of the sahara, less abyssinia, galla, somali and masai lands; tripolitana, mauritania and egypt sporadically; several of the southern united states; west indies; guiana; parts of brazil and peru._ #hair#, _always black, rather short, and crisp, frizzly or woolly, flat in transverse section_; #skin-colour#, _very dark brown or chocolate and blackish, never quite black_; #skull#, _generally dolichocephalous_ (_index _); #jaws#, _prognathous_; #cheek-bone#, _rather small, moderately retreating, rarely prominent_; #nose#, _very broad at base, flat, small, platyrrhine_; #eyes#, _large, round, prominent, black with yellowish cornea_; #stature#, _usually tall, . m. ( ft. in.)_; #lips#, _often tumid and everted_; #arms#, _disproportionately long_; #legs#, _slender with small calves_; #feet#, _broad, flat, with low instep and larkspur heel_. #temperament#, _sensuous, indolent, improvident_; _fitful, passionate and cruel, though often affectionate and faithful_; _little sense of dignity, and slight self-consciousness, hence easy acceptance of yoke of slavery_; _musical_. #speech#, _almost everywhere in the agglutinating state, generally with suffixes_. #religion#, _anthropomorphic_; _spirits endowed with human attributes, mostly evil and more powerful than man_; _ancestry-worship, fetishism, and witchcraft very prevalent_; _human sacrifices to the dead a common feature_. #culture#, _low_; _cannibalism formerly rife, perhaps universal, still general in some regions_; _no science or letters_; _arts and industries confined mainly to agriculture, pottery, wood-carving, weaving, and metallurgy_; _no perceptible progress anywhere except under the influence of higher races_. main[ ] divisions. #west sudanese#: _wolof_; _mandingan_; _felup_; _timni_; _kru_; _sierra leonese_; _liberian_; _tshi, ewe, and yoruba_; _ibo_; _efik_; _borgu_; _mossi_. #central sudanese#: _songhai_; _hausa_; _mosgu_; _kanembu_; _kanuri_; _baghirmi_; _yedina_. #east sudanese#: _maba_; _fúr_; _nuba_; _shilluk_; _dinka_; _bari_; _abaka_; _bongo_; _mangbattu_; _zandeh_; _momfu_; _basé_; _barea_. * * * * * from the anthropological standpoint africa falls into two distinct sections, where the highest (caucasic) and the lowest (negro) divisions of mankind have been conterminous throughout all known time. mutual encroachments and interpenetrations have probably been continuous, and indeed are still going on. yet so marked is the difference between the two groups, and such is the tenacity with which each clings to its proper domain, that, despite any very distinct geographical frontiers, the ethnological parting line may still be detected. obliterated at one or two points, and at others set back always in favour of the higher division, it may be followed from the atlantic coast along the course of the senegal river east by north to the great bend of the niger at timbuktu; then east by south to lake chad, beyond which it runs nearly due east to khartum, at the confluence of the white and blue niles. from this point the now isolated negro groups (basé and barea), on the northern slope of the abyssinian plateau, show that the original boundary was at first continued still east to the red sea at or about massowa. but for many ages the line appears to have been deflected from khartum along the white nile south to the sobat confluence, then continuously south-eastwards round by the sobat valley to the albert nyanza, up the somerset nile to the victoria nyanza, and thence with a considerable southern bend round masailand eastwards to the indian ocean at the equator. all the land north of this irregular line belongs to the hamito-semitic section of the caucasic division, all south of it to the western (african) section of the ulotrichous division. throughout this region--which comprises the whole of sudan from the atlantic to the white nile, and all south of sudan except abyssinia, galla, somali and masai lands--the african negro, clearly, distinguished from the other main groups by the above summarised physical[ ] and mental qualities, largely predominates everywhere and in many places exclusively. the route by which he probably reached these intertropical lands, where he may be regarded as practically indigenous, has been indicated in _ethnology_, chs. x. and xi. as regards the date of this occupation, nothing can be clearly proved. "the history of africa reaches back but a short distance, except, of course, as far as the lower nile valley and roman africa is concerned; elsewhere no records exist, save tribal traditions, and these only relate to very recent events. even archaeology, which can often sketch the main outlines of a people's history, is here practically powerless, owing to the insufficiency of data. it is true that stone implements of palaeolithic and neolithic types are found sporadically in the nile valley[ ], somaliland, on the zambesi, in cape colony and the northern portions of the congo free state, as well as in algeria and tunisia; but the localities are far too few and too widely separated to warrant the inference that they are to be in any way connected. moreover, where stone implements are found they are, as a rule, very near, even actually on, the surface of the earth," and they are rarely, if ever, found in association with bones of extinct animals. "nothing occurs resembling the regular stratification of europe, and consequently no argument based on geological grounds is possible[ ]." the exceptions are the lower nile and zambesi where true palaeoliths have been found not only on the surface (which in this case is not inconsistent with great antiquity) but also in stratified gravel. implements of palaeolithic _type_ are doubtless common, and may be compared to chellean, mousterian and even solutrian specimens[ ], but primitive culture is not necessarily pleistocene. ancient forms persisted in egypt down to the historic period, and even patination is no sure test of age, so until further evidence is found the antiquity of man in africa must remain undecided[ ]. yet since some remote if undated epoch the specialised negro type, as depicted on the egyptian monuments some thousands of years ago[ ], has everywhere been maintained with striking uniformity. "within this wide domain of the black negro there is a remarkably general similarity of type.... if you took a negro from the gold coast of west africa and passed him off amongst a number of nyasa natives, and if he were not remarkably distinguished from them by dress or tribal marks, it would not be easy to pick him out[ ]." nevertheless considerable differences are perceptible to the practised eye, and the contrasts are sufficiently marked to justify ethnologists in treating the _sudanese_ and the _bantu_ as two distinct subdivisions of the family. in both groups the relatively full-blood natives are everywhere very much alike, and the contrasts are presented chiefly amongst the mixed or negroid populations. in sudan the disturbing elements are both hamitic (berbers and tuaregs) and semitic (arabs); while in bantuland they are mainly hamitic (galla) in all the central and southern districts, and arabs on the eastern seaboard from the equator to sofala beyond the zambesi. to the varying proportions of these several ingredients may perhaps be traced the often very marked differences observable on the one hand between such sudanese peoples as the wolof, mandingans, hausa, nubians, zandeh[ ], and mangbattu, and on the other between all these and the swahili, baganda, zulu-xosa, be-chuana, ova-herero and some other negroid bantu. but the distinction is based on social, linguistic, and cultural, as well as on physical grounds, so that, as at present constituted, the sudanese and bantu really constitute two tolerably well-defined branches of the negro family. thanks to muhammadan influences, the former have attained a much higher level of culture. they cultivate not only the alimentary but also the economic plants, such as cotton and indigo; they build stone dwellings, walled towns, substantial mosques and minarets; they have founded powerful states, such as those of the hausa and songhai, of ghana and bornu, with written records going back a thousand years, although these historical peoples are all without exception half-breeds, often with more semitic and hamitic than negro blood in their veins. no such cultured peoples are anywhere to be found in bantuland except on the east coast, where the "moors" founded great cities and flourishing marts centuries before the appearance of the portuguese in the eastern seas. among the results of the gold trade with these coastal settlements may be classed the zimbabwe monuments and other ruins explored by theodore bent in the mining districts south of the zambesi. but in all the negro lands free from foreign influences no true culture has ever been developed, and here cannibalism, witchcraft, and sanguinary "customs" are often still rife, or have been but recently suppressed by the direct action of european administrations. numberless authorities have described the negro as unprogressive, or, if left to himself, incapable of progress in his present physical environment. sir h. h. johnston, who knows him well, goes much further, and speaks of him as a fine animal, who, "in his wild state, exhibits a stunted mind and a dull content with his surroundings, which induces mental stagnation, cessation of all upward progress, and even retrogression towards the brute. in some respects i think the tendency of the negro for several centuries past has been an actual retrograde one[ ]." there is one point in which the bantu somewhat unaccountably compare favourably with the sudanese. in all other regions the spread of culture has tended to bring about linguistic unity, as we see in the hellenic world, where all the old idioms were gradually absorbed in the "common dialect" of the byzantine empire, again in the roman empire, where latin became the universal speech of the west, and lastly in the muhammadan countries, where most of the local tongues have nearly everywhere, except in sudan, disappeared before the arabic, persian, and turkish languages. but in negroland the case is reversed, and here the less cultured bantu populations all, without any known exception, speak dialects of a single mother-tongue, while the greatest linguistic confusion prevails amongst the semi-civilised as well as the savage peoples of sudan. although the bantu language may, as some suppose[ ], have originated in the north and spread southwards to the congo, zambesi, and limpopo basins, it cannot now be even remotely affiliated to any one of the numerous distinct forms of speech current in the sudanese domain. hence to allow time for its diffusion over half the continent, the initial movement must be assigned to an extremely remote epoch, and a corresponding period of great duration must be postulated for the profound linguistic disintegration that is everywhere witnessed in the region between the atlantic and abyssinia. here agglutination, both with prefixed and postfixed particles, is the prevailing morphological order, as in the mandingan, fulah, nubian, dinkan, and mangbattu groups. but every shade of transition is also presented between true agglutination and inflection of the hamito-semitic types, as in hausa, kanuri, kanem, dasa or southern and teda or northern tibu[ ]. elsewhere, and especially in upper guinea, the originally agglutinating tongues have developed on lines analogous to those followed by tibetan, burmese, chinese, and otomi in other continents, with corresponding results. thus the tshi, ewe, and yoruba, surviving members of a now extinct stock-language, formerly diffused over the whole region between cape palmas and the niger delta, have become so burdened with monosyllabic homophones (like-sounding monosyllables), that to indicate their different meanings several distinguishing tones have been evolved, exactly as in the indo-chinese group. in ewe (slave coast) the root _do_, according as it is toned may mean to put, let go, tell, kick, be sad, join, change, grow big, sleep, prick, or grind. so great are the ravages of phonetic decay, that new expedients have been developed to express quite simple ideas, as in tshi (gold coast) _addanmu_, room (_addan_ house, _mu_ interior); _akwancherifo_, a guide (_akwan_ road, _cheri_ to show, _fo_ person); _ensahtsiabah_, finger (_ensah_ hand, _tsia_ small, _abbah_ child = hand's-little-child); but middle-finger = "hand's-little-chief" (_ensahtsiahin_, where _ehin_ chief takes the place of _abbah_ child[ ]). common both to sudanese and bantus, especially about the western borderlands (upper guinea, cameruns, etc.) is the "drum-language," which affords a striking illustration of the negro's musical faculty. "two or three drums are usually used together, each producing a different note, and they are played either with the fingers or with two sticks. the lookers-on generally beat time by clapping the hands. to a european, whose ear and mind are untrained for this special faculty, the rhythm of a drum expresses nothing beyond a repetition of the same note at different intervals of time; but to a native it expresses much more. to him the drum can and does speak, the sounds produced from it forming words, and the whole measure or rhythm a sentence. in this way, when company drums are being played at an _ehsádu_ [palaver], they are made to express and convey to the bystanders a variety of meanings. in one measure they abuse the men of another company, stigmatising them as fools and cowards; then the rhythm changes, and the gallant deeds of their own company are extolled. all this, and much more, is conveyed by the beating of drums, and the native ear and mind, trained to select and interpret each beat, is never at fault. the language of drums is as well understood as that which they use in their daily life. each chief has his own call or motto, sounded by a particular beat of his drums. those of amankwa tia, the ashanti general who fought against us in the war of - , used to say _p[)i]r[)i]h[=u]h_, hasten. similar mottoes are also expressed by means of horns, and an entire stranger in the locality can at once translate the rhythm into words[ ]." similar contrasts and analogies will receive due illustration in the detailed account here following of the several more representative sudanese groups. west sudanese. _wolofs._ throughout its middle and lower course the senegal river, which takes its name from the zenaga berbers, forms the ethnical "divide" between the hamites and the sudanese negroes. the latter are here represented by the wolofs, who with the kindred _jolofs_ and _serers_ occupy an extensive territory between the senegal and the gambia rivers. whether the term "wolof" means "talkers," as if they alone were gifted with the faculty of speech, or "blacks" in contrast to the neighbouring "red" fulahs, both interpretations are fully justified by these senegambians, at once the very blackest and amongst the most garrulous tribes in the whole of africa. the colour is called "ebony," and they are commonly spoken of as "blacks of the black." they are also very tall even for negroes, and the serers especially may claim to be "the patagonians of the old world," men six feet six inches high and proportionately muscular being far from rare in the coast districts about st louis and dakar. their language, which is widespread throughout senegambia, may be taken as a typical sudanese form of speech, unlike any other in its peculiar agglutinative structure, and unaffected even in its vocabulary by the hamitic which has been current for ages on the opposite bank of the senegal. a remarkable feature is the so-called "article," always postfixed and subject to a two-fold series of modifications, first in accordance with the initial consonant of the noun, for which there are six possible consonantal changes (_w_, _m_, _b_, _d_, _s_, _g_), and then according as the object is present, near, not near, and distant, for which there are again four possible vowel changes (_i_, _u_, _o_, _a_), or twenty-four altogether, a tremendous redundancy of useless variants as compared with the single english form _the_. thus this protean particle begins with _b_, _d_ or _w_ to agree with _báye_, father, _digene_, woman, or _fos_, horse, and then becomes _bi_, _bu_, _bo_, _ba_; _di_, _du_ etc.; _wi_, _wu_ etc. to express the presence and the varying distances of these objects: _báye-bi_ = father-the-here; _báye-bu_ = father-the-there; _báye-bo_ = father-the-yonder; _báye-bá_ = father-the-away in the distance. all this is curious enough; but the important point is that it probably gives us the clue to the enigmatic alliterative system of the bantu languages as explained in _ethnology_, p. , the position of course being reversed. thus as in zulu _in_- kose requires _en_- kulu, so in wolof _baye_ requires _bi_, _di_gene _di_, and so on. there are other indications that the now perfected bantu grew out of analogous but less developed processes still prevalent in the sudanese tongues. equally undeveloped is the wolof process of making earthenware, as observed by m. f. regnault amongst the natives brought to paris for the exhibition of . he noticed how one of the women utilised a somewhat deep bowl resting on the ground in such a way as to be easily spun round by the hand, thus illustrating the transition between hand-made and turned pottery. kneading a lump of clay, and thrusting it into the bowl, after sprinkling the sides with some black dust to prevent sticking, she made a hollow in the mass, enlarging and pressing it against the bowl with the back of the fingers bent in, the hand being all the time kept in a vertical position. at the same time the bowl was spun round with the left palm, this movement combined with the pressure exerted by the right hand causing the sides of the vessel to rise and take shape. when high enough it was finished off by thickening the clay to make a rim. this was held in the right hand and made fast to the mouth of the vessel by the friction caused by again turning the bowl with the left hand. this transitional process is frequently met with in africa[ ]. most of the wolofs profess themselves muhammadans, the rest catholics, while all alike are heathen at heart; only the former have charms with texts from the koran which they cannot read, and the latter medals and scapulars of the "seven dolours" or of the trinity, which they cannot understand. many old rites still flourish, the household gods are not forgotten, and for the lizard, most popular of tutelar deities, the customary milk-bowl is daily replenished. glimpses are thus afforded of the totemic system which still survives in a modified form amongst the be-chuana, the mandingans, and several other african peoples, but has elsewhere mostly died out in negroland. the infantile ideas associated with plant and animal totem tokens have been left far behind, when a people like the serers have arrived at such a lofty conception as takhar, god of justice, or even the more materialistic tiurakh, god of wealth, although the latter may still be appealed to for success in nefarious projects which he himself might scarcely be expected to countenance. but the harmony between religious and ethical thought has scarcely yet been reached even amongst some of the higher races. _mandingans._ in the whole of sudan there is scarcely a more numerous or widespread people than the mandingans, who--with their endless ramifications, _kassonké_, _jallonké_, _soninké_, _bambara_, _vei_ and many others--occupy most of the region between the atlantic and the joliba (upper niger) basin, as far south as about ° n. latitude. within these limits it is often difficult to say who are, or who are not members of this great family, whose various branches present all the transitional shades of physical type and culture grades between the true pagan negro and the muhammadan negroid sudanese. even linguistic unity exists only to a limited extent, as the numerous dialects of the mandé stock-language have often diverged so greatly as to constitute independent tongues quite unintelligible to the neighbouring tribes. the typical mandingans, however--faidherbe's malinka-soninké group--may be distinguished from the surrounding populations by their more softened features, broader forehead, larger nose, fuller beard, and lighter colour. they are also distinguished by their industrious habits and generally higher culture, being rivalled by few as skilled tillers of the soil, weavers, and workers in iron and copper. they thus hold much the same social position in the west that the hausa do in the central region beyond the niger, and the french authorities think that "they are destined to take a position of ever increasing importance in the pacified sudan of the future[ ]." thus history brings about its revenges, for the mandingans proper of the kong plateau may fairly claim, despite their late servitude to the fulah conquerors and their present ready acceptance of french rule, to be a historical people with a not inglorious record of over years, as founders of the two great empires of melle and guiné, and of the more recent states of moasina, bambara, kaarta, kong, and others about the water-parting between the head-streams of the niger, and the rivers flowing south to the gulf of guinea. here is the district of manding, which is the original home of the _manding'ké_, _i.e._ "people of manding," as they are generally called, although _mandé_ appears to be the form used by themselves[ ]. here also was the famous city of mali or melle, from which the upper niger group take the name of _mali'nké_, in contradistinction to the _soni'nké_ of the senegal river, the _jalo'nké_ of futa-jallon, and the _bamana_ of bambara, these being the more important historical and cultured groups. according to native tradition and the annals of ahmed bábá, rescued from oblivion by barth[ ], the first mandingan state of guiné (ghána, ghánata), a name still surviving in the vague geographical term "guinea," goes back to pre-muhammadan times. wakayamangha, its legendary founder, is supposed to have flourished years before the hejira, at which date twenty-two kings had already reigned. sixty years after that time the moslem arabs or berbers are said to have already reached west sudan, where they had twelve mosques in ghána, first capital of the empire, and their chief stronghold till the foundation of jinni on the upper niger ( a.d.). two centuries later ( - ) the centre of the mandingan rule was transferred to mali, which under the great king mansa-musa ( - ) became the most powerful sudanese state of which there is any authentic record. for a time it included nearly the whole of west sudan, and a great part of the western sahara, beside the songhai state with its capital gogo, and timbuktu. mansa-musa, who, in the language of the chronicler, "wielded a power without measure or limits," entered into friendly relations with the emperor of morocco, and made a famous pilgrimage to mecca, the splendours of which still linger in the memory of the mussulman populations through whose lands the interminable procession wound its way. he headed , men of arms, says ahmed bábá, and wherever he passed he was preceded by slaves, each bearing a gold stick weighing mitkals ( lbs.), the whole representing a money value of about £ , , (?). the people of cairo and mecca were dazzled by his wealth and munificence; but during the journey a great part of his followers were seized by a painful malady called in their language _tuat_, and this word still lives in the oasis of tuat, where most of them perished. even after the capture of timbuktu by the tuaregs ( ), mali long continued to be the chief state in west nigritia, and carried on a flourishing trade, especially in slaves and gold. but this gold was still supposed to come from the earlier kingdom of guiné, which word consequently still remains associated with the precious metal in the popular belief. about the year mali was captured by the songhai king, omar askia, after which the empire fell to pieces, and its memory now survives only in the ethnical term _mali'nké_. _felups._ from the semi-civilised muhammadan negroid mandingans to the utterly savage full-blood negro felups the transition is abrupt, but instructive. in other regions the heterogeneous ethnical groups crowded into upland valleys, as in the caucasus, have been called the "sweepings of the plains." but in west sudan there are no great ranges towering above the lowlands, and even the "kong mountains" of school geographies have now been wiped out by l. g. binger[ ]. hence the rude aborigines of the inland plateau, retreating before the steady advance of islam, found no place of refuge till they reached the indented fjord-like atlantic seaboard, where many still hold their ground. this is the explanation of the striking contrasts now witnessed between the interior and so many parts of the west coast; on the one hand powerful political organisations with numerous, more or less homogeneous, and semi-civilised negroid populations, on the other an infinite tangle of ethnical and linguistic groups, all alike weltering in the sheerest savagery, or in grades of barbarism even worse than the wild state. even the _felups_, whose territory now stretches from the gambia to the cacheo, but formerly reached the geba and the bissagos islands, do not form a single group. originally the name of an obscure coast-tribe, the term felup or fulup has been extended by the portuguese traders to all the surrounding peoples--_ayamats_, _jolas_, _jigúshes_, _vacas_, _joats_, _karons_, _banyúns_, _banjars_, _fulúns_, _bayots_ and some others who amid much local diversity, presented a sufficiently general outward resemblance to be regarded as a single people by the first european settlers. the felups proper display the physical and mental characters of the typical negro even in an exaggerated form--black colour, flat nose, wide nostrils, very thick and everted lips, red on the inner surface, stout muscular frame, correlated with coarse animal passions, crass ignorance, no arts, industry, or even tribal organisation, so that every little family group is independent and mostly in a state of constant feud with its neighbours. all go naked, armed with bow and arrow, and live in log huts which, though strongly built, are indescribably filthy[ ]. mother-right frequently prevails, rank and property being transmitted in the female line. there is some notion of a superhuman being vaguely identified with the sky, the rain, wind or thunderstorm. but all live in extreme terror of the medicine-man, who is openly courted, but inwardly detested, so that whenever it can be safely done the tables are turned, the witch-doctor is seized and tortured to death. _timni, kru, sierra-leonese, liberians._ somewhat similar conditions prevail all along the seaboard from sierra leone to, and beyond, cape palmas, disturbed or modified by the liberian intruders from the north american plantations, and by the slaves rescued in the thirties and forties by the british cruisers and brought to sierra leone, where their descendants now live in settled communities under european influences. these "coloured" citizens of sierra leone and liberia, who are so often the butt of cheap ridicule, and are themselves perhaps too apt to scorn the kindred "niggers" of the bush, have to be carefully distinguished from these true aborigines who have never been wrenched from their natural environment. in sierra leone the chief aboriginal groups on the coastlands are the _timni_ of the rokelle river, flanked north and south by two branches of the _bulams_, and still further south the _gallinas_, _veys_ and _golas_; in the interior the _lokkos_, _limbas_, _konos_, and _kussas_, with _kurankos_, _mendis_, _hubus_, and other mandingans and fulahs everywhere in the hinterland. of all these the most powerful during the british occupation have always been the timni (timani, temné), who sold to the english the peninsula on which now stands freetown, but afterwards crying off the bargain, repeatedly tried to drive the white and coloured intruders into the sea. they are a robust people of softened negro type, and more industrious farmers than most of the other natives. like the wolofs they believe in the virtue both of christian and moslem amulets, but have hitherto lent a deaf ear to the preachers of both these religions. nevertheless the protestant missionaries have carefully studied the timni language, which possesses an oral literature rich in legends, proverbs, and folklore[ ]. the timni district is a chief centre of the so-called _porro_ fraternity[ ], a sort of secret society or freemasonry widely diffused throughout the coastlands, and possessing its own symbols, skin markings, passwords, and language. it presents curious points of analogy with the brotherhoods of the micronesian islanders, but appears to be even more potent for good and evil, a veritable religious and political state within the state. "when their mandates are issued all wars and civil strife must cease, a general truce is established, and bloodshed stopped, offending communities being punished by bands of armed men in masks. strangers cannot enter the country unless escorted by a member of the guild, who is recognised by passwords, symbolic gestures, and the like. their secret rites are celebrated at night in the depths of the forest, all intruders being put to death or sold as slaves[ ]." in studying the social conditions prevalent amongst the sierra leonese proper, it should be remembered that they are sprung, not only from representatives of almost every tribe along the seaboard, and even in the far interior, but also to a large extent from the freedmen and runaways of nova scotia and london, besides many maroons of jamaica, who were settled here under the auspices of the sierra leone company towards the close of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth century. others also have in recent years been attracted to the settlements from the timni and other tribes of the neighbouring districts. the sierra leonese are consequently not themselves a tribe, nor yet a people, but rather a people in course of formation under the influence of a new environment and of a higher culture. an immediate consequence of such a sudden aggregation of discordant elements was the loss of all the native tongues, and the substitution of english as the common medium of intercourse. but english is the language of a people standing on the very highest plane of culture, and could not therefore be properly assimilated by the _disjecta membra_ of tribes at the lowest rung of the social ladder. the resultant form of speech may be called ludicrous, so ludicrous that the sierra leonese version of the new testament had to be withdrawn from circulation as verging almost on the blasphemous[ ]. it has also to be considered that all the old tribal relations were broken up, while an attempt was made to merge these waifs and strays in a single community based on social conditions to which each and all were utter strangers. it is not therefore surprising that the experiment has not proved a complete success, and that the social relations in sierra leone leave something to be desired. although the freedmen and the rescued captives received free gifts of land, their dislike for the labours of the field induced many to abandon their holdings, and take to huckstering and other more pleasant pursuits. hence their descendants almost monopolise the petty traffic and even the "professions" in freetown and the other colonial settlements. although accused of laziness and dishonesty, they have displayed a considerable degree of industrial as well as commercial enterprise, and the sierra leone craftsmen--smiths, mechanics, carpenters, builders--enjoy a good reputation in all the coast towns. all are christians of various denominations, and even show a marked predilection for the "ministry." yet below the surface the old paganism still slumbers, and vodoo practices, as in the west indies and some of the southern states, are still heard of. morality also is admittedly at a low ebb, and it is curious to note that this has in part been attributed to the freedom enjoyed under the british administration. "they have passed from the sphere of native law to that of british law, which is brought to this young community like an article of ready-made clothing. is it a wonder that the clothes do not fit? is it a wonder that kings and chiefs around sierra leone, instead of wishing their people to come and see how well we do things, dread for them to come to this colony on account of the danger to their morals? in passing into this colony, they pass into a liberty which to them is license[ ]." an experiment of a somewhat different order, but with much the same negative results, has been tried by the well-meaning founders of the republic of liberia. here also the bulk of the "civilised aristocrats" are descended of emancipated plantation slaves, a first consignment of whom was brought over by a philanthropic american society in - . the idea was to start them well in life under the fostering care of their white guardians, and then leave them to work out their own redemption in their own way. all control was accordingly withdrawn in , and since then the settlement has constituted an absolutely independent negro state in the enjoyment of complete self-government. progress of a certain material kind was undoubtedly made. the original "free citizens" increased from in to perhaps , in [ ], and the central administration, modelled on that of the united states, maintained some degree of order among the surrounding aborigines, estimated at some two million within the limits of the republic. but these aborigines have not benefited perceptibly by contact with their "civilised" neighbours, who themselves stand at much the same level intellectually and morally as their repatriated forefathers. instead of attending to the proper administration of the republic, the "weegee," as they are called, have constituted themselves into two factions, the "coloured" or half-breeds, and the full-blood negroes who, like the "blancos" and "neros" of some south american states, spend most of their time in a perpetual struggle for office. all are of course intensely patriotic, but their patriotism takes a wrong direction, being chiefly manifested in their insolence towards the english and other european traders on the coast, and in their supreme contempt for the "stinking bush-niggers," as they call the surrounding aborigines. in internal and external difficulties led to the appointment of a commission by president roosevelt with the result that the american government took charge of the finances, military organisation, agriculture and boundary questions, besides arranging for a loan of £ , . the able administration of president barclay, a pure blooded negro, though not of liberian ancestry, is perhaps the happiest augury for the future of the republic[ ]. the _krus_ (kroomen, krooboys[ ]), whose numerous hamlets are scattered along the coast from below monrovia nearly to cape palmas, are assuredly one of the most interesting people in the whole of africa. originally from the interior, they have developed in their new homes a most un-african love of the sea, hence are regularly engaged as crews by the european skippers plying along those insalubrious coastlands. in this service, in which they are known by such nicknames as "bottle-of-beer," "mashed-potatoes," "bubble-and-squeak," "pipe-of-tobacco," and the like, their word may always be depended upon. but it is to be feared that this loyalty, which with them is a strict matter of business, has earned for them a reputation for other virtues to which they have little claim. despite the many years that they have been in the closest contact with the missionaries and traders, they are still at heart the same brutal savages as ever. after each voyage they return to the native village to spend all their gains and pilferings in drunken orgies, and relapse generally into sheer barbarism till the next steamer rounds the neighbouring headland. "it is not a comfortable reflection," writes bishop ingham, whose testimony will not be suspected of bias, "as we look at this mob on our decks, that, if the ship chance to strike on a sunken rock and become unmanageable, they would rise to a man, and seize all they could lay hands on, cut the very rings off our fingers if they could get them in no other way, and generally loot the ship. little has been done to christianise these interesting, hard-working, cheerful, but ignorant and greedy people, who have so long hung on the skirts of civilisation[ ]." it is only fair to the kru to say that this unflattering picture of them stands alone. "there is but one man of all of us who have visited west africa who has not paid a tribute to the kruboy's sterling qualities," says miss kingsley. her opinion coincides with that of the old coasters based on life-long experience, and she waxes indignant at the ingratitude with which kruboy loyalty is rewarded. "they have devoted themselves to us english, and they have suffered, laboured, fought, been massacred and so on with us generation after generation.... kruboys are, indeed, the backbone of white effort in west africa[ ]." but the very worst "sweepings of the sudanese plateau" seem to have gathered along the upper guinea coast, occupied by the already mentioned _tshi_, _ewe_, and _yoruba_ groups[ ]. they constitute three branches of one linguistic, and probably also of one ethnical family, of which, owing to their historic and ethnical importance, the reader may be glad to have here subjoined a somewhat complete tabulated scheme. the _ga_ of the volta delta are here bracketed with the tshi because a. b. ellis, our great authority on the guinea peoples[ ], considers the two languages to be distantly connected. he also thinks there is a foundation of fact in the native traditions, which bring the dominant tribes--ashanti, fanti, dahomi, yoruba, bini--from the interior to the coast districts at no very remote period. thus it is recorded of the ashanti and fanti, now hereditary foes, that ages ago they formed one people who were reduced to the utmost distress during a long war with some inland power, perhaps the conquering muhammadans of the ghana or mali empire. they were saved, however, some by eating of the _shan_, others of the _fan_ plant, and of these words, with the verb _di_, "to eat," were made the tribal names _shan-di_, _fan-di_, now _ashanti_, _fanti_. the _seppiriba_ plant, said to have been eaten by the fanti, is still called _fan_ when cooked. tribes of tshi tribes of ewe tribes of yoruba and ga speech speech speech _gold coast_ _slave coast west_ _slave coast east_ _and niger delta_ ashanti dahomi yoruba[ ] safwhi eweawo ibadan denkera agotine ketu bekwai anfueh egba nkoranza krepe jebu adansi avenor remo assin awuna ode wassaw agbosomi ilorin ahanta aflao ijesa fanti ataklu ondo agona krikor mahin akwapim geng benin (bini) akim attakpami kakanda akwamu aja wari kwao ewemi ibo[ ] ga appa efik[ ] other traditions refer to a time when all were of one speech, and lived in a far country beyond salagha, open, flat, with little bush, and plenty of cattle and sheep, a tolerably accurate description of the inland sudanese plateaux. but then came a red people, said to be the fulahs, muhammadans, who oppressed the blacks and drove them to take refuge in the forests. here they thrived and multiplied, and after many vicissitudes they came down, down, until at last they reached the coast, with the waves rolling in, the white foam hissing and frothing on the beach, and thought it was all boiling water until some one touched it and found it was not hot, and so to this day they call the sea _eh-huru den o nni shew_, "boiling water not hot," but far inland the sea is still "boiling water[ ]." to a. b. ellis we are indebted especially for the true explanation of the much used and abused term _fetish_, as applied to the native beliefs. it was of course already known to be not an african but a portuguese word[ ], meaning a charm, amulet, or even witchcraft. but ellis shows how it came to be wrongly applied to all forms of animal and nature worship, and how the confusion was increased by de brosses' theory of a primordial fetishism, and by his statement that it was impossible to conceive a lower form of religion than fetishism, which might therefore be assumed to be the beginning of all religion[ ]. on the contrary it represents rather an advanced stage, as ellis discovered after four or five years of careful observation on the spot. a fetish, he tells us, is something tangible and inanimate, which is believed to possess power in itself, and is worshipped for itself alone. nor can such an object be picked up anywhere at random, as is commonly asserted, and he adds that the belief "is arrived at only after considerable progress has been made in religious ideas, when the older form of religion becomes secondary and owes its existence to the confusion of the tangible with the intangible, of the material with the immaterial; to the belief in the indwelling god being gradually lost sight of until the power originally believed to belong to the god, is finally attributed to the tangible and inanimate object itself." but now comes a statement that may seem paradoxical to most students of the evolution of religious ideas. we are assured that fetishism thus understood is not specially or at all characteristic of the religion of the gold coast natives, who are in fact "remarkably free from it" and believe in invisible intangible deities. some of them may dwell in a tangible inanimate object, popularly called a "fetish"; but the idea of the indwelling god is never lost sight of, nor is the object ever worshipped for its own sake. true fetishism, the worship of such material objects and images, prevails, on the contrary, far more "amongst the negroes of the west indies, who have been christianised for more than half-a-century, than amongst those of west africa. hence the belief in obeah, still prevalent in the west indies, which formerly was a belief in indwelling spirits which inhabited certain objects, has now become a worship paid to tangible and inanimate objects, which of themselves are believed to possess the power to injure. in europe itself we find evidence amongst the roman catholic populations of the south, that fetishism is a corruption of a former _culte_, rather than a primordial faith. the lower classes there have confused the intangible with the tangible, and believe that the images of the saints can both see, hear and feel. thus we find the italian peasants and fishermen beat and ill-treat their images when their requests have not been complied with.... these appear to be instances of true fetishism[ ]." another phase of religious belief in upper guinea is ancestry worship, which has here been developed to a degree unknown elsewhere. as the departed have to be maintained in the same social position beyond the grave that they enjoyed in this world, they must be supplied with slaves, wives, and attendants, each according to his rank. hence the institution of the so-called "customs," or anniversary feasts of the dead, accompanied by the sacrifice of human victims, regulated at first by the status and afterwards by the whim and caprice of chiefs and kings. in the capitals of the more powerful states, ashanti, dahomey, benin, the scenes witnessed at these sanguinary rites rivalled in horror those held in honour of the aztec gods. details may here be dispensed with on a repulsive subject, ample accounts of which are accessible from many sources to the general reader. in any case these atrocities teach no lesson, except that most religions have waded through blood to better things, unless arrested in mid-stream by the intervention of higher powers, as happily in upper guinea, where the human shambles of kumassi, abomeh, benin and most other places have now been swept away. on the capture of benin by the english in a rare and unexpected prize fell into the hands of ethnologists. here was found a large assortment of carved ivories, woodwork, and especially a series of about bronze and brass plates or panels with figures of natives and europeans, armed and in armour, in full relief, all cast by the _cire perdue_ process[ ], some barbaric, others, and especially a head in the round of a young negress, showing high artistic skill. many of these remarkable objects are in the british museum, where they have been studied by c. h. read and o. m. dalton[ ], who are evidently right in assigning the better class to the sixteenth century, and to the aid, if not the hand, of some portuguese artificers in the service of the king of benin. they add that "casting of an inferior kind continues down to the present time," and it may here be mentioned that armour has long been and is still worn by the cavalry, and even their horses, in the muhammadan states of central sudan. "the chiefs (_kashelláwa_) who serve as officers under the sultan [of bornu] and act as his bodyguard wear jackets of chain armour and cuirasses of coats of mail[ ]." it is clear that metal casting in a large way has long been practised by the semi-civilised peoples of sudan. within the great bend of the niger the veil, first slightly raised by barth in the middle of the nineteenth century, has now been drawn aside by l. g. binger, f. d. lugard and later explorers. here the _mossi_, _borgu_ and others have hitherto more or less successfully resisted the moslem advance, and are consequently for the most part little removed from the savage state. even the "faithful" wear the cloak of islám somewhat loosely, and the level of their culture may be judged from the case of the imám of diulasu, who pestered binger for nostrums and charms against ailments, war, and misfortunes. what he wanted chiefly to know was the names of abraham's two wives. "tell me these," he would say, "and my fortune is made, for i dreamt it the other night; you must tell me; i really must have those names or i'm lost[ ]." in some districts the ethnical confusion is considerable, and when binger arrived at the court of the mossi king, baikary, he was addressed successively in mossi, hausa, songhai, and fulah, until at last it was discovered that mandingan was the only native language he understood. waghadugu, capital of the chief mossi state, comprises several distinct quarters occupied respectively by mandingans, marengas (songhai), zang-wer'os (hausas), chilmigos (fulahs), mussulman and heathen mossis, the whole population scarcely exceeding . however, perfect harmony prevails, the mossi themselves being extremely tolerant despite the long religious wars they have had to wage against the fanatical fulahs and other muhammadan aggressors[ ]. religious indifference is indeed a marked characteristic of this people, and the case is mentioned of a nominal mussulman prince who could even read and write, and say his prayers, but whose two sons "knew nothing at all," or, as we should say, were "agnostics." one of them, however, it is fair to add, is claimed by both sides, the moslems asserting that he says his prayers in secret, the heathens that he drinks _dolo_ (palm-wine), which of course no true believer is supposed ever to do. central sudanese. in central sudan, that is, the region stretching from the niger to wadai, a tolerably clean sweep has been made of the aborigines, except along the southern fringe and in parts of the chad basin. for many centuries islám has here been firmly established, and in negroland islám is synonymous with a greater or less degree of miscegenation. the native tribes who resisted the fiery arab or tuareg or tibu proselytisers were for the most part either extirpated, or else driven to the southern uplands about the congo-chad water-parting. all who accepted the koran became merged with the conquerors in a common negroid population, which supplied the new material for the development of large social communities and powerful political states. under these conditions the old tribal organisations were in great measure dissolved, and throughout its historic period of about a millennium central sudan is found mainly occupied by peoples gathered together in a small number of political systems, each with its own language and special institutions, but all alike accepting islám as the state religion. such are or were the songhai empire, the hausa states, and the kingdoms of bornu with kanem and baghirmi, and these jointly cover the whole of central sudan as above defined. _songhais_[ ]. how completely the tribe[ ] has merged in the people[ ] may be inferred from the mere statement that, although no longer an independent nation[ ], the negroid songhais form a single ethnical group of about two million souls, all of one speech and one religion, and all distinguished by somewhat uniform physical and mental characters. this territory lies mainly about the borderlands between sudan and the sahara, stretching from timbuktu east to the asben oasis and along both banks of the niger from lake debo round to the sokoto confluence, and also at some points reaching as far as the hombori hills within the great bend of the niger. here they are found in the closest connection with the ireghenaten ("mixed") tuaregs, and elsewhere with other tuaregs, and with arabs, fulahs or hausas[ ], so that exclusively songhai communities are now somewhat rare. but the bulk of the race is still concentrated in gurma and in the district between gobo and timbuktu, the two chief cities of the old songhai empire. they are a distinctly negroid people, presenting various shades of intermixture with the surrounding hamites and semites, but generally of a very deep brown or blackish colour, with somewhat regular features and that peculiar long, black, and ringletty hair, which is so characteristic of negro and caucasic blends, as seen amongst the trarsas and braknas of the senegal, the bejas, danakils, and many abyssinians of the region between the nile and the red sea. barth, to whom we still owe the best account of this historical people, describes them as of a dull, morose temperament, the most unfriendly and churlish of all the peoples visited by him in negroland. this writer's suggestion that they may have formerly had relations with the egyptians[ ] has been revived in an exaggerated form by m. félix dubois, whose views have received currency in england through uncritical notices of his _timbouctou la mystérieuse_ (paris, ). but there is no "mystery" in the matter. the songhai are a sudanese people, whose exodus from egypt is a myth, and whose kissur language, as it is called, has not the remotest connection with any form of speech known to have been at any time current in the nile valley[ ]. nor has it any evident affinities with any group of african tongues. h. h. johnston regards the songhai as the result of the mixing of "the libyan section of the hamitic peoples, reinforced by berbers (iberians) from spain," with the pre-existing fulah type and the negroids; as also from the far earlier intercourse between the fulah and the negro[ ]. the songhai empire, like that of the rival mandingans, claims a respectable antiquity, its reputed founder za-el-yemeni having flourished about a.d. za kasi, fifteenth in succession from the founder, was the first muhammadan ruler ( ); but about the country was reduced by the mandingans, and remained throughout the fourteenth and a great part of the fifteenth century virtually subject to the mali empire, although ali killun, founder of the new sonni dynasty, had acquired a measure of independence about - . but the political supremacy of the songhai people dates only from about , when sonni ali, sixteenth of the sonni dynasty, known in history as "the great tyrant and famous miscreant," threw off the mandingan yoke, "and changed the whole face of this part of africa by prostrating the kingdom of melle[ ]." under his successor, muhammad askia[ ], "perhaps the greatest sovereign that ever ruled over negroland[ ]," the songhai empire acquired its greatest expansion, extending from the heart of hausaland to the atlantic seaboard, and from the mossi country to the tuat oasis, south of morocco. although unfavourably spoken of by leo africanus, askia is described by ahmed bábá as governing the subject peoples "with justice and equity, causing well-being and comfort to spring up everywhere within the borders of his extensive dominions, and introducing such of the institutions of muhammadan civilisation as he considered might be useful to his subjects[ ]." askia also made the mecca pilgrimage with a great show of splendour. but after his reign ( - ) the songhai power gradually declined, and was at last overthrown by mulay hamed, emperor of morocco, in - . ahmed bábá, the native chronicler, was involved in the ruin of his people[ ], and since then the songhai nation has been broken into fragments, subject here to hausas, there to fulahs, elsewhere to tuaregs, and, since the french occupation of timbuktu ( ), to the hated giaur. _hausas._ in everything that constitutes the real greatness of a nation, the hausas may rightly claim preeminence amongst all the peoples of negroland. no doubt early in the nineteenth century the historical hausa states, occupying the whole region between the niger and bornu, were overrun and reduced by the fanatical fulah bands under othmán dan fodye. but the hausas, in a truer sense than the greeks, "have captured their rude conquerors[ ]," for they have even largely assimilated them physically to their own type, and the hausa nationality is under british auspices asserting its natural social, industrial and commercial predominance throughout central and even parts of western sudan. it could not well be otherwise, seeing that the hausas form a compact body of some five million peaceful and industrious sudanese, living partly in numerous farmsteads amid their well-tilled cotton, indigo, pulse, and corn fields, partly in large walled cities and great trading centres such as kano[ ], katsena, yacoba, whose intelligent and law-abiding inhabitants are reckoned by many tens of thousands. their melodious tongue, with a vocabulary containing perhaps , words[ ], has long been the great medium of intercourse throughout sudan from lake chad to and beyond the niger, and is daily acquiring even greater preponderance amongst all the settled and trading populations of these regions. but though showing a marked preference for peaceful pursuits, the hausas are by no means an effeminate people. largely enlisted in the british service, they have at all times shown fighting qualities of a high order under their english officers, and a well-earned tribute has been paid to their military prowess amongst others by sir george goldie and lieut. vandeleur[ ]. with the hausas on her side england need assuredly fear no rivals to her beneficent sway over the teeming populations of the fertile plains and plateaux of central sudan, which is on the whole perhaps the most favoured land in africa north of the equator. according to the national traditions, which go back to no very remote period[ ], the seven historical hausa states known as the "hausa bokoy" ("the seven hausas") take their name from the eponymous heroes _biram_, _daura_, _gober_, _kano_, _rano_, _katsena_ and _zegzeg_, all said to be sprung from the deggaras, a berber tribe settled to the north of munyo. from biram, the original seat, the race and its language spread to seven other provinces--_zanfara_, _kebbi_, _nupe_ (_nyffi_), _gwari_, _yauri_, _yariba_ and _kororofa_, which in contempt are called the "banza bokoy" ("the seven upstarts"). all form collectively the hausa domain in the widest sense. authentic history is quite recent, and even komayo, reputed founder of katsena, dates only from about the fourteenth century. ibrahim maji, who was the first moslem ruler, is assigned to the latter part of the fifteenth century, and since then the chief events have been associated with the fulah wars, ending in the absorption of all the hausa states in the unstable fulah empire of sokoto at the beginning of the nineteenth century. with the fall of kano and sokoto in british supremacy was finally established throughout the hausa states, now termed northern nigeria[ ]. _kanembu_; _kanuri_[ ]; _baghirmi_, _mosgu_. round about the shores of lake chad are grouped three other historical muhammadan nations, the kanembu ("people of kanem") on the north, the kanuri of bornu on the west, and the baghirmi on the south side. the last named was conquered by the sultan of wadai in , and overrun by rabah zobeir, half arab, half negro adventurer, in . but in emile gentil[ ], french commissioner for the district, placed the country under french protection, although french authority was not firmly established until the death of rabah and the rout of his sons in . at the same time kanem was brought under french control, and shortly afterwards bornu was divided between great britain, france and germany. in this region the ethnical relations are considerably more complex than in the hausa states. here islám has had greater obstacles to contend with than on the more open western plateaux, and many of the pagan aborigines have been able to hold their ground either in the archipelagos of lake chad (_yedinas, kuri, buduma_[ ]), or in the swampy tracts and uplands of the logon-shari basin (_mosgu_, _mandara_, _makari_, etc.). it was also the policy of the muhammadans, whose system is based on slavery, not to push their religious zeal too far, for, if all the natives were converted, where could they procure a constant supply of slaves, those who accept the teachings of the prophet being _ipso facto_ entitled to their freedom? hence the pagan districts were, and still are, regarded as convenient preserves, happy hunting-grounds to be raided from time to time, but not utterly wasted; to be visited by organised razzias just often enough to keep up the supply in the home and foreign markets. this system, controlled by the local governments themselves, has long prevailed about the borderlands between islám and heathendom, as we know from barth, nachtigal, and one or two other travellers, who have had reluctantly to accompany the periodical slave-hunting expeditions from bornu and baghirmi to the territories of the pagan mosgu people with their numerous branches (_margi, mandara, makari, logon, gamergu, keribina_) and the other aborigines (_bede, ngisem, so, kerrikerri, babir_) on the northern slopes of the congo-chad water-parting. as usual on such occasions, there is a great waste of life, many perishing in defence of their homes or even through sheer wantonness, besides those carried away captives. "a large number of slaves had been caught this day," writes barth, "and in the evening a great many more were brought in; altogether they were said to have taken one thousand, and there were certainly not less than five hundred. to our utmost horror, not less than full-grown men were mercilessly slaughtered in cold blood, the greater part of them being allowed to bleed to death, a leg having been severed from the body[ ]." there was probably just then a glut in the market. a curious result of these relations is that in the wooded districts some of the natives have reverted to arboreal habits, taking refuge during the raids in the branches of huge bombax-trees converted into temporary strongholds. round the vertical stem of these forest giants is erected a breast-high look-out, while the higher horizontal branches, less exposed to the fire of the enemy, support strongly-built huts and store-houses, where the families of the fugitives take refuge with their effects, including, as nachtigal assures us[ ], their domestic animals, such as goats, dogs, and poultry. during the siege of the aërial fortress, which is often successfully defended, long light ladders of withies are let down at night, when no attack need be feared, and the supply of water and provisions is thus renewed from _caches_ or hiding-places round about. in nachtigal accompanied a predatory excursion to the pagan districts south of baghirmi, when an attack was made on one of these tree-fortresses. such citadels can be stormed only at a heavy loss, and as the gaberi (baghirmi) warriors had no tools capable of felling the great bombax-tree, they were fain to rest satisfied with picking off a poor wretch now and then, and barbarously mutilating the bodies as they fell from the overhanging branches. some of these aborigines disfigure their faces by the disk-like lip-ornament, which is also fashionable in nyassaland, and even amongst the south american botocudos. the type often differs greatly, and while some of the widespread mosgu tribes are of a dirty black hue, with disagreeable expression, wide open nostrils, thick lips, high cheek-bones, coarse bushy hair, and disproportionate knock-kneed legs, other members of the same family astonished barth "by the beauty and symmetry of their forms, and by the regularity of their features, which in some had nothing of what is called the negro type. but i was still more astonished at their complexion, which was very different in different individuals, being in some of a glossy black, and in others of a light copper, or rather rhubarb colour, the intermediate shades being almost entirely wanting. i observed in one house a really beautiful female who, with her son, about eight or nine years of age, formed a most charming group, well worthy of the hand of an accomplished artist. the boy's form did not yield in any respect to the beautiful symmetry of the most celebrated grecian statues. his hair, indeed, was very short and curled, but not woolly. he, as well as his mother and the whole family, were of a pale or yellowish-red complexion, like rhubarb[ ]." there is no suggestion of albinism, and the explanation of such strange contrasts must await further exploration in the whole of this borderland of negroes and bantus about the divide between the chad and the congo basins. the country has until lately been traversed only at rare intervals by pioneers, interested more in political than in anthropological matters. of the settled and more or less cultured peoples in the chad basin, the most important are the _kanembu_[ ], who introduce a fresh element of confusion in this region, being more allied in type and speech to the hamitic tibus than to the negro stock, or at least taking a transitional position between the two; the _kanuri_, the ruling people in bornu, of somewhat coarse negroid appearance[ ]; and the southern _baghirmi_, also decidedly negroid, originally supposed to have come from the upper shari and white nile districts[ ]. their civilisation, such as it is, has been developed exclusively under moslem influences, but it has never penetrated much below the surface. the people are everywhere extremely rude, and for the most part unlettered, although the meagre and not altogether trustworthy kanem-bornu records date from the time of sef, reputed founder of the monarchy about a.d. duku, second in descent from sef, is doubtfully referred to about a.d. hamé, founder of a new dynasty, flourished towards the end of the eleventh century ( - ), and dunama, one of his successors, is said to have extended his sway over a great part of the sahara, including the whole of fezzan ( - ). under omar ( - ) a divorce took place between kanem and bornu, and henceforth the latter country has remained the chief centre of political power in the chad basin. a long series of civil wars was closed by ali ( - ), who founded the present capital, birni, and whose grandson, muhammad, brought the empire of bornu to the highest pitch of its greatness ( - ). under ahmed ( - ) began the wars with the fulahs, who, after bringing the empire to the verge of ruin, were at last overthrown by the aid of the kanem people, and since bornu has been ruled by the present kanemíyín dynasty, which though temporarily conquered by rabah in , was restored under british administration in [ ]. eastern sudanese. as some confusion prevails regarding the expression "eastern sudan," i may here explain that it bears a very different meaning, according as it is used in a political or an ethnical sense. politically it is practically synonymous with egyptian sudan, that is the whole region from darfur to the red sea which was ruled or misruled by the khedivial government before the revolt of the mahdi ( - ), and was restored to egypt by the british occupation of khartum in . ethnically eastern sudan comprises all the lands east of the chad basin, where the negro or negroid populations are predominant, that is to say, wadai, darfur, and kordofan in the west, the nile valley from the frontier of egypt proper south to albert nyanza, both slopes of the nile-congo divide (the western tributaries of the white nile and the welle-makua affluent of the congo), lastly the sobat valley with some negro enclaves east of the white nile, and even south of the equator (kavirondo, semliki valley). throughout this region the fusion of the aborigines with hamites and arabs, tuareg, or tibu moslem intruders, wherever they have penetrated, has been far less complete than in central and western sudan. thus in wadai the dominant maba people, whence the country is often called dar-maba ("mabaland"), are rather negro than negroid, with but a slight strain of foreign blood. in the northern districts the _zogháwa_, _gura'an_, _baele_ and _bulala_ tibus keep quite aloof from the blacks, as do elsewhere; the _aramkas_, as the arabs are collectively called in wadai. yet the _mahamíd_ and some other bedouin tribes have here been settled for over years, and it was through their assistance that the mabas acquired the political supremacy they have enjoyed since the seventeenth century, when they reduced or expelled the _tynjurs_[ ], the former ruling race, said to be nubians originally from dongola. it was abd-el-kerim, founder of the new moslem maba state, who gave the country its present name in honour of his grandfather, _wadai_. his successor kharúb i removed the seat of government to wara, where vogel was murdered in . abeshr, the present capital, dates only from the year . except for nachtigal, who crossed the frontier in , nothing was known of the land or its people until the french occupation at the end of the last century ( ). since that date it has been prominent as the scene of the attack on a french column and the death of its leader, colonel moll, in , and the tragic murder of lieutenant boyd alexander earlier in the same year[ ]. _nubas._ as in wadai, the intruding and native populations have been either imperfectly or not at all assimilated in darfur and kordofan, where the muhammadan semites still boast of their pure arab descent[ ], and form powerful confederacies. chief among these are the _baggara_ (baqqara, "cow-herds"), cattle-keepers and agriculturalists, of whom some are as dark as the blackest negroes, though many are fine-looking, with regular, well-shaped features. their form of arabic is notoriously corrupt. their rivals, the _jaalan_ (jalin, jahalin), are mostly riverain "arabs," a learned tribe, containing many scribes, and their language is said to be closer to classical arabic than the form current in egypt. these are the principal slave-hunters of the sudan, and the famous zobeir belonged to their tribe. the _yemanieh_ are largely traders, and trace their origin from south arabia. the _kababish_ are the wealthiest camel-owning tribe, perhaps less contaminated by negro blood than any other arab tribe in the sudan[ ]. the _nuba_ and the _nubians_ have been a source of much confusion, but recent investigations in the field such as those of c. g. seligman[ ] and h. a. macmichael[ ], and the publications of the archaeological survey of nubia conducted by g. a. reisner, help to elucidate the problem. we have first of all to get rid of the "nuba-fulah" family, which was introduced by fr. müller and accepted by some english writers, but has absolutely no existence. the two languages, although both of the agglutinative sudanese type, are radically distinct in all their structural, lexical, and phonetic elements, and the two peoples are equally distinct. the fulahs are of north african origin, although many have in recent times been largely assimilated to their black sudanese subjects. the nuba on the contrary belong originally to the negro stock, with hair of the common negro type, and are among the darkest skinned tribes in the sudan, their colour varying from a dark chocolate brown to the darkest shade of brown black. but rightly to understand the question we have carefully to avoid confusion between the nubians of the nile valley and the negro _nubas_, who gave their name to the nuba mountains, kordofan, where most of the aborigines (_kargo, kulfan, kolaji, tumali, lafofa, eliri, talodi_) still belong to this connection[ ]. kordofan is probably itself a nuba word meaning "land of the kordo" (_fán_ = arab, _dár_, land, country). there is a certain amount of anthropological evidence to connect the nuba with the _fur_ and the _kara_ of darfur to the west[ ]. but it is a different anthropological type that is represented in the three groups of _matokki_ (_kenus_) between the first cataract and wadi-el-arab, the _mahai_ (_marisi_) between korosko and wadi-halfa, at the second cataract, and the _dongolawi_, of the province of dongola between wadi-halfa and jebel deja near meroe. these three groups, all now muhammadans, but formerly christians, constitute collectively the so-called "nubians" of european writers, but call themselves _barabra_, plural of _berberi_, _i.e._ people of berber, although they do not at present extend so far up the nile as that town[ ]. possibly these are strabo's "noubai, who dwell on the left bank of the nile in libya [africa], a great nation etc.[ ]"; and are also to be identified with the _nobatae_, who in diocletian's time were settled, some in the kharga oasis, others in the nile valley about meroe, to guard the frontiers of the empire against the incursions of the restless blemmues. but after some time they appear to have entered into peaceful relations with these hamites, the present bejas, even making common cause with them against the romans; but the confederacy was crushed by maximinus in , though perhaps not before crossings had taken place between the nobatae and the caucasic bejas. then these bejas withdrew to their old homes, which they still occupy, between the nile and the red sea above egypt, while the nobatae, embracing christianity, as is said, in , established the powerful kingdom of dongola which lasted over years, and was finally overthrown by the arabs in the fourteenth century, since which time the nile nubians have been muhammadans. there still remains the problem of language which, as shown by lepsius[ ], differs but slightly from that now current amongst the kordofan nubas. but this similarity only holds in the north, and is now shown to be due to berberine immigration into kordofan[ ]. recent investigations show that the nuba and the barabra, in spite of this linguistic similarity which has misled certain authors[ ], are not to be regarded as belonging to the same race[ ]. "the nuba are a tall, stoutly built muscular people, with a dark, almost black skin. they are predominantly mesaticephalic, for although cephalic indices under and over both occur, nearly per cent. of the individuals measured are mesaticephals, the remaining being dolichocephalic and brachycephalic in about equal proportions." the hair is invariably woolly. the barabra, on the contrary, is of slight, or more commonly medium build, not particularly muscular and in skin colour varies from a yellowish to a chocolate brown. the hair is commonly curly or wavy and may be almost straight, while the features are not uncommonly absolutely non-negroid. "thus there can be no doubt that the two peoples are essentially different in physical characters and the same holds good on the cultural side" (p. ). barabra were identified by lepsius with the wawat, a people frequently mentioned in egyptian records, and recent excavations by the members of the archaeological survey of nubia show a close connection with the predynastic egyptians, a connection supported also on physical grounds. it seems strange, therefore, to meet with repeated reference on egyptian monuments to negroes in nubia when, as proved by excavations, the inhabitants were by no means negroes or even frankly negroid. seligman's solution of the difficulty is as follows (p. ). it seems that only one explanation is tenable, namely that for a period subsequent to the middle kingdom the country in the neighbourhood of the second cataract became essentially a negro country and may have remained in this condition for some little time. then a movement in the opposite direction set in; the negroes, diminished by war, were in part driven back by the great conquerors of the new empire; those that were left mixed with the egyptian garrisons and traders and once more a hybrid race arose which, however, preserved the language of its negro ancestors. although seligman regards the conclusion that this race gave rise directly to the present-day inhabitants of nubia as "premature," and suggests further mixture with the beja of the eastern deserts, elliot smith recognises the essential similarity between the homogeneous blend of egyptian and negro traits which characterise the middle nubian people (contemporary with the middle empire, xii-xvii dynasties), a type which "seems to have remained dominant in nubia ever since then, for the span of almost years[ ]." before the incursions of the nubian-arab traders and raiders, who began to form settlements (_zeribas_, fenced stations) in the upper nile regions above khartum about the middle of the nineteenth century, most of the nile-congo divide (white nile tributaries and welle-makua basin) belonged in the strictest sense to the negro domain. sudanese tribes, and even great nations reckoned by millions, had been for ages in almost undisturbed possession, not only of the main stream from the equatorial lakes to and beyond the sobat junction, but also of the sobat valley itself, and of the numerous south-western head-waters of the white nile converging about lake no above the sobat junction. nearly all the nile peoples--the _shilluks_ and _dinkas_ about the sobat confluence, the _bari_ and _nuers_ of the bahr-el-jebel, the _bongos_ (_dors_), _rols_, _golos_, _mittus_, _madis_, _makarakas_, _abakas_, _mundus_, and many others about the western affluents, as well as the _funj_ of senaar--had been brought under the khedivial rule before the revolt of the mahdi. the same fate had already overtaken or was threatening the formerly powerful _mombuttu_ (_mangbattu_) and _zandeh_[ ] nations of the welle lands, as well as the _krej_ and others about the low watersheds of the nile-congo and chad basins. since then the welle groups have been subjected to the jurisdiction of the congo free state, while the political destinies of the nilotic tribes must henceforth be controlled by the british masters of the nile lands from the great lakes to the mediterranean. although grouped as negroes proper, very few of the nilotic peoples present the almost ideal type of the blacks, such as those of upper guinea and the atlantic coast of west sudan. the complexion is in general less black, the nose less broad at the base, the lips less everted (shilluks and one or two others excepted), the hair rather less frizzly, the dolichocephaly and prognathism less marked. apart from the more delicate shades of transition, due to diverse interminglings with hamites and semites, two distinct types may be plainly distinguished--one black, often very tall, with long thin legs, and long-headed (_shilluks, dinkas, bari, nuers, alur_), the other reddish or ruddy brown, more thick-set, and short-headed (_bongos_, _golos_, _makarakas_, with the kindred _zandehs_ of the welle region). no explanation has been offered of their brachycephaly, which is all the more difficult to account for, inasmuch as it is characteristic neither of the aboriginal negro nor of the intruding hamitic and semitic elements. have we here an indication of the transition suspected by many between the true long-headed negro and the round-headed negrillo, who is also brownish, and formerly ranged as far north as the nile head-streams, as would appear from the early egyptian records (chap. iv.)? schweinfurth found that the bongos were "hardly removed from the lowest grade of brachycephaly[ ]," and the same is largely true of the zandehs and their makaraka cousins, as noticed by junker: "the skull also in many of these peoples approaches the round form, whereas the typical negro is assumed to be long-headed[ ]." but so great is the diversity of appearance throughout the whole of this region, including even "a striking semitic type," that this observer was driven to the conclusion that "woolly hair, common to all, forms in fact the only sure characteristic of the negro[ ]." dinka is the name given to a congeries of independent tribes spread over a vast area, stretching from miles south of khartum to within miles of gondokoro, and reaching many miles to the west in the bahr-el-ghazal province. all these tribes according to c. g. seligman[ ] call themselves _jieng_ or _jenge_, corrupted by the arabs into dinka; but no dinka nation has arisen, for the tribes have never recognised a supreme chief, as do their neighbours, the shilluk, nor have they even been united under a military despot, as the zulu were united under chaka. they differ in manners and customs and even in physique and are often at war with one another. one of the most obvious distinctions in habits is between the relatively powerful cattle-owning dinka and the small and comparatively poor tribes who have no cattle and scarcely cultivate the ground, but live in the marshes in the neighbourhood of the sudd, and depend largely for their sustenance on fishing and hippopotamus-hunting. their villages, which are generally dirty and evil-smelling, are built on ground which rises but little above the reed-covered surface of the country. the dinka community is largely autonomous under leadership of a chief or headman (_bain_) who is sometimes merely the local magician, but in one community in each tribe he is the hereditary rain-maker whose wish is law. "cattle form the economic basis of dinka society; ... they are the currency in which bride-price and blood-fines are paid; and the desire to acquire a neighbour's herds is the common cause of those inter-tribal raids which constitute dinka warfare." some uniformity appears to prevail amongst the languages of the nile-welle lands, and from the rather scanty materials collected by junker, fr. müller was able to construct an "equatorial linguistic family," including the mangbattu, zandeh, barmbo, madi, bangba, krej, golo and others, on both sides of the water-parting. leo reinisch, however, was not convinced, and in a letter addressed to the author declared that "in the absence of sentences it is impossible to determine the grammatical structure of mangbattu and the other languages. at the same time we may detect certain relations, not to the nilotic, but the bantu tongues. it may therefore be inferred that mangbattu and the others have a tolerably close relationship to the bantu, and may even be remotely akin to it, judging from their tendency to prefix formations[ ]." future research will show how far this conjecture is justified. although islám has made considerable progress, throughout the greater part of the sudanese region, though not among the nilotic tribes, the bulk of the people are still practically pagan. witchcraft continues to flourish amongst the equatorial peoples, and important events are almost everywhere attended by sanguinary rites. these are absent among the true nilotics. the dinka are totemic, with ancestor-worship. the shilluk have a cult of divine kings. cannibalism however, in some of its most repulsive forms, prevails amongst the zandehs, who barter in human fat as a universal staple of trade, and amongst the mangbattu, who cure for future use the bodies of the slain in battle and "drive their prisoners before them, as butchers drive sheep to the shambles, and these are only reserved to fall victims on a later day to their horrible and sickly greediness[ ]." in fact here we enter the true "cannibal zone," which, as i have elsewhere shown, was in former ages diffused all over central and south africa, or, it would be more correct to say, over the whole continent[ ], but has in recent times been mainly confined to "the region stretching west and east from the gulf of guinea to the western head-streams of the white nile, and from below the equator northwards in the direction of adamáwa, dar-banda and dar-fertit. wherever explorers have penetrated into this least-known region of the continent they have found the practice fully established, not merely as a religious rite or a privilege reserved for priests, but as a recognised social institution[ ]." yet many of these cannibal peoples, especially the mangbattus and zandehs, are skilled agriculturists, and cultivate some of the useful industries, such as iron and copper smelting and casting, weaving, pottery and wood-carving, with great success. the form and ornamental designs of their utensils display real artistic taste, while the temper of their iron implements is often superior to that of the imported european hardware. here again the observation has been made that the tribes most addicted to cannibalism also excel in mental qualities and physical energy. nor are they strangers to the finer feelings of human nature, and above all the surrounding peoples the zandeh anthropophagists are distinguished by their regard and devotion for their women and children. in one respect all these peoples show a higher degree of intelligence even than the arabs and hamites. "my later experiences," writes junker, "revealed the remarkable fact that certain negro peoples, such as the niam-niams, the mangbattus and the bantus of uganda and unyoro, display quite a surprising understanding of figured illustrations or pictures of plastic objects, which is not as a rule exhibited by the arabs and arabised hamites of north-east africa. thus the unyoro chief, riongo, placed photographs in their proper position, and was able to identify the negro portraits as belonging to the shuli, lango, or other tribes, of which he had a personal knowledge. this i have called a remarkable fact, because it bespoke in the lower races a natural faculty for observation, a power to recognise what for many arabs or egyptians of high rank was a hopeless puzzle. an egyptian pasha in khartum could never make out how a human face in profile showed only one eye and one ear, and he took the portrait of a fashionable parisian lady in extremely low dress for that of the bearded sun-burnt american naval officer who had shown him the photograph[ ]." from this one is almost tempted to infer that, amongst moslem peoples, all sense of plastic, figurative, or pictorial art has been deadened by the koranic precept forbidding the representation of the human form in any way. the welle peoples show themselves true negroes in the possession of another and more precious quality, the sense of humour, although this is probably a quality which comes late in the life of a race. anyhow it is a distinct negro characteristic, which junker was able to turn to good account during the building of his famous _lacrima_ station in ndoruma's country. "in all this i could again notice how like children the negroes are in many respects. once at work they seemed animated by a sort of childlike sense of honour. they delighted in praise, though even a frown or a word of reproach could also excite their hilarity. thus a loud burst of laughter would, for instance, follow the contrast between a piece of good and bad workmanship. like children, they would point the finger of scorn at each other[ ]." one morning ndoruma, hearing that they had again struck work, had the great war-drum beaten, whereupon they rushed to arms and mustered in great force from all quarters. but on finding that there was no enemy to march against, and that they had only been summoned to resume operations at the station, they enjoyed the joke hugely, and after a general explosion of laughter at the way they had been taken in, laid aside their weapons and returned cheerfully to work. some english overseers have already discovered that this characteristic may be utilised far more effectively than the cruel kurbash. ethnology has many such lessons to teach. footnotes: [ ] for a tentative classification of african tribes see t. a. joyce, art. "africa: ethnology," _ency. brit._ , p. . [ ] graphically summed up in the classical description of the negress: "afra genus, totâ patriam testante figurâ, torta comam labroque tumens, et fusca colorem, pectore lata, jacens mammis, compressior alvo, cruribus exilis, spatiosâ prodiga plantâ." [ ] see h. r. hall, papers and references in _man_, , . [ ] t. a. joyce, "africa: ethnology," _ency. brit._ , i. . [ ] j. p. johnson, _the prehistoric period in south africa_, . [ ] see h. h. johnston, "a survey of the ethnography of africa," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xliii. . [ ] the skeleton found by hans reck at oldoway in and claimed by him to be of pleistocene age exhibits all the typical negro features, including the filed teeth, characteristic of east african negroes at the present day, but the geological evidence is imperfect. [ ] h. h. johnston, _british central africa_, , p. . [ ] zandeh is the name usually given to the groups of tribes akin to nilotics, but probably with fulah element, which includes the _azandeh_ or niam niam, _makaraka_, _mangbattu_ and many others. cf. t. a. joyce, _loc. cit._ p. . [ ] _british central africa_, p. . but see r. e. dennett, _at the back of the black man's mind_, , and a. g. leonard, _the lower niger and its tribes_, , for african mentality. [ ] for theories of bantu migrations see h. h. johnston, _george grenfell and the congo_, , and "a survey of the ethnography of africa," _journ. roy. anthr. soc._ xliii. , p. ff. also f. stuhlmann, _handwerk und industrie in ostafrika_, , p. , f. , with map, pl. . b. for the date see p. . [ ] even a tendency to polysynthesis occurs, as in vei, and in yoruba, where the small-pox god _shakpanna_ is made up of the three elements _shan_ to plaster, _kpa_ to kill, and _enia_ a person = one who kills a person by plastering him (with pustules). [ ] the nilotic languages are to a considerable extent tonic. [ ] a. b. ellis, _the tshi-speaking peoples_, etc., , pp. - . only one european, herr r. betz, long resident amongst the dualas of the cameruns district, has yet succeeded in mastering the drum language; he claims to understand nearly all that is drummed and is also able to drum himself. (_athenæum_, may , , p. .) [ ] cf. h. s. harrison, _handbook to the cases illustrating stages in the evolution of the domestic arts_. part ii. horniman museum and library. forest hill, s.e. [ ] e. t. hamy, "les races nègres," in _l'anthropologie_, , p. sq. [ ] "chaque fois que j'ai demandé avec intention à un mandé, 'es-tu peul, mossi, dafina?' il me répondait invariablement, '_je suis mandé_.' c'est pourquoi, dans le cours de ma relation, j'ai toujours désigné ce peuple par le nom de _mandé_, qui est son vrai nom." (l. g. binger, _du niger au golfe de guinée_, , vol. ii. p. .) at p. this authority gives the following subdivisions of the mandé family, named from their respective _tenné_ (idol, fetish, totem): . _bamba_, the crocodile: _bammana_, not _bambara_, which means kafir or infidel, and is applied only to the non-moslem mandé groups. . _mali_, the hippopotamus: _mali'nké_, including the kagoros and the tagwas. . _sama_, the elephant: _sama'nké_. . _sa_, the snake: _sa-mokho_. of each there are several sub-groups, while the surrounding peoples call them all collectively _wakoré_, _wangara_, _sakhersi_, and especially _diula_. attention to this point will save the reader much confusion in consulting barth, caillié, and other early books of travel. [ ] _travels_, vol. iv. p. sqq. [ ] "la chaîne des montagnes de kong n'a jamais existé que dans l'imagination de quelques voyageurs mal renseignés," _du niger au golfe de guinée_, , i. p. . [ ] bertrand-bocandé, "sur les floups ou féloups," in _bul. soc. de géogr_. . [ ] a full account of this literature will be found in the rev. c. f. schlenker's valuable work, _a collection of temne traditions, fables and proverbs_, london, . here is given the curious explanation of the tribal name, from _o-tem_, an old man, and _né_, himself, because, as they say, the temné people will exist for ever. [ ] there is also a sisterhood--the _bondo_--and the two societies work so far in harmony that any person expelled from the one is also excluded from the other. [ ] reclus, keane's english ed., xii. p. . [ ] "da njoe testament, translated into the negro-english language by the missionaries of the unitas fratrum," brit. and for. bible soc., london, . here is a specimen quoted by ellis from _the artisan_ of sierra leone, aug. , , "those who live in ceiled houses love to hear the pit-pat of the rain overhead; whilst those whose houses leak are the subjects of restlessness and anxiety, not to mention the chances of catching cold, _that is so frequent a source of leaky roofs_." [ ] right rev. e. g. ingham (bishop of sierra leone), _sierra leone after a hundred years_, london, , p. . cf. h. c. lukach, _a bibliography of sierra leone_, , and t. j. alldridge, _a transformed colony_, . [ ] this increase, however, appears to be due to a steady immigration from the southern states, but for which the liberians proper would die out, or become absorbed in the surrounding native populations. [ ] h. h. johnston, _liberia_, . [ ] possibly the english word "crew," but more probably an extension of _kraoh_, the name of a tribe near settra-kru, to the whole group. [ ] _sierra leone after a hundred years_, p. . [ ] mary h. kingsley, _travels in west africa_, , pp. - . [ ] since the establishment of british authority in nigeria ( to ) much light has been thrown on ethnological problems. see among other works c. partridge, _the cross river natives_, ; a. g. leonard, _the lower niger and its tribes_, ; a. j. n. tremearne, _the niger and the western sudan_, , _the tailed head-hunters of nigeria_, ; r. e. dennett, _nigerian studies_, ; e. d. morel, _nigeria, its people and its problems_, , besides the _anthropological reports_ of n. w. thomas, , , and papers by j. parkinson in _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xxxvi. , xxxvii. . [ ] the services rendered to african anthropology by this distinguished officer call for the fullest recognition, all the more that somewhat free and unacknowledged use has been made of the rich materials brought together in his classical works on _the tshi-speaking peoples_ ( ), _the ewe-speaking peoples_ ( ), and _the yoruba-speaking peoples_ ( ). [ ] n. w. thomas classifies yoruba, edo, ibo and efik as four main stocks in the western sudanic language group. "in the edo and ibo stocks people only a few miles apart may not be able to communicate owing to diversity of language" (p. ). _anthropological report of the ibo-speaking peoples of nigeria_, part . . [ ] _the tshi-speaking peoples_, p. sq. [ ] _feitiço_, whence also _feiticeira_, a witch, _feiticeria_, sorcery, etc., all from _feitiço_, artificial, handmade, from lat. _facio_ and _factitius_. [ ] _du culte des dieux fétiches_, . it is generally supposed that the word was invented, or at least first introduced, by de brosses; but ellis shows that this also is a mistake, as it had already been used by bosman in his _description of guinea_, london, . [ ] _the tshi-speaking peoples_, ch. xii. p. and _passim._ see also r. h. nassau, _fetichism in west africa_, . [ ] that is, from a wax mould destroyed in the casting. after the operation details were often filled in by chasing or executed in _repoussé_ work. [ ] "works of art from benin city," _journ. anthr. inst._ february, , p. sq. see h. ling roth, _great benin, its customs_, etc., . [ ] a. featherman, _social history of mankind_, the nigritians, p. . see also reclus, french ed., vol. xii. p. : "les cavaliers portent encore la cuirasse comme au moyen âge.... les chevaux sont recouverts de la même manière." in the mythical traditions of buganda also there is reference to the fierce wakedi warriors clad in "iron armour" (ch. iv.). cf. l. frobenius, _the voice of africa_, ii. , pl. p. . [ ] _du niger au golfe de guinée_, , i. p. . [ ] early in the fourteenth century they were strong enough to carry the war into the enemy's camp and make more than one successful expedition against timbuktu. at present the mossi power is declining, and their territory has been parcelled out between the british and french sudanese hinterlands. [ ] also _sonrhay_, _gh_ and _rh_ being interchangeable throughout north africa; _ghat_ and _rhat_, _ghadames_ and _rhadames_, etc. in the mouth of an arab the sound is that of the guttural [symbol], _ghain_, which is pronounced by the berbers and negroes somewhat like the northumberland _burr_, hence usually transliterated by _rh_ in non-semitic words. [ ] it should be noticed that these terms are throughout used as strictly defined in _eth._ ch. i. [ ] barth's account of wulu (iv. p. ), "inhabited by tawárek slaves, who are _trilingues_, speaking temáshight as well as songhay and fulfulde," is at present generally applicable, _mutatis mutandis_, to most of the songhai settlements. [ ] as so much has been made of barth's authority in this connection, it may be well to quote his exact words: "it would seem as if they (the sonrhay) had received, in more ancient times, several institutions from the egyptians, with whom, i have no doubt, they maintained an intercourse by means of the energetic inhabitants of aujila from a relatively ancient period" (iv. p. ). barth, therefore, does not bring the people themselves, or their language, from egypt, but only some of their institutions, and that indirectly through the aujila oasis in cyrenaica, and it may be added that this intercourse with aujila appears to date only from about a.d. (iv. p. ). [ ] hacquard et dupuis, _manuel de la langue soñgay, parlée de tombouctou à say, dans la boucle du niger_, , _passim._ [ ] "a survey of the ethnography of africa," _journ. roy. anthr. soc._ xliii. , p. . [ ] barth, iv. pp. - . [ ] the _ischia_ of leo africanus, who tells us that in his time the "linguaggio detto sungai" was current even in the provinces of walata and jinni (vi. ch. ). this statement, however, like others made by leo at second hand, must be received with caution. in these districts songhai may have been spoken by the officials and some of the upper classes, but scarcely by the people generally, who were of mandingan speech. [ ] barth, iv. p. . [ ] _ib._ p. . [ ] carried captive into marakesh, although later restored to his beloved timbuktu to end his days in perpetuating the past glories of the songhai nation; the one negroid man of letters, whose name holds a worthy place beside those of leo africanus, ibn khaldún, el tunsi, and other hamitic writers. [ ] "graecia capta ferum victorem cepit, et artes intulit agresti latio." hor. _epist._ ii. , - . the epithet _agrestis_ is peculiarly applicable to the rude fulah shepherds, who were almost barbarians compared with the settled, industrious, and even cultured hausa populations, and whose oppressive rule has at last been relaxed by the intervention of england in the niger-benue lands. [ ] "one of their towns, kano, has probably the largest market-place in the world, with a daily attendance of from , to , people. this same town possesses, what in central africa is still more surprising, some thirty or forty schools, in which the children are taught to read and write" (rev. c. h. robinson, _specimens of hausa literature_, university press, cambridge, , p. x). [ ] see c. h. robinson, _hausaland, or fifteen hundred miles through the central soudan_, ; _specimens of hausa literature_, ; _hausa grammar_, ; _hausa dictionary_, . authorities are undecided whether to class hausa with the semitic or the hamitic family, or in an independent group by itself, and it must be admitted that some of its features are extremely puzzling. while sudanese negro in phonology and perhaps in most of its word roots, it is hamitic in its grammatical features and pronouns. but the hamitic element is thought by experts to be as much kushite, or even koptic, as libyan. "on the whole, it seems probable," says h. h. johnston, "that the hausa speech was shaped by a double influence: from egypt, and hamiticized nubia, as well as by libyan immigrants from across the sahara." "a survey of the ethnography of africa," _journ. roy. anthr. soc._ xliii. , p. . cf. also julius lippert, "Über die stellung der hausasprache," _mitteilungen des seminärs für orientalische sprachen_, . it is noteworthy that hausa is the only language in tropical africa which has been reduced to writing by the natives themselves. [ ] _campaigning on the upper nile and niger_, by lt seymour vandeleur, with an introduction by sir george goldie, . "in camp," writes lt vandeleur, "their conduct was exemplary, while pillaging and ill-treatment of the natives were unknown. as to their fighting qualities, it is enough to say that, little over strong (on the bida expedition of ), they withstood for two days , or , of the enemy; that, former slaves of the fulahs, they defeated their dreaded masters," etc. [ ] the kano chronicle, translated by h. r. palmer, _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xxxviii. , gives a list of hausa kings (sarkis) from a.d. [ ] for references to recent literature see note on p. . also r. s. rattray, _hausa folk-lore_, ; a. j. n. tremearne, _hausa superstitions and customs_, , and _hausa folk-tales_, . [ ] by a popular etymology these are _ka-núri_, "people of light." but, as they are somewhat lukewarm muhammadans, the zealous fulahs say it should be _ka-nari_, "people of fire," _i.e._ foredoomed to gehenna! [ ] e. gentil, _la chute de l'empire de rabah_, . [ ] the buduma, who derive their legendary origin from the fulahs whom they resemble in physique, worship the _karraka_ tree (a kind of acacia). p. a. talbot, "the buduma of lake chad," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xli. . the anthropology of the region has lately been dealt with in _documents scientifiques de la mission tilho_ ( - ), _république française, ministère des colonies_, vol. iii. ; r. gaillard and l. poutrin, _Étude anthropologique des populations des régions du tchad et du kanem_, . [ ] iii. p. . [ ] _sahara and sudan_, ii. p. . [ ] ii. pp. - . [ ] that is "kanem-men," the postfix _bu_, _be_, as in _ti-bu_, _ful-be_, answering to the bantu prefix _ba_, _wa_, as in _ba-suto_, _wa-swahili_, etc. here may possibly be discovered a link between the sudanese, teda-daza, and bantu linguistic groups. the transposition of the agglutinated particles would present no difficulty; cf. umbrian and latin (_eth._ p. ). the kanembu are described by tilho, who explored the chad basin, - . his reports were published in . _république française ministère des colonies, documents scientifiques de la mission tilho_ ( - ), vol. iii. . [ ] barth draws a vivid picture of the contrasts, physical and mental, between the kanuri and the hausa peoples; "here we took leave of hausa with its fine and beautiful country, and its cheerful and industrious population. it is remarkable what a difference there is between the character of the ba-haushe and the kanuri--the former lively, spirited, and cheerful, the latter melancholic, dejected, and brutal; and the same difference is visible in their physiognomies--the former having in general very pleasant and regular features, and more graceful forms, while the kanuri, with his broad face, his wide nostrils and his large bones, makes a far less agreeable impression, especially the women, who are very plain and certainly among the ugliest in all negroland" (ii. pp. - ). [ ] see nachtigal, ii. p. . [ ] for recent literature see lady lugard's _a tropical dependency_, , and the references, note , p. . [ ] these are the same people as the _tunjurs_ (_tunzers_) of darfur, regarding whose ethnical position so much doubt still prevails. strange to say, they themselves claim to be arabs, and the claim is allowed by their neighbours, although they are not muhammadans. lejean thinks they are tibus from the north-west, while nachtigal, who met some as far west as kanem, concluded from their appearance and speech that they were really arabs settled for hundreds of years in the country (_op. cit._ ii. p. ). [ ] a. h. keane, "wadai," _travel and exploration_, july, ; and h. h. johnston, on lieut. boyd alexander, _geog. journ._ same date. [ ] h. a. macmichael has investigated the value of these racial claims in the case of the kababish and indicates the probable admixture of negro, mediterranean, hamite and other strains in the sudanese arabs. he says, "among the more settled tribes any important sheikh or faki can produce a table of his ancestors (_i.e._ a _nisba_) in support of his asseverations.... i asked a village sheikh if he could show me his pedigree, as i did not know from which of the exalted sources his particular tribe claimed descent. he replied that he did not know yet, but that his village had subscribed piastres the month before to hire a faki to compose a _nisba_ for them, and that he would show me the result when it was finished." "the kababish: some remarks on the ethnology of a sudan arab tribe," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xl. , p. . [ ] see the kababish types, pl. xxxvii in c. g. seligman's "some aspects of the hamitic problem in the anglo-egyptian sudan," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xliii. , but cf. also p. and n. . [ ] "the physical characters of the nuba of kordofan," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xl. , "some aspects of the hamitic problem," etc., _tom. cit._ xliii. . [ ] see h. a. macmichael, _the tribes of northern and central kordofán_, . [ ] cf. a. w. tucker and c. s. myers, "a contribution to the anthropology of the sudan," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xl. , p. . [ ] this term, however, has by some authorities been identified with the _barabara_, one of the tribes recorded in the inscription on a gateway of thutmes, by whom they were reduced about b.c. in a later inscription of rameses ii at karnak ( b.c.) occurs the form _beraberata_, name of a southern people conquered by him. hence brugsch (_reisebericht aus Ægypten_, pp. and ) is inclined to regard the modern _barabra_ as a true ethnical name confused in classical times with the greek and roman _barbarus_, but revived in its proper sense since the moslem conquest. see also the editorial note on the term _berber_, in the new english ed. of leo africanus, vol. . p. . [ ] [greek:'ex aristerôn de ruseôs tou neilou noubai katoikousin en tê libuê, mega ethnos], etc. (book xvii. p. , oxford ed. ). sayce, therefore, is quite wrong in stating that strabo knew only of "ethiopians," and not nubians, "as dwelling northward along the banks of the nile as far as elephantiné" (_academy_, april , ). [ ] _nubische grammatik_, , _passim._ [ ] b. z. seligman, "note on the languages of the nubas of s. kordofan," _zeitschr. f. kol.-spr._ i. - ; c. g. seligman, "some aspects of the hamitic problem," etc., _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xliii. , p. ff. [ ] see a. h. keane, _man, past and present_, , p. . [ ] c. g. seligman, "the physical characters of the nuba of kordofan," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xl. , p. , and "some aspects of the hamitic problem," etc., _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xliii. , _passim_. [ ] _archaeological survey of india_, bull. iii. p. . [ ] see note , p. . [ ] _op. cit._ i. p. . [ ] _travels in africa_, keane's english ed., vol. iii. p. . [ ] _ibid._ p. . [ ] c. g. seligman, art. "dinka," _encyclopaedia of religion and ethics._ see also the same author's "cult of nyakangano the divine kings of the shilluk," _fourth report wellcome research lab. khartoum_, vol. b, , p. ; s. l. cummins, _journ. anthr. inst._ xxxiv. , and h. o'sullivan, "dinka laws and customs," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xl. . measurements of dinka, shilluk etc. are given by a. w. tucker and c. s. myers, "a contribution to the anthropology of the sudan," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xl. . g. a. s. northcote, "the nilotic kavirondo," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xxxvi. , describes an allied people, the _jaluo_. [ ] _travels in africa_, keane's eng. ed., iii. p. . thus the bantu _ba_, _wa_, _ama_, etc., correspond to the _a_ of the welle lands, as in _a-zandeh_, _a-barmbo_, _a-madi_, _a-bangba_, _i.e._ zandeh people, barmbo people, etc. cf. also kanem_bu_, ti_bu_, ful_be_, etc., where the personal particle (_bu, be_) is postfixed. it would almost seem as if we had here a transition between the northern sudanese and the southern bantu groups in the very region where such transitions might be looked for. [ ] schweinfurth, _op. cit._ ii. p. . [ ] g. elliot smith denies that cannibalism occurred in ancient egypt, _the ancient egyptians_, , p. . [ ] _africa_, , vol. ii. p. . in a carefully prepared monograph on "endocannibalismus," vienna, , dr rudolf s. steinmetz brings together a great body of evidence tending to show "dass eine hohe wahrscheinlichkeit dafür spricht den endocannibalismus (indigenous anthropophagy) als ständige sitte der urmenschen, sowie der niedrigen wilden anzunehmen" (pp. , ). it is surprising to learn from the ill-starred bòttego-grixoni expedition of - that anthropophagy is still rife even in gallaland, and amongst the white ("floridi") cormoso gallas. like the fans, these prefer the meat "high," and it would appear that all the dead are eaten. hence in their country bòttego found no graves, and one of his native guides explained that "questa gente seppellisce i suoi cari nel ventre, invece che nella terra," _i.e._ these people bury their dear ones in their stomach instead of in the ground. vittorio bòttego, _viaggi di scoperta_, etc. rome, . [ ] i. p. . [ ] ii. p. . chapter iv the african negro: ii. bantus--negrilloes--bushmen--hottentots the sudanese-bantu divide--frontier tribes--_the bonjo cannibals_-- _the baya nation_--a "red people"--the north-east door to bantuland--semitic elements of the bantu amalgam--malay elements in madagascar only--hamitic element everywhere--_the ba-hima_-- pastoral and agricultural clans--the bantus mainly a negro-hamitic cross--date of bantu migration--the _lacustrians_--their traditions--the kintu legend--_the ba-ganda_, past and present-- political and social institutions--totemic system--bantu peoples between lake victoria and the coast--_the wa-giryama_--primitive ancestry-worship--mulungu--_the wa-swahili_--the zang empire--_the zulu-xosas_--former and present domain--patriarchal institutions-- genealogies--physical type--social organisation--"common law"-- _ma-shonas_ and _ma-kalakas_--the mythical monomotapa empire--the zimbabwe ruins--_the be-chuanas_--_the ba-rotse_ empire--_the ma-kololo_ episode--spread of christianity amongst the southern bantus--king khama--_the ova-herero_--_cattle and hill damaras_-- _the kongo people_--old kongo empire--the kongo language--the kongo aborigines--perverted christian doctrines--_the kabindas_ and "_black jews_"--_the ba-shilange_ bhang-smokers--_the ba-lolo_ "men of iron"--the west equatorial bantus--_ba-kalai_--_the cannibal fans_--migrations, type, origin--_the camerun bantus_-- bantu-sudanese borderland--early bantu migrations--eastern ancestry and western nature-worshippers--conclusion--_vaalpens_-- _strandloopers_--_negrilloes_--negrilloes at the courts of the pharaohs--negrilloes and pygmy folklore--_the dume_ and _doko_ reputed dwarfs--_the wandorobbo_ hunters--_the wochua_ mimics-- _the bushmen and hottentots_--former and present range--_the wa-sandawi_--hottentot geographical names in bantuland--hottentots disappearing--bushman folklore literature--bushman-hottentot language and clicks--bushman mental characters--bushman race-names. conspectus. #present range.# bantu: _s. africa from the sudanese frontier to the cape_; negrillo: _west equatorial and congo forest zones_; bush.-hot.: _namaqualands_; _kalahari_; _lake ngami and orange basins_. #hair.# bantu: _same as sudanese, but often rather longer_; negrillo: _short, frizzly or crisp, rusty brown_; bush.-hot.: _much the same as sudanese, but tufty, simulating bald partings_. #colour.# bantu: _all shades of dark brown, sometimes almost black_; negrillo _and_ bush.-hot.: _yellowish brown_. #skull.# bantu: _generally dolicho, but variable_; negrillo: _almost uniformly mesati_; bush.-hot.: _dolicho_. #jaws.# bantu: _moderately prognathous and even orthognathous_; negrillo _and_ bush.-hot.: _highly prognathous_. #cheek-bones.# bantu: _moderately or not at all prominent_; negrillo _and_ bush.-hot.: _very prominent, often extremely so, forming a triangular face with apex at chin_. #nose.# bantu: _variable, ranging from platyrrhine to leptorrhine_; negrillo _and_ bush.-hot.: _short, broad at base, depressed at root, always platyrrhine_. #eyes.# bantu: _generally large, black, and prominent, but also of regular hamitic type_; negrillo _and_ bush.-hot.: _rather small, deep brown and black_. #stature.# bantu: tall, from . m. to . m. ( ft. in. to ft.); negrillo: _always much under . m. ( ft.), mean about . m. ( ft.)_; bushman: _short, with rather wide range, from . m. to . m. ( ft. in. to ft. in.)_; hot.: _undersized, mean . m. ( ft. in.)_. #temperament.# bantu: _mainly like the negroid sudanese, far more intelligent than the true negro, equally cruel, but less fitful and more trustworthy_; negrillo: _bright, active and quick-witted, but vindictive and treacherous, apparently not cruel to each other, but rather gentle and kindly_; bushman: _in all these respects very like the negrillo, but more intelligent_; hot.: _rather dull and sluggish, but the full-blood (nama) much less so than the half-caste (griqua) tribes_. #speech.# bantu: _as absolutely uniform as the physical type is variable, one stock language only, of the agglutinating order, with both class prefixes, alliteration and postfixes_[ ]; negrillo: _unknown_; hot.: _agglutinating with postfixes only, with grammatical gender and other remarkable features_; _of hamitic origin_. #religion.# bantu: _ancestor-worship mainly in the east, spirit-worship mainly in the west, intermingling in the centre, with witchcraft and gross superstitions everywhere_; negrillo: _little known_; bush.-hot.: _animism, nature-worship, and reverence for ancestors_; _among hottentots belief in supreme powers of good and evil_. #culture.# bantu: _much lower than the negroid sudanese, but higher than the true negro_; _principally cattle rearers, practising simple agriculture_; negrillo and bush.: _lowest grade, hunters_; hot.: _nomadic herdsmen_. main divisions. #bantus#[ ]: _bonjo_; _baya_; _ba-ganda_; _ba-nyoro_; _wa-pokomo_; _wa-giryama_; _wa-swahili_; _zulu-xosa_; _ma-shona_; _be-chuana_; _ova-herero_; _eshi-kongo_; _ba-shilange_; _ba-lolo_; _ma-nyema_; _ba-kalai_; _fan_; _mpongwe_; _dwala_; _ba-tanga_. #negrilloes#: _akka_; _wochua_; _dume(?)_; _wandorobbo(?)_; _doko(?)_; _obongo_; _wambutte (ba-mbute)_; _ba-twa_. #bushmen#: _family groups_; _no known tribal names_. #hottentots#: _wa-sandawi (?)_; _namaqua_; _griqua_; _gonaqua_; _koraqua_; _hill damaras_. * * * * * in ethnology the only intelligible definition of a bantu is a full-blood or a half-blood negro of bantu speech[ ]; and from the physical standpoint no very hard and fast line can be drawn between the northern sudanese and southern bantu groups, considered as two ethnical units. thanks to recent political developments in the interior, the linguistic divide may now be traced with some accuracy right across the continent. in the extreme west, sir h. h. johnston has shown that it coincides with the lower course of the rio del rey, while farther east the french expedition of under m. dybowski found that it ran at about the same parallel ( ° n.) along the elevated plateau which here forms the water-parting between the congo and the chad basin. from this point the line takes a south-easterly trend along the southern borders of the zandeh and mangbattu territories to the semliki valley between lakes albert edward and albert nyanza, near the equator. thence it pursues a somewhat irregular course, first north by the east side of the albert nyanza to the mouth of the somerset nile, then up that river to mruli and round the east side of usoga and the victoria nyanza to kavirondo bay, where it turns nearly east to the sources of the tana, and down that river to its mouth in the indian ocean. at some points the line traverses debatable territory, as in the semliki valley, where there are sudanese and negrillo overlappings, and again beyond victoria nyanza, where the frontiers are broken by the hamitic masai nomads and their wandorobbo allies. but, speaking generally, everything south of the line here traced is bantu, everything north of it sudanese negro in the western and central regions, and hamitic in the eastern section between victoria nyanza and the indian ocean. in some districts the demarcation is not quite distinct, as in the tana basin, where some of the galla and somali hamites from the north have encroached on the territory of the wa-pokomo bantus on the south side of the river. but on the central plateau m. dybowski passed abruptly from the territory of the bonjos, northernmost of the bantu tribes, to that of the sudanese bandziri, a branch of the widespread zandeh people. in this region, about the crest of the congo-chad water-parting, the contrasts appear to be all in favour of the sudanese and against the bantus, probably because here the former are negroids, the latter full-blood negroes. thus dybowski[ ] found the bonjos to be a distinctly negro tribe with pronounced prognathism, and altogether a rude, savage people, trading chiefly in slaves, who are fattened for the meat market, and when in good condition will fetch about twelve shillings. on the other hand the bandziri, despite their niam-niam connection, are not cannibals, but a peaceful, agricultural people, friendly to travellers, and of a coppery-brown complexion, with regular features, hence perhaps akin to the light-coloured people met by barth in the mosgu country. possibly the bonjos may be a degraded branch of the _bayas_ or _nderes_, a large nation, with many subdivisions widely diffused throughout the sangha basin, where they occupy the whole space between the kadei and the mambere affluents of the main stream ( ° to ° ' n.; ° to ° e.). they are described by m. f. j. clozel[ ] as of tall stature, muscular, well-proportioned, with flat nose, slightly tumid lips, and of black colour, but with a dash of copper-red in the upper classes. although cannibals, like the bonjos, they are in other respects an intelligent, friendly people, who, under the influence of the muhammadan fulahs, have developed a complete political administration, with a royal court, a chancellor, speaker, interpreter, and other officials, bearing sonorous titles taken chiefly from the hausa language. their own bantu tongue is widespread and spoken with slight dialectic differences as far as the nana affluents. m. clozel, who regards them as mentally and morally superior to most of the middle and lower congo tribes, tells us that the bayas, that is, the "red people," came at an unknown period from the east, "yielding to that great movement of migration by which the african populations are continually impelled westwards." the yangere section were still on the move some twelve years ago, but the general migration has since been arrested by the fulahs of adamawa. human flesh is now interdicted to the women; they have domesticated the sheep, goat, and dog, and believe in a supreme being called _so_, whose powers are manifested in the dense woodlands, while minor deities preside over the village and the hut, that is, the whole community and each separate family group. thus both their religious and political systems present a certain completeness, which recalls those prevalent amongst the semi-civilised peoples of the equatorial lake region, and is evidently due to the same cause--long contact or association with a race of higher culture and intelligence. in order to understand all these relations, as well as the general constitution of the bantu populations, we have to consider that the already-described black zone, running from the atlantic seaboard eastwards, has for countless generations been almost everywhere arrested north of the equator by the white nile. probably since the close of the old stone age the whole of the region between the main stream and the red sea, and from the equator north to the mediterranean, has formed an integral part of the hamitic domain, encroached upon in prehistoric times by semites and others in egypt and abyssinia, and in historic times chiefly by semites (arabs) in egypt, upper nubia, senaar, and somaliland. between this region and africa south of the equator there are no serious physical obstructions of any kind, whereas farther west the hamitic saharan nomads were everywhere barred access to the south by the broad, thickly-peopled plateaux of the sudanese black zone. all encroachments on this side necessarily resulted in absorption in the multitudinous negro populations of central sudan, with the modifications of the physical and mental characters which are now presented by the kanuri, hausas, songhai and other negroid nations of that region, and are at present actually in progress amongst the conquering fulah hamites scattered in small dominant groups over a great part of sudan from senegambia to wadai. it follows that the leavening element, by which the southern negro populations have been diversely modified throughout the bantu lands, could have been drawn only from the hamitic and semitic peoples of the north-east. but in this connection the semites themselves must be considered as almost _une quantité négligeable_, partly because of their relatively later arrival from asia, and partly because, as they arrived, they became largely assimilated to the indigenous hamitic inhabitants of egypt, abyssinia, and somaliland. belief in the presence of a semitic people in the interior of s.e. africa in early historic times was supported by the groups of ruins (especially those of zimbabwe), found mainly in southern rhodesia, described in j. t. bent's _ruined cities of mashonaland_. exploration in dispelled the romance hitherto connected with the "temples" and produced evidence to show that they were not earlier in date than the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries and were of native construction[ ]. they probably served as distributing centres for the gold traffic carried on with the semitic traders of the coast. for certainly in muhammadan times semites from arabia formed permanent settlements along the eastern seaboard as far south as sofala, and these intermingled more freely with the converted coast peoples (_wa-swahili_, from _sahel_ = "coast"), but not with the _kafirs_, or "unbelievers," farther south and in the interior. in our own days these swahili half-breeds, with a limited number of full-blood arabs[ ], have penetrated beyond the great lakes to the upper and middle congo basin, but rather as slave-hunters and destroyers than as peaceful settlers, and contracting few alliances, except perhaps amongst the wa-yao and ma-gwangara tribes of mozambique, and the cannibal ma-nyemas farther inland. to this extent semitism may be recognised as a factor in the constituent elements of the bantu populations. malays have also been mentioned, and some ethnologists have even brought the fulahs of western sudan all the way from malaysia. certainly if they reached and formed settlements in madagascar, there is no intrinsic reason why they should not have done the same on the mainland. but i have failed to find any evidence of the fact, and if they ever at any time established themselves on the east coast they have long disappeared, without leaving any clear trace of their presence either in the physical appearance, speech, usages or industries of the aborigines, such as are everywhere conspicuous in madagascar. the small canoes with two booms and double outriggers which occur at least from mombasa to mozambique are of indonesian origin, as are the fish traps that occur at mombasa. there remain the north-eastern hamites, and especially the galla branch, as the essential extraneous factor in this obscure bantu problem. to the stream of migration described by m. clozel as setting east and west, corresponds another and an older stream, which ages ago took a southerly direction along the eastern seaboard to the extremity of the continent, where are now settled the zulu-xosa nations, almost more hamites than negroes. the impulse to two such divergent movements could have come only from the north-east, where we still find the same tendencies in actual operation. during his exploration of the east equatorial lands, capt. speke had already observed that the rulers of the bantu nations about the great lakes (karagwe, ba-ganda, ba-nyoro, etc.) all belonged to the same race, known by the name of _ba-hima_, that is, "northmen," a pastoral people of fine appearance, who were evidently of galla stock, and had come originally from gallaland. since then schuver found that the negroes of the afilo country are governed by a galla aristocracy[ ], and we now know that several ba-hima communities bearing different names live interspersed amongst the mixed bantu nations of the lacustrian plateaux as far south as lake tanganyika and unyamweziland[ ]. here the wa-tusi, wa-hha, and wa-ruanda are or were all of the same hamitic type, and m. lionel dècle "was very much struck by the extraordinary difference that is to be found between them and their bantu neighbours[ ]." then this observer adds: "pure types are not common, and are only to be found amongst the aristocracy, if i may use such an expression for africans. the mass of the people have lost their original type through intermixture with neighbouring tribes." j. roscoe[ ] thus describes the inhabitants of ankole. "the pastoral people are commonly called bahima, though they prefer to be called banyankole; they are a tall fine race though physically not very strong. many of them are over six feet in height, their young king being six feet six inches and broad in proportion to his height.... it is not only the men who are so tall, the women also being above the usual stature of their sex among other tribes, though they do injustice to their height by a fashionable stoop which makes them appear much shorter than they really are. the features of these pastoral people are good: they have straight noses with a bridge, thin lips, finely chiselled faces, heads well set on fairly developed frames, and a good carriage; there is in fact nothing but their colour and their short woolly hair to make you think of them as negroids." the contrast and the relationship between the pastoral conquerors and the agricultural tribes is clearly seen among the ba-nyoro. "the pastoral people are a tall, well-built race of men and women with finely cut features, many of them over six feet in height. the men are athletic with little spare flesh, but the women are frequently very fat and corpulent: indeed their ideal of beauty is obesity, and their milk diet together with their careful avoidance of exercise tends to increase their size. the agricultural clans, on the other hand, are short, ill-favoured looking men and women with broad noses of the negro type, lean and unkempt. both classes are dark, varying in shade from a light brown to deep black, with short woolly hair. the pastoral people refrain, as far as possible, from all manual labour and expect the agricultural clans to do their menial work for them, such as building their houses, carrying firewood and water, and supplying them with grain and beer for their households." "careful observation and enquiry lead to the opinion that the agricultural clans were the original inhabitants and that they were conquered by the pastoral people who have reduced them to their present servile condition[ ]." from these indications and many others that might easily be adduced, it may be concluded with some confidence that the great mass of the bantu populations are essentially negroes, leavened in diverse proportions, for the most part by conquering galla or hamitic elements percolating for thousands of generations from the north-eastern section of the hamitic domain into the heart of bantuland. the date of the bantu migrations is much disputed. "as far as linguistic evidence goes," says h. h. johnston[ ], "the ancestors of the bantu dwelt in some region like the bahr-al-ghazal, not far from the mountain nile on the east, from kordofan on the north, or the benue and chad basins on the west. their first great movement of expansion seems to have been eastward, and to have established them (possibly with a guiding aristocracy of hamitic origin) in the region between mount elgon, the northern victoria nyanza, tanganyika, and the congo forest. at some such period as about b.c. their far-reaching invasion of central and south africa seems to have begun." the date is fixed by the date of the introduction of the fowl from nile-land, since the root word for fowl is the same almost throughout bantu africa, "obviously related to the persian words for fowl, yet quite unrelated to the semitic terms, or to those used by the kushites of eastern africa." f. stuhlmann, on the contrary, places the migrations practically in geological times. after bringing the sudan negroes from south asia at the end of the tertiary or beginning of the pleistocene (_pluvialperiod_), and the proto-hamites from a region probably somewhat further to the north and west of the former, he continues: from the mingling of the negroes and the proto-hamites were formed, probably in east africa, the bantu languages and the bantu peoples, who wandered thence south and west. the wanderings began in the latter part of the pleistocene period[ ]. he quotes th. arldt, who with greater precision places the occupation of africa by the negroes in the riss period ( , years ago) and that of the hamites in the mousterian period ( , to , years ago)[ ]. all these peoples resulting from the crossings of negroes with hamites now speak various forms of the same organic bantu mother-tongue. but this linguistic uniformity is strictly analogous to that now prevailing amongst the multifarious peoples of aryan speech in eurasia, and is due to analogous causes--the diffusion in extremely remote times of a mixed hamito-negro people of bantu speech in africa south of the equator. it might perhaps be objected that the present ba-hima pastors are of hamitic speech, because we know from stanley that the late king m'tesa of buganda was proud of his galla ancestors, whose language he still spoke as his mother-tongue. but he also spoke luganda, and every echo of galla speech has already died out amongst most of the ba-hima communities in the equatorial regions. so it was with what i may call the "proto-ba-himas," the first conquering galla tribes, schuver's and dècle's "aristocracy," who were gradually blended with the aborigines in a new and superior nationality of bantu speech, because "there are many mixed races, ... but there are no mixed languages[ ]." these views are confirmed by the traditions and folklore still current amongst the "lacustrians," as the great nations may be called, who are now grouped round about the shores of lakes victoria and albert nyanza. at present, or rather before the recent extension of the british administration to east central africa, these peoples were constituted in a number of separate kingdoms, the most powerful of which were buganda (uganda)[ ], bunyoro (unyoro), and karagwe. but they remember a time when all these now scattered fragments formed parts of a mighty monarchy, the vast kitwara empire, which comprised the whole of the lake-studded plateau between the ruwenzori range and kavirondoland. the story is differently told in the different states, each nation being eager to twist it to its own glorification; but all are agreed that the founder of the empire was kintu, "the blameless," at once priest, patriarch and ruler of the land, who came from the north hundreds of years ago, with one wife, one cow, one goat, one sheep, one chicken, one banana-root, and one sweet potato. at first all was waste, an uninhabited wilderness, but it was soon miraculously peopled, stocked, and planted with what he had brought with him, the potato being apportioned to bunyoro, the banana to buganda, and these form the staple food of those lands to this day. then the people waxed wicked, and kintu, weary of their evil ways and daily bloodshed, took the original wife, cow, and other things, and went away in the night and was seen no more. but nobody believed him dead, and a long line of his mythical successors appear to have spent the time they could spare from strife and war and evil deeds in looking for the lost kintu. kimera, one of these, was a mighty giant of such strength and weight that he left his footprints on the rocks where he trod, as may still be seen on a cliff not far from ulagalla, the old capital of buganda. there was also a magician, kibaga, who could fly aloft and kill the ba-nyoro people (this is the buganda version) by hurling stones down upon them, and for his services received in marriage a beautiful ba-nyoro captive, who, another delilah, found out his secret, and betrayed him to her people. at last came king ma'anda, who pretended to be a great hunter, but it was only to roam the woodlands in search of kintu, and thus have tidings of him. one day a peasant, obeying the directions of a thrice-dreamt dream, came to a place in the forest, where was an aged man on a throne between two rows of armed warriors, seated on mats, his long beard white with age, and all his men fair as white people and clothed in white robes. then kintu, for it was he, bid the peasant hasten to summon ma'anda thither, but only with his mother and the messenger. at the court ma'anda recognised the stranger whom he had that very night seen in a dream, and so believed his words and at once set out with his mother and the peasant. but the katikiro, or prime minister, through whom the message had been delivered to the king, fearing treachery, also started on their track, keeping them just in view till the trysting-place was reached. but kintu, who knew everything, saw him all the time, and when he came forward on finding himself discovered the enraged ma'anda pierced his faithful minister to the heart and he fell dead with a shriek. thereupon kintu and his seated warriors instantly vanished, and the king with the others wept and cried upon kintu till the deep woods echoed kintu, kintu-u, kintu-u-u. but the blood-hating kintu was gone, and to this day has never again been seen or heard of by any man in buganda. the references to the north and to kintu and his ghostly warriors "fair as white people" need no comment[ ]. it is noteworthy that in some of the nyassaland dialects _kintu_ (_caintu_) alternates with _mulungu_ as the name of the supreme being, the great ancestor of the tribe[ ]. then follows more traditional or legendary matter, including an account of the wars with the fierce wakedi, who wore iron armour, until authentic history is reached with the atrocious suna ii ( - ), father of the scarcely less atrocious m'tesa. after his death in buganda and the neighbouring states passed rapidly through a series of astonishing political, religious, and social vicissitudes, resulting in the present _pax britannica_, and the conversion of large numbers, some to islám, others to one form or another of christianity. at times it might have been difficult to see much religion in the ferocity of the contending factions; but since the establishment of harmony by the secular arm, real progress has been made, and the ba-ganda especially have displayed a remarkable capacity as well as eagerness to acquire a knowledge of letters and of religious principles, both in the protestant and the roman catholic communities. printing-presses, busily worked by native hands, are needed to meet the steadily increasing demand for a vernacular literature, in a region where blood had flowed continually from the disappearance of "kintu" till the british occupation. to the admixture of the hamitic and negro elements amongst the lacustrians may perhaps be attributed the curious blend of primitive and higher institutions in these communities. at the head of the state was a kabaka, king or emperor, although the title was also borne by the queen-mother and the queen-sister. this autocrat had his _lukiko_, or council, of which the members were the _katikiro_, prime minister and chief justice, the _kimbugwe_, who had charge of the king's umbilical cord, and held rank next to the _katikiro_, and ten district chiefs, for the administration of the ten large districts into which the country was divided, each rendering accounts to the _katikiro_ and through him to the king. each district chief had to maintain in good order a road some four yards wide, reaching from the capital to his country seat, a distance possibly of nearly miles. each district chief had sub-chiefs under him, independent of the chief in managing their own portion of land. these were responsible for keeping in repair the road between their own residence and that of the district chief. in each district was a supreme court, and every sub-chief, even with only a dozen followers, could hold a court and try cases among his own people. the people, however, could take their cases from one court to another until eventually they came before the _katikiro_ or the king. yet together with this highly advanced social and political development a totemic exogamous clan system was in force throughout uganda, all the ba-ganda belonging to one of _kika_ or clans, each possessing two totems held sacred by the clan. thus the lion (_mpologoma_) clan had the eagle (_mpungu_) for its second totem; the mushroom (_butiko_) clan had the snail (_nsonko_); the buffalo (_mbogo_) clan had a new cooking pot (_ntamu_). each clan had its chief, or father, who resided on the clan estate which was also the clan burial-ground, and was responsible for the conduct of the members of his branch. all the clans were exogamous[ ], and a man was expected to take a second wife from the clan of his paternal grandmother[ ]. no direct relations appear to exist between the lacustrians and the _wa-kikuyu_, _wa-kamba_, _wa-pokomo_, wa-gweno, _wa-chaga_, _wa-teita_, _wa-taveita_, and others[ ], who occupy the region east of victoria nyanza, between the tana, north-east frontier of bantuland, and the southern slopes of kilimanjaro. their affinities seem to be rather with the _wa-nyika_, _wa-boni_, _wa-duruma_, _wa-giryama_, and the other coast tribes between the tana and mombasa. all of these tribes have more or less adopted the habits and customs of the masai. we learn from sir a. harding[ ] that in the british east african protectorate there are altogether as many as twenty-five distinct tribes, generally at a low stage of culture, with a loose tribal organisation, a fully-developed totemic system, and a universal faith in magic; but there are no priests, idols or temples, or even distinctly recognised hereditary chiefs or communal councils. the gallas, who have crossed the tana and here encroached on bantu territory, have reminiscences of a higher civilisation and apparently of christian traditions and observances, derived no doubt from abyssinia. they tell you that they had once a sacred book, the observance of whose precepts made them the first of nations. but it was left lying about, and so got eaten by a cow, and since then when cows are killed their entrails are carefully searched for the lost volume. exceptional interest attaches to the wa-giryama, who are the chief people between mombasa and melindi, the first trustworthy accounts of whom were contributed by w. e. taylor[ ], and w. w. a. fitzgerald[ ]. here again bantus and gallas are found in close contact, and we learn that the wa-giryama, who came originally from the mount mangea district in the north-east, occupied their present homes only about a century ago "upon the withdrawal of the gallas." the language, which is of a somewhat archaic type, appears to be the chief member of a widespread bantu group, embracing the ki-nyika, and ki-pokomo in the extreme north, the ki-swahili of the zanzibar coast, and perhaps the ki-kamba, the ki-teita, and others of the interior between the coastlands and victoria nyanza. these inland tongues, however, have greatly diverged from the primitive ki-giryama[ ], which stands in somewhat the same relation to them and to the still more degraded and arabised ki-swahili[ ] that latin stands to the romance languages. but the chief interest presented by the wa-giryama is centred in their religious ideas, which are mainly connected with ancestry-worship, and afford an unexpected insight into the origin and nature of that perhaps most primitive of all forms of belief. there is, of course, a vague entity called a "supreme being" in ethnographic writings, who, like the algonquian manitu, crops up under various names (here _mulungu_) all over east bantuland, but on analysis generally resolves itself into some dim notion growing out of ancestry-worship, a great or aged person, eponymous hero or the like, later deified in diverse ways as the preserver, the disposer, and especially the creator. these wa-giryama suppose that from his union with the earth all things have sprung, and that human beings are mulungu's hens and chickens. but there is also an idea that he may be the manes of their fathers, and thus everything becomes merged in a kind of apotheosis of the departed. they think "the disembodied spirit is powerful for good and evil. individuals worship the shades of their immediate ancestors or elder relatives; and the _k'omas_ [souls?] of the whole nation are worshipped on public occasions." although the european ghost or "revenant" is unknown, the spirits of near ancestors may appear in dreams, and express their wishes to the living. they ask for sacrifices at their graves to appease their hunger, and such sacrifices are often made with a little flour and water poured into a coconut shell let into the ground, the fowls and other victims being so killed that the blood shall trickle into the grave. at the offering the dead are called on by name to come and partake, and bring their friends with them, who are also mentioned by name. but whereas christians pray to be remembered of heaven and the saints, the wa-giryama pray rather that the new-born babe be forgotten of mulungu, and so live. "well!" they will say on the news of a birth, "may mulungu forget him that he may become strong and well." this is an instructive trait, a reminiscence of the time when mulungu, now almost harmless or indifferent to mundane things, was the embodiment of all evil, hence to be feared and appeased in accordance with the old dictum _timor fecit deos_. at present no distinction is drawn between good and bad spirits, but all are looked upon as, of course, often, though not always, more powerful than the living, but still human beings subject to the same feelings, passions, and fancies as they are. some are even poor weaklings on whom offerings are wasted. "the shade of so-and-so's father is of no use at all; it has finished up his property, and yet he is no better," was a native's comment on the result of a series of sacrifices a man had vainly made to his father's shade to regain his health. they may also be duped and tricked, and when _pombe_ (beer) is a-brewing, some is poured out on the graves of the dead, with the prayer that they may drink, and when drunk fall asleep, and so not disturb the living with their brawls and bickerings, just like the wrangling fairies in _a midsummer night's dream_[ ]. far removed from such crass anthropomorphism, but not morally much improved, are the kindred wa-swahili, who by long contact and interminglings have become largely arabised in dress, religion, and general culture. they are graphically described by taylor as "a seafaring, barter-loving race of slave-holders and slave-traders, strewn in a thin line along a thousand miles of creeks and islands; inhabitants of a coast that has witnessed incessant political changes, and a succession of monarchical dynasties in various centres; receiving into their midst for ages past a continuous stream of strange blood, consisting not only of serviles from the interior, but of immigrants from persia, arabia, and western india; men that have come to live, and often to die, as resident aliens, leaving in many cases a hybrid progeny. of one section of these immigrants--the arabs--the religion has become the master-religion of the land, overspreading, if not entirely supplanting, the old bantu ancestor-worship, and profoundly affecting the whole family life." the wa-swahili are in a sense a historical people, for they formed the chief constituent elements of the renowned zang (zeng) empire[ ], which in edrisi's time (twelfth century) stretched along the seaboard from somaliland to and beyond the zambesi. when the portuguese burst suddenly into the indian ocean it was a great and powerful state, or rather a vast confederacy of states, with many flourishing cities--magdoshu, brava, mombasa, melindi, kilwa, angosha, sofala--and widespread commercial relations extending across the eastern waters to india and china, and up the red sea to europe. how these great centres of trade and eastern culture were one after the other ruthlessly destroyed by the portuguese corsairs _co' o ferro e fogo_ ("with sword and fire," camoens) is told by duarte barbosa, who was himself a portuguese and an eyewitness of the havoc and the horrors that not infrequently followed in the trail of his barbarous fellow-countrymen[ ]. beyond sofala we enter the domain of the _ama-zulu_, the _ama-xosa_, and others whom i have collectively called _zulu-xosas_[ ], and who are in some respects the most remarkable ethnical group in all bantuland. indeed they are by common consent regarded as bantus in a preeminent sense, and this conventional term _bantu_ itself is taken from their typical bantu language[ ]. there is clear evidence that they are comparatively recent arrivals, necessarily from the north, in their present territory, which was still occupied by bushman and hottentot tribes probably within the last thousand years or so. before the kafir wars with the english ( - ) this territory extended much farther round the coast than at present, and for many years the great kei river has formed the frontier between the white settlements and the xosas. but what they have lost in this direction the zulu-xosas, or at least the zulus, have recovered a hundredfold by their expansion northwards during the nineteenth century. after the establishment of the zulu military power under dingiswayo and his successor chaka ( - ), half the continent was overrun by organised zulu hordes, who ranged as far north as victoria nyanza, and in many places founded more or less unstable kingdoms or chieftaincies on the model of the terrible despotism set up in zululand. such were, beyond the limpopo, the states of gazaland and matabililand, the latter established about by umsilikatzi, father of lobengula, who perished in a hopeless struggle with the english in . gungunhana, last of the swazi (zulu) chiefs in gazaland, where the a-ngoni had overrun the ba-thonga (ba-ronga)[ ], was similarly dispossessed by the portuguese in . north of zambesi the zulu bands--ma-situ, ma-viti, ma-ngoni (a-ngoni), and others--nowhere developed large political states except for a short time under the ubiquitous mirambo in unyamweziland. but some, especially the a-ngoni[ ], were long troublesome in the nyasa district, and others about the lower zambesi, where they are known to the portuguese as "landins." the a-ngoni power was finally broken by the english early in , and the reflux movement has now entirely subsided, and cannot be revived, the disturbing elements having been extinguished at the fountain-head by the absorption of zululand itself in the british colony of natal ( ). nowhere have patriarchal institutions been more highly developed than among the zulu-xosas, all of whom, except perhaps the ama-fingus and some other broken groups, claim direct descent from some eponymous hero or mythical founder of the tribe. thus in the national traditions chaka was seventh in descent from a legendary chief zulu, from whom they take the name of _abantu ba-kwa-zulu_, that is "people of zulu's land," although the true mother-tribe appear to have been the now extinct ama-ntombela. once the supremacy and prestige of chaka's tribe were established, all the others, as they were successively reduced, claimed also to be true zulus, and as the same process went on in the far north, the term zulu has now in many cases come to imply political rather than blood relationship. here we have an object lesson, by which the ethnical value of such names as "aryan," "kelt," "briton," "slav," etc. may be gauged in other regions. so also most of the southern section claim as their founder and ancestor a certain _xosa_, sprung from zuide, who may have flourished about , and whom the ama-tembus and ama-mpondos also regard as their progenitor. thus the whole section is connected, but not in the direct line, with the xosas, who trace their lineage from galeka and khakhabe, sons of palo, who is said to have died about , and was himself tenth in direct descent from xosa. we thus get a genealogical table as under, which gives his proper place in the family tree to nearly every historical "kafir" chief in cape colony, where ignorance of these relations caused much bloodshed during the early kafir wars: zuide ( ?) _______________________/\________________________ / \ tembu xosa ( ?) mpondo | | _______|_______ ama-tembus palo ( ?) / \ (tembookies) ________________|______________ mpondumisi (mpondos) / \ galeka khakhabe | _________________|________________ klanta / \ | omlao mbalu ndhlambe hinza | | \______/ | gika (ob. ) gwali | kreli | | ama-ndhlambes \________/ | | (tslambies) | macomo velelo ama-galekas | | sandili baxa \________/ \________/ | | ama-gaikas ama-mbalus but all, both northern zulus and southern xosas, are essentially one people in speech, physique, usages and social institutions. the hair is uniformly of a somewhat frizzly texture, the colour of a light or clear brown amongst the ama-tembus, but elsewhere very dark, the swazis being almost "blue-black"; the head decidedly long ( . ) and high ( . ); nose variable, both negroid and perfectly regular; height above the mean . m. to . m. ( ft. in. to ft. in.); figure shapely and muscular, though fritsch's measurements show that it is sometimes far from the almost ideal standard of beauty with which some early observers have credited them. mentally the zulu-xosas stand much higher than the true negro, as shown especially in their political organisation, which, before the development of dingiswayo's military system under european influences, was a kind of patriarchal monarchy controlled by a powerful aristocracy. the nation was grouped in tribes connected by the ties of blood and ruled by the hereditary _inkose_, or feudal chief, who was supreme, with power of life and death, within his own jurisdiction. against his mandates, however, the nobles could protest in council, and it was in fact their decisions that established precedents and the traditional code of common law. "this common law is well adapted to a people in a rude state of society. it holds everyone accused of crime guilty unless he can prove himself innocent; it makes the head of the family responsible for the conduct of all its branches, the village collectively for all resident in it, and the clan for each of its villages. for the administration of the law there are courts of various grades, from any of which an appeal may be taken to the supreme council, presided over by the paramount chief, who is not only the ruler but also the father of the people[ ]." in the interior, between the southern coast ranges and the zambesi, the hottentot and bushman aborigines were in prehistoric ages almost everywhere displaced or reduced to servitude by other bantu peoples such as the ma-kalakas and ma-shonas, the be-chuanas and the kindred ba-sutos. of these the first arrivals (from the north) appear to have been the ma-shonas and ma-kalakas, who were being slowly "eaten up" by the ma-tabili when the process was arrested by the timely intervention of the english in rhodesia. both nations are industrious tillers of the soil, skilled in metal-work and in mining operations, being probably the direct descendants of the natives, whose great chief _monomotapa_, _i.e._ "lord of the mines," as i interpret the word[ ], ruled over the manica and surrounding auriferous districts when the portuguese first reached sofala early in the sixteenth century. apparently for political reasons[ ] this monomotapa was later transformed by them from a monarch to a monarchy, the vast empire of monomotapaland, which was supposed to comprise pretty well everything south of the zambesi, but, having no existence, has for the last two hundred years eluded the diligent search of historical geographers. but some centuries before the arrival of the portuguese the ma-kalakas with the kindred ba-nyai, ba-senga and others, may well have been at work in the mines of this auriferous region, in the service of the builders of the zimbabwe ruins explored and described by the late theodore bent[ ], and by him and many others attributed to some ancient cultured people of south arabia. this theory of prehistoric oriental origin was supported by a calculation of the orientation of the zimbabwe "temple," by reports of inscriptions and emblems suggesting "phoenician rites," and by the discovery, during excavation, of foreign objects. later investigation, however, showed that the orientation was based on inexact measurements; no authentic inscriptions were found either at zimbabwe or elsewhere in connection with the ruins; none of the objects discovered in the course of the excavations could be recognised as more than a few centuries old, while those that were not demonstrably foreign imports were of african type. in a scientific exploration of the ruins placed these facts beyond dispute. the medieval objects were found in such positions as to be necessarily contemporaneous with the foundation of the buildings, all of which could be attributed to the same period. finally it was established that the plan and construction of zimbabwe instead of being unique, as was formerly supposed, only differed from other rhodesian ruins in dimensions and extent. the explorers felt confident that the buildings were not earlier than the fourteenth or fifteenth century a.d., and that the builders were the bantu people, remains of whose stone-faced kraals are found at so many places between the limpopo and the zambesi. their conclusions, however, have not met with universal acceptance[ ]. with the be-chuanas, whose territory extends from the orange river to lake ngami and includes basutoland with a great part of the transvaal, we again meet a people at the totemic stage of culture. here the eponymous heroes of the zulu-xosas are replaced by baboons, fishes, elephants, and other animals from which the various tribal groups claim descent. the animal in question is called the _siboko_ of the tribe and is held in especial reverence, members (as a rule) refraining from killing or eating it. many tribes take their name from their _siboko_, thus the ba-tlapin, "they of the fish," ba-kuena, "they of the crocodile." the _siboko_ of the ba-rolong, who as a tribe are accomplished smiths, is not an animal, but the metal iron[ ]. with a section of the great be-chuana family, the ba-suto, and the ba-rotse is connected one of the most remarkable episodes in the turbulent history of the south african peoples during the nineteenth century. many years ago an offshoot of the ba-rotse migrated to the middle zambesi above the victoria falls, where they founded a powerful state, the "barotse (marotse) empire," which despite a temporary eclipse still exists as a british protectorate. the eclipse was caused by another migration northwards of a great body of ma-kololo, a branch of the ba-suto, who under the renowned chief sebituane reached the zambesi about and overthrew the barotse dynasty, reducing the natives to a state of servitude. but after the death of sebituane's successor, livingstone's sekeletu, the ba-rotse, taking advantage of their oppressors' dynastic rivalries, suddenly revolted, and after exterminating the ma-kololo almost to the last man, reconstituted the empire on a stronger footing than ever. it now comprises an area of some , square miles between the chobe and the kafukwe affluents[ ], with a population vaguely estimated at over , , , including the savage ba-shukulumbwe tribes of the kafukwe basin reduced in [ ]. yet, short as was the ma-kololo rule ( - ), it was long enough to impose their language on the vanquished ba-rotse[ ]. hence the curious phenomenon now witnessed about the middle zambesi, where the ma-kololo have disappeared, while their sesuto speech remains the common medium of intercourse throughout the barotse empire. how often have analogous shiftings and dislocations taken place in the course of ages in other parts of the world! and in the light of such lessons how cautious ethnographists should be in arguing from speech to race, and drawing conclusions from these or similar surface relations! referring to these stirring events, mackenzie writes: "thus perished the makololo from among the number of south african tribes. no one can put his finger on the map of africa and say, 'here dwell the makololo[ ].'" this will puzzle many who since the middle of the nineteenth century have repeatedly heard of, and even been in unpleasantly close contact with, ma-kololo so called, not indeed in barotseland, but lower down the zambesi about its shiré affluent. the explanation of the seeming contradiction is given by another incident, which is also not without ethnical significance. from livingstone's _journals_ we learn that in he was accompanied to the east coast by a small party of ma-kololo and others, sent by his friend sekeletu in quest of a cure for leprosy, from which the emperor was suffering. these ma-kololo, hearing of the ba-rotse revolt, wisely stopped on their return journey at the shiré confluence, and through the prestige of their name have here succeeded in founding several so-called "makololo states," which still exist, and have from time to time given considerable trouble to the administrators of british central africa. but how true are mackenzie's words, if the political be separated from the ethnical relations, may be judged from the fact that of the original founders of these petty shiré states only two were full-blood ma-kololo. all the others were, i believe, ba-rotse, ba-toka, or ba-tonga, these akin to the savage ba-shukulumbwe. thus the ma-kololo live on, in their speech above the victoria falls, in their name below the victoria falls, and it is only from history we know that since about the whole nation has been completely wiped out everywhere in the zambesi valley. but even amongst cultured peoples history goes back a very little way, , years at most anywhere. what changes and shiftings may, therefore, have elsewhere also taken place during prehistoric ages, all knowledge of which is now past recovery[ ]! few bantu peoples have lent a readier ear to the teachings of christian propagandists than the xosa, ba-suto, and be-chuana natives. several stations in the heart of kafirland--blythswood, somerville, lovedale, and others--have for some time been self-supporting, and prejudice alone would deny that they have worked for good amongst the surrounding gaika, galeka, and fingo tribes. sogo, a member of the blythswood community, has produced a translation of the _pilgrim's progress_, described by j. macdonald as "a marvel of accuracy and lucidity of expression[ ]"; numerous village schools are eagerly attended, and much land has been brought under intelligent cultivation. the french and swiss protestant teachers have also achieved great things in basutoland, where they were welcomed by moshesh, the founder of the present basuto nation. the tribal system has yielded to a higher social organisation, and the ba-tau, ba-puti, and several other tribal groups have been merged in industrious pastoral and agricultural communities professing a somewhat strict form of protestant christianity, and entirely forgetful of the former heathen practices associated with witchcraft and ancestry-worship. moshesh was one of the rare instances among the kafirs of a leader endowed with intellectual gifts which placed him on a level with europeans. he governed his people wisely and well for nearly fifty years, and his life-work has left a permanent mark on south african history[ ]. in bechuanaland one great personality dominates the social horizon. khama, king of the ba-mangwato nation, next to the ba-rotse the most powerful section of the be-chuana, may be described as a true father of his people, a christian legislator in the better sense of the term, and an enlightened reformer even from the secular point of view. when these triumphs, analogous to those witnessed amongst the lacustrians and in other parts of bantuland, are contrasted with the dull weight of resistance everywhere opposed by the full-blood negro populations to any progress beyond their present low level of culture, we are the better able to recognise the marked intellectual superiority of the negroid bantu over the pure black element. west of bechuanaland the continuity of the bantu domain is arrested in the south by the hottentots, who still hold their ground in namaqualand, and farther north by the few wandering bushman groups of the kalahari desert. even in damaraland, which is mainly bantu territory, there are interminglings of long standing that have given rise to much ethnical confusion. the ova-herero, who were here dominant, and the kindred ova-mpo of ovampoland bordering on the portuguese possessions, are undoubted bantus of somewhat fine physique, though intellectually not specially distinguished. owing to the character of the country, a somewhat arid, level steppe between the hills and the coast, they are often collectively called "cattle damaras," or "damaras of the plains," in contradistinction to the "hill damaras" of the coast ranges. to this popular nomenclature is due the prevalent confusion regarding these aborigines. the term "damara" is of hottentot origin, and is not recognised by the local tribes, who all call themselves ova-herero, that is, "merry people." but there is a marked difference between the lowlanders and the highlanders, the latter, that is, the "hill damaras," having a strong strain of hottentot blood, and being now of hottentot speech. the whole region is a land of transition between the two races, where the struggle for supremacy was scarcely arrested by the temporary intervention of german administrators. though annexed by germany in , fighting continued for ten years longer, and, breaking out again in , was not subdued until , after the loss to germany of lives and £ , , , while , to , of the herero are estimated to have perished. under the rule of the union of south africa this maltreatment of the natives will never occur again. clearness would be gained by substituting for hill damaras the expression _ova-zorotu_, or "hillmen," as they are called by their neighbours of the plains, who should of course be called hereros to the absolute exclusion of the expression "cattle damaras." these hereros show a singular dislike for salt; the peculiarity, however, can scarcely be racial, as it is shared in also by their cattle, and may be due to the heavy vapours, perhaps slightly charged with saline particles, which hang so frequently over the coastlands. no very sharp ethnical line can be drawn between portuguese west africa and the contiguous portion of the belgian congo south and west of the main stream. in the coastlands between the cunene and the congo estuary a few groups, such as the historical _eshi-kongo_[ ] and the _kabindas_, have developed some marked characteristics under european influences, just as have the cannibal _ma-nyema_ of the upper congo through association with the nubian-arab slave-raiders. but with the exception of the _ba-shilange_, the _ba-lolo_ and one or two others, much the same physical and mental traits are everywhere presented by the numerous bantu populations within the great bend of the congo. the people who give their name to this river present some points of special interest. it is commonly supposed that the old "kongo empire" was a creation of the portuguese. but mbanza, afterwards rechristened "san salvador," was already the capital of a powerful state when it was first visited by the expedition of , from which time date its relations with portugal. at first the catholic missionaries had great success, thousands were at least baptised, and for a moment it seemed as if all the congo lands were being swept into the fold. there were great rejoicings on the conversion of the _mfumu_ ("emperor") himself, on whom were lavished honours and portuguese titles still borne by his present degenerate descendant, the portuguese state pensioner, "dom pedro v, catholic king of kongo and its dependencies." but christianity never struck very deep roots, and, except in the vicinity of the imperial and vassal courts, heathenish practices of the worst description were continued down to the middle of the nineteenth century. about fresh efforts were made both by protestant and catholic missionaries to re-convert the people, who had little to remind them of their former faith except the ruins of the cathedral of san salvador, crucifixes, banners, and other religious emblems handed down as heirlooms and regarded as potent fetishes by their owners. a like fate, it may be incidentally mentioned, has overtaken the efforts of the portuguese missionaries to evangelise the natives of the east coast, where little now survives of their teachings but snatches of unintelligible songs to the blessed virgin, such as that still chanted by the lower zambesi boatmen and recorded by mrs pringle:-- sina mama, sina mamai, sina mama maria, sina mamai ... mary, i'm alone, mother i have none, mother i have none, she and father both are gone, etc.[ ] it is probable that at some remote period the ruling race reached the west coast from the north-east, and imposed their bantu speech on the rude aborigines, by whom it is still spoken over a wide tract of country on both sides of the lower congo. it is an extremely pure and somewhat archaic member of the bantu family, and w. holman bentley, our best authority on the subject, is enthusiastic in praise of its "richness, flexibility, exactness, subtlety of idea, and nicety of expression," a language superior to the people themselves, "illiterate folk with an elaborate and regular grammatical system of speech of such subtlety and exactness of idea that its daily use is in itself an education[ ]." kishi-kongo has the distinction of being the first bantu tongue ever reduced to written form, the oldest known work in the language being a treatise on christian doctrine published in lisbon in . since that time the speech of the "mociconghi," as pigafetta calls them[ ], has undergone but slight phonetic or other change, which is all the more surprising when we consider the rudeness of the present mushi-kongos and others by whom it is still spoken with considerable uniformity. some of these believe themselves sprung from trees, as if they had still reminiscences of the arboreal habits of a pithecoid ancestry. amongst the neighbouring _ba-mba_, whose sobas were formerly _ex officio_ commanders-in-chief of the empire, still dwells a potent being, who is invisible to everybody, and although mortal never dies, or at least after each dissolution springs again into life from his remains gathered up by the priests. all the young men of the tribe undergo a similar transformation, being thrown into a death-like trance by the magic arts of the medicine-man, and then resuscitated after three days. the power of causing the cataleptic sleep is said really to exist, and these strange rites, unknown elsewhere, are probably to be connected with the resurrection of christ after three days and of everybody on the last day as preached by the early portuguese evangelists. a volume might be written on the strange distortions of christian doctrines amongst savage peoples unable to grasp their true inwardness. in angola the portuguese distinguish between the _pretos_, that is, the "civilised," and the _negros_, or unreclaimed natives. yet both terms mean the same thing, as also does _ba-fiot_[ ], "black people," which is applied in an arbitrary way both to the eshi-kongos and their near relations, the _kabindas_ of the portuguese enclave north of the lower congo. these kabindas, so named from the seaport of that name on the loango coast, are an extremely intelligent, energetic, and enterprising people, daring seafarers, and active traders. but they complain of the keen rivalry of another dark people, the _judeos pretos_, or "black jews," who call themselves _ma-vambu_, and whose hooked nose combined with other peculiarities has earned for them their portuguese name. the kabindas say that these "semitic negroes" were specially created for the punishment of other unscrupulous dealers by their ruinous competition in trade. a great part of the vast region within the bend of the congo is occupied by the _ba-luba_ people, whose numerous branches--_ba-sange_ and _ba-songe_ about the sources of the sankuru, _ba-shilange_ (_tushilange_) about the lulua-kassai confluence, and many others--extend all the way from the kwango basin to manyemaland. most of these are bantus of the average type, fairly intelligent, industrious and specially noted for their skill in iron and copper work. iron ores are widely diffused and the copper comes from the famous mines of the katanga district, of which king mzidi and his wa-nyamwezi followers were dispossessed by the congo free state in [ ]. special attention is claimed by the _ba-shilange_ nation, for our knowledge of whom we are indebted chiefly to c. s. latrobe bateman[ ]. these are the people whom wissmann had already referred to as "a nation of thinkers with the interrogative 'why' constantly on their lips." bateman also describes them as "thoroughly honest, brave to foolhardiness, and faithful to each other. they are prejudiced in favour of foreign customs and spontaneously copy the usages of civilisation. they are the only african tribe among whom i have observed anything like a becoming conjugal affection and regard. to say nothing of such recommendations as their emancipation from fetishism, their ancient abandonment of cannibalism, and their national unity under the sway of a really princely prince (kalemba), i believe them to be the most open to the best influences of civilisation of any african tribe whatsoever[ ]." their territory about the lulua, affluent of the kassai, is the so-called lubuka, or land of "friendship," the theatre of a remarkable social revolution, carried out independently of all european influences, in fact before the arrival of any whites on the scene. it was initiated by the secret brotherhood of the _bena-riamba_, or "sons of hemp," established about , when the nation became divided into two parties over the question throwing the country open to foreign trade. the king having sided with the "progressives," the "conservatives" were worsted with much bloodshed, whereupon the barriers of seclusion were swept away. trading relations being at once established with the outer world, the custom of _riamba_ (bhang) smoking was unfortunately introduced through the swahili traders from zanzibar. the practice itself soon became associated with mystic rites, and was followed by a general deterioration of morals throughout tushilangeland. north of the ba-luba follows the great _ba-lolo_ nation, whose domain comprises nearly the whole of the region between the equator and the left bank of the congo, and whose kilolo speech is still more widely diffused, being spoken by perhaps , , within the horseshoe bend. these "men of iron" in the sense of cromwell's "ironsides," or "workers in iron," as the name has been diversely interpreted (from _lolo_, iron), may not be all that they have been depicted by the glowing pen of mrs h. grattan guinness[ ]; but nobody will deny their claim to be regarded as physically, if not mentally, one of the finest bantu races. but for the strain of negro blood betrayed by the tumid under lip, frizzly hair, and wide nostrils, many might pass for average hamites with high forehead, straight or aquiline nose, bright eye, and intelligent expression. they appear to have migrated about a hundred years ago from the east to their present homes, where they have cleared the land both of its forests and the aborigines, brought extensive tracts under cultivation, and laid out towns in the american chessboard fashion, but with the houses so wide apart that it takes hours to traverse them. they are skilled in many crafts, and understand the division-of-labour principle, "farmers, gardeners, smiths, boatbuilders, weavers, cabinet-makers, armourers, warriors, and speakers being already differentiated amongst them[ ]." from the east or north-east a great stream of migration has also for many years been setting right across the cannibal zone to the west coast between the ogowai and camerúns estuary. some of these cannibal bands, collectively known as _fans_, _pahuins_, _mpangwes_[ ], _oshyebas_ and by other names, have already swarmed into the gabún and lower ogowai districts, where they have caused a considerable dislocation of the coast tribes. they are at present the dominant, or at least the most powerful and dreaded, people in west equatorial africa, where nothing but the intervention of the french administration has prevented them from sweeping the _mpongwes_, _mbengas_, _okandas_, _ashangos_, _ishogos_, _ba-tekes_[ ], and the other maritime populations into the atlantic. even the great _ba-kalai_ nation, who are also immigrants, but from the south-east, and who arrived some time before the fans, have been hard pressed and driven forward by those fierce anthropophagists. they are still numerous, certainly over , , but confined mainly to the left bank of the ogowai, where their copper and iron workers have given up the hopeless struggle to compete with the imported european wares, and have consequently turned to trade. the ba-kalai are now the chief brokers and middlemen throughout the equatorial coastlands, and their pure bantu language is encroaching on the mpongwe in the ogowai basin. when first heard of by bowdich in , the paämways, as he calls the fans, were an inland people presenting such marked hamitic or caucasic features that he allied them with the west sudanese fulahs. since then there have been inevitable interminglings, by which the type has no doubt been modified, though still presenting distinct non-bantu or non-negro characters. burton, winwood reade, oscar lenz and most other observers separate them altogether from the negro connection, describing them as "well-built, tall and slim, with a light brown complexion, often inclining to yellow, well-developed beard, and very prominent frontal bone standing out in a semicircular protuberance above the superciliary arches. morally also, they differ greatly from the negro, being remarkably intelligent, truthful, and of a serious temperament, seldom laughing or indulging in the wild orgies of the blacks[ ]." m. h. kingsley adds that "the average height in mountain districts is five feet six to five feet eight ( . m. to . m.), the difference in stature between men and women not being great. their countenances are very bright and expressive, and if once you have been among them, you can never mistake a fan. the fan is full of fire, temper, intelligence and go; very teachable, rather difficult to manage, quick to take offence and utterly indifferent to human life." the cannibalism of the fans, though a prevalent habit, is not, according to miss kingsley, due to sacrificial motives. "he does it in his common sense way. he will eat his next door neighbour's relations and sell his own deceased to his next door neighbour in return; but he does not buy slaves and fatten them up for his table as some of the middle congo tribes do.... he has no slaves, no prisoners of war, no cemeteries, so you must draw your own conclusions[ ]." the fan language has been grouped by sir h. h. johnston among bantu tongues, but he describes it as so corrupt as to be only just recognisable as bantu. in linguistic, physical and mental features they thus show a remarkable divergence from the pure negro, suggesting hamitic probably fulah elements. in the camerún region, which still lies within bantu territory, sir h. h. johnston[ ] divides the numerous local tribes into two groups, the aborigines, such as the _ba-yong_, _ba-long_, _ba-sa_, _abo_ and _wuri_; and the later intruders--_ba-kundu_, _ba-kwiri_, _dwala_, "_great batanga_" and _ibea_--chiefly from the east and south-east. best known are the dwalas of the camerún estuary, physically typical bantus with almost european features, and well-developed calves, a character which would alone suffice to separate them from the true negro. nor are these traits due to contact with the white settlers on the coast, because the dwalas keep quite aloof, and are so proud of their "blue blood," that till lately all half-breeds were "weeded-out," being regarded as monsters who reflected discredit on the tribe[ ]. socially the camerún natives stand at nearly the same low level of culture as the neighbouring full-blood negroes of the calabar and niger delta. indeed the transition in customs and institutions, as well as in physical appearance, is scarcely perceptible between the peoples dwelling north and south of the rio del rey, here the dividing line between the negro and bantu lands. the _ba-kish_ of the meme river, almost last of the bantus, differ little except in speech from the negro _efiks_ of old calabar, while witchcraft and other gross superstitions were till lately as rife amongst the ba-kwiri and ba-kundu tribes of the western camerún as anywhere in negroland. it is not long since one of the ba-kwiri, found guilty of having eaten a chicken at a missionary's table, was himself eaten by his fellow clansmen. the law of blood for blood was pitilessly enforced, and charges of witchcraft were so frequent that whole villages were depopulated, or abandoned by their terror-stricken inhabitants. the island of ambas in the inlet of like name remained thus for a time absolutely deserted, "most of the inhabitants having poisoned each other off with their everlasting ordeals, and the few survivors ending by dreading the very air they breathed[ ]." having thus completed our survey of the bantu populations from the central dividing line about the congo-chad water-parting round by the east, south, and west coastlands, and so back to the sudanese zone, we may pause to ask, what routes were followed by the bantus themselves during the long ages required to spread themselves over an area estimated at nearly six million square miles? i have established, apparently on solid grounds, a fixed point of initial dispersion in the extreme north-east, and allusion has frequently been made to migratory movements, some even now going on, generally from east to west, and, on the east side of the continent, from north to south, with here an important but still quite recent reflux from zululand back nearly to victoria nyanza. if a parallel current be postulated as setting on the atlantic side in prehistoric times from south to north, from hereroland to the camerúns, or possibly the other way, we shall have nearly all the factors needed to explain the general dispersion of the bantu peoples over their vast domain. support is given to this view by the curious distribution of the two chief bantu names of the "supreme being," to which incidental reference has already been made. as first pointed out i think by dr bleek, _(m)unkulunkulu_ with its numerous variants prevails along the eastern seaboard, _nzambi_ along the western, and both in many parts of the interior; while here and there the two meet, as if to indicate prehistoric interminglings of two great primeval migratory movements. from the subjoined table a clear idea may be had of the general distribution: munkulunkulu nzambi { mpondo: ukulukulu | eshi-kongo: nzambi } { zulu: unkulunkulu | kabinda: nzambi pongo} { inhambane: mulungulu | lunda: zambi } { sofala: murungu | ba-teke: nza[~m] } { be-chuana: mulungulu | ba-rotse: nyampe } { lake moero: mulungu | bihé: nzambi } { lake tanganyika: mulungu | loango: zambi, nyambi} eastern { makua: moloko | bunda: onzambi }western seaboard{ quillimane: mlugu | ba-ngala: nsambi }seaboard and { lake bangweolo: mungu | ba-kele: nshambi }and parts { tete, zambesi: muungu | rungu: anyambi }parts of { nyasaland: murungu | ashira: aniembie }of interior{ swahili: muungu | mpongwe: njambi }interior { giryama: mulungu | benga: anyambi } { pokomo: mungo | dwala: nyambi } { nyika: mulungu | yanzi: nyambi } { kamba: mulungu | herero: ndyambi } { yanzi: molongo | { herero: mukuru | of _munkulunkulu_ the primitive idea is clear enough from its best preserved form, the zulu _unkulunkulu_, which is a repetitive of the root _inkulu_, great, old, hence a deification of the great departed, a direct outcome of the ancestry-worship so universal amongst negro and bantu peoples[ ]. thus unkulunkulu becomes the direct progenitor of the zulu-xosas: _unkulunkulu ukobu wetu_. but the fundamental meaning of _nzambi_ is unknown. the root does not occur in kishi-kongo, and bentley rightly rejects kolbe's far-fetched explanation from the herero, adding that "the knowledge of god is most vague, scarcely more than nominal. there is no worship paid to god[ ]." more probable seems w. h. tooke's suggestion that nzambi is "a nature spirit like zeus or indra," and that, while the eastern bantus are ancestor-worshippers, "the western adherents of nzambi are more or less nature-worshippers. in this respect they appear to approach the negroes of the gold, slave, and oil coasts[ ]." no doubt the cult of the dead prevails also in this region, but here it is combined with naturalistic forms of belief, as on the gold coast, where _bobowissi_, chief god of all the southern tribes, is the "blower of clouds," the "rain-maker," and on the slave coast, where the dahoman _mawu_ and the yoruba _olorun_ are the sky or rain, and the "owner of the sky" (the deified firmament), respectively[ ]. it would therefore seem probable that the munkulunkulu peoples from the north-east gradually spread by the indicated routes over the whole of bantuland, everywhere imposing their speech, general culture, and ancestor-worship on the pre-bantu aborigines, except along the atlantic coastlands and in parts of the interior. here the primitive nature-worship, embodied in nzambi, held and still holds its ground, both meeting on equal terms--as shown in the above table--amongst the ba-yanzi, the ova-herero, and the be-chuanas (_mulungulu_ generally, but _nyampe_ in barotseland), and no doubt in other inland regions. but the absolute supremacy of one on the east, and of the other on the west, side of the continent, seems conclusive as to the general streams of migration, while the amazing uniformity of nomenclature is but another illustration of the almost incredible persistence of bantu speech amongst these multitudinous illiterate populations for an incalculable period of time[ ]. the vaalpens and the strandloopers. among the ethnological problems of africa may be reckoned the _vaalpens_ and the _strandloopers_. along the banks of the limpopo between the transvaal and southern rhodesia there are scattered a few small groups of an extremely primitive people who are generally confounded with the bushmen, but differ in some important respects from that race. they are the "earthmen" of some writers, but their real name is _kattea_, though called by their neighbours either _ma sarwa_ ("bad people") or _vaalpens_ ("grey paunches") from the khaki colour acquired by their bodies from creeping on all fours into their underground hovels. but the true colour is almost a pitch black, and as they are only about four feet high they are quite distinct both from the tall bantus and the yellowish hottentot-bushmen. for the zulus they are mere "dogs" or "vultures," and are certainly the most degraded of all the aborigines, being undoubtedly cannibals, eating their own aged and infirm like some of the amazonian tribes. their habitations are holes in the ground, rock-shelters, or caves, or lately a few hovels of mud and foliage at the foot of the hills. of their speech nothing is known except that it is absolutely distinct both from the bantu and the bushman. there are no arts or industries of any kind, not even any weapons beyond those procured in exchange for ostrich feathers, skins or ivory. but they can make fire, and are thus able to cook the offal thrown to them by the boers in return for their help in skinning the captured game. whether they have any religious ideas it is impossible to say, all intercourse with the surrounding peoples being restricted to barter carried on with gesture language for nobody has ever yet mastered their tongue. a "chief" is spoken of, but he is merely a headman who presides over the little family groups of from thirty to fifty (there are no tribes properly so called), and whose purely domestic functions are acquired, not by heredity, but by personal worth, that is, physical strength. altogether the kattea is perhaps the most perfect embodiment of the pure savage still anywhere surviving[ ]. when the hottentots of south africa were questioned by scientific men a hundred years ago and more regarding their traditions, they were wont to refer to their predecessors on the coast of south africa as a savage race living on the seashore and subsisting on shellfish and the bodies of stranded whales. from their habits these were styled in dutch the strandloopers or "shore-runners[ ]." according to f. c. shrubsall the strandlooper of the cape colony caves preceded the bushman in south africa. they were a race of short but not dwarfish men with a much higher skull capacity than that of the average bush race. the extreme of cranial capacity in the strandloopers was a maximum of over c.c., while the extreme minimum among the bush people descends as low as c.c. the frontal region of the skull is much better developed than in the bush race, and in that respect is more like the negro. there is little or no brow prominence and one at least of the skulls is as orthognathous in facial angle as that of a european. l. peringuey remarks also that the type was less dolichocephalic than the bushmen and hottentots, under in cephalic index. "he was artistically gifted, like the race which occupied and decorated the altamira ... and other caves of spain and france. he painted; he possibly carved on rocks; he used bone tools; he made pottery; he perforated stones for either heading clubs or to be used as make-weights for digging tools; his ornaments consisted of sea-shells; and the ostrich egg-shell discs which he made may be said to be a typical product of his industry. and this culture is retained in south africa by a kindred race, but more dolichocephalic--the bushmen-hottentots. analogous are most of his tools and his expressions of culture to those of aurignacian man." the negrilloes. the proper domain of the african negrilloes is the intertropical forest-land, although they appear to be at present confined to somewhat narrow limits, between about six degrees of latitude north and south of the equator, unless the bushmen be included. but formerly they probably ranged much farther north, and in historic times were certainly known in egypt some or years ago. this is evident from the frequent references to them in the "book of the dead" as far back as the th dynasty. like the dwarfs in medieval times, they were in high request at the courts of the pharaohs, who sent expeditions to fetch these _danga_ (_tank_) from the "island of the double," that is, the fabulous region of shade land beyond punt, where they dwelt. the first of whom there is authentic record was brought from this region, apparently the white nile, to king assa ( b.c.) by his officer, baurtet. some years later heru-khuf, another officer, was sent by pepi ii "to bring back a pygmy alive and in good health," from the land of great trees away to the south[ ]. that the danga came from the south we know from a later inscription at karnak, and that the word meant dwarf is clear from the accompanying determinative of a short person of stunted growth. it is curious to note in this connection that the limestone statue of the dwarf nem-hotep, found in his tomb at sakkara and figured by ernest grosse, has a thick elongated head suggesting artificial deformation, unshapely mouth, dull expression, strong full chest, and small deformed feet, on which he seems badly balanced. it will be remembered that schweinfurth's akkas from mangbattuland were also represented as top-heavy, although the best observers, junker and others, describe those of the welle and congo forests as shapely and by no means ill-proportioned. kollmann also, who has examined the remains of the neolithic pygmies from the schweizersbild station, switzerland, "is quite certain that the dwarf-like proportions of the latter have nothing in common with diseased conditions. this, from many points of view, is a highly interesting discovery. it is possible, as nüesch suggests, that the widely-spread legend as to the former existence of little men, dwarfs and gnomes, who were supposed to haunt caves and retired places in the mountains, may be a reminiscence of these neolithic pygmies[ ]." this is what may be called the picturesque aspect of the negrillo question, which it seems almost a pity to spoil by too severe a criticism. but "ethnologic truth" obliges us to say that the identification of the african negrillo with kollmann's european dwarfs still lacks scientific proof. even craniology fails us here, and although the negrilloes are in great majority round-headed, r. verneau has shown that there may be exceptions[ ], while the theory of the general uniformity of the physical type has broken down at some other points. thus the _dume_, south of gallaland, discovered by donaldson smith[ ] in the district where the _doko_ negrilloes had long been heard of, and even seen by antoine d'abbadie in , were found to average five feet, or more than one foot over the mean of the true negrillo. d'abbadie in fact declared that his "dokos" were not pygmies at all[ ], while donaldson smith now tells us that "doko" is only a term of contempt applied by the local tribes to their "poor relations." "their chief characteristics were a black skin, round features, woolly hair, small oval-shaped eyes, rather thick lips, high cheekbones, a broad forehead, and very well formed bodies" (p. ). the expression of the eye was canine, "sometimes timid and suspicious-looking, sometimes very amiable and merry, and then again changing suddenly to a look of intense anger." pygmies, he adds, "inhabited the whole of the country north of lakes stephanie and rudolf long before any of the tribes now to be found in the neighbourhood; but they have been gradually killed off in war, and have lost their characteristics by inter-marriage with people of large stature, so that only this one little remnant, the dume, remains to prove the existence of a pygmy race. formerly they lived principally by hunting, and they still kill a great many elephants with their poisoned arrows" (pp. - ). some of these remarks apply also to the _wandorobbo_, another small people who range nearly as far north as the dume, but are found chiefly farther south all over masailand, and belong, i have little doubt, to the same connection. they are the henchmen of the masai, whom they provide with big game in return for divers services. those met by w. astor chanler were also "armed with bows and arrows, and each carried an elephant-spear, which they called _bonati_. this spear is six feet in length, thick at either end, and narrowed where grasped by the hand. in one end is bored a hole, into which is fitted an arrow two feet long, as thick as one's thumb, and with a head two inches broad. their method of killing elephants is to creep cautiously up to the beast, and drive a spear into its loin. a quick twist separates the spear from the arrow, and they make off as fast and silently as possible. in all cases the arrows are poisoned; and if they are well introduced into the animal's body, the elephant does not go far[ ]." from some of the peculiarities of the achua (wochua) negrilloes met by junker south of the welle one can understand why these little people were such favourites with the old egyptian kings. these were "distinguished by sharp powers of observation, amazing talent for mimicry, and a good memory. a striking proof of this was afforded by an achua whom i had seen and measured four years previously in rumbek, and now again met at gambari's. his comic ways and quick nimble movements made this little fellow the clown of our society. he imitated with marvellous fidelity the peculiarities of persons whom he had once seen; for instance, the gestures and facial expressions of jussuf pasha esh-shelahis and of haj halil at their devotions, as well as the address and movements of emin pasha, 'with the four eyes' (spectacles). his imitation of hawash effendi in a towering rage, storming and abusing everybody, was a great success; and now he took me off to the life, rehearsing after four years, down to the minutest details, and with surprising accuracy, my anthropometric performance when measuring his body at rumbek[ ]." a somewhat similar account is given by ludwig wolf of the ba-twa pygmies visited by him and wissmann in the kassai region. here are whole villages in the forest-glades inhabited by little people with an average height of about feet inches. they are nomads, occupied exclusively with hunting and the preparation of palm-wine, and are regarded by their ba-kubu neighbours as benevolent little people, whose special mission is to provide the surrounding tribes with game and palm-wine in exchange for manioc, maize, and bananas[ ]. despite the above-mentioned deviations, occurring chiefly about the borderlands, considerable uniformity both of physical and mental characters is found to prevail amongst the typical negrillo groups scattered in small hunting communities all over the welle, semliki, congo, and ogowai woodlands. their main characters are thus described. their skin is of a reddish or yellowish brown in colour, sometimes very dark. their height varies from . m. to . m. ( ft. - / in. to ft. - / in.[ ]). their hair is very short and woolly, usually of a dark rusty brown colour; the face hair is variable, but the body is usually covered with a light downy hair. the cephalic index is . the nose is very broad and exceptionally flattened at the root; the lips are usually thin, and the upper one long; the eyes are protuberant; the face is sometimes prognathic. steatopygia occurs. they are a markedly intelligent people, innately musical, cunning, revengeful and suspicious in disposition, but they never steal. they are nomadic hunters and collectors, never resorting to agriculture. they have no domestic animals. only meat is cooked. they wear no clothing. they use bows and poisoned arrows. their language is unknown. they live in small communities which centre round a cunning fighter or able hunter. their dead are buried in the ground. they differ from surrounding negroes in having no veneration for the departed, no amulets, no magicians or professional priests. they have charms for ensuring luck in hunting, but it is uncertain whether these charms derive their potency from the supreme being, though evidence of belief in a high-god is reported from various pygmy peoples.[ ] the bushmen and hottentots. towards the south the negrillo domain was formerly conterminous with that of the bushmen, of whom traces were discovered by sir h. h. johnston[ ] as far north as lakes nyasa and tanganyika, and who, it has been conjectured, belong to the same primitive stock. the differences mental and physical now separating the two sections of the family may perhaps be explained by the different environments--hot, moist and densely wooded in the north, and open steppes in the south--but until more is known of the african pygmies their affinities must remain undecided. the relationship between the bushmen and the hottentots is another disputed question. early authorities regarded the hottentots as the parent family, and the bushmen as the offspring, but the researches of gustav fritsch, e. t. hamy, f. shrubsall[ ] and others show that the hottentots are a cross between the bushmen--the primitive race--and the bantu, the bushman element being seen in the leathery colour, prominent cheek-bones, pointed chin, steatopygia and other special characters. in prehistoric times the hottentots ranged over a vast area. evidence has now been produced of the presence of a belated hottentot or hottentot-bushman group as far north as the kwa-kokue district, between kilimanjaro and victoria nyanza. the _wa-sandawi_ people here visited by oskar neumann are not bantus, and speak a language radically distinct from that of the neighbouring bantus, but full of clicks like that of the bushmen[ ]. two sandawi skulls examined by virchow[ ] showed distinct hottentot characters, with a cranial capacity of and c.c., projecting upper jaw and orthodolicho head[ ]. the geographical prefix _kwa_, common in the district (kwa-kokue, kwa-mtoro, kwa-hindi), is pure hottentot, meaning "people," like the postfix _qua_ (_kwa_) of kora-_qua_, nama-_qua_, etc. in the present hottentot domain. the transposition of prefixes and postfixes is a common linguistic phenomenon, as seen in the sumero-akkadian of babylonia, in the neo-sanskritic tongues of india, and the latin, oscan, and other members of the old italic group. farther south a widely-diffused hottentot-bushman geographical terminology attests the former range of this primitive race all over south africa, as far north as the zambesi. lichtenstein had already discovered such traces in the zulu country[ ], and vater points out that "for some districts the fact has been fully established; mountains and rivers now occupied by the koossa [ama-xosa] preserve in their hottentot names the certain proof that they at one time formed a permanent possession of this people[ ]." thanks to the custom of raising heaps of stones or cairns over the graves of renowned chiefs, the migrations of the hottentots may be followed in various directions to the very heart of south zambesia. here the memory of their former presence is perpetuated in the names of such water-courses as nos-ob, up, mol-opo, hyg-ap, gar-ib, in which the syllables _ob_, _up_, _ap_, _ib_ and others are variants of the hottentot word _ib_, _ip_, water, river, as in _gar-ib_, the "great river," now better known as the orange river. the same indications may be traced right across the continent to the atlantic, where nearly all the coast streams--even in hereroland, where the language has long been extinct--have the same ending[ ]. on the west side the bushmen are still heard of as far north as the cunene, and in the interior beyond lake ngami nearly to the right bank of the zambesi. but the hottentots are now confined mainly to great and little namaqualand. elsewhere there appear to be no full-blood natives of this race, the koraquas, gonaquas, griquas, etc. being all hottentot-boer or hottentot-bantu half-castes of dutch speech. in cape colony the tribal organisation ceased to exist in , when the last hottentot chief was replaced by a european magistrate. still the koraquas keep themselves somewhat distinct about the upper orange and vaal rivers, and the griquas in griqualand east, while the gonaquas, that is, "borderers," are being gradually merged in the bantu populations of the eastern provinces. there are at present scarcely , south of the orange river, and of these the great majority are half-breeds[ ]. despite their extremely low state of culture, or, one might say, the almost total lack of culture, the bushmen are distinguished by two remarkable qualities, a fine sense of pictorial or graphic art[ ], and a rich imagination displayed in a copious oral folklore, much of which, collected by bleek, is preserved in manuscript form in sir george grey's library at cape town[ ]. the materials here stored for future use, perhaps long after the race itself has vanished for ever, comprise no less than thick volumes of double-column pages, besides an unfinished bushman dictionary with , entries. there are two great sections, ( ) myths, fables, legends and poetry, with tales about the sun and moon, the stars, the _mantis_ and other animals, legends of peoples who dwelt in the land before the bushmen, songs, charms, and even prayers; ( ) histories, adventures of men and animals, customs, superstitions, genealogies, and so on. in the tales and myths the sun, moon, and animals speak either with their own proper clicks, or else use the ordinary clicks in some way peculiar to themselves. thus bleek tells us that the tortoise changes clicks in labials, the ichneumon in palatals, the jackal substitutes linguo-palatals for labials, while the moon, hare, and ant-eater use "a most unpronounceable click" of their own. how many there may be altogether, not one of which can be properly uttered by europeans, nobody seems to know. but grammarians have enumerated nine, indicated each by a graphic sign as under: cerebral [symbol] palatal [symbol] dental [symbol] lateral (faucal) [symbol] guttural [symbol] labial [symbol] spiro-dental [symbol] linguo-palatal [symbol] undefined [symbol] from bushman--a language in a state of flux, fragmentary as the small tribal or rather family groups that speak it[ ]--these strange inarticulate sounds passed to the number of four into the remotely related hottentot, and thence to the number of three into the wholly unconnected zulu-xosa. but they are heard nowhere else to my knowledge except amongst the newly-discovered wa-sandawi people of south masailand. at the same time we know next to nothing of the negrillo tongues, and should clicks be discovered to form an element in their phonetic system also[ ], it would support the assumption of a common origin of all these dwarfish races now somewhat discredited on anatomical grounds. m. g. bertin, to whom we are indebted for an excellent monograph on the bushman[ ], rightly remarks that he is not, at least mentally, so debased as he has been described by the early travellers and by the neighbouring bantus and boers, by whom he has always been despised and harried. "his greatest love is for freedom, he acknowledges no master, and possesses no slaves. it is this love of independence which made him prefer the wandering life of a hunter to that of a peaceful agriculturist or shepherd, as the hottentot. he rarely builds a hut, but prefers for abode the natural caves he finds in the rocks. in other localities he forms a kind of nest in the bush--hence his name of bushman--or digs with his nails subterranean caves, from which he has received the name of 'earthman.' his garments consist only of a small skin. his weapons are still the spear, arrow and bow in their most rudimentary form. the spear is a mere branch of a tree, to which is tied a piece of bone or flint; the arrow is only a reed treated in the same way. the arrow and spear-heads are always poisoned, to render mortal the slight wounds they inflict. he gathers no flocks, which would impede his movements, and only accepts the help of dogs as wild as himself. the bushmen have, however, one implement, a rounded stone perforated in the middle, in which is inserted a piece of wood; with this instrument, which carries us back to the first age of man, they dig up a few edible roots growing wild in the desert. to produce fire, he still retains the primitive system of rubbing two pieces of wood--another prehistoric survival." touching their name, it is obvious that these scattered groups, without hereditary chiefs or social organisation of any kind, could have no collective designation. the term _khuai_, of uncertain meaning, but probably to be equated with the hottentot _khoi_, "men," is the name only of a single group, though often applied to the whole race. _saan_, their hottentot name, is the plural of sa, a term also of uncertain origin; _ba-roa_, current amongst the be-chuanas, has not been explained, while the zulu _abatwa_ would seem to connect them even by name with wolf's and stanley's _ba-twa_ of the congo forest region. other so-called tribal names (there are no "tribes" in the strict sense of the word) are either nicknames imposed upon them by their neighbours, or else terms taken from the localities, as amongst the fuegians. we may conclude with the words of w. j. sollas: "the more we know of these wonderful little people the more we learn to admire and like them. to many solid virtues--untiring energy, boundless patience, and fertile invention, steadfast courage, devoted loyalty, and family affection--they added a native refinement of manners and a rare aesthetic sense. we may learn from them how far the finer excellences of life may be attained in the hunting stage. in their golden age, before the coming of civilised man, they enjoyed their life to the full, glad with the gladness of primeval creatures. the story of their later days, their extermination and the cruel manner of it, is a tale of horror on which we do not care to dwell. they haunt no more the sunlit veldt, their hunting is over, their nation is destroyed; but they leave behind an imperishable memory, they have immortalised themselves in their art[ ]." footnotes: [ ] c. meinhof holds that proto-bantu arose through the mixture of a sudan language with one akin to fulah. _an introduction to the study of african languages_, , p. sqq. [ ] bantu, properly aba-ntu, "people." _aba_ is one of the numerous personal prefixes, each with its corresponding singular form, which are the cause of so much confusion in bantu nomenclature. to _aba_, _ab_, _ba_ answers a sing. _umu_, _um_, _mu_, so that sing. _umu-ntu_, _um-ntu_ or _mu-ntu_, a man, a person; plu. _aba-ntu_, _ab-ntu_, ba-ntu. but in some groups mu is also plural, the chief dialectic variants being, _ama_, _aba_, _ma_, _ba_, _wa_, _ova_, _va_, _vua_, _u_, _a_, _o_, _eshi_, as in ama-zulu, mu-sarongo, ma-yomba, wa-swahili, ova-herero, vua-twa, ba-suto, eshi-kongo. for a tentative classification of african tribes see t. a. joyce, art. "africa: ethnology," _ency. brit._ , p. . for the classification of bantu tongues into groups consult h. h. johnston, art. "bantu languages," _loc. cit._ [ ] _eth._ ch. xi. [ ] _le naturaliste_, jan. . [ ] _tour de monde_, , i. p. sq.; and _les bayas_; _notes ethnographiques et linguistiques_, paris, . [ ] d. randall-maciver, _mediaeval rhodesia_, . but r. n. hall, _prehistoric rhodesia_, , strongly opposes this view. see below, p. . [ ] even tipu tib, their chief leader and "prince of slavers," was a half-caste with distinctly negroid features. [ ] "afilo wurde mir vom lega-könig als ein negerland bezeichnet, welches von einer galla-aristokratie beherrscht wird" (_petermann's mitt._ , v. p. ). [ ] the ba-hima are herdsmen in buganda, a sort of aristocracy in unyoro, a ruling caste in toro, and the dominant race with dynasties in ankole. the name varies in different areas. [ ] _journ. anthr. inst._ , p. . for details of the ba-hima type see _eth._ p. . [ ] j. roscoe, _the northern bantu_, , p. . herein are also described the _bakene_, lake dwellers, the _bagesu_, a cannibal tribe, the _basoga_ and the nilotic tribes the _bateso_ and _kavirondo_. [ ] j. roscoe, _loc. cit._ pp. , . [ ] "a survey of the ethnography of africa," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xliii. , p. . [ ] _handwerk und industrie in ostafrika_, , p. . [ ] "die erste ausbreitung des menschengeschlechts." _pol. anthropol. revue_, , p. . cf. chronology on p. above. [ ] _ethnology_, p. . [ ] uganda is the name now applied to the whole protectorate, buganda is the small kingdom, baganda, the people, muganda, one person, luganda, the language. h. h. johnston, _the uganda protectorate_, , and j. f. cunningham, _uganda and its peoples_, , cover much of the elementary anthropology of east central africa. [ ] the legend is given with much detail by h. m. stanley in _through the dark continent_, vol. i. p. sq. another and less mythical account of the migrations of "the people with a white skin from the far north-east" is quoted from emin pasha by the rev. r. p. ashe in _two kings of uganda_, p. . here the immigrant ba-hima are expressly stated to have "adopted the language of the aborigines" (p. ). [ ] sir h. h. johnston, _op. cit._ p. . [ ] except the lung-fish clan. [ ] j. roscoe, _the baganda_, . [ ] for the _wa-kikuyu_ see w. s. and k. routledge, _with a prehistoric people_, , and c. w. hobley's papers in the _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xl. , and xli. . the _atharaka_ are described by a. m. champion, _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xlii. , p. . consult for this region c. eliot, _the east africa protectorate_, ; k. weule, _native life in east africa_, ; c. w. hobley, _ethnology of the a-kamba and other east african tribes_, ; m. weiss, _die völkerstämme im norden deutsch-ostafrikas_, ; and a. werner, "the bantu coast tribes of the east africa protectorate," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xlv. . [ ] _official report on the east african protectorate_, . [ ] _vocabulary of the giryama language_, s.p.c.k. . [ ] _travels in the coastlands of british east africa_, london, , p. sq. [ ] a. werner, "girijama texts," _zeitschr. f. kol.-spr._ oct. . [ ] having become the chief medium of intercourse throughout the southern bantu regions, ki-swahili has been diligently cultivated, especially by the english missionaries, who have wisely discarded the arab for the roman characters. there is already an extensive literature, including grammars, dictionaries, translations of the bible and other works, and even _a history of rome_ issued by the s.p.c.k. in . [ ] w. e. h. barrett, "notes on the customs and beliefs of the wa-giriama," etc., _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xli. , gives further details. for a full review of the religious beliefs of bantu tribes see e. s. hartland, art. "bantu and s. africa," _ency. of religion and ethics_, . [ ] the name still survives in _zangue-bar_ ("zang-land") and the adjacent island of _zanzibar_ (an indian corruption). _zang_ is "black," and _bar_ is the same arabic word, meaning dry land, that we have in _mala-bar_ on the opposite side of the indian ocean. cf. also _barran wa bahran_, "by land and by sea." [ ] _viage por malabar y costas de africa_, , translated by the hon. henry e. j. stanley, hakluyt society, . [ ] in preference to the more popular form _zulu-kafir_, where _kafir_ is merely the arabic "infidel" applied indiscriminately to any people rejecting islám; hence the _siah posh kafirs_ ("black-clad infidels") of afghanistan; the _kufra_ oasis in the sahara, where _kufra_, plural of _kafir_, refers to the pagan tibus of that district; and the kafirs generally of the east african seaboard. but according to english usage _zulu_ is applied to the northern part of the territory, mainly zululand proper and natal, while kafirland or kaffraria is restricted to the southern section between natal and the great kei river. the bulk of these southern "kafirs" belong to the xosa connection; hence this term takes the place of _kafir_, in the compound expression _zulu-xosa_. _ama_ is explained on p. , and the _x_ of _xosa_ represents an unpronounceable combination of a guttural and a lateral click, this with two other clicks (a dental and a palatal) having infected the speech of these bantus during their long prehistoric wars with the hottentots or bushmen. see p. . [ ] see p. above. [ ] see the admirable monograph on the ba-thonga, by h. a. junod, _the life of a south african tribe_, . [ ] robert codrington tells us that these a-ngoni (aba-ngoni) spring from a zulu tribe which crossed the zambesi about , and established themselves south-east of l. tanganyika, but later migrated to the uplands west of l. nyasa, where they founded three petty states. others went east of the livingstone range, and are here still known as magwangwara. but all became gradually assimilated to the surrounding populations. intermarrying with the women of the country they preserve their speech, dress, and usages for the first generation in a slightly modified form, although the language of daily intercourse is that of the mothers. then this class becomes the aristocracy of the whole nation, which henceforth comprises a great part of the aborigines ruled by a privileged caste of zulu origin, "perpetuated almost entirely among themselves" ("central angoniland," _geograph. jour._ may, , p. ). see a. werner, _the natives of british central africa_, . [ ] rev. j. macdonald, _light in africa_, p. . among recent works on the zulu-xosa tribes may be mentioned dudley kidd, _the essential kafir_, , _savage childhood_, ; h. a. junod, _the life of a south african tribe_ (ba-thonga), - ; g. w. stow and g. m. theal, _the native races of south africa_, . [ ] from _mwana_, lord, master, and _tapa_, to dig, both common bantu words. [ ] the point was that portugal had made treaties with this mythical state, in virtue of which she claimed in the "scramble for africa" all the hinterlands behind her possessions on the east and west coasts (mozambique and angola), in fact all south africa between the orange and zambesi rivers. further details on the "monomotapa question" will be found in my monograph on "the portuguese in south africa" in murray's _south africa, from arab domination to british rule_, , p. sq. five years later mr g. mccall theal also discovered, no doubt independently, the mythical character of monomotapaland in his book on _the portuguese in south africa_, . [ ] _proc. r. geogr. soc._ may, , and _the ruined cities of mashonaland_, . [ ] d. randall-maciver, _mediaeval rhodesia_, . but r. n. hall strongly combats his views, _great zimbabwe_, , _prehistoric rhodesia_, , and _south african journal of science_, may, . h. h. johnston says, "i see nothing inherently improbable in the finding of gold by proto-arabs in the south-eastern part of zambezia; nor in the pre-islamic arab origin of zimbabwe," p. , "a survey of the ethnography of africa," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xliii. . [ ] g. w. stow, _the native races of south africa_, . [ ] the british protectorate was limited in to about , square miles. [ ] cf. a. st h. gibbons, _africa south to north through marotseland_, , and c. w. mackintosh, _coillard of the zambesi_, , with a bibliography. [ ] the ma-kololo gave the ba-rotse their present name. they were originally aälui, but the conquerors called them ma-rotse, people of the plain. [ ] _ten years north of the orange river._ [ ] cf. g. m. theal, _the history of south africa_ - , and _the beginning of south african history_, . [ ] _op. cit._ p. . [ ] g. lagden, _the basutos_, . [ ] variously termed _ba-kongo_, _bashi-kongo_ or _ba-fiot_. [ ] _towards the mountains of the moon_, , p. . [ ] _dictionary and grammar of the kongo language_, , p. xxiii. f. starr has published a _bibliography of the congo languages_, bull. v., dept. of anthropology, university of chicago, . [ ] "li mociconghi cosi nomati nel suo proprio idioma gli abitanti del reame di congo" (_relatione_, etc., rome, , p. ). this form is remarkable, being singular (_moci = mushi_) instead of plural (_eshi_); yet it is still currently applied to the rude "mushi-kongos" on the south side of the estuary. their real name however is bashi-kongo. see _brit. mus. ethnog. handbook_, p. . [ ] often written _ba-fiort_ with an intrusive _r_. [ ] under belgian administration much ethnological work has been undertaken, and published in the _annales du musée du congo_, notably the magnificent monograph on the _bushongo_ (_bakuba_) by e. torday and t. a. joyce, . see also h. h. johnston, _george grenfell and the congo_, ; m. w. hilton-simpson, _land and peoples of the kasai_, ; e. torday, _camp and tramp in african wilds_, ; j. h. weeks, _among congo cannibals_, , and _among the primitive bakongo_, ; and adolf friedrich, duke of mecklenburg, _from the congo to the niger and the nile_, . [ ] _the first ascent of the kassai_, , p. sq. see also my communication to the _academy_, april , , and _africa_ (stanford's compendium), , vol. ii. p. sq. [ ] _op. cit._ p. . [ ] _the new world of central africa_, , p. sq. [ ] _op. cit._ p. . [ ] these _mpangwe_ savages are constantly confused with the _mpongwes_ of the gabún, a settled bantu people who have been long in close contact, and on friendly terms, with the white traders and missionaries in this district. [ ] the scanty information about the ba-teke is given, with references, by e. torday and t. a. joyce, "notes on the ethnography of the ba-huana," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xxxvi. . [ ] my _africa_, ii. p. . oscar lenz, who perhaps knew them best, says: "gut gebaut, schlank und kräftig gewachsen, hautfarbe viel lichter, manchmal stark ins gelbe spielend, haar und bartwuchs auffallend stark, sehr grosse kinnbärte" (_skizzen aus west-afrika_, , p. ). [ ] m. h. kingsley, _travels in west africa_, , pp. - . [ ] _official report_, . [ ] h. h. johnston, _george grenfell and the congo ... and notes on the cameroons_, . [ ] reclus, english ed., xii. p. . [ ] so also in minahassa, celebes, _empung_, "grandfather," is the generic name of the gods. "the fundamental ideas of primitive man are the same all the world over. just as the little black baby of the negro, the brown baby of the malay, the yellow baby of the chinaman are in face and form, in gestures and habits, as well as in the first articulate sounds they mutter, very much alike, so the mind of man, whether he be aryan or malay, mongolian or negrito, has in the course of its evolution passed through stages which are practically identical" (sydney j. hickson, _a naturalist in north celebes_, , p. ). [ ] _op. cit._ p. . [ ] "the god of the ethiopians," in _nature_, may , . [ ] a. b. ellis, _tshi_, p. ; _ewe_, p. ; _yoruba_, p. . [ ] cf. e. s. hartland, art. "bantu and s. africa," _ency. of religion and ethics_, . [ ] this account of the vaalpens is taken from a. h. keane, _the world's peoples_, , p. . [ ] this summary of our information about the strandloopers, with quotations from f. c. shrubsall and l. peringuey, is taken from h. h. johnston, "a survey of the ethnography of africa," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xliii. , p. . [ ] schiaparelli, _una tomba egiziana_, rome, . [ ] james geikie, _scottish geogr. mag._ sept. . [ ] thus he finds (_l'anthropologie_, , p. ) a presumably negrillo skull from the babinga district, middle sangha river, to be distinctly long-headed ( . ) with, for this race, the enormous cranial capacity of about c.c. cf. the akka measured by sir w. flower ( c.c.), and his andamanese ( ), the highest hitherto known being (virchow). [ ] _through unknown african countries_, etc., . [ ] _bul. soc. géogr._ xix. p. . [ ] _through jungle and desert_, , pp. - . [ ] _travels_, iii. p. . [ ] _im innern afrika's_, p. sq. as stated in _eth._ ch. xi. dr wolf connects all these negrillo peoples with the bushmen south of the zambesi. [ ] one of the mambute brought to england by col. harrison in measured just over - / feet. [ ] see a. c. haddon, art. "negrillos and negritos," _ency. of religion and ethics_, . [ ] "it would seem as if the earliest known race of man inhabiting what is now british central africa was akin to the bushman-hottentot type of negro. rounded stones with a hole through the centre, similar to those which are used by the bushmen in the south for weighting their digging-sticks, have been found at the south end of lake tanganyika. i have heard that other examples of these 'bushman' stones have been found nearer to lake nyasa, etc." (_british central africa_, p. ). [ ] g. fritsch, _die ein-geborenen sud-afrikas_, , "schilderungen der hottentotten," _globus_, , p. ff.; e. t. hamy, "les races nègres," _l'anthropologie_, , p. ff.; f. shrubsall, "crania of african bush races," _journ. anthr. inst._ . see also g. mccall theal, _the yellow and dark-skinned people south of the zambesi_, . [ ] "i have not been able to trace much affinity in word roots between this language and either bushman or hottentot, though it is noteworthy that the word for four ... is almost identical with the word for four in all the hottentot dialects, while the phonology of the language is reminiscent of bushmen in its nasals and gutturals" (h. h. johnston, "survey of the ethnography of africa," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xliii. , p. ). [ ] _verhandl. berliner gesellsch. f. anthrop._ , p. . [ ] of another skull undoubtedly hottentot, from a cave on the transvaal and orange free state frontier, dr mies remarks that "seine form ist orthodolichocephal wie bei den wassandaui," although differing in some other characters (_centralbl. f. anthr._ , p. ). [ ] from which he adds that the hottentots "schon lange vor der portugiesischen umschiffung afrika's von kaffer-stämmen wieder zurückgedrängt wurden" (_reisen_, i. p. ). [ ] adelung und vater, berlin, , iii. p. . [ ] such are, going north from below walvisch bay, chuntop, kuisip, swakop, ugab, huab, uniab, hoanib, kaurasib, and khomeb. [ ] the returns for showed a "hottentot" population of , , but very few were pure hottentots. the official estimate of those in which hottentot blood was strongly marked was , . [ ] m. h. tongue and e. d. bleek, _bushman paintings_, . cf. w. j. sollas, _ancient hunters_, , p. , with bibliography. [ ] w. h. i. bleek and l. c. lloyd, _bushman folklore_, . [ ] see w. planert, "Über die sprache der hottentotten und buschmänner," _mitt. d. seminars f. oriental. sprachen z. berlin_, viii. ( ), abt. iii. - . [ ] "in the pygmies of the north-eastern corner of the congo basin and amongst the bantu tribes of the equatorial east african coast there is a tendency to faucal gasps or explosive consonants which suggests the vanishing influence of clicks." h. h. johnston, "a survey of the ethnography of africa," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xliii. . [ ] "the bushmen and their language," in _journ. r. asiatic soc._ xviii. part . [ ] _ancient hunters_, , p. . chapter v the oceanic negroes: papuasians (papuans and melanesians)--negritoes-- tasmanians general ethnical relations in oceania--the terms papuan, melanesian and papuasian defined--the papuasian domain, past and present-- papuans and melanesians--physical characters: papuan, papuo-melanesian, melanesian--the _new caledonians_--physical characters--food question--general survey of melanesian ethnology--cultural problems--kava-drinking and betel-chewing--stone monuments--the dual people--summary of culture strata--melanesian culture--dress--houses--weapons--canoes, etc.--social life--secret societies--clubs--religion--western papuasia--ethnical elements-- region of transition by displacements and crossings--papuan and malay contrasts--ethnical and biological divides--the negritoes-- the _andamanese_--stone age--personal appearance--social life-- religion--speech--method of counting--grammatical structure-- the _semangs_--physical appearance--usages--speech--stone age-- the _aetas_--head-hunters--_new guinea pygmies_--negrito culture-- the _tasmanians_--tasmanian culture--fire making--tools and weapons--diet--dwellings--extinction. conspectus. #present range.# papuasian: _east malaysia, new guinea, melanesia_; tasmanian: _extinct_; negrito: _andamans, malay peninsula, philippines, new guinea_. #hair.# papuasian: _black, frizzly, mop-like, beard scanty or absent_; tasmanian: _black, shorter and less mop-like than papuasian_; negrito: _short, woolly or frizzly, black, sometimes tinged with brown or red_. #colour.# all: _very deep shades of chocolate brown, often verging on black, a very constant character, lighter shades showing mixture_. #skull.# papuasian: _extremely dolichocephalic ( - ) and high, but very variable in areas of mixture. ( - )_; tasmanian: _dolichocephalic or mesaticephalic ( )_; negrito: _brachycephalic ( - )_. #jaws.# papuasian: _moderately or not at all prognathous_; tasmanian _and_ negrito: _generally prognathous_. #cheek-bones.# all: _slightly prominent or even retreating_. #nose.# papuasian: _large, straight, generally aquiline in true papuans_; tasmanian _and_ negrito: _short, flat, broad, wide nostrils (platyrrhine) with large thick cartilage_. #eyes.# all: _moderately large, round and black or very deep brown, with dirty yellowish cornea, generally deep-set with strong overhanging arches_. #stature.# papuasian _and_ tasmanian: _above the average, but variable, with rather wide range from . m. to . or . m. ( ft. in. to ft. in. or ft.)_; negrito: _undersized, but taller than african negrillo, . m. to . m. ( . ft. in. to ft.)_. #temperament.# papuasian: _very excitable, voluble and laughter-loving, fairly intelligent and imaginative_; tasmanian: _distinctly less excitable and intelligent, but also far less cruel, captives never tortured_; negrito: _active, quick-witted or cunning within narrow limits, naturally kind and gentle_. #speech.# papuasian _and_ tasmanian: _agglutinating with postfixes, many stock languages in west papuasia, apparently one only in east papuasia (austronesian)_; negrito: _scarcely known except in andamans, where agglutination both by class prefixes and by postfixes has acquired a phenomenal development_. #religion.# papuasian: _reverence paid to ancestors, who may become beneficent or malevolent ghosts_; _general belief in_ mana _or supernatural power_; _no priests or idols_; negrito: _exceedingly primitive_; _belief in spirits, sometimes vague deities_. #culture.# papuasian: _slightly developed_; _agriculture somewhat advanced (n. guinea, n. caledonia)_; _considerable artistic taste and fancy shown in the wood-carving of houses, canoes, ceremonial objects, etc._ all others: _at the lowest hunting stage, without arts or industries, save the manufacture of weapons, ornaments, baskets, and rarely (andamanese) pottery_. main divisions. #papuasian#: . western papuasians (_true papuans_): _nearly all the new guinea natives_; _aru and other insular groups thence westwards to flores_; _torres straits and louisiade islands_. . eastern papuasians: _nearly all the natives of melanesia from bismarck archipelago to new caledonia, with most of fiji, and part of new guinea_. #negritoes#: . andamanese _islanders_. . semangs, _in the malay peninsula_. . aetas, _surviving in most of the philippine islands_. . _pygmies in new guinea._ * * * * * papuasians. from the data supplied in _ethnology_, chap. xi. a reconstruction may be attempted of the obscure ethnical relations in australasia on the following broad lines. . the two main sections of the ulotrichous division of mankind, now separated by the intervening waters of the indian ocean, are fundamentally one. . to the sudanese and bantu sub-sections in africa correspond, _mutatis mutandis_, the papuan and melanesian sub-sections in oceania, the former being distinguished by great linguistic diversity, the latter by considerable linguistic uniformity, and both by a rather wide range of physical variety within certain well-marked limits. . in africa the physical varieties are due mainly to semitic and hamitic grafts on the negro stock; in oceania mainly to mongoloid (malay) and caucasian (indonesian) grafts on the papuan stock. . the negrillo element in africa has its counterpart in an analogous negrito element in oceania (andamanese, semangs, aetas, etc.). . in both regions the linguistic diversity apparently presents similar features--a large number of languages differing profoundly in their grammatical structure and vocabularies, but all belonging to the same agglutinative order of speech, and also more or less to the same phonetic system. . in both regions the linguistic uniformity is generally confined to one or two geographical areas, bantuland in africa and melanesia in oceania. . in bantuland the linguistic system shows but faint if any resemblances to any other known tongues, whereas the melanesian group is but one branch, though the most archaic, of the vast austronesian family, diffused over the indian and pacific oceans. the papuan languages are entirely distinct from the melanesian. they are in some respects similar to the australian, but their exact positions are not yet proved[ ]. . owing to their linguistic, geographical, and to some extent their physical and social differences, it is desirable to treat the papuans and melanesians as two distinct though closely related sub-groups, and to restrict the use of the terms papuan and melanesian accordingly, while both may be conveniently comprised under the general or collective term papuasian[ ]. . here, therefore, by _papuans_ will be understood the true aborigines of new guinea with its eastern louisiade dependency[ ], and in the west many of the malaysian islands as far as flores inclusive, where the black element and non-malay speech predominate; by _melanesians_, the natives of melanesia as commonly understood, that is, the admiralty isles, new britain, new ireland and duke of york; the solomon islands; santa cruz; the new hebrides, new caledonia, loyalty, and fiji, where the black element and austronesian speech prevail almost exclusively. papuasia will thus comprise the insular world from flores to new caledonia. such appear to be the present limits of the papuasian domain, which formerly may have included micronesia also (the marianne, pelew, and caroline groups), and some writers suggest that it possibly extended over the whole of polynesia as far as easter island. the variation in the inhabitants of new guinea has often been recognised and is well described by c. g. seligman who remarks[ ] that the contrast between the relatively tall, dark-skinned, frizzly-haired inhabitants of torres straits, the fly river and the neighbouring parts of new guinea on the one hand, and the smaller lighter coloured peoples to the east, is so striking that the two peoples must be recognised as racially distinct. he restricts the name papuan to the congeries of frizzly-haired and often mop-headed peoples whose skin colour is some shade of brownish black, and proposes the term papuo-melanesian for the generally smaller, lighter coloured, frizzly-haired races of the eastern peninsula and the islands beyond. besides these conspicuous differences "the papuan is generally taller and is more consistently dolichocephalic than the papuo-melanesian: he is always darker, his usual colour being a dark chocolate or sooty brown; his head is high and his face, is, as a rule, long with prominent brow-ridges, above which his rather flat forehead commonly slopes backwards. the papuo-melanesian head is usually less high and the brow ridges less prominent, while the forehead is commonly rounded and not retreating. the skin colour runs through the whole gamut of shades of _café-au-lait_, from a lightish yellow with only a tinge of brown, to a tolerably dark bronze colour. the lightest shades are everywhere uncommon, and in many localities appear to be limited to the female sex. the papuan nose is longer and stouter and is often so arched as to present the outline known as 'jewish.' the character of its bridge varies, typically the nostrils are broad and the tip of the nose is often hooked downwards. in the papuo-melanesian the nose is generally smaller: both races have frizzly hair, but while this is universal among papuans, curly and even wavy hair is common among both [eastern and western] divisions of papuo-melanesians[ ]." the melanesians are as variable as the natives of new guinea; the hair may be curly, or even wavy, showing evidence of racial mixture, and the skin is chocolate or occasionally copper-coloured. the stature of the men ranges from . m. to . m. ( ft. in. to ft. in.), with an average between . m. and . m. ( ft. - / in. to ft. in.). the skull is usually dolichocephalic, but ranges from to and in certain parts brachycephaly is predominant; the nose shows great diversity. this type ranges with local variations from the admiralty islands and parts of new guinea through the bismarck archipelago, solomon islands, and the new hebrides and other island groups to fiji and new caledonia. the "kanakas," as the natives of new caledonia and the loyalty group are wrongly[ ] called by their present rulers, have been described by various french investigators. among the best accounts of them is that of m. augustin bernard[ ], based on the observations of de rochas, bourgard, vieillard, bertillon, meinicke, and others. apart from several sporadic polynesian groups in the loyalties[ ], all are typical melanesians, long-headed with very broad face at least in the middle, narrow boat-shaped skull (ceph. index )[ ], large, massive lower jaw, often with two supplementary molars[ ], colour a dark chocolate, often with a highly characteristic purple tinge; but de rochas' statement that for a few days after birth infants are of a light reddish yellow hue lacks confirmation; hair less woolly but much longer than the negro; beard also longish and frizzly, the peppercorn tufts with simulated bald spaces being an effect due to the assiduous use of the comb; very prominent superciliary arches and thick eyebrows, whence their somewhat furtive look; mean height ft. in.; speech melanesian with three marked varieties, that of the south-eastern districts being considered the most rudimentary member of the whole melanesian group[ ]. from the state of their industries, in some respects the rudest, in others amongst the most advanced in melanesia, it may be inferred that after their arrival the new caledonians, like the tasmanians, the andamanese, and some other insular groups, remained for long ages almost completely secluded from the rest of the world. owing to the poverty of the soil the struggle for food must always have been severe. hence the most jealously guarded privileges of the chiefs were associated with questions of diet, while the paradise of the dead was a region where they had abundance of food and could gorge on yams. the ethnological history of the whole of the melanesian region is obscure, but as the result of recent investigations certain broad features may be recognised. the earliest inhabitants were probably a black, woolly-haired race, now represented by the pygmies of new guinea, remnants of a formerly widely extended negrito population also surviving in the andaman islands, the malay peninsula (semang) and the philippines (aeta). a taller variety advanced into tasmania and formed the tasmanian group, now extinct, others spread over new guinea and the western pacific as "papuans," and formed the basis of the melanesian populations[ ]. the proto-polynesians in their migrations from the east indian archipelago to polynesia passed through this region and imposed their speech on the population and otherwise modified it. in later times other migrations have come from the west, and parts of melanesia have also been directly influenced by movements from polynesia. the result of these supposed influences has been to form the melanesian peoples as they exist to-day[ ]. g. friederici[ ] has accumulated a vast amount of evidence based chiefly on linguistics and material culture, to support the theory of melanesian cultural streams from the west. he regards the melanesians as having come from that part of indonesia which extends from the southern islands of the philippine group, through the minahasa peninsula of celebes, to the moluccas in the neighbourhood of buru and ceram. from the moluccan region they passed north of new guinea to the region about vitiaz and dampier straits, which friederici regards as the gateway of melanesia. here they colonised the northern shores of new britain, and part of the swarm settled along the eastern and south-eastern shores of new guinea. another stream passed to the northern louisiades, southern solomons, and northern new hebrides. the philippine or sub-philippine stream took a more northerly route, going by the admiralty group to new hanover, east new ireland and the solomons. the first serious attempt to disentangle the complex character of melanesian ethnography was made by f. graebner in [ ], followed by g. friederici, the references to whose work are given above. more recently w. h. r. rivers[ ] has attacked the cultural problem by means of the genealogical method and the results of his investigations are here briefly summarised. he has discovered several remarkable forms of marriage in melanesia and has deduced others which have existed previously. he argues that the anomalous forms of marriage imply a former dual organisation (_i.e._ a division of the community into two exogamous groups) with matrilineal descent, and he is driven to assume that in early times there was a state of society in which the elders had acquired so predominant a position that they were able to monopolise all the young women. some of the relationship systems are of great antiquity, and it is evident that changes have taken place due to cultural influences coming in from without. the distribution of kava-drinking and betel-chewing is of great interest. the former occurs all over polynesia (except easter island and new zealand) and throughout southern melanesia, including certain santa cruz islands, where it is limited to religious ceremonial. betel-chewing begins at these islands and extends northwards through new guinea and indonesia to india. kava and betel were introduced into melanesia by different cultural migrations. the introduction of betel-chewing was relatively late and restricted and may have taken place from indonesia after the invasion by the hindus. with it were associated strongly established patrilineal institutions, marriage with a wife of a father's brother, the special sanctity of the skull and the plank-built canoe. the use of pile dwellings is a more constant element of the betel-culture than of the kava-culture. the religious ritual centres round the skulls of ancestors and relatives, and the cult of the skull has taken a direction which gives the heads of enemies an importance equal to that of relatives, hence head-hunting has become the chief object of warfare. the skull of a relative is the symbol--if not the actual abiding place--of the dead, to be honoured and propitiated, while the skulls of enemies act as the means whereby this honour and propitiation are effected. the influence of the kava-using peoples was more extensive in time and space than that of the betel-chewing people. rivers supposes that they had neither clan organisation nor exogamy. some of them preserved the body after death and respect was paid to the head or skull. it is possible that the custom of payment for a wife came into existence in melanesia as the result of the need of the immigrant men for women of the indigenous people owing to their bringing few women with them, and the great development of shell money may be due in part to those payments. contact with the earlier populations also resulted in the development of secret societies. the immigrants introduced the cult of the dead and the institutions of taboo, totemism and chieftainship. they brought with them the form of outrigger canoe and the knowledge of plank-building for canoes (which however was only partially adopted), the rectangular house, and may have known the art of making pile dwellings. they introduced various forms of currency made of shells, teeth, feathers, mats, etc., the drill, the slit drum, or gong, the conch trumpet, the fowl, pig, dog, and megalithic monuments. there may have been two immigrations of peoples who made monuments of stone: . those who erected the more dolmen-like structures, probably had aquatic totems, and interred their dead in the extended position. . a later movement of people whose stone structures tended to take the form of pyramids, who had bird totems, practised a cult of the sun and cremated their dead. when the kava-using people came into melanesia they found it already inhabited. the earliest form of social organisation of which we have evidence was on the dual basis, associated with matrilineal descent, the dominance of the old men (gerontocracy) and certain peculiar forms of marriage. these people interred their dead in the contracted or sitting position, which also was employed in most parts of polynesia. evidently they feared the ghosts and removed their dead as completely as possible from the living. these people--whom we may speak of as the "dual-people"--were communistic in property and probably practised sexual communism; the change towards the institution of individual property and individual marriage were assisted by, if not entirely due to, the influence of the kava-people. they practised circumcision. magic was an indigenous institution. characteristic is the cult of _vui_, unnamed local spirits with definite haunts or abiding places whose rites are performed in definite localities. in the northern new hebrides the offerings connected with _vui_ are not made to the _vui_ themselves but to the man who owns the place connected with the _vui_. it would seem as if ownership of a locality carried with it ownership of the _vui_ connected with the locality. thus _vui_ are local spirits belonging to the indigenous owners of the soil, and there seems no reason to believe that they were ever ghosts of dead men. as totemism occurs among the dual-people of the bismarck archipelago (who live in parts of new britain and new ireland and duke of york island) it is possible that the kava-people were not the sole introducers of totemism into melanesia. the dual-people were probably acquainted with the bow, which they may have called _busur_, and the dug-out canoe which was used either lashed together in pairs or singly with an outrigger. the origin of a dual organisation is generally believed to be due to fission, but it is more reasonable to regard it as due to fusion, as hostility is so frequently manifest between the two groups despite the fact that spouses are always obtained from the other moiety. in new ireland (and elsewhere) each moiety is associated with a hero; one acts wisely but unscrupulously, the other is a fool who is always falling an easy victim to the first. each moiety has a totem bird: one is a fisher, clever and capable, while the second obtains its food by stealing from the other and does not go to sea. one represents the immigrants of superior culture who came by sea, the other the first people, aborigines, of lowly culture who were quite unable to cope with the wiles and stratagems of the people who had settled among them. in the gazelle peninsula of new britain, the dual groups are associated with light and dark coconuts; affiliated with the former are male objects and the clever bird, which is universally called _taragau_, or a variant of that term. the bird of the other moiety is named _malaba_ or _manigulai_, and is associated with female objects. the dark coconuts, the dark colour and flattened noses of the women who were produced by their transformation, and the projecting eyebrows of the _malaba_ bird and its human adherents seem to be records in the mythology of the bismarck archipelago of the negroid (or, rivers suggests, an australoid) character of the aboriginal population. the light coconut which was changed into a light-coloured woman seems to have preserved a tradition of the light colour of the immigrants. the autochthones of melanesia were a dark-skinned and ulotrichous people, who had neither a fear of the ghosts of their dead nor a manes cult, but had a cult of local spirits. the baining of the gazelle peninsula of new britain may be representatives of a stage of melanesian history earlier than the dual system; if so, they probably represent in a modified form, the aboriginal element. they are said to be completely devoid of any fear of the dead. the immigrants whose arrival caused the institution of the dual system were a relatively fair people of superior culture who interred their dead in a sitting position and feared their ghosts. they first introduced the austronesian language. all subsequent migrations were of austronesian-speaking peoples from indonesia. first came the kava-peoples in various swarms, and more recently the betel-people. possibly new caledonia shows the effects of relative isolation more than other parts of melanesia, but, except for polynesian influence (most directly recognisable in fiji and southern melanesia), melanesia may be regarded as possessing a general culture with certain characteristic features which may be thus summarised[ ]. the melanesians are a noisy, excitable, demonstrative, affectionate, cheery, passionate people. they could not be hunters everywhere, as in most of the islands there is no game, nor could they be pastors anywhere, as there are no cattle; the only resources are fishing and agriculture. in the larger islands there is usually a sharp distinction between the coast people, who are mainly fishers, and the inlanders who are agriculturalists; the latter are always by far the more primitive, and in many cases are subservient to the former. both sexes work in the plantations. in parts of new guinea and the western solomons the sago palm is of great importance; coconut palms grow on the shores of most islands, and bananas, yams, bread-fruit, taro and sweet potatoes supply abundant food. as for dress, the men occasionally wear none, but usually have belts or bands, of bark-cloth, plaits, or strings, and the women almost everywhere have petticoats of finely shredded leaves. the skin is decorated with scars in various patterns, and tattooing is occasionally seen, the former being naturally characteristic of the darker skinned people, and the latter of the lighter. every portion of the body is decorated in innumerable ways with shells, teeth, feathers, leaves, flowers, and other objects, and plaited bands encircle the neck, body, and limbs. shell necklaces, which constitute a kind of currency, and artificially deformed boars' tusks are especially characteristic, though each group usually has its peculiar ornaments, distinguishing it from any other group. there is a great variety of houses. the typical melanesian house has a gable roof, the ridge pole is supported by two main posts, side walls are very low, and the ends are filled in with bamboo screens. pile dwellings are found in the bismarck archipelago, the solomon islands and new guinea, and some new guinea villages extend out into the sea. the weapons typical of melanesia are the club and the spear (though the latter is not found in the banks islands), each group and often each island possessing its own distinctive pattern. stone headed clubs are found in new guinea, new britain and the new hebrides. the spears of the solomon islands are finely decorated and have bone barbs; those of new caledonia are pointed with a sting-ray spine; those of the admiralty islands have obsidian heads; and those of new britain have a human armbone at the butt end. the bow, the chief weapon of the papuans, occurs over the greater part of melanesia, though it is absent in s.e. new guinea, and is only used for hunting in the admiralty islands. the hollowed out tree trunk with or without a plank gunwale is general, usually with a single outrigger, though plank-built canoes occur in the solomons, characteristically ornamented with shell inlay. pottery is an important industry in parts of new guinea and in fiji; it occurs also in new caledonia, espiritu santo (new hebrides) and the admiralty islands. bark-cloth is made in most islands, but a loom for weaving leaf strips is now found only in santa cruz. a division of the community into two exogamous groups is very widely spread, no intermarriage being permitted within the group. mother-right is prevalent, descent and inheritance being counted on the mother's side, while a man's property descends to his sister's children. at the same time the mother is in no sense the head of the family; the house is the father's, the garden may be his, the rule and government are his, though the maternal uncle sometimes has more authority than the father. the transition to father-right has definitely occurred in various places, and is taking place elsewhere; thus, in some of the new hebrides, the father has to buy off the rights of his wife's relations or his sister's children. chiefs exist everywhere, being endowed with religious sanctity in fiji, where they are regarded as the direct descendants of the tribal ancestors. more often, a chief holds his position solely owing to the fact that he has inherited the cult of some powerful spirit, and his influence is not very extensive. probably everywhere public affairs are regulated by discussion among the old or important men, and the more primitive the society, the more power they possess. but the most powerful institutions of all are the secret societies, occurring with certain exceptions throughout melanesia. these are accessible to men only, and the candidates on initiation have to submit to treatment which is often rough in the extreme. the members of the societies are believed to be in close association with ghosts and spirits, and exhibit themselves in masks and elaborate dresses in which disguise they are believed by the uninitiated to be supernatural beings. these societies do not practise any secret cult, in fact all that the initiate appears to learn is that the "ghosts" are merely his fellows in disguise, and that the mysterious noises which herald their approach are produced by the bull-roarer and other artificial means. these organisations are most powerful agents for the maintenance of social order and inflict punishment for breaches of customary law, but they are often terrorising and blackmailing institutions. women are rigorously excluded. other social factors of importance are the clubs, especially in the new hebrides and banks islands. these are a means of attaining social rank. they are divided into different grades, the members of which eat together at their particular fire-place in the club-house. each rank has its insignia, sometimes human effigies, usually, but wrongly, called "idols." promotion from one grade to another is chiefly a matter of payment, and few reach the highest. those who do so become personages of very great influence, since no candidate can obtain promotion without their permission. totemism occurs in parts of new guinea and elsewhere and has marked socialising effects, as totemic solidarity takes precedence of all other considerations, but it is becoming obsolete. the most important religious factor throughout melanesia is the belief in a supernatural power or influence, generally called _mana_. this is what works to effect everything which is beyond the ordinary power of man or outside the common processes of nature; but this power, though in itself impersonal, is always connected with some person who directs it; all spirits have it, ghosts generally, and some men. a more or less developed ancestor cult is also universally distributed. human beings may become beneficent or malevolent ghosts, but not every ghost becomes an object of regard. the ghost who is worshipped is the spirit of a man who in his lifetime had _mana_. good and evil spirits independent of ancestors are also abundant everywhere. there is no established priesthood, except in fiji, but as a rule, any man who knows the particular ritual suitable to a definite spirit, acts as intermediary, and a man in communication with a powerful spirit becomes a person of great importance. life after death is universally believed in, and the soul is commonly pictured as undertaking a journey, beset with various perils, to the abode of departed spirits, which is usually represented as lying towards the west. as a rule only the souls of brave men, or initiates, or men who have died in fight, win through to the most desirable abode. magical practices occur everywhere for the gaining of benefits, plenteous crops, good fishing, fine weather, rain, children or success in love. harmful magic for producing sickness or death is equally universal[ ]. returning to the papuan lands proper, in the insular groups west of new guinea we enter one of the most entangled ethnical regions in the world. here are, no doubt, a few islands such as the aru group, mainly inhabited by full-blood papuans, men who furnished wallace with the models on which he built up his true papuan type, which has since been vainly assailed by so many later observers. but in others--ceram, buru, timor, and so on to flores--diverse ethnical and linguistic elements are intermingled in almost hopeless confusion. discarding the term "alfuro" as of no ethnical value[ ], we find the whole area west to about ° e. longitude[ ] occupied in varying proportions by pure and mixed representatives of three distinct stocks: negro (papuans), mongoloid (malayans), and caucasic (indonesians). from the data supplied by crawfurd, wallace, forbes, ten kate and other trustworthy observers, i have constructed the subjoined table, in which the east malaysian islands are disposed according to the constituent elements of their inhabitants[ ]: _aru group_--true papuans dominant; indonesians (korongoei) in the interior. _kei group_--malayans; indonesians; papuan strain everywhere. _timor; wetta; timor laut_--mixed papuans, malayans and indonesians; no pure type anywhere. _serwatti group_--malayans with slight trace of black blood (papuan or negrito). _roti and sumba_--malayans. _savu_--indonesians. _flores; solor; adonera; lomblen; pantar; allor_--papuans pure or mixed dominant; malayans in the coast towns. _buru_--malayans on coast; reputed papuans, but more probably indonesians in interior. _ceram_--malayans on coast; mixed malayo-papuans inland. _amboina; banda_--malayans; dutch-malay half-breeds ("perkeniers"). _goram_--malayans with slight papuan strain. _matabello; tior; nuso telo; tionfoloka_--papuans with malayan admixture. _misol_--malayo-papuans on coast; papuans inland. _tidor; ternate; sulla; makian_--malayans. _batjan_--malayans; indonesians. _gilolo_--mixed papuans; indonesians in the north. _waigiu; salwatti; batanta_--malayans on the coast; papuans inland. from this apparently chaotic picture, which in some places, such as timor, presents every gradation from the full-blood papuan to the typical malay, crawfurd concluded that the eastern section of malaysia constituted a region of transition between the yellowish-brown lank-haired and the dark-brown or black mop-headed stocks. in a sense this is true, but not in the sense intended by crawfurd, who by "transition" meant the actual passage by some process of development from type to type independently of interminglings. but such extreme transitions have nowhere taken place spontaneously, so to say, and in any case could never have been brought about in a small zoological area presenting everywhere the same climatic conditions. biological types may be, and have been, modified in different environments, arctic, temperate, or tropical zones, but not in the same zone, and if two such marked types as the mongol and the negro are now found juxtaposed in the malaysian tropical zone, the fact must be explained by migrations and displacements, while the intermediate forms are to be attributed to secular intermingling of the extremes. why should a man, passing from one side to another of an island or miles long, be transformed from a sleek-haired brown to a frizzly-haired black, or from a mercurial laughter-loving papuan to a malayan "slow in movement and thoroughly phlegmatic in disposition, rarely seen to laugh or become animated in conversation, with expression generally of vague wonder or weary sadness"[ ]? wallace's classical description of these western papuans, who are here in the very cradleland of the race, can never lose its charm, and its accuracy has been fully confirmed by all later observers. "the typical papuan race," he writes, "is in many respects the very opposite of the malay. the colour of the body is a deep sooty-brown or black, sometimes approaching, but never quite equalling, the jet-black of some negro races. the hair is very peculiar, being harsh, dry, and frizzly, growing in little tufts or curls, which in youth are very short and compact, but afterwards grow out to a considerable length, forming the compact, frizzled mop which is the papuan's pride and glory.... the moral characteristics of the papuan appear to me to separate him as distinctly from the malay as do his form and features. he is impulsive and demonstrative in speech and action. his emotions and passions express themselves in shouts and laughter, in yells and frantic leapings.... the papuan has a greater feeling for art than the malay. he decorates his canoe, his house, and almost every domestic utensil with elaborate carving, a habit which is rarely found among tribes of the malay race. in the affections and moral sentiments, on the other hand, the papuans seem very deficient. in the treatment of their children they are often violent and cruel, whereas the malays are almost invariably kind and gentle." the ethnological parting-line between the malayan and papuasian races, as first laid down by wallace, nearly coincides with his division between the indo-malayan and austro-malayan floras and faunas, the chief differences being the positions of sumbawa and celebes. both of these islands are excluded from the papuasian realm, but included in the austro-malayan zoological and botanical regions. the oceanic negritoes. recent discoveries and investigations of the pygmy populations on the eastern border of the indian ocean tend to show that the problem is by no means simple. already two main stocks are recognised, differentiated by wavy and curly hair and dolichocephaly in the sakai, and so-called woolly hair in the andamanese islanders, semang (malay peninsula) and aeta (philippines), combined with mesaticephaly or low brachycephaly. in east sumatra and celebes a short, curly-haired dark-skinned people occur, racially akin to the sakai, and moszkowski suggests that the same element occupied geelvink bay (netherlands new guinea). these with the vedda of ceylon, and some jungle tribes of the deccan, represent remnants of a once widely distributed pre-dravidian race, which is also supposed to form the chief element in the australians[ ]. the "mincopies," as the andamanese used to be called, nobody seems to know why, were visited in by louis lapicque, who examined a large kitchen-midden near port blair, but some distance from the present coast, hence of great age[ ]. nevertheless he failed to find any worked stone implements, although flint occurs in the island. indeed, chipped or flaked flints, now replaced by broken glass, were formerly used for shaving and scarification. but, as the present natives use only fishbones, shells, and wood, lapicque somewhat hastily concluded that these islanders, like some other primitive groups, have never passed through a stone age at all. the shell-mounds have certainly yielded an arrow-head and polished adze "indistinguishable from any of the european or indian celts of the so-called neolithic period[ ]." but there is no reason to think that the archipelago was ever occupied by a people different from its present inhabitants. hence we may suppose that their ancestors arrived in their stone age, but afterwards ceased to make stone implements, as less handy for their purposes and more difficult to make than the shell or bone-tipped weapons and the nets with which they capture game and fish more readily "than the most skilful fisherman with hook and line[ ]." similarly they would seem to have long lost the art of making fire, having once obtained it from a still active volcano in the neighbouring barren island[ ]. the inhabitants of the andaman islands range in colour from bronze to sooty black. their hair is extremely frizzly, seeming to grow in spiral tufts and is seldom more than inches long when untwisted. the women usually shave their heads. their height is about . m. ( ft. - / in.), with well-proportioned body and small hands. the cephalic index averages . the face is broad at the cheek-bones, the eyes are prominent, the nose is much sunken at the root but straight and small; the lips are full but not thick, the chin is small but not retreating, nor do the jaws project. the natives are characterised by honesty, frankness, politeness, modesty, conjugal fidelity, respect for elders and real affection between relatives and friends. the women are on an equal footing with the men and do their full share of work. the food is mainly fish (obtained by netting, spearing or shooting with bow and arrow), wild yams, turtle, pig and honey. they do not till the soil or keep domestic animals. instead of clothing both sexes wear belts, necklaces, leg-bands, arm-bands etc. made of bones, wood and shell, the women wearing in addition a rudimentary leaf apron. when fully dressed the men wear bunches of shredded pandanus leaf at wrists and knees, and a circlet of the same leaf folded on the head. they make canoes, some of which have an outrigger, but never venture far from the shore. they usually live in small encampments round an oval dancing ground, their simple huts are open in front and at the sides, or in a large communal hut in which each family has its own particular space, the bachelors and spinsters having theirs. a family consists of a man and his wife and such of their children, own and adopted, as have not passed the period of the ceremonies of adolescence. between that period and marriage the boys and girls reside in the bachelors' and spinsters' quarters respectively. a man is not regarded as an independent member of the community till he is married and has a child. there is no organised polity. generally one man excels the rest in hunting, warfare, wisdom and kindliness, and he is deferred to, and becomes, in a sense, chief. a regular feature of andamanese social life is the meeting at intervals between two or more communities. a visit of a few days is paid and presents are exchanged between hosts and guests, the time being spent in hunting, feasting and dancing. no forms of worship have been noticed, but there is a belief in various kinds of spirits, the most important of whom is biliku, usually regarded as female, who is identified with the north-east monsoon and is paired with tarai the south-west monsoon. biliku and tarai are the producers of rain, storms, thunder and lightning. fire was stolen from biliku. there is always great fluidity in native beliefs, so some tribes regard puluga (biliku) as a male. three things make biliku angry and cause her to send storms; melting or burning of bees-wax, interfering in any way with a certain number of plants, and killing a cicada or making a noise during the time the cicadae are singing. a. r. brown[ ] gives an interesting explanation of this curious belief. biliku is supposed to have a human form but nobody ever sees her. her origin is unknown. the idea of her being a creator is local and is probably secondary, she does not concern herself with human actions other than those noted above. e. h. man has carefully studied and reduced to writing the andamanese language, of which there are at least nine distinct varieties, corresponding to as many tribal groups. it has no clear affinities to any other tongue[ ], the supposed resemblances to dravidian and australian being extremely slight, if not visionary. its phonetic system is astonishingly rich (no less than vowels and consonants, but no sibilants), while the arithmetic stops at _two_. nobody ever attempts to count in any way beyond _ten_, which is reached by a singular process. first the nose is tapped with the finger-tips of either hand, beginning with the little finger, and saying _úbatúl_ (one), then _íkpór_ (two) with the next, after which each successive tap makes _anká_, "and this." when the thumb of the second hand is reached, making _ten_, both hands are brought together to indicate + , and the sum is clenched with the word _àrdúru_ = "all." but this feat is exceptional, and usually after _two_ you get only words answering to several, many, numerous, countless, which flight of imagination is reached at about or . yet with their infantile arithmetic these paradoxical islanders have contrived to develop an astonishingly intricate form of speech characterised by an absolutely bewildering superfluity of pronominal and other elements. thus the possessive pronouns have as many as sixteen possible variants according to the class of noun (human objects, parts of the body, degrees of kinship, etc.) with which they are in agreement. for instance, _my_ is _día_, _dót_, _dóng_, _dig_, _dab_, _dar_, _dákà_, _dóto_, _dai_, _dár_, _ad_, _ad-en_, _deb_, with _man_, _head_, _wrist_, _mouth_, _father_, _son_, _step-son_, _wife_, etc. etc.; and so with _thy_, _his_, _our_, _your_, _their_! this grouping of nouns in classes is analogous to the bantu system, and it is curious to note that the number of classes is about the same. on the other hand there is a wealth of postfixes attached as in normal agglutinating forms of speech, so that "in adding their affixes they follow the principles of the ordinary agglutinative tongues; in adding their prefixes they follow the well-defined principles of the south african tongues. hitherto, as far as i know, the two principles in full play have never been found together in any other language.... in andamanese both are fully developed, so much so as to interfere with each other's grammatical functions[ ]." the result often is certain _sesquipedalia verba_ comparable in length to those of the american polysynthetic languages. a savage people, who can hardly count beyond two, possessed of about the most intricate language spoken by man, is a psychological puzzle which i cannot profess to fathom. in the malay peninsula the indigenous element is certainly the negrito, who, known by many names--semang, udai, pangan, hami, menik or mandi--forms a single ethnical group presenting some striking analogies with the andamanese. but, surrounded from time out of mind by malay peoples, some semi-civilised, some nearly as wild as themselves, but all alike slowly crowding them out of the land, these aborigines have developed defensive qualities unneeded by the more favoured insular negritoes, while their natural development has been arrested at perhaps a somewhat lower plane of culture. in fact, doomed to extinction before their time came, they never have had a chance in the race, as hugh clifford sings in _the song of the last semangs_: the paths are rough, the trails are blind the jungle people tread; the yams are scarce and hard to find with which our folk are fed. we suffer yet a little space until we pass away, the relics of an ancient race that ne'er has had its day. in physical features they in many respects resemble the andamanese. their hair is short, universally woolly and black, the skin colour dark chocolate brown approximating to glossy black[ ], sometimes with a reddish tinge[ ]. there is very little evidence for the stature but the males measured by annandale and robinson[ ] averaged . m. ( ft. - / in.). the average cephalic index is about to , extremes ranging from to . the face is round, the forehead rounded, narrow and projecting, or as it were "swollen." the nose is short and flattened, with remarkable breadth and distended nostrils. the nasal index of five adult males was . [ ]. the cheekbones are broad and the jaws often protrude slightly; the lips are as a rule thick. martin remarks that characteristic both of semang and sakai[ ] is the great thickening of the integumental part of the upper lip, the whole mouth region projecting from the lower edge of the nose. this convexity occurs in per cent., and is well shown in his photographs[ ]. hugh clifford, who has been intimately associated with the "orang-utan" (wild-men) as the malays often call them, describes those of the plus river valley as "like african negroes seen through the reverse end of a field-glass. they are sooty-black in colour; their hair is short and woolly, clinging to the scalp in little crisp curls; their noses are flat, their lips protrude, and their features are those of the pure negroid type. they are sturdily built and well set upon their legs, but in stature little better than dwarfs. they live by hunting, and have no permanent dwellings, camping in little family groups wherever, for the moment, game is most plentiful[ ]." their shelters--huts they cannot be called--are exactly like the frailest of the andamanese, mere lean-to's of matted palm-leaves crazily propped on rough uprights; clothes they have next to none, and their food is chiefly yams and other jungle roots, fish from the stream, and sun-dried monkey, venison and other game, this term having an elastic meaning. salt, being rarely obtainable, is a great luxury, as amongst almost all wild tribes. they are a nomadic people living by collecting and hunting; the wilder ones will often not remain longer than three days in one place. very few have taken to agriculture. they make use of bamboo rafts for drifting down stream but have no canoes. all men are on an equal footing, but each tribe has a head, who exercises authority. division of labour is fairly even between men and women. the men hunt, and the women build the shelters and cook the food. they are strictly monogamous and faithful. all the faculties are sharpened mainly in the quest of food and of means to elude the enemy now closing round their farthest retreats in the upland forests. when hard pressed and escape seems impossible, they will climb trees and stretch rattan ropes from branch to branch where these are too wide apart to be reached at a bound, and along such frail aërial bridges women and all will pass with their cooking-pots and other effects, with their babies also at the breast, and the little ones clinging to their mother's heels. for like the andamanese they love their women-folk and children, and in this way rescue them from the malay raiders and slavers. but unless the british raj soon intervenes their fate is sealed. they may slip from the malays, but not from their own traitorous kinsmen, who often lead the hunt, and squat all night long on the tree tops, calling one to another and signalling from these look-outs when the leaves rustle and the rattans are heaved across, so that nothing can be done, and another family group is swept away into bondage. from their physical resemblance, undoubted common descent, and geographical proximity, one might also expect to find some affinity in the speech of the andaman and malay negritoes. but h. clifford, who made a special study of the dialects on the mainland, discovered no points of contact between them and any other linguistic group[ ]. this, however, need cause no surprise, being in no discordance with recognised principles. as in the andamans, stone implements have been found in the peninsula, and specimens are now in the pitt-rivers collection at oxford[ ]. but the present aborigines do not make or use such tools, and there is good reason for thinking that they were the work of their ancestors, arriving, as in the andamans, in the remote past. hence the two groups have been separated for many thousands of years, and their speech has diverged too widely to be now traced back to a common source. with the negritoes of the philippines we enter a region of almost hopeless ethnical complications[ ], amid which, however, the dark dwarfish _aeta_ peoples crop out almost everywhere as the indigenous element. the aeta live in the mountainous districts of the larger islands, and in some of the smaller islands of the philippines, and the name is conveniently extended to the various groups of philippine negritoes, many of whom show the results of mixture with other peoples. their hair is universally woolly, usually of a dirty black colour, often sun-burnt on the top to a reddish brown. the skin is dark chocolate brown rather than black, sometimes with a yellowish tinge. the average stature of men was . m. ( ft. in.), but showed considerable range. the typical nose is broad, flat, and bridgeless, with prominent arched nostrils, the average nasal index for males being , and for females [ ]. the lips are thick, but not protruding, sometimes showing a pronounced convexity between the upper lip and the nose. john foreman[ ] noted the curious fact that the aeta were recognised as the owners of the soil long after the arrival of the malayan intruders. "for a long time they were the sole masters of luzon island, where they exercised seignorial rights over the tagalogs and other immigrants, until these arrived in such numbers, that the negritoes were forced to the highlands. "the taxes imposed upon the primitive malay settlers by the negritoes were levied in kind, and, when payment was refused, they swooped down in a posse, and carried off the head of the defaulter. since the arrival of the spaniards terror of the white man has made them take definitely to the mountains, where they appear to be very gradually decreasing[ ]." at first sight it may seem unaccountable that a race of such extremely low intellect should be able to assert their supremacy in this way over the intruding malayans, assumed to be so much their superiors in physical and mental qualities. but it has to be considered that the invasions took place in very remote times, ages before the appearance on the scene of the semi-civilised muhammadan malays of history. whether of indonesian or of what is called "malay" stock, the intruders were rude oceanic peoples, who in the prehistoric period, prior to the spread of civilising hindu or moslem influences in malaysia, had scarcely advanced in general culture much beyond the indigenous papuan and negrito populations of that region. even at present the gaddanes, itaves, igorrotes, and others of luzon are mere savages, at the head-hunting stage, quite as wild as, and perhaps even more ferocious than any of the aetas. indeed we are told that in some districts the negrito and igorrote tribes keep a regular debtor and creditor account of heads. wherever the vendetta still prevails, all alike live in a chronic state of tribal warfare; periodical head-hunting expeditions are organised by the young men, to present the bride's father with as many grim trophies as possible in proof of their prowess, the victims being usually taken by surprise and stricken down with barbarous weapons, such as a long spear with tridented tips, or darts and arrows carrying at the point two rows of teeth made of flint or sea-shells. to avoid these attacks some, like the central sudanese negroes, live in cabins on high posts or trees to feet from the ground, and defend themselves by showering stones on the marauders. a physical peculiarity of the full-blood negritoes, noticed by j. montano[ ], is the large, clumsy foot, turned slightly inwards, a trait characteristic also of the african negrilloes; but in the aeta the effect is exaggerated by the abnormal divergence of the great toe, as amongst the annamese. the presence of a pygmy element in the population of new guinea had long been suspected, but the actual existence of a pygmy people was first discovered by the british ornithologists' union expedition, , at the source of the mimika river in the nassau range[ ]. the description of these people, the tapiro, is as follows. their stature averages . m. ( ft. in.) ranging from . m. ( ft. - / in.) to . ( ft. - / in.). the skull is very variable giving indices from . to . . the skin colour is lighter than that of the neighbouring papuans, some individuals being almost yellow. the nose is straight, and though described as "very wide at the nostrils," the mean of the indices is only , the extremes being . and . the eyes are noticeably larger and rounder than those of papuans, and the upper lip of many of the men is long and curiously convex. a negrito element has also been recognised in the mafulu people investigated by r. w. williamson in the mekeo district[ ], here mixed with papuan and papuo-melanesian. their stature ranges from . m. ( ft. in.) to . m. ( ft. in.). the average cephalic index is ranging from . to . . the skin colour is dark sooty brown and the hair, though usually brown or black, is often very much lighter, "not what we in europe should call dark." the average nasal index is with extremes of . and . also partly of negrito origin are the p[)e]s[)e]g[)e]m of the upper waters of the lorentz river[ ]. all these negrito peoples, as has been pointed out, show considerable diversity in physical characters, none of the existing groups, with the exception of the andamanese, appearing to be homogeneous as regards cephalic or nasal index, while the stature, though always low, shows considerable range. they have certain cultural features in common[ ], and these as a rule differentiate them from their neighbours. they seldom practise any deformation of the person, such as tattooing or scarification, though the tapiro and mafulu wear a nose-stick. they are invariably collectors and hunters, never, unless modified by contact with other peoples, undertaking any cultivation of the soil. their huts are simple, the pile dwellings of the tapiro being evidently copied from their neighbours. all possess the bow and arrow, though only the semang and aeta use poison. the andamanese appear to be one of the very few peoples who possess fire but do not know how to make it afresh. there seems a certain amount of evidence that the negrito method of making fire was that of splitting a dry stick, keeping the ends open by a piece of wood or stone placed in the cleft, stuffing some tinder into the narrow part of the slit and then drawing a strip of rattan to and fro across the spot until a spark sets fire to the tinder[ ]. the social structure is everywhere very simple. the social unit appears to be the family and the power of the headman is very limited. strict monogamy seems to prevail even where, as among the aeta, polygyny is not prohibited. the dead are buried, but the bodies of those whom it is wished to honour are placed on platforms or on trees. related in certain physical characters to the pygmy negritoes, although not of pygmy proportions[ ], were the aborigines of tasmania, but their racial affinities are much disputed. huxley thought they showed some resemblance to the inhabitants of new caledonia and the andaman islands, but flower was disposed to bring them into closer connection with the papuans or melanesians. the leading anthropologists in france do not accept either of these views. topinard states that there is no close alliance between the new caledonians and the tasmanians, while quatrefages and hamy remark that "from whatever point of view we look at it, the tasmanian race presents special characters, so that it is quite impossible to discover any well-defined affinities with any other existing race." sollas, reviewing these conflicting opinions, concludes that "this probably represents the prevailing opinion of the present day[ ]." the tasmanians were of medium height, the average for the men being . m. ( ft. - / in.) with a range from . m. to . m. ( ft. in. to ft. in.); the average height for women being . m. ( ft. in.) with a range from . m. to . m. ( ft. in. to ft. - / in.). the skin colour was almost black with a brown tinge. the eyes were small and deep set beneath prominent overhanging brow-ridges. the nose was short and broad, with a deep notch at the root and widely distended nostrils. the skull was dolichocephalic or low mesaticephalic, with an average index of , of peculiar outline when viewed from above. other peculiarities were the possession of the largest teeth, especially noticeable in comparison with the small jaw, and the smallest known cranial capacity (averaging c.c. for both sexes, falling in the women to c.c.). the aboriginal tasmanians stood even at a lower level of culture than the australians. at the occupation the scattered bands, with no hereditary chiefs or social organisation, numbered altogether souls at most, speaking several distinct dialects, whether of one or more stock languages is uncertain. in the absence of sibilants and some other features they resembled the australian, but were of ruder or less developed structure, and so imperfect that according to joseph milligan, our best authority on the subject, "they observed no settled order or arrangement of words in the construction of their sentences, but conveyed in a supplementary fashion by tone, manner, and gesture those modifications of meaning which we express by mood, tense, number, etc.[ ]" abstract terms were rare, and for every variety of gum-tree or wattle-tree there was a name, but no word for "tree" in general, or for qualities, such as hard, soft, warm, cold, long, short, round, etc. anything hard was "like a stone," round "like the moon," and so on, "usually suiting the action to the word, and confirming by some sign the meaning to be understood." they made fire by the stick and groove method, but their acquaintance with the fire-drill is uncertain[ ]. the stone implements are the subject of much discussion. a great number are so rude and uncouth that, taken alone, we should have little reason to suspect that they had been chipped by man: some, on the other hand, show signs of skilful working. they were formerly classed as "eoliths" and compared to the plateau implements of kent and sussex, but the comparison cannot be sustained[ ]. sollas illustrates an implement "delusively similar to the head of an axe" and notes its resemblance to a levallois flake (acheulean). j. p. johnson[ ] points out the general likeness to pre-aurignacian forms and there is a remarkable similarity of certain examples to mousterian types. weapons were of wood, and consisted of spears pointed and hardened in the fire, and a club or waddy, about two feet long, sometimes knobbed at one end; the range is said to have been about yards. in the native diet were included "snakes, lizards, grubs and worms," besides the opossum, wombat, kangaroo, birds and fishes, roots, seeds and fruits, but not human flesh, at least normally. like the bushmen, they were gross feeders, consuming enormous quantities of food when they could get it, and the case is mentioned of a woman who was seen to eat from to eggs of the sooty petrel (larger than a duck's), besides a double allowance of bread, at the station on flinders island. they had frail bundles of bark made fast with thongs or rushes, half float, half boat, to serve as canoes, but no permanent abodes or huts, beyond branches of trees lashed together, supported by stakes, and disposed crescent-shape with the convex side to windward. on the uplands and along the sea-shore they took refuge in caves, rock-shelters and natural hollows. usually the men went naked, the women wore a loose covering of skins, and personal ornamentation was limited to cosmetics of red ochre, plumbago, and powdered charcoal, with occasionally a necklace of shells strung on a fibrous twine. being merely hunters and collectors, with the arrival of english colonists their doom was sealed. "only in rare instances can a race of hunters contrive to co-exist with an agricultural people. when the hunting ground of a tribe is restricted owing to its partial occupation by the new arrivals, the tribe affected is compelled to infringe on the boundaries of its neighbours: this is to break the most sacred 'law of the jungle,' and inevitably leads to war: the pressure on one boundary is propagated to the next, the ancient state of equilibrium is profoundly disturbed, and inter-tribal feuds become increasingly frequent. a bitter feeling is naturally aroused against the original offenders, the alien colonists; misunderstandings of all kinds inevitably arise, leading too often to bloodshed, and ending in a general conflict between natives and colonists, in which the former, already weakened by disagreements among themselves, must soon succumb. so it was in tasmania." after the war of to the few wretched survivors, numbering about , were gathered together into a settlement, and from onwards every effort was made for their welfare, "but 'the white man's civilisation proved scarcely less fatal than the white man's bullet,' and in , with the death of truganini, the last survivor, the race became extinct[ ]." footnotes: [ ] cf. s. h. ray, _reports camb. anthrop. exp. torres sts._ vol. iii. , pp. , . for melanesian linguistic affinities see also w. schmidt, _die mon-khmer völker_, . [ ] c. g. seligman limits the use of the term _papuasian_ to the inhabitants of new guinea and its islands, and following a suggestion of a. c. haddon's (_geograph. journ._ xvi. , pp. , ), recognises therein three great divisions, the _papuans_, the _western papuo-melanesians_, and the _eastern papuo-melanesians_, or _massim_. cf. c. g. seligman, "a classification of the natives of british new guinea," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ vol. xxxix. , and _the melanesians of british new guinea_, . [ ] that is, the indigenous papuans, who appear to form the great bulk of the new guinea populations, in contradistinction to the immigrant melanesians (motu and others), who are numerous especially along the south-east coast of the mainland and in the neighbouring louisiade and d'entrecasteaux archipelagoes (_eth._ ch. xi.). [ ] _the melanesians of british new guinea_, , pp. , . [ ] the curly or wavy hair appears more commonly among women than among men. [ ] _kanaka_ is a polynesian word meaning "man," and should therefore be restricted to the brown indonesian group, but it is indiscriminately applied by french writers to all south sea islanders, whether black or brown. this misuse of the term has found its way into some english books of travel even in the corrupt french form "canaque." [ ] _l'archipel de la nouvelle calédonie_, paris, . [ ] lifu, mare, uvea, and isle of pines. these polynesians appear to have all come originally from tonga, first to uvea island (wallis), and thence in the eighteenth century to uvea in the loyalties, cradle of all the new caledonian polynesian settlements. cf. c. m. woodford, "on some little-known polynesian settlements in the neighbourhood of the solomon islands," _geog. journ._ xlviii. . [ ] this low index is characteristic of most papuasians, and reaches the extreme of dolichocephaly in the extinct kai-colos of fiji ( °), and amongst some coast papuans of new guinea measured by miklukho-maclay. but this observer found the characters so variable in new guinea that he was unable to use it as a racial test. in the new hebrides, louisiades, and bismarck group also he found many of the natives to be broad-headed, with indices as high as and ; and even in the solomon islands guppy records cephalic indices ranging from to , but dolichocephaly predominates (_the solomon islands_, , pp. , ). thus this feature is no more constant amongst the oceanic than it is amongst the african negroes. (see also m.-maclay's paper in _proc. linn. soc. new south wales_, , p. sq.) [ ] _eth._ ch. viii. [ ] bernard, p. . [ ] a. c. haddon, _the wanderings of peoples_, , p. . [ ] a. c. haddon, _the races of man_, , p. . [ ] _wissenschaftliche ergebnisse einer amtlichen forschungsreise nach dem bismarck-archipel im jahre _; _untersuchungen über eine melanesische wanderstrasse, _; and _mitt. aus den deutschen schutzgebieten, ergänzungsheft_, nr , , nr , . see also s. h. ray, _nature_, clxxii. , and _man_, xiv. , . [ ] _zeitschr. f. ethnol._ xxxvii. p. , . his later writings should also be consulted, _anthropos_, iv. , pp. , ; _ethnologie_, , p. . [ ] _the history of melanesian society_, . [ ] a. c. haddon, _the races of man_, , pp. - , and _handbook to the ethnographical collections british museum_, , pp. - . [ ] besides the earlier works of h. h. romilly, _the western pacific and new guinea_, , _from my verandah in new guinea_, ; j. chalmers, _work and adventure in new guinea_, ; o. finsch, _samoafahrten: reisen in kaiser wilhelms-land und englisch neu-guinea_, ; c. m. woodford, _a naturalist among the head-hunters_, ; j. p. thompson, _british new guinea_, ; and r. h. codrington, _the melanesians_, , the following more recent works may be consulted:--a. c. haddon, _head-hunters, black, white, and brown_, , and _reports of the cambridge anthropological expedition to torres straits_, - ; r. parkinson, _dreissig jahre in der südsee_, ; g. a. j. van der sande, _nova guinea_, ; b. thompson, _the fijians_, ; g. brown, _melanesians and polynesians_, ; f. speiser, _südsee urwald kannibalen_, . [ ] _eth._ ch. xii. [ ] but excluding celebes, where no trace of papuan elements has been discovered. [ ] for details see f. h. h. guillemard, _australasia_, vol. ii. and reclus, vol. xiv. [ ] s. j. hickson, _a naturalist in north celebes_, , p. . [ ] a. c. haddon, "the pygmy question," appendix b to a. f. r. wollaston's _pygmies and papuans_, , p. . [ ] "a la recherche des negritos," etc., in _tour du monde_, new series, livr. - . the midden was ft. round, and over ft. high. [ ] e. h. man, _journ. anthr. inst._ vol. xi. , p. , and xii. , p. . [ ] _ib._ p. . [ ] close to barren is the extinct crater of _narcondam_, i.e. _narak-andam_ (_narak_ = hell), from which the _andaman_ group may have taken its name (sir h. yule, _marco polo_). man notes, however, that the andamanese were not aware of the existence of barren island until taken past in the settlement steamer (p. ). [ ] _folk-lore_, , p. . see also the criticisms of w. schmidt, "puluga, the supreme being of the andamanese," _man_, , , and a. lang, "puluga," _man_, , ; a. r. brown, _the andaman islands_ (in the press). [ ] "the andaman languages are one group; they have no affinities by which we might infer their connection with any other known group" (r. c. temple, quoted by man, _anthrop. jour._ , p. ). [ ] r. c. temple, quoted by man, _anthrop. jour._ , p. . [ ] w. w. skeat and c. d. blagden, _pagan races of the malay peninsula_, . [ ] r. martin, _die inlandstämme der malayischen halbinsel_, . [ ] n. annandale and h. c. robinson, "fasciculi malayensis," _anthropology_, . [ ] w. w. skeat and c. d. blagden, _loc. cit._ [ ] the sakai have often been classed among negritoes, but, although undoubtedly a mixed people, their affinities appear to be pre-dravidian. [ ] cf. a. c. haddon, "the pygmy question," appendix b to a. f. r. wollaston's _pygmies and papuans_, , p. . [ ] _in court and kampong_, , p. . [ ] senoi grammar and glossary in _jour. straits branch r. asiat. soc._ , no. . [ ] see l. wray's paper "on the cave dwellers of perak," in _jour. anthrop. inst._ , p. sq. this observer thinks "the earliest cave dwellers were most likely the negritoes" (p. ), and the great age of the deposits is shown by the fact that "in some of the caves at least feet of a mixture of shells, bones, and earth has been accumulated and subsequently removed again in the floors of the caves. in places two or three layers of solid stalagmite have been formed and removed, some of these layers having been five feet in thickness" (p. ). [ ] see on this point prof. blumentritt's paper on the manguians of mindoro in _globus_, lx. no. . [ ] one aeta woman of zambales had a nasal index of . . w. allen reed, "negritoes of zambales," _department of the interior: ethnological survey publications_, ii. , p. . for details of physical features see the following:--d. folkmar, _album of philippine types_, ; dean c. worcester, "the non-christian tribes of northern luzon," _the philippine journal of science_, i. ; and a. c. haddon, "the pygmy question," appendix b to a. f. r. wollaston's _pygmies and papuans_, . [ ] _the philippine islands_, etc., london and hongkong, . [ ] _op. cit._ p. . [ ] _voyage aux philippines_, etc., paris, . [ ] a. f. r. wollaston, _pygmies and papuans_, ; c. g. rawling, _the land of the new guinea pygmies_, . [ ] _the mafulu mountain people of british new guinea_, . [ ] _nova guinea_, vii. , . [ ] a. c. haddon, "the pygmy question," appendix b to a. f. r. wollaston's _pygmies and papuans_, , pp. - . [ ] it is not certain however that this method is known to the semang, and it occurs among peoples who are not negrito, such as the kayan of sarawak, and in other places where a negrito element has not yet been recorded. [ ] the term pygmy is usually applied to a people whose stature does not exceed . m. ( ft. in.). [ ] w. j. sollas, _ancient hunters_, , and w. turner, "the aborigines of australia," _trans. r. soc. edin._ , xlvi. , and , xlvii. . [ ] paper in brough smyth's work, ii. p. . [ ] h. ling roth, _the aborigines of australia_ ( nd ed.), , appendix lxxxviii., and "tasmanian firesticks," _nature_, lix. , p. . [ ] w. j. sollas, _ancient hunters_, , pp. , ff. [ ] _nature_, xcii. , p. . [ ] w. j. sollas, _ancient hunters_, , pp. - . chapter vi the southern mongols south mongol domain--tibet, the mongol cradle-land--stone age in tibet--the primitive mongol type--the balti and ladakhi--balti type and origins--the tibetans proper--type--the bhotiyas--prehistoric expansion of the tibetan race--sub-himalayan groups: the gurkhas--mental qualities of the tibetans--lamaism--the horsoks-- the tanguts--polyandry--the bonbo religion--buddhist and christian ritualism--the prayer-wheel--language and letters--diverse linguistic types--lepcha--angami-naga and kuki-lushai speech--naga tribes--general ethnic relations in indo-china--aboriginal and cultured peoples--the talaings--the manipuri--religion--the game of polo--the khel system--the chins--mental and physical qualities--gods, nats, and the after-life--the kakhyens--caucasic elements--the karens--type--temperament--christian missions--the burmese--type--character--buddhism--position of woman--tattooing-- the tai-shan peoples--the ahom, khamti and chinese shans--shan cradle-land and origins--caucasic contacts--tai-shan toned speech--shan, lolo, and mosso writing systems--mosso origins-- aborigines of south china and annam--man-tse origins and affinities--caucasic aborigines in south-east asia--the siamese shans--origins and early records--social system--buddhism--the annamese--origins--physical and mental characters--language and letters--social institutions--religious systems--the chinese-- origins--the babylonian theory--persistence of chinese culture and social system--letters and early records--traditions of the stone and metal ages--chinese cradle and early migrations-- absorption of the aborigines--survivals: hok-lo, hakka, pun-ti--confucianism, taoism, buddhism--fung-shui and ancestry worship--islam and christianity--the mandarin class. conspectus. #present range.# _tibet; s. himalayan slopes; indo-china to the isthmus of kra; china; formosa; parts of malaysia._ #hair#, _uniformly black, lank, round in transverse section_; _sparse or no beard, moustache common_. #colour#, _generally a dirty yellowish brown, shading off to olive and coppery brown in the south, and to lemon or whitish in n. china_. #skull#, _normally brachy ( to ), but in parts of china sub-dolicho ( ) and high_. #jaws#, _slightly prognathous_. #cheek-bones#, _very high and prominent laterally_. #nose#, _very small, and concave, with widish nostrils (mesorrhine), but often large and straight amongst the upper classes_. #eyes#, _small, black, and oblique (outer angle slightly elevated), vertical fold of skin over inner canthus_. #stature#, _below the average, . m. ( ft. in.), but in n. china often tall, . m. to . m. ( ft. in. to ft.)_. #lips#, _rather thin, sometimes slightly protruding_. #arms#, #legs#, _and_ #feet#, _of normal proportions, calves rather small_. #temperament.# _somewhat sluggish, with little initiative, but great endurance; cunning rather than intelligent; generally thrifty and industrious, but mostly indolent in siam and burma; moral standard low, with slight sense of right and wrong._ #speech.# _mainly isolating and monosyllabic, due to phonetic decay; loss of formative elements compensated by tone; some (south chinese, annamese) highly tonic, but others (in himalayas and north burma) highly agglutinating and consequently toneless._ #religion.# _ancestry and spirit-worship, underlying various kinds of buddhism; religious sentiment weak in annam, strong in tibet; thinly diffused in china._ #culture.# _ranges from sheer savagery (indo-chinese aborigines) to a low phase of civilisation; some mechanical arts (ceramics, metallurgy, weaving), and agriculture well developed; painting, sculpture, and architecture mostly in the barbaric stage; letters widespread, but true literature and science slightly developed; stagnation very general._ main divisions. #bod-pa.# _tibetan; tangut; horsok; si-fan; balti; ladakhi; gurkha; bhotiya; miri; mishmi; abor._ #burmese.# _naga; kuki-lushai; chin; kakhyen; manipuri; karen; talaing; arakanese; burmese proper._ #tai-shan.# _ahom; khamti; ngiou; lao; siamese._ #giao-shi.# _annamese; cochin-chinese._ #chinese.# _chinese proper; hakka; hok-lo; pun-ti._ * * * * * the mongolian stock may be divided into two main branches[ ]: the _mongolo-tatar_, of the western area, and the _tibeto-indo-chinese_ of the eastern area, the latter extending into a secondary branch, _oceanic mongols_. these two, that is, the main and secondary branch, which jointly occupy the greater part of south-east asia with most of malaysia, madagascar, the philippines and formosa, will form the subject of the present and following chapters. allowing for encroachments and overlappings, especially in manchuria and north tibet, the northern "divide" towards the mongolo-tatar domain is roughly indicated by the great wall and the kuen-lun range westwards to the hindu-kush, and towards the south-west by the himalayas from the hindu-kush eastwards to assam. the continental section thus comprises the whole of china proper and indo-china, together with a great part of tibet with little tibet (baltistan and ladakh), and the himalayan uplands including their southern slopes. this section is again separated from the oceanic section by the isthmus of kra--the malay peninsula belonging ethnically to the insular malay world. "i believe," writes warington smyth, "that the malay never really extended further south than the kra isthmus[ ]." from the considerations advanced in _ethnology_, chap. xii., it seems a reasonable assumption that the lacustrine tibetan tableland with its himalayan escarpments, all standing in pleistocene times at a considerably lower level than at present, was the cradle of the mongol division of mankind. here were found all the natural conditions favourable to the development of a new variety of the species moving from the tropics northwards--ample space such as all areas of marked specialisation seem to require; a different and cooler climate than that of the equatorial region, though, thanks to its then lower elevation, warmer than that of the bleak and now barely inhabitable tibetan plateau; extensive plains, nowhere perhaps too densely wooded, intersected by ridges of moderate height, and diversified by a lacustrine system far more extensive than that revealed by the exploration of modern travellers[ ]. under these circumstances, which are not matter of mere speculation, but to be directly inferred from the observations of intelligent explorers and of trained anglo-indian surveyors, it would seem not only probable but inevitable that the pleistocene indo-malayan should become modified and improved in his new and more favourable central asiatic environment. later, with the gradual upheaval of the land to a mean altitude of some , feet above sea-level, the climate deteriorated, and the present somewhat rude and rugged inhabitants of tibet are to be regarded as the outcome of slow adaptation to their slowly changing surroundings since the occupation of the country by the indo-malayan pleistocene precursor. to this precursor tibet was accessible either from india or from indo-china, and although few of his implements have yet been reported from the plateau, it is certain that tibet has passed through the stone as well as the metal ages. in bogle's time "thunder-stones" were still used for tonsuring the lamas, and even now stone cooking-pots are found amongst the shepherds of the uplands, although they are acquainted both with copper and iron. in india also and indo-china palaeoliths of rude type occur at various points--arcot, the narbada gravels, mirzapur[ ], the irawadi valley and the shan territory--as if to indicate the routes followed by early man in his migrations from indo-malaysia northwards. thus, where man is silent the stones speak, and so old are these links of past and present that amongst the shans, as in ancient greece, their origin being entirely forgotten, they are often mounted as jewellery and worn as charms against mishaps. usually the mongols proper, that is, the steppe nomads who have more than once overrun half the eastern hemisphere, are taken as the typical and original stem of the mongolian stock. but if ch. de ujfalvy's views can be accepted this honour will now have to be transferred to the tibetans, who still occupy the supposed cradle of the race. this veteran student of the central asiatic peoples describes two mongol types, a northern round-headed and a southern long-headed, and thinks that the latter, which includes "the ladakhi, the champas and tibetans proper," was "the primitive mongol type[ ]." owing to the political seclusion of tibet, the race has hitherto been studied chiefly in outlying provinces beyond the frontiers, such as ladakh, baltistan, and sikkim[ ], that is, in districts where mixture with other races may be suspected. indeed de ujfalvy, who has made a careful survey of baltistan and ladakh, assures us that, while the ladakhi represent two varieties of asiatic man with ceph. index , the balti are not tibetans or mongols at all, but descendants of the historical sacae, although now of tibetan speech and moslem faith[ ]. they are of the mean height or slightly above it, with rather low brow, very prominent superciliary arches, deep depression at nasal root, thick curved eyebrows, long, straight or arched nose, thick lips, oval chin, small cheek-bones, small flat ears, straight eyes, very black and abundant ringletty (_bouclé_) hair, full beard, usually black and silky, robust hairy body, small hands and feet, and long head (index ). in such characters it is impossible to recognise the mongol, and the contrast is most striking with the neighbouring ladakhi, true mongols, as shown by their slightly raised superciliary arches, square and scarcely curved eyebrows, slant eyes, large prominent cheek-bones, lank and coarse hair, yellowish and nearly hairless body. doubtless there has been a considerable intermingling of balti and ladakhi, and in recent times still more of balti and dards (hindu-kush "aryans"), whence leitner's view that the balti are dards at a remote period conquered by the bhóts (tibetans), losing their speech with their independence. but of all these peoples the balti were in former times the most civilised, as shown by the remarkable rock-carvings still found in the country, and attributed by the present inhabitants to a long vanished race. some of these carvings represent warriors mounted and on foot, the resemblance being often very striking between them and the persons figured on the coins of the sacae kings both in their physical appearance, attitudes, arms, and accoutrements. the balti are still famous horsemen, and with them is said to have originated the game of polo, which has thence spread to the surrounding peoples as far as chitral and irania. from all these considerations it is inferred that the balti are the direct descendants of the sacae, who invaded india about b.c., not from the west (the kabul valley) as generally stated, but from the north over the karakorum passes leading directly to baltistan[ ]. thus lives again a name renowned in antiquity, and another of those links is established between the past and the present, which it is the province of the historical ethnologist to rescue from oblivion. in tibet proper the ethnical relations have been confused by the loose way tribal and even national names are referred to by prjevalsky and some other modern explorers. it should therefore be explained that three somewhat distinct branches of the race have to be carefully distinguished: . the _bod-pa_[ ], "bodmen," the settled and more or less civilised section, who occupy most of the southern and more fertile provinces of which lhasa is the capital, who till the land, live in towns, and have passed from the tribal to the civic state. . the _dru-pa_[ ], peaceful though semi-nomadic pastoral tribes, who live in tents on the northern plateaux, over , feet above sea-level. . the _tanguts_[ ], restless, predatory tribes, who hover about the north-eastern borderland between koko-nor and kansu. all these are true tibetans, speak the tibetan language, and profess one or other of the two national religions, _bonbo_ and lamaism (the tibetan form of buddhism). but the original type is best preserved, not amongst the cultured bod-pa, who in many places betray a considerable admixture both of chinese and hindu elements, but amongst the dru-pa, who on their bleak upland steppes have for ages had little contact with the surrounding mongolo-turki populations. they are described by w. w. rockhill from personal observation as about five feet five inches high, and round-headed, with wavy hair, clear-brown and even hazel eye, cheek-bone less high than the mongol, thick nose, depressed at the root, but also prominent and even aquiline and narrow but with broad nostrils, large-lobed ears standing out to a less degree than the mongol, broad mouth, long black hair, thin beard, generally hairless body, broad shoulders, very small calves, large foot, coarse hand, skin coarse and greasy and of light brown colour, though "frequently nearly white, but when exposed to the weather a dark brown, nearly the colour of our american indians. rosy cheeks are quite common amongst the younger women[ ]." some of these characters--wavy hair, aquiline nose, hazel eye, rosy cheeks--are not mongolic, and despite w. w. rockhill's certificate of racial purity, one is led to suspect a caucasic strain, perhaps through the neighbouring salars. these are no doubt sometimes called kara-tangutans, "black tangutans," from the colour of their tents, but we learn from potanin, who visited them in [ ], that they are muhammadans of turki stock and speech, and we already know[ ] that from a remote period the turki people were in close contact with caucasians. the salars pitch their tents on the banks of the khitai and other yang-tse-kiang headstreams. that the national name bod-pa must be of considerable antiquity is evident from the sanskrit expression _bhotiya_, derived from it, and long applied by the hindus collectively to all southern tibetans, but especially to those of the himalayan slopes, such as the rongs (lepchas) of sikkim and the _lho-pa_ dominant in bhutan, properly _bhót-ánt_, that is, "land's end"--the extremity of tibet. eastwards also the tibetan race stretches far beyond the political frontiers into the koko-nor region (tanguts), and the chinese province of se-chuan, where they are grouped with all the other si-fan aborigines. towards the south-east are the kindred _tawangs_, _mishmi_, _miri_, _abor_[ ], _daflas_, and many others about the assam borderlands, all of whom may be regarded as true bhotiyas in the wild state. through these the primitive tibetan race extends into burma, where however it has become greatly modified and again civilised under different climatic and cultural influences. thus we see how, in the course of ages, the bod-pa have widened their domain, radiating in all directions from the central cradle-land about the upper brahmaputra (san-po) valley westwards into kashmir, eastwards into china, southwards down the himalayan slopes to the gangetic plains, south-eastwards to indo-china. in some places they have come into contact with other races and disappeared either by total extinction or by absorption (india, hindu-kush), or else preserved their type while accepting the speech, religion, and culture of later intruders. such are the _garhwali_, and many groups in nepal, especially the dominant _gurkhas_ (_khas_[ ]), of whom there are twelve branches, all aryanised and since the twelfth century speaking the _parbattia bhasha_, a prakrit or vulgar sanskrit tongue current amongst an extremely mixed population of about , , . in other directions the migrations took place in remote prehistoric times, the primitive proto-tibetan groups becoming more and more specialised as they receded farther and farther from the cradle-land into mongolia, siberia, china, farther india, and malaysia. this is at least how i understand the peopling of a great part of the eastern hemisphere by an original nucleus of mongolic type first differentiated from a pleistocene precursor on the tibetan tableland. strangely contradictory estimates have been formed of the temperament and mental characters of the bod-pa, some, such as that of turner[ ], no doubt too favourable, while others err perhaps in the opposite direction. thus desgodins, who nevertheless knew them well, describes the cultured tibetan of the south as "a slave towards the great, a despot towards the weak, knavish or treacherous according to circumstances, always on the look-out to defraud, and lying impudently to attain his end," and much more to the same effect[ ]. w. w. rockhill, who is less severe, thinks that "the tibetan's character is not as black as horace della penna and desgodins have painted it. intercourse with these people extending over six years leads me to believe that the tibetan is kindhearted, affectionate, and law-abiding[ ]." he concludes, however, with a not very flattering native estimate deduced from the curious national legend that "the earliest inhabitants of tibet descended from a king of monkeys and a female hobgoblin, and the character of the race perhaps from those of its first parents. from the king of monkeys [he was an incarnate god] they have religious faith and kindheartedness, intelligence and application, devotion to religion and to religious debate; from the hobgoblin they get cruelty, fondness for trade and money-making, great bodily strength, lustfulness, fondness for gossip, and carnivorous instinct[ ]." while they are cheerful under a depressing priestly regime, all allow that they are vindictive, superstitious, and cringing in the presence of the lamas, who are at heart more dreaded than revered. in fact the whole religious world is one vast organised system of hypocrisy, and above the old pagan beliefs common to all primitive peoples there is merely a veneer of buddhism, above which follows another and most pernicious veneer of lamaism (priestcraft), under the yoke of which the natural development of the people has been almost completely arrested for several centuries. the burden is borne with surprising endurance, and would be intolerable but for the relief found in secret and occasionally even open revolt against the more oppressive ordinances of the ecclesiastical rule. thus, despite the prescriptions regarding a strict vegetarian diet expressed in the formula "eat animal flesh eat thy brother," not only laymen but most of the lamas themselves supplement their frugal diet of milk, butter, barley-meal, and fruits with game, yak, and mutton--this last pronounced by turner the best in the world. the public conscience, however, is saved by a few extra turns of the prayer-wheel at such repasts, and by the general contempt in which is held the hereditary caste of butchers, who like the jews in medieval times are still confined to a "ghetto" of their own in all the large towns. these remarks apply more particularly to the settled southern communities living in districts where a little agriculture is possible. elsewhere the religious cloak is worn very loosely, and the nomad _horsoks_ of the northern steppes, although all nominal buddhists, pay but scant respect to the decrees supposed to emanate from the dalai lama enshrined in lhasa. horsok is an almost unique ethnical term[ ], being a curious compound of the two names applied by the tibetans to the _hor-pa_ and the _sok-pa_ who divide the steppe between them. the hor-pa, who occupy the western parts, are of turki stock, and are the only group of that race known to me who profess buddhism[ ], all the rest being muhammadans with some shamanists (yakuts) in the lena basin. the sok-pa, who roam the eastern plains and valleys, although commonly called mongols, are true tibetans or more strictly speaking tanguts, of whom there are here two branches, the _goliki_ and the _yegrai_, all, like the hor-pa, of tibetan speech. the yegrai, as described by prjevalsky, closely resemble the other north tibetan tribes, with their long, matted locks falling on their shoulders, their scanty whiskers and beard, angular head, dark complexion and dirty garb[ ]. besides stock-breeding and predatory warfare, all these groups follow the hunt, armed with darts, bows, and matchlock guns; the musk-deer is ensnared, and the only animal spared is the stag, "buddha's horse." the taste of these rude nomads for liquid blood is insatiable, and the surveyor, nain singh, often saw them fall prone on the ground to lick up the blood flowing from a wounded beast. as soon as weaned, the very children and even the horses are fed on a diet of cheese, butter, and blood, kneaded together in a horrible mess, which is greedily devoured when the taste is acquired. on the other hand alcoholic drinks are little consumed, the national beverage being coarse chinese tea imported in the form of bricks and prepared with _tsampa_ (barley-meal) and butter, and thus becoming a food as well as a drink. the lamas have a monopoly of this tea-trade, which could not stand the competition of the indian growers; hence arises the chief objection to removing the barriers of seclusion. tibet is one of the few regions where polyandrous customs, intimately associated with the matriarchal state, still persist almost in their pristine vigour. the husbands are usually but not necessarily all brothers, and the bride is always obtained by purchase. unless otherwise arranged, the oldest husband is the putative "father," all the others being considered as "uncles." an inevitable result of the institution is to give woman a dominant position in society; hence the "queens" of certain tribes, referred to with so much astonishment by the early chinese chroniclers. survivors of this "petticoat government" have been noticed by travellers amongst the lolos, mossos, and other indigenous communities about the indo-chinese frontiers. but it does not follow that polyandry and a matriarchal state always and necessarily preceded polygyny and a patriarchal state. on the contrary, it would appear that polyandry never could have been universal; possibly it arose from special conditions in particular regions, where the struggle for existence is severe, and the necessity of imposing limits to the increase of population more urgent than elsewhere[ ]. hence to me it seems as great a mistake to assume a matriarchate as it is to assume promiscuity as the universal antecedent of all later family relations. in tibet itself polygyny exists side by side with polyandry amongst the wealthy classes, while monogamy is the rule amongst the poor pastoral nomads of the northern steppe. great ethnical importance has been attached by some distinguished anthropologists to the treatment of the dead. but, as in the new stone and metal ages in europe cremation and burial were practised side by side[ ], so in tibet the dead are now simultaneously disposed of in diverse ways. it is a question not so much of race as of caste or social classes, or of the lama's pleasure, who, when the head has been shaved to facilitate the transmigration of the soul, may order the body to be burnt, buried, cast into the river, or even thrown to carrion birds or beasts of prey. strange to say, the last method, carried out with certain formalities, is one of the most honourable, although the lamas are generally buried in a seated posture, and high officials burnt, and (in ladakh) the ashes, mixed with a little clay, kneaded into much venerated effigies--doubtless a survival of ancestry worship. reference was above made to the primitive shamanistic ideas which still survive beneath the buddhist and the later lamaistic systems. in the central and eastern provinces of ui and tsang this pre-buddhist religion has again struggled to the surface, or rather persisted under the name of _bonbo_ (_boa-ho_) side by side with the national creed, from which it has even borrowed many of its present rites. from the colour of the robes usually worn by its priests, it is known as the sect of the "blacks," in contradistinction to the orthodox "yellow" and dissenting "red" lamaists, and as now constituted, its origin is attributed to shen-rab (gsen-rabs), who flourished about the fifth century before the new era, and is venerated as the equal of buddha himself. his followers, who were powerful enough to drive buddhism from tibet in the tenth century, worship chief deities, the best known being the red and black demons, the snake devil, and especially the fiery tiger-god, father of all the secondary members of this truly "diabolical pantheon." it is curious to note that the sacred symbol of the bonbo sect is the ubiquitous svastika, only with the hooks of the cross reversed, [symbol] instead of [symbol]. this change, which appears to have escaped the diligent research of thomas wilson[ ], was caused by the practice of turning the prayer-wheel from right to left as the red lamas do, instead of from left to right as is the orthodox way. the common buddhist formula of six syllables--_om-ma-ni-pad-me-hum_--is also replaced by one of seven syllables--_ma-tri-mon-tre-sa-ta-dzun_[ ]. buddhism itself, introduced by hindu missionaries, is more recent than is commonly supposed. few conversions were made before the fifth century of our era, and the first temple dates only from the year . reference is often made to the points of contact or "coincidences" which have been observed between this system and that of the oriental and latin christian churches. there is no question of a common dogma, and the numerous resemblances are concerned only with ritualistic details, such as the cross, the mitre, dalmatica, and other distinctive vestments, choir singing, exorcisms, the thurible, benedictions with outstretched hand, celibacy, the rosary, fasts, processions, litanies, spiritual retreats, holy water, scapulars or other charms, prayer addressed to the saints, relics, pilgrimages, music and bells at the service, monasticism; this last being developed to a far greater extent in tibet than at any time in any christian land, egypt not excepted. the lamas, representing the regular clergy of the roman church, hold a monopoly of all "science," letters, and arts. the block printing-presses are all kept in the huge monasteries which cover the land, and from them are consequently issued only orthodox works and treatises on magic. religion itself is little better than a system of magic, and the sole aim of all worship, reduced to a mere mechanical system of routine, is to baffle the machinations of the demons who at every turn beset the path of the wayfarer through this "vale of tears." for this purpose the prayer-wheels--an ingenious contrivance by which innumerable supplications, not less efficacious because vicarious, may be offered up night and day to the powers of darkness--are incessantly kept going all over the land, some being so cleverly arranged that the sacred formula may be repeated as many as , times at each revolution of the cylinder. these machines, which have also been introduced into korea and japan, have been at work for several centuries without any appreciable results, although fitted up in all the houses, by the river banks or on the hill-side, and kept in motion by the hand, wind, and water; while others of huge size, to feet high and to in diameter, stand in the temples, and at each turn repeat the contents of whole volumes of liturgical essays stowed away in their capacious receptacles. but despite all these everlasting revolutions, stagnation reigns supreme throughout the most priest-ridden land under the sun. with its religion tibet imported also its letters from india by the route of nepal or kashmir in the seventh century. since then the language has undergone great changes, always, like other members of the indo-chinese family, in the direction from agglutination towards monosyllabism[ ]. but the orthography, apart from a few feeble efforts at reform, has remained stationary, so that words are still written as they were pronounced years ago. the result is a far greater discrepancy between the spoken and written tongue than in any other language, english not excepted. thus the province of ui has been identified by sir a. cunningham with ptolemy's _debasae_ through its written form _dbus_, though now always pronounced _u_[ ]. this bears out de lacouperie's view that all words were really uttered as originally spelt, although often beginning with as many as three consonants. thus _spra_ (monkey) is now pronounced _deu_ in the lhasa dialect, but still _streu-go_ in that of the province of kham. the phonetic disintegration is still going on, so that, barring reform, the time must come when there will be no correspondence at all between sound and its graphic expression. on the other hand it is a mistake to suppose that all languages in the indo-chinese linguistic zone have undergone this enormous extent of phonetic decay. the indefatigable b. h. hodgson has made us acquainted with several, especially in nepal, which are of a highly conservative character. farther east the _lepcha_ (properly _rong_) of sikkim presents the remarkable peculiarity of distinct agglutination of the mongolo-turki, or perhaps i should say of the kuki-lushai type, combined with numerous homophones and a total absence of tone. thus _pano-sa_, of a king, _pano-sang_, kings, and _pano-sang-sa_, of kings, shows pure agglutination, while _mát_ yields no less than twenty-three distinct meanings[ ], which should necessitate a series of discriminating tones, as in chinese or siamese. their absence, however, is readily explained by the persistence of the agglutinative principle, which renders them unnecessary. a somewhat similar feature is presented by the angami naga, the chief language of the naga hills, of which r. b. mccabe writes that it is "still in a very primitive stage of the agglutinating class," and "peculiarly rich in intonation," although "for one naga who clearly marks these tonal distinctions twenty fail to do so[ ]." it follows that it is mainly spoken without tones, and although said to be "distinctly monosyllabic" it really abounds in polysyllables, such as _merenama_, orphan, _kehutsaporimo_, nowhere, _dukriwáché_, to kill, etc. there are also numerous verbal formative elements given by mccabe himself, so that angami must clearly be included in the agglutinating order. to this order also belongs beyond all doubt the _kuki-lushai_ of the neighbouring north kachar hills and parts of nagaland itself, the common speech in fact of the _rangkhols_, _jansens_, _lushai_, _roeys_ and other hill peoples, collectively called _kuki_ by the lowlanders, and _dzo_ by themselves[ ]. the highly agglutinating character of this language is evident from the numerous conjugations given by soppitt[ ], for some of which he has no names, but which may be called _acceleratives_, _retardatives_, _complementatives_, and so on. thus with the root, _ahong_, come, and infix _jám_, slow, is formed the retardative _náng ahongjámrangmoh_, "will-you-come-slowly?" (_rang_, future, _moh_, interrogative particle)[ ]. the kuki, the naga and the manipuri, none of which claim to be the original occupants of the country, have a tradition of a common ancestor, who had three sons who became the progenitors of the tribes. the kuki are found almost everywhere throughout manipur. "we are like the birds of the air," said a kuki to t. c. hodson, "we make our nests here this year, and who knows where we shall build next year[ ]?" the following description is given of the naga tribes, _tangkhuls_, _mao_ and _maram nagas_ (_angami nagas_), _kolya_, or _mayang khong_ group, _kabuis_, _quoirengs_, _chirus_ and _marrings_. "differences of stature, dress, coiffure and weapons make it easy to distinguish between the members of these tribes. in colour they are all brown with but little variety, though some of the tangkhuls who earn their living by salt making seem to be darker. among them all, as among the manipuris, there are persons who have a tinge of colour in their cheeks when still young. the nose also varies, for there are cases where it is almost straight, while in the majority of individuals it is flattened at the nostril. here and there one may see noses which in profile are almost roman. the eyes are usually brown, though black eyes are sometimes found to occur. the jaw is generally clean, not heavy, and the hair is of some variety, as there are many persons whose hair is decidedly curly, and in most there is a wave. beards are very uncommon, and hair on the face is very rare, so much so that the few who possess a moustache are known as _khoi-hao-bas_ (meithei words, meaning moustache grower). i am informed that the ladies do not like hirsute men, and that the men therefore pull out any stray hairs. the cheekbones are often prominent and the slope of the eye is not very marked[ ]." the stature is moderate varying from the slender lightly built marrings to the tall sturdy finely proportioned maos. the women are all much shorter than the men, but strongly built with a muscular development of which the men would not be ashamed. the land is thickly peopled with local deities and at maram the case is recorded of a rain deity who was once a man of the village specially cunning in rain making. among the points of special interest in this region are the stone monuments still erected in honour of the dead, and the custom of head-hunting, connected with simple blood feud, with agrarian rites, with funerary rites and eschatological belief, and in some cases no more than a social duty[ ]. through these naga and kuki aborigines we pass without any break of continuity from the bhotiya populations of the himalayan slopes to those of indo-china. here also, as indeed in nearly all semi-civilised lands, peoples at various grades of culture are found dwelling for ages side by side--rude and savage groups on the uplands or in the more dense wooded tracts, settled communities with a large measure of political unity (in fact nations and peoples in the strict sense of those terms) on the lowlands, and especially along the rich alluvial riverine plains of this well watered region. the common theory is that the wild tribes represent the true aborigines driven to the hills and woodlands by civilised invaders from india and other lands, who are now represented by the settled communities. whether such movements and dislocations have elsewhere taken place we need not here stop to inquire; indeed their probability, and in some instances their certainty may be frankly admitted. but i cannot think that the theory expresses the true relations in most parts of farther india. here the civilised peoples, and _ex hypothesi_ the intruders, are the manipuri, burmese, arakanese, and the nearly extinct or absorbed talaings or mons in the west; the siamese, shans or laos, and khamti in the centre; the annamese (tonkinese and cochin-chinese), cambojans, and the almost extinct champas in the east. nearly all of these i hold to be quite as indigenous as the hillmen, the only difference being that, thanks to their more favourable environment, they emerged at an early date from the savage state and thus became more receptive to foreign civilising influences, mostly hindu, but also chinese (in annam). all are either partly or mainly of mongolic or indonesian type, and all speak toned indo-chinese languages, except the cambojans and champas, whose linguistic relations are with the oceanic peoples, who are not here in question. the cultivated languages are no doubt full of sanskrit or prakrit terms in the west and centre, and of chinese in the east, and all, except annamese, which uses a chinese ideographic system, are written with alphabets derived through the square pali characters from the devanagari. it is also true that the vast monuments of burma, siam, and camboja all betray hindu influences, many of the temples being covered with brahmanical or buddhist sculptures and inscriptions. but precisely analogous phenomena are reproduced in java, sumatra, and other malaysian lands, as well as in japan and partly in china itself. are we then to conclude that there have been hindu invasions and settlements in all these regions, the most populous on the globe? during the historic period a few hinduized dravidians, especially telingas (telugus) of the coromandel coast, have from time to time emigrated to indo-china (pegu), where the name survives amongst the "talaings," that is, the mons, by whom they were absorbed, just as the mons themselves are now being absorbed by the burmese. others of the same connection have gained a footing here and there in malaysia, especially the malacca coastlands, where they are called "klings[ ]," _i.e._ telings, telingas. but beyond these partial movements, without any kind of influence on the general ethnical relations, i know of no hindu (some have even used the term "aryan," and have brought aryans to camboja) invasions except those of a moral order--the invasions of the zealous hindu missionaries, both brahman and buddhist, which, however, amply suffice to account for all the above indicated points of contact between the indian, the indo-chinese, and the malayan populations. that the civilised lowlanders and rude highlanders are generally of the same aboriginal stocks is well seen in the manipur district with its fertile alluvial plains and encircling naga and lushai hills on the north and south. the hinduized manipuri of the plains, that is, the politically dominant _meithis_, as they call themselves, are considered by george watt to be "a mixed race between the kukies and the nagas[ ]." the meithis are described as possessing in general the facial characteristics of mongolian type, but with great diversity of feature. "it is not uncommon to meet with girls with brownish-black hair, brown eyes, fair complexions, straight noses and rosy cheeks[ ]." in spite of the veneer of civilisation acquired by the meithis, the old order of things has by no means passed away. "the _maiba_, the doctor and priest of the animistic system, still finds a livelihood despite the competition on the one hand of the brahmin, and on the other of the hospital assistant. nevertheless the _maibas_ frequently adapt their methods to the altered circumstances in which they now find themselves, and realize that the combination of croton oil and a charm is more efficacious than the charm alone[ ]." "it is possible to discover at least four definite orders of spiritual beings who have crystallized out from the amorphous mass of animistic deities. there are the _lam lai_, gods of the country-side who shade off into nature gods controlling the rain, the primal necessity of an agricultural community; the _umang lai_ or deities of the forest jungle; the _imung lai_, the household deities, lords of the lives, the births and the deaths of individuals, and there are tribal ancestors, the ritual of whose worship is a strange compound of magic and nature-worship. beyond these divine beings, who possess in some sort a majesty of orderly decent behaviour, there are spirits of the mountain passes, spirits of the lakes and rivers, vampires and all the horrid legion of witchcraft.... it is difficult to estimate the precise effect of hinduism on the civilisation of the people, for to the outward observer they seem to have adopted only the festivals, the outward ritual, the caste marks and the exclusiveness of hinduism, while all unmindful of its spirit and inward essentials. colonel mcculloch remarked nearly fifty years ago that 'in fact their observances are only for appearance sake, not the promptings of the heart[ ].'" it is noteworthy that the manipuri are also devoted to the game of polo, which r. c. temple tells us they play much in the same way as do the balti and ladakhi at the opposite extremity of the himalayas. another remarkable link with the "far west" is the term _khel_, which has travelled all the way from persia or parthia through afghanistan to nagaland, where it retains the same meaning of clan or section of a village, and produces the same disintegrating effects as amongst the afghans. in angamiland each village is split into two or more khels, and "it is no unusual state of affairs to find khel a of one village at war with khel b of another, while not at war with khel b of its own village. the khels are often completely separated by great walls, the people on either side living within a few yards of each other, yet having no dealings whatever. each khel has its own headman, but little respect is paid to the chief: each khel maybe described as a small republic[ ]." there appears to be no trace even of a _jirga_, or council of elders, by which some measure of cohesion is imparted to the afghan khel system. from the kuki-nagas the transition is unbroken to the large group of _chins_ of the chindwin valley, named from them, and thence northwards to the rude _kakhyens_ (_kachins_) about the irawadi headstreams and southwards to the numerous _karen_ tribes, who occupy the ethnical parting-line between burma and siam all the way down to tenasserim. for the first detailed account of the chins we are indebted to s. carey and h. n. tuck[ ], who accept b. houghton's theory that these tribes, as well as the kuki-lushai, "originally lived in what we now know as tibet, and are of one and the same stock; their form of government, method of cultivation, manners and customs, beliefs and traditions, all point to one origin." the term chin, said to be a burmese form of the chinese _jin_, "men," is unknown to these aborigines, who call themselves _yo_ in the north and _lai_ in the south, while in lower burma they are _shu_. in truth there is no recognised collective name, and _shendu_ (_sindhu_) often so applied is proper only to the once formidable chittagong and arakan frontier tribes, _klangklangs_ and _hakas_, who with the _sokté_, _tashons_, _siyirs_, and others are now reduced and administered from falam. each little group has its own tribal name, and often one or two others, descriptive, abusive and so on, given them by their neighbours. thus the _nwengals_ (_nun_, river, _ngal_, across) are only that section of the soktés now settled on the farther or right bank of the manipur, while the soktés themselves (_sok_, to go down, _té_, men) are so called because they migrated from chin nwe ( miles from tiddim), cradle of the chin race, down to molbem, their earliest settlement, which is the mobingyi of the burmese. so with siyin, the burmese form of _sheyanté_ (_she_, alkali, _yan_, side, _té_, men), the group who settled by the alkali springs east of chin nwe, who are the _tauté_ ("stout" or "sturdy" people) of the lushai and southern chins. let these few specimens suffice as a slight object-lesson in the involved tribal nomenclature which prevails, not only amongst the chins, but everywhere in the tibeto-indo-chinese domain, from the north-western himalayas to cape st james at the south-eastern extremity of farther india. i have myself collected nearly a thousand such names of clans, septs, and fragmentary groups within this domain, and am well aware that the list neither is, nor ever can be, complete, the groups themselves often being unstable quantities in a constant state of fluctuation. most of the chin groups have popular legends to explain either their origin or their present reduced state. thus the tawyans, a branch of the tashons, claim to be torrs, that is, the people of the rawvan district, who were formerly very powerful, but were ruined by their insane efforts to capture the sun. building a sort of jacob's ladder, they mounted higher and higher; but growing tired, quarrelled among themselves, and one day, while half of them were clambering up the pole, the other half below cut it down just as they were about to seize the sun. so the whenohs, another tashon group, said to be lushais left behind in a district now forming part of chinland, tell a different tale. they say they came out of the rocks at sepi, which they think was their original home. they share, however, this legend of their underground origin with the soktés and several other chin tribes. amid much diversity of speech and physique the chins present some common mental qualities, such as "slow speech, serious manner, respect for birth and knowledge of pedigrees, the duty of revenge, the taste for a treacherous method of warfare, the curse of drink, the virtue of hospitality, the clannish feeling, the vice of avarice, the filthy state of the body, mutual distrust, impatience under control, the want of power of combination and of continued effort, arrogance in victory, speedy discouragement and panic in defeat[ ]." physically they are a fine race, taller and stouter than the surrounding lowlanders, men feet or inches being common enough among the independent southerners. there are some "perfectly proportioned giants with a magnificent development of muscle." yet dwarfs are met with in some districts, and in others "the inhabitants are a wretched lot, much afflicted with goître, amongst whom may be seen cretins who crawl about on all fours with the pigs in the gutter. at dimlo, in the sokté tract, leprosy has a firm hold on the inhabitants." although often described as devil-worshippers, the chins really worship neither god nor devil. the northerners believe there is no supreme being, and although the southerners admit a "kozin" or head god, to whom they sacrifice, they do not worship him, and never look to him for any grace or mercy, except that of withholding the plagues and misfortunes which he is capable of working on any in this world who offend him. besides kozin, there are _nats_ or spirits of the house, family, clan, fields; and others who dwell in particular places in the air, the streams, the jungle, and the hills. kindly _nats_ are ignored; all others can and will do harm unless propitiated[ ]. the departed go to _mithikwa_, "dead man's village," which is divided into _pwethikwa_, the pleasant abode, and _sathikwa_, the wretched abode of the _unavenged_. good or bad deeds do not affect the future of man, who must go to pwethikwa if he dies a natural or accidental death, and to sathikwa if killed, and there bide till avenged by blood. thus the vendetta receives a sort of religious sanction, strengthened by the belief that the slain becomes the slave of the slayer in the next world. "should the slayer himself be slain, then the first slain is the slave of the second slain, who in turn is the slave of the man who killed him." whether a man has been honest or dishonest in this world is of no consequence in the next existence; but, if he has killed many people in this world, he has many slaves to serve him in his future existence; if he has killed many wild animals, then he will start well-supplied with food, for all that he kills on earth are his in the future existence. in the next existence hunting and drinking will certainly be practised, but whether fighting and raiding will be indulged in is unknown. cholera and small-pox are spirits, and when cholera broke out among the chins who visited rangoon in they carried their _dahs_ (knives) drawn to scare off the _nat_, and spent the day hiding under bushes, so that the spirit should not find them. some even wanted to sacrifice a slave boy, but were talked over to substitute some pariah dogs. they firmly believe in the evil eye, and the hakas think the sujins and others are all wizards, whose single glance can bewitch them, and may cause lizards to enter the body and devour the entrails. a chin once complained to surgeon-major newland that a _nat_ had entered his stomach at the glance of a yahow, and he went to hospital quite prepared to die. but an emetic brought him round, and he went off happy in the belief that he had vomited the _nat_. ethnically connected with the kuki-naga groups are the _kakhyens_ of the irawadi headstreams, and the _karens_, who form numerous village communities about the burma-siamese borderland. the kakhyens, so called abusively by the burmese, are the _cacobees_ of the early writers[ ], whose proper name is _singpho_ (_chingpaw_), i.e. "men[ ]," and whose curious semi-agglutinating speech, spoken in an ascending tone, each sentence ending in a long-drawn _î_ in a higher key (bigandet), shows affinities rather with the mishmi and other north assamese tongues than with the cultured burmese. they form a very widespread family, stretching from the eastern himalayas right into yunnan, and presenting two somewhat marked physical types: ( ) the true chingpaws, with short round head, low forehead, prominent cheek-bones, slant eye, broad nose, thick protruding lips, very dark brown hair and eyes, dirty buff colour, mean height (about ft. or in.) with disproportionately short legs; ( ) a much finer race, with regular caucasic features, long oval face, pointed chin, aquiline nose. one kakhyen belle met with at bhamo, "with large lustrous eyes and fair skin, might almost have passed for a european[ ]." it is important to note this caucasic element, which we first meet here going eastwards from the himalayas, but which is found either separate or interspersed amongst the mongoloid populations all over the south-east asiatic uplands from tibet to cochin-china, and passing thence into oceanica[ ]. the kinship of the kakhyens with the still more numerous karens is now generally accepted, and it is no longer found necessary to bring the latter all the way from turkestan. they form a large section, perhaps one-sixth, of the whole population of burma, and overflow into the west siamese borderlands. their subdivisions are endless, though all may be reduced to three main branches, _sgaws_, _pwos_ and _bwais_, these last including the somewhat distinct group of _karenni_, or "red karens." although d. m. smeaton calls the language "monosyllabic," it is evidently agglutinating, of the normal sub-himalayan type[ ]. the karens are a short, sturdy race, with straight black and also brownish hair, black, and even hazel eyes, and light or yellowish brown complexion, so that here also a caucasic strain may be suspected. despite the favourable pictures of the missionaries, whose propaganda has been singularly successful amongst these aborigines, the karens are not an amiable or particularly friendly people, but rather shy, reticent and even surly, though trustworthy and loyal to those chiefs and guides who have once gained their confidence. in warfare they are treacherous rather than brave, and strangely cruel even to little children. their belief in a divine creator who has deserted them resembles that of the kuki people, and to the _nats_ of the kuki correspond the _la_ of the karens, who are even more numerous, every mountain, stream, rapid, crest, peak or other conspicuous object having its proper indwelling _la_. there are also seven specially baneful spirits, who have to be appeased by family offerings. "on the whole their belief in a personal god, their tradition as to the former possession of a 'law,' and their expectation of a prophet have made them susceptible to christianity to a degree that is almost unique. of this splendid opportunity the american mission has taken full advantage, educating, civilising, welding together, and making a people out of the downtrodden karen tribes, while christianizing them[ ]." in the burmese division proper are comprised several groups, presenting all grades of culture, from the sheer savagery of the mros, kheongs, and others of the arakan yoma range, and the agricultural mugs of the arakan plains, to the dominant historical burmese nation of the irawadi valley. here also the terminology is perplexing, and it may be well to explain that _yoma_, applied by logan collectively to all the arakan hill tribes, has no ethnic value at all, simply meaning a mountain range in burmese[ ]. _toung-gnu_, one of mason's divisions of the burmese family, was merely a petty state founded by a younger branch of the royal house, and "has no more claim to rank as a separate tribe than any other burman town[ ]. "_tavoyers_ are merely the people of the tavoy district, tenasserim, originally from arakan, and now speaking a burmese dialect largely affected by siamese elements; _tungthas_, like yoma, means "highlander," and is even of wider application; the tipperahs, mrungs, kumi, mros, khemis, and khyengs are all tungthas of burmese stock, and speak rude burmese dialects. the correlative of tungthas is _khyungthas_, "river people," that is, the arakan lowlanders comprising the more civilised peoples about the middle and lower course of the rivers, who are improperly called _mugs_ (_maghs_) by the bengali, and whose real name is _rakhaingtha_, _i.e._ people of rakhaing (arakan). they are undoubtedly of the same stock as the cultured burmese, whose traditions point to arakan as the cradle of the race, and in whose chronicles the rakhaingtha are called _m'ranmákríh_, "great m'ranmas," or "elder burmese." both branches call themselves _m'ranma, m'rama_ (the correct form of _barma, burma_, but now usually pronounced myamma), probably from a root _mro, myo_, "man," though connected by burnouf with brahma, the brahmanical having preceded the buddhist religion in this region. in any case the m'rama may claim a respectable antiquity, being already mentioned in the national records so early as the first century of the new era, when the land "was said to be overrun with fabulous monsters and other terrors, which are called to this day by the superstitious natives, the five enemies. these were a fierce tiger, an enormous boar, a flying dragon, a prodigious man-eating bird, and a huge creeping pumpkin, which threatened to entangle the whole country[ ]." the burmese type has been not incorrectly described as intermediate between the chinese and the malay, more refined, or at least softer than either, of yellowish brown or olive complexion, often showing very dark shades, full black and lank hair, no beard, small but straight nose, weak extremities, pliant figure, and a mean height[ ]. most europeans speak well of the burmese people, whose bright genial temperament and extreme friendliness towards strangers more than outweigh a natural indolence which hurts nobody but themselves, and a little arrogance or vanity inspired by the still remembered glories of a nation that once ruled over a great part of indo-china. perhaps the most remarkable feature of burmese society is the almost democratic independence and equality of all classes developed under an exceptionally severe asiatic autocracy. "they are perfectly republican in the freedom with which all ranks mingle together and talk with one another, without any marked distinction in regard to difference of rank or wealth[ ]." scott attributes this trait, i think rightly, to the great leveller, buddhism, the true spirit of which has perhaps been better preserved in burma than in any other land. the priesthood has not become the privileged and oppressive class that has usurped all spiritual and temporal functions in tibet, for in burma everybody is or has been a priest for some period of his life. all enter the monasteries--which are the national schools--not only for general instruction, but actually as members of the sacerdotal order. they submit to the tonsure, take "minor orders," so to say, and wear the yellow robe, if only for a few months or weeks or days. but for the time being they must renounce "the world, the flesh and the devil," and must play the mendicant, make the round of the village at least once with the begging-bowl hung round their neck in company with the regular members of the community. they thus become initiated, and it becomes no longer possible for the confraternity to impose either on the rulers or on the ruled. "teaching is all that the brethren of the order do for the people. they have no spiritual powers whatever. they simply become members of a holy society that they may observe the precepts of the master more perfectly, and all they do for the alms lavished on them by the pious laity is to instruct the children in reading, writing, and the rudiments of religion[ ]." r. grant brown denies the common report which "has appeared in almost every work in which religion in burma is dealt with" that burman buddhism is superficial. "the burman buddhist is at least as much influenced by his religion as the average christian. the monks are probably as strict in their religious observances as any large religious body in the world.... most laymen, too, obey the prohibitions against alcohol and the taking of life, though these run counter both to strong human instincts and to animistic practice[ ]." nor is the personal freedom here spoken of confined to the men. in no other part of the world do the women enjoy a larger measure of independent action than in burma, with the result that they are acknowledged to be far more virtuous, thrifty, and intelligent than those of all the surrounding lands. their capacity for business and petty dealings is rivalled only by their gallic sisters; and h. s. hallett tells us that in every town and village "you will see damsels squatted on the floor of the verandah with diminutive, or sometimes large, stalls in front of them, covered with vegetables, fruit, betel-nut, cigars and other articles. however numerous they may be, the price of everything is known to them; and such is their idea of probity, that pilfering is quite unknown amongst them. they are entirely trusted by their parents from their earliest years; even when they blossom into young women, _chaperons_ are never a necessity; yet immorality is far less customary amongst them, i am led to believe, than in any country in europe[ ]." this observer quotes bishop bigandet, a forty years' resident amongst the natives, to the effect that "in burmah and siam the doctrines of buddhism have produced a striking, and to the lover of true civilization a most interesting result--the almost complete equality of the condition of the women with that of the men. in these countries women are seen circulating freely in the streets; they preside at the _comptoir_, and hold an almost exclusive possession of the bazaars. their social position is more elevated, in every respect, than in the regions where buddhism is not the predominating creed. they may be said to be men's companions, and not their slaves." burma is one of those regions where tattooing has acquired the rank of a fine art. indeed the intricate designs and general pictorial effect produced by the burmese artists on the living body are rivalled only by those of japan, new zealand, and some other polynesian groups. hallett, who states that "the burmese, the shans, and certain burmanized tribes are the only peoples in the south of asia who are known to tattoo their body," tells us that the elaborate operation is performed only on the male sex, the whole person from waist to knees, and amongst some shan tribes from neck to foot, being covered with heraldic figures of animals, with intervening traceries, so that at a little distance the effect is that of a pair of dark-blue breeches[ ]. the pigments are lamp-black or vermilion, and the pattern is usually first traced with a fine hair pencil and then worked in by a series of punctures made by a long pointed brass style[ ]. east of burma we enter the country of the _shans_, one of the most numerous and widespread peoples of asia, who call themselves _tai_ (_t'hai_), "noble" or "free," although slavery in various forms has from time immemorial been a social institution amongst all the southern groups. here again tribal and national terminology is somewhat bewildering; but it will help to notice that _shan_, said to be of chinese origin[ ], is the collective burmese name, and therefore corresponds to _lao_, the collective siamese name. these two terms are therefore rather political than ethnical, shan denoting all the tai peoples formerly subject to burma and now mostly british subjects, lao all the tai peoples formerly subject to siam, and now (since ) mostly french subjects[ ]. the siamese group them all in two divisions, the _lau-pang-dun_, "black-paunch lao," so called because they clothe themselves as it were in a dark skin-tight garb by the tattooing process; and the _lau-pang-kah_, "white-paunch lao," who do not tattoo. the burmese groups call themselves collectively _ngiou_[ ], while the most general chinese name is _paï_ (_pa-y_). prince henri d'orléans, who is careful to point out that paï is only another name for lao[ ], constantly met paï groups all along the route from tonking to assam, and the bulk of the lowland population in assam itself belongs originally[ ] to the same family, though now mostly assimilated to the hindus in speech, religion, and general culture. assam in fact takes its name from the _ahoms_, the "peerless," the title first adopted by the mau shan chief, chukupha, who invaded the country from north-east burma, and in a.d. founded the ahom dynasty, which was overthrown in by the burmese, who were ejected in by the english[ ]. these ahoms came from the khamti (kampti) district about the sources of the irawadi, where prince henri was surprised to find a civilised and lettered buddhist people of paï (shan) speech still enjoying political autonomy in the dangerous proximity of _le léopard britannique_. they call themselves _padao_, and it is curious to note that both _padam_ and _assami_ are also tribal names amongst the neighbouring abor hillmen. the french traveller was told that the padao, who claimed to be _t'hais_ (tai) like the laotians[ ], were indigenous, and he describes the type as also laotian--straight eyes rather wide apart, nose broad at base, forehead arched, superciliary arches prominent, thick lips, pointed chin, olive colour, slightly bronzed and darker than in the lao country; the men ill-favoured, the young women with pleasant features, and some with very beautiful eyes. passing into china we are still in the midst of shan peoples, whose range appears formerly to have extended up to the right bank of the yang-tse-kiang, and whose cradle has been traced by de lacouperie to "the kiu-lung mountains north of sechuen and south of shensi in china proper[ ]." this authority holds that they constitute a chief element in the chinese race itself, which, as it spread southwards beyond the yang-tse-kiang, amalgamated with the shan aborigines, and thus became profoundly modified both in type and speech, the present chinese language comprising over thirty per cent. of shan ingredients. colquhoun also, during his explorations in the southern provinces, found that "most of the aborigines, although known to the chinese by various nicknames, were shans; and that their propinquity to the chinese was slowly changing their habits, manners, and dress, and gradually incorporating them with that people[ ]." this process of fusion has been in progress for ages, not only between the southern chinese and the shans, but also between the shans and the caucasic aborigines, whom we first met amongst the kakhyens, but who are found scattered mostly in small groups over all the uplands between tibet and the cochin-chinese coast range. the result is that the shans are generally of finer physique than either the kindred siamese and malays in the south, or the more remotely connected chinese in the north. the colour, says bock, "is much lighter than that of the siamese," and "in facial expression the laotians are better-looking than the malays, having good high foreheads, and the men particularly having regular well-shaped noses, with nostrils not so wide as those of their neighbours[ ]." still more emphatic is the testimony of kreitner of the szechenyi expedition, who tells us that the burmese shans have "a nobler head than the chinese; the dark eyes are about horizontal, the nose is straight, the whole expression approaches that of the caucasic race[ ]." notwithstanding their wide diffusion, interminglings with other races, varied grades of culture, and lack of political cohesion, the tai-shan groups acquire a certain ethnical and even national unity from their generally uniform type, social usages, buddhist religion, and common indo-chinese speech. amidst a chaos of radically distinct idioms current amongst the surrounding indigenous populations, they have everywhere preserved a remarkable degree of linguistic uniformity, all speaking various more or less divergent dialects of the same mother-tongue. excluding a large percentage of sanskrit terms introduced into the literary language by their hindu educators, this radical mother-tongue comprises about distinct words or rather sounds, which have been reduced by phonetic decay to so many monosyllables, each uttered with five tones, the natural tone, two higher tones, and two lower[ ]. each term thus acquires five distinct meanings, and in fact represents five different words, which were phonetically distinct dissyllables, or even polysyllables in the primitive language. the same process of disintegration has been at work throughout the whole of the indo-chinese linguistic area, where all the leading tongues--chinese, annamese, tai-shan, burmese--belong to the same isolating form of speech, which, as explained in _ethnology_, chap. ix., is not a primitive condition, but a later development, the outcome of profound phonetic corruption. the remarkable uniformity of the tai-shan member of this order of speech may be in part due to the conservative effects of the literary standard. probably over years ago most of the shan groups were brought under hindu influences by the brahman, and later by the buddhist missionaries, who reduced their rude speech to written form, while introducing a large number of sanskrit terms inseparable from the new religious ideas. the writing systems, all based on the square pali form of the devanagari syllabic characters, were adapted to the phonetic requirements of the various dialects, with the result that the tai-shan linguistic family is encumbered with four different scripts. "the western shans use one very like the burmese; the siamese have a character of their own, which is very like pali; the shans called lü have another character of their own; and to the north of siam the lao shans have another[ ]." these shan alphabets of hindu origin are supposed by de lacouperie to be connected with the writing systems which have been credited to the mossos, lolos, and some other hill peoples about the chinese and indo-chinese borderlands. at lan-chu in the lolo country prince henri found that mss. were very numerous, and he was shown some very fine specimens "enluminés." here, he tells us, the script is still in use, being employed jointly with chinese in drawing up legal documents connected with property. he was informed that this lolo script comprised characters, read from top to bottom and from left to right[ ], although other authorities say from right to left. of the lolo he gives no specimens[ ], but reproduces two or three pages of a mosso book with transliteration and translation. other specimens, but without explanation, were already known through gill and desgodins, and their decipherment had exercised the ingenuity of several chinese scholars. their failure to interpret them is now accounted for by prince henri, who declares that, "strictly speaking the mossos have no writing system. the magicians keep and still make copy-books full of hieroglyphics; each page is divided into little sections (_cahiers_) following horizontally from left to right, in which are inscribed one or more somewhat rough figures, heads of animals, men, houses, conventional signs representing the sky or lightning, and so on." some of the magicians expounded two of the books, which contained invocations, beginning with the creation of the world, and winding up with a catalogue of all the evils threatening mortals, but to be averted by being pious, that is, by making gifts to the magicians. the same ideas are always expressed by the same signs; yet the magicians declared that there was no alphabet, the hieroglyphs being handed down bodily from one expert to another. nevertheless prince henri looks on this as one of the first steps in the history of writing; "originally many of the chinese characters were simply pictorial, and if the mossos, instead of being hemmed in, had acquired a large expansion, their sacred books might also perhaps have given birth to true characters[ ]." although now "hemmed in," the mossos are a historical and somewhat cultured people, belonging to the same group as the _iungs_ (_njungs_), who came from the regions north-east of tibet, and appeared on the chinese frontiers about b.c. they are referred to in the chinese records of a.d., when they were reduced by the king of nanchao. after various vicissitudes they recognised the chinese suzerainty in the fourteenth century, and were finally subdued in the eighteenth. de lacouperie[ ] thinks they are probably of the same origin as the lolos, the two languages having much in common, and the names of both being chinese, while the lolos and the mossos call themselves respectively _nossu_ (_nesu_) and _nashi_ (_nashri_). everywhere amongst these border tribes are met groups of aborigines, who present more or less regular features which are described by various travellers as "caucasic" or "european." thus the _kiu-tse_, who are the _khanungs_ of the english maps, and are akin to the large _lu-tse_ family (_melam_, _anu_, _diasu_, etc.), reminded prince henri of some europeans of his acquaintance[ ], and he speaks of the light colour, straight nose and eyes, and generally fine type of the yayo (yao), as the chinese call them, but whose real name is _lin-tin-yu_. the same caucasic element reappears in a pronounced form amongst the indigenous populations of tonking, to whom a. billet has devoted an instructive monograph[ ]. this observer, who declares that these aborigines are quite distinct both from the chinese and the annamese, groups them in three main divisions--_tho_, _nong_, and _man_[ ]--all collectively called _moi_, _muong_, and _myong_ by the annamese. the thos, who are the most numerous, are agriculturists, holding all the upland valleys and thinning off towards the wooded heights. they are tall compared to the mongols ( ft. or in.), lighter than the annamese, round-headed, with oval face, deep-set straight eyes, low cheek-bones, straight and even slightly aquiline nose not depressed at root, and muscular frames. they are a patient, industrious, and frugal people, now mainly subject to chinese and annamese influences in their social usages and religion. very peculiar nevertheless are some of their surviving customs, such as the feast of youth, the pastime of swinging, and especially chess played with living pieces, whose movements are directed by two players. the language appears to be a shan dialect, and to this family the writer affiliates both the thos and the nongs. the latter are a much more mixed people, now largely assimilated to the chinese, although the primitive type still persists, especially amongst the women, as is so often the case. a. billet tells us that he often met nong women "with light and sometimes even red hair[ ]." it is extremely interesting to learn that the mans came traditionally "from a far-off western land where their forefathers were said to have lived in contact with peoples of white blood thousands of years ago." this tradition, which would identify them with the above-mentioned man-tse, is supported by their physical appearance--long head, oval face, small cheek-bones, eyes without the mongol fold, skin not yellowish but rather "browned by the sun," regular features--in nothing recalling the traits of the yellow races. let us now turn to m. r. verneau's comments on the rich materials brought together by a. billet, in whom, "being not only a medical man, but also a graduate in the natural sciences, absolute confidence may be placed[ ]." "the máns-tien, the máns-coc, the máns-meo (miao, miao-tse, or mieu) present a pretty complete identity with the pan-y and the pan-yao of south kwang-si; they are the debris of a very ancient race, which with t. de lacouperie may be called pre-chinese. this early race, which bore the name of _pan-hu_ or _ngao_, occupied central china before the arrival of the chinese. according to m. d'hervey de saint-denys, the mountains and valleys of kwei-cháu where these miao-tse still survive were the cradle of the pan-hu. in any case it seems certain that the t'hai and the man race came from central asia, and that, from the anthropological standpoint, they differ altogether from the mongol group represented by the chinese and the annamese. the man especially presents striking affinities with the aryan type." thus is again confirmed by the latest investigations, and by the conclusions of some of the leading members of the french school of anthropology, the view first advanced by me in , that peoples of the caucasic (here called "aryan") division had already spread to the utmost confines of south-east asia in remote prehistoric times, and had in this region even preceded the first waves of mongolic migration radiating from their cradle-land on the tibetan plateau[ ]. reference was above made to the singular lack of political cohesion at all times betrayed by the tai-shan peoples. the only noteworthy exception is the siamese branch, which forms the bulk of the population in the menam basin. in this highly favoured region of vast hill-encircled alluvial plains of inexhaustible fertility, traversed by numerous streams navigable for light craft, and giving direct access to the inland waters of malaysia, the southern shans were able at an early date to merge the primitive tribal groups in a great nationality, and found a powerful empire, which at one time dominated most of indo-china and the malay peninsula. siam, alone of all the shan states, even still maintains a precarious independence, although now again reduced by european aggression to little more than the natural limits of the fluvial valley, which is usually regarded by the southern shans as the home of their race. yet they appear to have been here preceded by the caucasic khmers (cambojans), whose advent is referred in the national chronicles to the year b.c. and who, according to the hindu records, were expelled about a.d. it was through these khmers, and not directly from india, that the "sayamas" received their hindu culture, and the siamese annals, mingling fact with fiction, refer to the miraculous birth of the national hero, phra-ruang, who threw off the foreign yoke, declared the people henceforth t'hai, "freemen," invented the present siamese alphabet, and ordered the khom (cambojan) to be reserved in future for copying the sacred writings. the introduction of buddhism is assigned to the year a.d., one of the first authentic dates in the native records. the ancient city of labong had already been founded ( ), and other settlements now followed rapidly, always in the direction of the south, according as the shan race steadily advanced towards the seaboard, driving before them or mingling with khmers, lawas, karens, and other aborigines, some now extinct, some still surviving on the wooded uplands and plateaux encircling the menam valley. ayuthia, the great centre of national life in later times, dates only from the year , when the empire had received its greatest expansion, comprising the whole of camboja, pegu, tenasserim, and the malay peninsula, and extending its conquering arms across the inland waters as far as java[ ]. then followed the disastrous wars with burma, which twice captured and finally destroyed ayuthia ( ), now a picturesque elephant-park visited by tourists from the present capital, bangkok, founded in a little lower down the menam. but the elements of decay existed from the first in the institution of slavery or serfdom, which was not restricted to a particular class, as in other lands, but, before the modern reforms, extended in principle to all the kings' subjects in mockery declared "freemen" by the founders of the monarchy. this, however, may be regarded as perhaps little more than a legal fiction, for at all times class distinctions were really recognised, comprising the members of the royal family--a somewhat numerous group--the nobles named by the king, the _leks_ or vassals, and the people, these latter being again subdivided into three sections, those liable to taxation, those subject to forced labour, and the slaves proper. but so little developed was the sentiment of personal dignity and freedom, that anybody from the highest noble to the humblest citizen might at any moment lapse into the lowest category. like most mongoloid peoples, the siamese are incurable gamblers, and formerly it was an everyday occurrence for a freeman to stake all his goods and chattels, wives, children, and self, on the hazard of the die. yet the women, like their burmese sisters, have always held a somewhat honourable social position, being free to walk abroad, go shopping, visit their friends, see the sights, and take part in the frequent public feastings without restriction. those, however, who brought no dower and had to be purchased, might again be sold at any time, and many thus constantly fell from the dignity of matrons to the position of the merest drudges without rights or privileges of any kind. these strange relations were endurable, thanks to the genial nature of the national temperament, by which the hard lot of the thralls was softened, and a little light allowed to penetrate into the darkest corners[ ] of the social system. the open slave-markets, which in the vassal lao states fostered systematic raiding-expeditions amongst the unreduced aborigines, were abolished in , and since all born in slavery are free on reaching their st year. siamese buddhism is a slightly modified form of that prevailing in ceylon, although strictly practised but by few. there are two classes or "sects," the reformers who attach more importance to the observance of the canon law than to meditation, and the old believers, some devoted to a contemplative life, others to the study of the sunless wilderness of buddhist writings. but, beneath it all, spirit or devil-worship is still rife, and in many districts pure animism is practically the only religion. even temples and shrines have been raised to the countless gods of land and water, woods, mountains, villages and households. to these gods are credited all sorts of calamities, and to prevent them from getting into the bodies of the dead the latter are brought out, not through door or window, but through a breach in the wall, which is afterwards carefully built up. similar ideas prevail amongst many other peoples, both at higher and lower levels of culture, for nothing is more ineradicable than such popular beliefs associated with the relations presumed to exist between the present and the after life. incredible sums are yearly lavished in offerings to the spirits, which give rise to an endless round of feasts and revels, and also in support of the numerous buddhist temples, convents, and their inmates. the treasures accumulated in the "royal cloisters" and other shrines represent a great part of the national savings--investments for the other world, among which are said to be numerous gold statues glittering with rubies, sapphires, and other priceless gems. but in these matters the taste of the _talapoins_[ ], as the priests were formerly called, is somewhat catholic, including pictures of reviews and battle-scenes from the european illustrated papers, and sometimes even statues of napoleon set up by the side of buddha. so numerous, absurd, and exacting are the rules of the monastic communities that, but for the aid of the temple servants and novices, existence would be impossible. a list of such puerilities occupies several pages in a. r. colquhoun's work _amongst the shans_ ( - ), and from these we learn that the monks must not dig the ground, so that they can neither plant nor sow; must not boil rice, as it would kill the germ; eat corn for the same reason; climb trees lest a branch get broken; kindle a flame, as it destroys the fuel; put out a flame, as that also would extinguish life; forge iron, as sparks would fly out and perish; swing their arms in walking; wink in speaking; buy or sell; stretch the legs when sitting; breed poultry, pigs, or other animals; mount an elephant or palanquin; wear red, black, green, or white garments; mourn for the dead, etc., etc. in a word all might be summed up by a general injunction neither to do anything, nor not to do anything, and then despair of attaining _nirvana_; for it would be impossible to conceive of any more pessimistic system in theory[ ]. practically it is otherwise, and in point of fact the utmost religious indifference prevails amongst all classes. within the mongolic division it would be difficult to imagine any more striking contrast than that presented by the gentle, kindly, and on the whole not ill-favoured siamese, and their hard-featured, hard-hearted, and grasping annamese neighbours. let anyone, who may fancy there is little or nothing in blood, pass rapidly from the bright, genial--if somewhat listless and corrupt--social life of bangkok to the dry, uncongenial moral atmosphere of ha-noi or saigon, and he will be apt to modify his views on that point. few observers have a good word to say for the tonkingese, the cochin-chinese, or any other branch of the annamese family, and some even of the least prejudiced are so outspoken that we must needs infer there is good ground for their severe strictures on these strange, uncouth materialists. buddhists of course they are nominally; but of the moral sense they have little, unless it be (amongst the lettered classes) a pale reflection of the pale chinese ethical code. the whole region in fact is a sort of attenuated china, to which it owes its arts and industries, its letters, moral systems, general culture, and even a large part of its inhabitants. _giao-shi_ (_kiao-shi_), the name of the aborigines, said to mean "bifurcated," or "cross-toes[ ]," in reference to the wide space between the great toe and the next, occurs in the legendary chinese records so far back as b.c., since which period the two countries are supposed to have maintained almost uninterrupted relations, whether friendly or hostile, down to the present day. at first the giao-shi were confined to the northern parts of lu-kiang, the present tonking, all the rest of the coastlands being held by the powerful champa (tsiampa) people, whose affinities are with the oceanic populations. but in b.c., lu-kiang having been reduced and incorporated with china proper, a large number of chinese emigrants settled in the country, and gradually merged with the giao-shi in a single nationality, whose twofold descent is still reflected in the annamese physical and mental characters. this term annam[ ], however, did not come into use till the seventh century, when it was officially applied to the frontier river between china and tonking, and afterwards extended to the whole of tonking and cochin-china. tonking itself, meaning the "eastern court[ ]," was originally the name only of the city of ha-noi when it was a royal residence, but was later extended to the whole of the northern kingdom, whose true name is _yüeh-nan_. to this corresponded the southern kwe-chen-ching, "kingdom of chen-ching," which was so named in the ninth century from its capital chen-ching, and of which our cochin-china appears to be a corrupt form. but, amid all this troublesome political nomenclature, the dominant annamese nation has faithfully preserved its homogeneous character, spreading, like the siamese shans, steadily southwards, and gradually absorbing the whole of the champa domain to the southern extremity of the peninsula, as well as a large part of the ancient kingdom of camboja about the mekhong delta. they thus form at present the almost exclusive ethnical element throughout all the lowland and cultivated parts of tonking, upper and lower cochin-china and south camboja, with a total population in of about twenty millions. the annamese are described in a semi-official report[ ] as characterised by a high broad forehead, high cheek-bones, small crushed nose, rather thick lips, black hair, scant beard, mean height, coppery complexion, deceitful (_rusée_) expression, and rude or insolent bearing. the head is round (index to ) and the features are in general flat and coarse, while to an ungainly exterior corresponds a harsh unsympathetic temperament. the abbé gagelin, who lived years in their midst, frankly declares that they are at once arrogant and dishonest, and dead to all the finer feelings of human nature, so that after years of absence the nearest akin will meet without any outward sign of pleasure or affection. others go further, and j. g. scott summed it all up by declaring that "the fewer annamese there are, the less taint there is on the human race." no doubt lord curzon gives a more favourable picture, but this traveller spent only a short time in the country, and even he allows that they are "tricky and deceitful, disposed to thieve when they get the chance, mendacious, and incurable gamblers[ ]." yet they have one redeeming quality, an intense love of personal freedom, strangely contrasting with the almost abject slavish spirit of the siamese. the feeling extends to all classes, so that servitude is held in abhorrence, and, as in burma, a democratic sense of equality permeates the social system[ ]. hence, although the state has always been an absolute monarchy, each separate commune constitutes a veritable little oligarchic commonwealth. this has come as a great surprise to the present french administrators of the country, who frankly declare that they cannot hope to improve the social or political position of the people by substituting european for native laws and usages. the annamese have in fact little to learn from western social institutions. their language, spoken everywhere with remarkable uniformity, is of the normal indo-chinese isolating type, possessing six tones, three high, and three low, and written in ideographic characters based on the chinese, but with numerous modifications and additions. but, although these are ill-suited for the purpose, the attempt made by the early portuguese missionaries to substitute the so-called _quôc-ngù_, or roman phonetic system, has been defeated by the conservative spirit of the people. primary instruction has long been widely diffused, and almost everybody can read and write as many of the numerous hieroglyphs as are needed for the ordinary purpose of daily intercourse. every village has its free school, and a higher range of studies is encouraged by the public examinations to which, as in china, all candidates for government appointments are subjected. under such a scheme surprising results might be achieved, were the course of studies not based exclusively on the empty formulas of chinese classical literature. the subjects taught are for the most part puerile, and true science is replaced by the dry moral precepts of confucius. one result amongst the educated classes is a scoffing, sceptical spirit, free from all religious prejudice, and unhampered by theological creeds or dogmas, combined with a lofty moral tone, not always however in harmony with daily conduct. even more than in china, the family is the true base of the social system, the head of the household being not only the high-priest of the ancestral cult, but also a kind of patriarch enjoying almost absolute control over his children. in this respect the relations are somewhat one-sided, the father having no recognised obligations towards his offspring, while these are expected to show him perfect obedience in life and veneration after death. besides this worship of ancestry and the confucian ethical philosophy, a national form of buddhism is prevalent. some even profess all three of these so-called "religions," beneath which there still survive many of the primitive superstitions associated with a not yet extinct belief in spirits and the supernatural power of magicians. while the buddhist temples are neglected and the few bonzes[ ] despised, offerings are still made to the genii of agriculture, of the waters, the tiger, the dolphin, peace, war, diseases, and so forth, whose rude statues in the form of dragons or other fabulous monsters are even set up in the pagodas. since the early part of the seventeenth century roman catholic missionaries have laboured with considerable success in this unpromising field, where the congregations were estimated in at about , . from annam the ethnical transition is easy to china[ ] and its teeming multitudes, regarding whose origins, racial and cultural, two opposite views at present hold the field. what may be called the old, but by no means the obsolete school, regards the chinese populations as the direct descendants of the aborigines who during the stone ages entered the hoang-ho valley probably from the tibetan plateau, there developed their peculiar culture independently of foreign influences, and thence spread gradually southwards to the whole of china proper, extirpating, absorbing, or driving to the encircling western and southern uplands the ruder aborigines of the yang-tse-kiang and si-kiang basins. in direct opposition to this view the new school, championed especially by t. de lacouperie[ ], holds that the present inhabitants of china are late intruders from south-western asia, and that they arrived not as rude aborigines, but as a cultured people with a considerable knowledge of letters, science, and the arts, all of which they acquired either directly or indirectly from the civilised akkado-sumerian inhabitants of babylonia. not merely analogies and resemblances, but what are called actual identities, are pointed out between the two cultures, and even between the two languages, sufficient to establish a common origin of both, mesopotamia being the fountain-head, whence the stream flowed by channels not clearly defined to the hoang-ho valley. thus the chin. _yu_, originally _go_, is equated with akkad _gu_, to speak; _ye_ with _ge_, night, and so on. then the astronomic and chronologic systems are compared, berossus and the cuneiform tablets dividing the prehistoric akkad epoch into periods of kings, lasting sari, or , years, while the corresponding chinese astronomic myth also comprises kings (or dynasties) covering the same period of , years. the astronomic system credited to the emperor yao ( b.c.) similarly corresponds with the akkadian, both having the same five planets with names of like meaning, and a year of months and days, with the same cycle of intercalated days, while several of the now obsolete names of the chinese months answer to those of the babylonians. even the name of the first chinese emperor who built an observatory, nai-kwang-ti, somewhat resembles that of the elamite king, kuder-na-hangti, who conquered chaldaea about b.c. all this can hardly be explained away as a mere series of coincidences; nevertheless neither sinologues nor akkadists are quite convinced, and it is obvious that many of the resemblances may be due to trade or intercourse both by the old overland caravan routes, and by the seaborne traffic from eridu at the head of the persian gulf, which was a flourishing emporium or years ago. but, despite some verbal analogies, an almost insurmountable difficulty is presented by the akkadian and chinese languages, which no philological ingenuity can bring into such relation as is required by the hypothesis. t. g. pinches has shown that at a very early period, say some years ago, akkadian already consisted, "for the greater part, of words of one syllable," and was "greatly affected by phonetic decay, the result being that an enormous number of homophones were developed out of roots originally quite distinct[ ]." this akkadian scholar sends me a number of instances, such as _tu_ for _tura_, to enter; _ti_ for _tila_, to live; _du_ for _dumu_, son; _du_ for _dugu_, good, as in _eridu_, for _gurudugu_, "the good city," adding that "the list could be extended indefinitely[ ]." but de lacouperie's bak tribes, that is, the first immigrants from south-west asia, are not supposed to have reached north china till about or b.c., at which time the chinese language was still in the untoned agglutinating state, with but few monosyllabic homophones, and consequently quite distinct from the akkadian, as known to us from the assyrian syllabaries, bilingual lists, and earlier tablets from nippur or lagash. hence the linguistic argument seems to fail completely, while the babylonian origin of the chinese writing system, or rather, the derivation of chinese and sumerian from some common parent in central asia, awaits further evidence. many of the chinese and akkadian "line forms" collated by c. j. ball[ ] are so simple and, one might say, obvious, that they seem to prove nothing. they may be compared with such infantile utterances as _pa_, _ma_, _da_, _ta_, occurring in half the languages of the world, without proving a connection or affinity between any of them. but even were the common origin of the two scripts established, it would prove nothing as to the common origin of the two peoples, but only show cultural influences, which need not be denied. but if chinese origins cannot be clearly traced back to babylonia, chinese culture may still, in a sense, claim to be the oldest in the world, inasmuch as it has persisted with little change from its rise some years ago down to present times. all other early civilisations--mesopotamian, egyptian, assyrian, persian, hellenic--have perished, or live only in their monuments, traditions, oral or written records. but the chinese, despite repeated political and social convulsions, is still as deeply rooted in the past as ever, showing no break of continuity from the dim echoes of remote prehistoric ages down to the last revolution, and the establishment of the republic. these things touch the surface only of the great ocean of chinese humanity, which is held together, not by any general spirit of national sentiment (all sentiment is alien from the chinese temperament), nor by any community of speech, for many of the provincial dialects differ profoundly from each other, but by a prodigious power of inertia, which has hitherto resisted all attempts at change either by pressure from without, or by spontaneous impulse from within. what they were thousands of years ago, the chinese still are, a frugal, peace-loving, hard-working people, occupied mainly with tillage and trade, cultivating few arts beyond weaving, porcelain and metal work, but with a widely diffused knowledge of letters, and a writing system which still remains at the cumbrous ideographic stage, needing as many different symbols as there are distinct concepts to be expressed. yet the system has one advantage, enabling those who speak mutually unintelligible idioms to converse together, using the pencil instead of the tongue. for this very reason the attempts made centuries ago by the government to substitute a phonetic script had to be abandoned. it was found that imperial edicts and other documents so written could not be understood by the populations speaking dialects different from the literary standard, whereas the hieroglyphs, like our ciphers , , ..., could be read by all educated persons of whatever allied form of speech. originally the chinese system, whether developed on the spot or derived from akkadian or any other foreign source, was of course pictographic or ideographic, and it is commonly supposed to have remained at that stage ever since, the only material changes being of a graphic nature. the pictographs were conventionalised and reduced to their present form, but still remained ideograms supplemented by a limited number of phonetic determinants. but de lacouperie has shown that this view is a mistake, and that the evolution from the pictograph to the phonetic symbol had been practically completed in china many centuries before the new era. the _ku-wen_ style current before the ninth century b.c. "was really the phonetic expression of speech[ ]." but for the reason stated it had to be discontinued, and a return made to the earlier ideographic style. the change was effected about b.c. by she chöu, minister of the emperor süen wang, who introduced the _ta-chuen_ style in which "he tried to speak to the eye and no longer to the ear," that is, he reverted to the earlier ideographic process, which has since prevailed. it was simplified about b.c. (_siao chuen_ style), and after some other modifications the present caligraphic form (_kiai shu_) was introduced by wang hi in a.d. thus one consequence of the "expansion of china" was a reversion to barbarism, in respect at least of the national graphic system, by which chinese thought and literature have been hampered for nearly years. written records, though at first mainly of a mythical character, date from about b.c.[ ] reference is made in the early documents to the rude and savage times, which in china as elsewhere certainly preceded the historic period. three different prehistoric ages are even discriminated, and tradition relates how fu-hi introduced wooden, thin-ming stone, and shi-yu metal implements[ ]. later, when their origin and use were forgotten, the jade axes, like those from yunnan, were looked on as bolts hurled to the earth by the god of thunder, while the arrow-heads, supposed to be also of divine origin, were endowed in the popular fancy with special virtues and even regarded as emblems of sovereignty. thus may perhaps be explained the curious fact that in early times, before the twelfth century b.c., tribute in flint weapons was paid to the imperial government by some of the reduced wild tribes of the western uplands. these men of the stone and metal ages are no doubt still largely represented, not only amongst the rude hill tribes of the southern and western borderlands, but also amongst the settled and cultured lowlanders of the great fluvial valleys. the "hundred families," as the first immigrants called themselves, came traditionally from the north-western regions beyond the hoang-ho. according to the yu-kung their original home lay in the south-western part of eastern turkestan, whence they first migrated east to the oases north of the nan-shan range, and then, in the fourth millennium before the new era, to the fertile valleys of the hoang-ho and its hoeï-ho tributary. thence they spread slowly along the other great river valleys, partly expelling, partly intermingling with the aborigines, but so late as the seventh century b.c. were still mainly confined to the region between the peï-ho and the lower yang-tse-kiang. even here several indigenous groups, such as the hoeï, whose name survives in that of the hoeï river, and the laï of the shantong peninsula, long held their ground, but all were ultimately absorbed or assimilated throughout the northern lands as far south as the left bank of the yang-tse-kiang. beyond this river many were also merged in the dominant people continually advancing southwards; but others, collectively or vaguely known as si-fans, mans, miao-tse, paï, tho, y-jen[ ], lolo, etc., were driven to the south-western highlands which they still occupy. even some of the populations in the settled districts, such as the _hok-los_[ ], and _hakkas_[ ], of kwang-tung, and the _pun-ti_[ ] of the canton district, are scarcely yet thoroughly assimilated. they differ greatly in temperament, usages, appearance, and speech from the typical chinese of the central and northern provinces, whom in fact they look upon as "foreigners," and with whom they hold intercourse through "pidgin english[ ]," the _lingua franca_ of the chinese seaboard[ ]. nevertheless a general homogeneous character is imparted to the whole people by their common political, social, and religious institutions, and by that principle of convergence in virtue of which different ethnical groups, thrown together in the same area and brought under a single administration, tend to merge in a uniform new national type. this general uniformity is conspicuous especially in the religious ideas which, except in the sceptical lettered circles, everywhere underlie the three recognised national religions, or "state churches," as they might almost be called: _ju-kiao_, confucianism; _tao-kiao_, taoism; and _fo-kiao_, buddhism (fo = buddha). the first, confined mainly to the educated upper classes, is not so much a religion as a philosophic system, a frigid ethical code based on the moral and matter-of-fact teachings of confucius[ ]. confucius was essentially a social and political reformer, who taught by example and precept; the main inducement to virtue being, not rewards or penalties in the after-life, but well- or ill-being in the present. his system is summed up in the expression "worldly wisdom," as embodied in such popular sayings as: a friend is hardly made in a year, but unmade in a moment; when safe remember danger, in peace forget not war; filial father, filial son, unfilial father, unfilial son; in washing up, plates and dishes may get broken; don't do what you would not have known; thatch your roof before the rain, dig the well before you thirst; the gambler's success is his ruin; money goes to the gambling den as the criminal to execution (never returns); money hides many faults; stop the hand, stop the mouth (stop work and starve); to open a shop is easy, to keep it open hard; win your lawsuit and lose your money. although he instituted no religious system, confucius nevertheless enjoined the observance of the already existing forms of worship, and after death became himself the object of a widespread cult, which still persists. "in every city there is a temple, built at the public expense, containing either a statue of the philosopher, or a tablet inscribed with his titles. every spring and autumn worship is paid to him in these temples by the chief official personages of the city. in the schools also, on the first and fifteenth of each month, his title being written on red paper and affixed to a tablet, worship is performed in a special room by burning incense and candles, and by prostrations[ ]." taoism, a sort of pantheistic mysticism, called by its founder, lao-tse ( b.c.), the _tao_, or "way of salvation," was embodied in the formula "matter and the visible world are merely manifestations of a sublime, eternal, incomprehensible principle." it taught, in anticipation of sakya-muni, that by controlling his passions man may escape or cut short an endless series of transmigrations, and thus arrive by the tao at everlasting bliss--sleep? unconscious rest or absorption in the eternal essence? nirvana? it is impossible to tell from the lofty but absolutely unintelligible language in which the master's teachings are wrapped. but it matters little, because his disciples have long forgotten the principles they never understood, and taoism has almost everywhere been transformed to a system of magic associated with the never-dying primeval superstitions. originally there was no hierarchy of priests, the only specially religious class being the ascetics, who passed their lives absorbed in the contemplation of the eternal verities. but out of this class, drawn together by their common interests, was developed a kind of monasticism, with an organised brotherhood of astrologers, magicians, shamanists, somnambulists, "mediums," "thought-readers," charlatans and impostors of all sorts, sheltered under a threadbare garb of religion. buddhism also, although of foreign origin, has completely conformed to the national spirit, and is now a curious blend of hindu metaphysics with the primitive chinese belief in spirits and a deified ancestry. in every district are practised diverse forms of worship between which no clear dividing line can be drawn, and, as in annam, the same persons may be at once followers of confucius, lao-tse, and buddha. in fact such was the position of the emperor, who belonged _ex officio_ to all three of these state religions, and scrupulously took part in their various observances. there is even some truth in the chinese view that "all three make but one religion," the first appealing to man's moral nature, the second to the instinct of self-preservation, the third to the higher sphere of thought and contemplation. but behind, one might say above it all, the old animism still prevails, manifested in a multitude of superstitious practices, whose purport is to appease the evil and secure the favour of the good spirits, the _feng-shui_ or _fung-shui_, "air and water" genii, who have to be reckoned with in all the weightiest as well as the most trivial occurrences of daily life. these with the ghosts of their ancestors, by whom the whole land is haunted, are the bane of the chinaman's existence. everything depends on maintaining a perfect balance between the fung-shui, that is, the two principles represented by the "white tiger" and the "azure dragon," who guard the approaches of every dwelling, and whose opposing influences have to be nicely adjusted by the well-paid professors of the magic arts. at the death of the emperor tung chih ( ) a great difficulty was raised by the state astrologers, who found that the realm would be endangered if he were buried, according to rule, in the imperial cemetery miles west of pekin, as his father reposed in the other imperial cemetery situated the same distance east of the capital. for some subtle reason the balance would have been disturbed between tiger and dragon, and it took nine months to settle the point, during which, as reported by the american legation, the whole empire was stirred, councils of state agitated, and £ , expended to decide where the remains of a worthless and vicious young man should be interred. owing to the necessary disturbance of the ancestral burial places, much trouble has been anticipated in the construction of the railways, for which concessions have now been granted to european syndicates. but an englishman long resident in the country has declared that there will be no resistance on the part of the people. "the dead can be removed with due regard to fung shui; a few dollars will make that all right." this is fully in accordance with the thrifty character of the chinese, which overrides all other considerations, as expressed in the popular saying: "with money you may move the gods; without it you cannot move men." but the gods may even be moved without money, or at least with spurious paper money, for it is a fixed belief of their votaries that, like mortals, they may be outwitted by such devices. when rallied for burning flash notes at a popular shrine, since no spirit-bank would cash them, a chinaman retorted: "why me burn good note? joss no can savvy." in a similar spirit the god of war is hoodwinked by wooden boards hung on the ramparts of pekin and painted to look like heavy ordnance. in fact appearance, outward show, observance of the "eleventh commandment," in a word "face" as it is called, is everything in china. "to understand, however imperfectly, what is meant by 'face,' we must take account of the fact that as a race the chinese have a strong dramatic instinct. upon very slight provocation any chinese regards himself in the light of an actor in a drama. a chinese thinks in theatrical terms. if his troubles are adjusted he speaks of himself as having 'got off the stage' with credit, and if they are not adjusted he finds no way to 'retire from the stage.' the question is never of facts, but always of form. once rightly apprehended, 'face' will be found to be in itself a key to the combination-lock of many of the most important characteristics of the chinese[ ]." of foreign religions islam, next to buddhism, has made most progress. introduced by the early arab and persian traders, and zealously preached throughout the jagatai empire in the twelfth century, it has secured a firm footing especially in kan-su, shen-si, and yunnan, and is of course dominant in eastern (chinese) turkestan. despite the wholesale butcheries that followed the repeated insurrections between and , the _hoeï-hoeï_, _panthays_, or _dungans_, as the muhammadans are variously called, were still estimated, in , at about , , in the whole empire. islam was preceded by christianity, which, as attested by the authentic inscription of si-ngan-fu, penetrated into the western provinces under the form of nestorianism about the seventh century. the famous roman catholic missions with headquarters at pekin date from the close of the sixteenth century, and despite internal dissensions have had a fair measure of success, the congregations comprising altogether over one million members. protestant missions date from (london missionary society) and in claimed over , church members and baptized christians, the total having more than doubled since [ ]. the above-mentioned dissensions arose out of the practices associated with ancestry worship, offerings of flowers, fruits and so forth, which the jesuits regarded merely as proofs of filial devotion, but were denounced by the dominicans as acts of idolatry. after many years of idle controversy, the question was at last decided against the jesuits by clement xi in the famous bull, _ex illa die_ ( ), and since then, neophytes having to renounce the national cult of their forefathers, conversions have mainly been confined to the lower classes, too humble to boast of any family tree, or too poor to commemorate the dead by ever-recurring costly sepulchral rites. in china there are no hereditary nobles, indeed no nobles at all, unless it be the rather numerous descendants of confucius who dwell together and enjoy certain social privileges, in this somewhat resembling the _shorfa_ (descendants of the prophet) in muhammadan lands. if any titles have to be awarded for great deeds they fall, not on the hero, but on his forefathers, and thus at a stroke of the vermilion pencil are ennobled countless past generations, while the last of the line remains unhonoured until he goes over to the majority. between the emperor, "patriarch of his people," and the people themselves, however, there stood an aristocracy of talent, or at least of chinese scholarship, the governing mandarin[ ] class, which was open to the highest and the lowest alike. all nominations to office were conferred exclusively on the successful competitors at the public examinations, so that, like the french conscript with the hypothetical marshal's bâton in his knapsack, every chinese citizen carried the buttoned cap of official rank in his capacious sleeve. of these there are nine grades, indicated respectively in descending order by the ruby, red coral, sapphire, opaque blue, crystal, white shell, gold (two), and silver button, or rather little globe, on the cap of office, with which correspond the nine birds--manchu crane, golden pheasant, peacock, wild goose, silver pheasant, egret, mandarin duck, quail, and jay--embroidered on the breast and back of the state robe. theoretically the system is admirable, and at all events is better than appointments by court favour. but in practice it was vitiated, first by the narrow, antiquated course of studies in the dry chinese classics, calculated to produce pedants rather than statesmen, and secondly by the monopoly of preference which it conferred on a lettered caste to the exclusion of men of action, vigour, and enterprise. moreover, appointments being made for life, barring crime or blunder, the mandarins, as long as they approved themselves zealous supporters of the reigning dynasty, enjoyed a free hand in amassing wealth by plunder, and the wealth thus acquired was used to purchase further promotion and advancement, rather than to improve the welfare of the people. they have the reputation of being a courteous people, as punctilious as the malays themselves; and they are so amongst each other. but their attitude towards strangers is the embodiment of aggressive self-righteousness, a complacent feeling of superiority which nothing can disturb. even the upper classes, with all their efforts to be at least polite, often betray the feeling in a subdued arrogance which is not always to be distinguished from vulgar insolence. "after the courteous, kindly japanese, the chinese seem indifferent, rough, and disagreeable, except the well-to-do merchants in the shops, who are bland, complacent, and courteous. their rude stare, and the way they hustle you in the streets and shout their 'pidjun' english at you is not attractive[ ]." but the stare, the hustling and the shouting may not be due to incivility. no doubt the chinaman regards the foreigner as a "devil" but he has reason, and he never ceases to be astonished at foreign manners and customs "extremely ferocious and almost entirely uncivilised[ ]." footnotes: [ ] _ethnology_, p. . [ ] _geogr. journ._, may, , p. . this statement must of course be taken as having reference only to the historical malays and their comparatively late migrations. [ ] for the desiccation of asia see p. kropotkin, _geogr. journ._ xxiii. ; e. huntington, _the pulse of asia_, . [ ] see j. cockburn's paper "on palæolithic implements," etc., in _journ. anthr. inst._ , p. sq. [ ] "le type. primitif des mongols est pour nous dolichocéphale" (_les aryens au nord et au sud de l'hindou-kouch_, , p. ). [ ] thus risley's tibetan measurements were all of subjects from sikkim and nepal (_tribes and castes of bengal_, calcutta, , _passim_). in the east, however, desgodins and other french missionaries have had better opportunities of studying true tibetans amongst the si-fan ("western strangers"), as the frontier populations are called by the chinese. [ ] _op. cit._ p. . [ ] _op. cit._ p. . here we are reminded that, though the sacae are called "scythians" by herodotus and other ancient writers, under this vague expression were comprised a multitude of heterogeneous peoples, amongst whom were types corresponding to all the main varieties of mongolian, western asiatic, and eastern european peoples. "aujourd'hui l'ancien type sace, adouci parmi les mélanges, reparaît et constitue le type si caractéristique, si complexe et si différent de ses voisins que nous appelons le type balti" (p. ). [ ] w. w. rockhill, our best living authority, accepts none of the current explanations of the widely diffused term _bod_ (_bhót, bhot_), which appears to form the second element in the word _tibet_ (_stod-bod_, pronounced _teu-beu_, "upper bod," _i.e._ the central and western parts in contradistinction to _män-bod_, "lower bod," the eastern provinces). _notes on the ethnology of tibet_, washington, , p. . this writer finds the first mention of tibet in the form _tobbat_ (there are many variants) in the arab istakhri's works, about a.h., while t. de lacouperie would connect it with the tatar kingdom of _tu-bat_ ( - a.d.). this name might easily have been extended by the chinese from the tatars of kansu to the neighbouring tanguts, and thus to all tibetans. [ ] _hbrog-pa_, _drok-pa_, pronounced _dru-pa_. [ ] the mongols apply the name _tangut_ to tibet and call all tibetans _tangutu_, "which should be discarded as useless and misleading, as the people inhabiting this section of the country are pure tibetans" (rockhill, p. ). it is curious to note that the mongol tangutu is balanced by the tibetan _sok-pa_, often applied to all mongolians. [ ] _notes on the ethnology of tibet_, , p. ; see also s. chandra das, _journey to lhasa and central tibet_, ; f. grenard, _tibet: the country and its inhabitants_, ; g. sandberg, _tibet and the tibetans_, ; and l. a. waddell, _lhasa and its mysteries, with a record of the expedition of - _, . [ ] _isvestia_, xxi. . [ ] _ethnology_, p. . [ ] _abor_, _i.e._ "independent," is the name applied by the assamese to the east himalayan hill tribes, the _minyong_, _padam_ and _hrasso_, who are the _slo_ of the tibetans. these are all affiliated by desgodins to the lho-pa of bhutan (_bul. soc. géogr._, october, , p. ), and are to be distinguished from the _bori_ (_i.e._ "dependent") tribes of the plains, all more or less hinduized bhotiyas (dalton, _ethnology of bengal_, p. sq.). see a. hamilton, _in abor jungles_, . [ ] not to be confused with the _khas_, as the wild tribes of the lao country (siam) are collectively called. capt. eden vansittart thinks in nepal the term is an abbreviation of kshatriya, or else means "fallen." this authority tells us that, although the khas are true gurkhas, it is not the khas who enlist in our gurkha regiments, but chiefly the magars and gurungs, who are of purer bhotiya race and less completely hinduized ("the tribes, clans, and castes of nepal," in _journ. as. soc. bengal_; lxiii. i, no. ). [ ] _embassy to the court of the teshoo lama_, p. sq. [ ] "voilà, je crois, le vrai tibetain des pays cultivés du sud, qui se regarde comme bien plus civilisé que les pasteurs ou bergers du nord" (_le thibet_, p. ). [ ] _notes on the ethnology_, etc., p. . it may here be remarked that the unfriendliness of which travellers often complain appears mainly inspired by the buddhist theocracy, who rule the land and are jealous of all "interlopers." [ ] _ibid._ p. . [ ] with it may be compared the chinese province of _kan-su_, so named from its two chief towns _kan_-chau and _su_-chau (yule's _marco polo_, i. p. ). [ ] "buddhist turks," says sir h. h. howorth (_geogr. journ._ , p. ). [ ] e. delmar morgan, _geogr. journ._ , p. . [ ] "whatever may have been the origin of polyandry, there can be no doubt that poverty, a desire to keep down population, and to keep property undivided in families, supply sufficient reason to justify its continuance. the same motives explain its existence among the lower castes of malabar, among the jat (sikhs) of the panjab, among the todas, and probably in most other countries in which this custom prevails" (rockhill, p. ). [ ] t. rice holmes, _ancient britain_, , pp. and - . [ ] at least no reference is made to the bonbo practice in his almost exhaustive monograph on _the swastika_, washington, . the reversed form, however, mentioned by max müller and burnouf, is figured at p. and elsewhere. [ ] sarat chandra das, _journ. as. soc. bengal_, - . [ ] this point, so important in the history of linguistic evolution, has i think been fairly established by t. de lacouperie in a series of papers in the _oriental and babylonian record_, - . see g. a. grierson's _linguistic survey of india_, iii. tibeto-burman family, , by sten konow. [ ] _ladák_, london, . [ ] g. b. mainwaring, _a grammar of the rong (lepcha) language_, etc., calcutta, , pp. - . [ ] _outline grammar of the angámi-naga language_, calcutta, , pp. , . for an indication of the astonishing number of distinct languages in the whole of this region see gertrude m. godden's paper "on the naga and other frontier tribes of north-east india," in _journ. anthr. inst._ , p. . under the heading tibeto-burman languages sten konow recognises _tibetan_, _himalayan_, _north assam_, _bodo_, _naga_, _kuki-chin_, _meitei_ and _kachin_. the naga group comprises dialects of very different kinds; some approach tibetan and the north assam group, others lead over to the bodo, others connect with tibeto-burman. meitei lies midway between kuki-chin and kachin, and these merge finally in burmese. grierson's _linguistic survey of india_, vol. iii. - . [ ] almost hopeless confusion continues to prevail in the tribal nomenclature of these multitudinous hill peoples. the official sanction given to the terms _kuki_ and _lushai_ as collective names may be regretted, but seems now past remedy. _kuki_ is unknown to the people themselves, while _lushai_ is only the name of a single group proud of their head-hunting proclivities, hence they call themselves, or perhaps are called _lu-shai_, "head-cutters," from _lu_ head, _sha_ to cut (g. h. damant). other explanations suggested by c. a. soppitt (_kuki-lushai tribes, with an outline grammar of the rangkhol-lushai language_, shillong, ) cannot be accepted. [ ] _op. cit._ [ ] see g. a. grierson and sten konow in grierson's _linguistic survey of india_, vol. iii. part ii. bodo, n[=a]g[=a] and kachin, , part iii. kuki-chin and burma, . [ ] _the n[=a]ga tribes of manipur_, , p. . cf. j. shakespear, "the kuki-lushai clans," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xxxix. . [ ] _op. cit. p. ._ [ ] _op. cit._ p. . a custom of human sacrifice among the naga is described in the _journal of the burma research society_, , "human sacrifices near the upper chindwin." [ ] it is a curious phonetic phenomenon that the combinations _kl_ and _tl_ are indistinguishable in utterance, so that it is immaterial whether this term be written _kling_ or _tling_, though the latter form would be preferable, as showing its origin from _telinga_. [ ] "the aboriginal tribes of manipur," _journ. anthr. inst._ , p. . [ ] r. brown, _statistical account of manipur_, . [ ] t. c. hodson, _the meitheis_, , p. . [ ] t. c. hodson, _the meitheis_, , pp. - . [ ] g. watt, _loc. cit._ p. . [ ] _the chin hills_, etc., vol. i., rangoon, . [ ] _op. cit._ p. . [ ] r. c. temple, art. "burma," hastings, _ency. religion and ethics_, . [ ] dalton, _ethnology of bengal_, p. . [ ] prince henri d'orléans writes "que les singphos et les katchins [kakhyens] ne font qu'un, que le premier mot est _thai_ et le second birman." _du tonkin aux indes_, , p. . this is how the ethnical confusion in these borderlands gets perpetuated. _singpho_ is not _thai_, i.e. shan or siamese, but a native word as here explained. [ ] john anderson, _mandalay to momein_, , p. . [ ] three skulls discovered by m. mansuy in a cave at pho-binh-gia (indo-china) associated with neolithic culture were markedly dolichocephalic, resembling in some respects the cro-magnon race of the reindeer period. cf. r. verneau, _l'anthropologie_, xx. . [ ] _the loyal karens of burma_, . [ ] r. c. temple, _academy_, jan. , , p. . [ ] forbes, _languages of further india_, p. . [ ] _ibid._ p. . [ ] g. w. bird, _wanderings in burma_, , p. . [ ] the burmese is the most mixed race in the province. "originally dravidians of some sort, they seem to have received blood from various sources--hindu, musalm[=a]n, chinese, sh[=a]n, talaing, european and others." w. crooke, "the stability of caste and tribal groups in india," _journ. roy. anthr. soc._ xliv. , p. , quoting the _ethnographic survey of india_, . [ ] j. g. scott, _burma_, etc., , p. . [ ] _op. cit._ p. . [ ] "the taungbyôn festival, burma," _journ. roy. anthr. soc._ xlv. , p. . [ ] _amongst the shans_, etc., , p. . [ ] cf. the shans of yunnan, who are nearly all "tatoués, depuis la ceinture jusqu'au genou, de dessins bleus si serrés qu'ils paraissent former une vraie culotte," pr. henri d'orléans, _du tonkin aux indes_, , p. . [ ] for recent literature on burma and the burmese consult besides the _ethnographic survey of india_, , and the _census report_ of , j. g. scott, _the burman_, , and _burma_, ; a. ireland, _the province of burma_, ; h. fielding hall, _the soul of a people_, , and _a people at school_, . [ ] probably for _shan-ts[)e], shan-yen_, "highlanders" (_shan_, mountain), _shan_ itself being the same word as _siam_, a form which comes to us through the portuguese _sião_. [ ] for the laos see l. de reinach, _le laos_, , with bibliography. [ ] carl bock, ms. note. this observer notes that many of the ngiou have been largely assimilated in type to the burmese and in one place goes so far as to assert that "the ngiou are decidedly of the same race as the burmese. i have had opportunities of seeing hundreds of both countries, and of closely watching their features and build. the ngiou wear the hair in a topknot in the same way as the burmese, but they are easily distinguished by their tattooing, which is much more elaborate" (_temples and elephants_, , p. ). of course all spring from one primeval stock, but they now constitute distinct ethnical groups, and, except about the borderlands, where blends may be suspected, both the physical and mental characters differ considerably. bock's _ngiou_ is no doubt the same name as _ngnio_, which h. s. hallett applies in one place to the mossé shans north of zimme, and elsewhere to the burmese shans collectively (_a thousand miles on an elephant_, , pp. and ). [ ] "les paï ne sont autres que des laotiens" (prince henri, p. ). [ ] one shan group, the deodhaings, still persist, and occupy a few villages near sibsagar (s. e. peal, _nature_, june , , p. ). dalton also mentions the _kamjangs_, a khamti (tai) tribe in the sadiya district, assam (_ethnology of bengal_, p. ). [ ] much unexpected light has been thrown upon the early history of these ahoms by e. gait, who has discovered and described in the _journ. as. soc. bengal_, , a large number of _puthis_, or mss. ( in the sibsagar district alone), in the now almost extinct ahom language, some of which give a continuous history of the ahom rajas from to a.d. most of the others appear to be treatises on religious mysticism or divination, such as "a book on the calculation of future events by examining the leg of a fowl" (_ib._). [ ] _op. cit._ p. . [ ] a. r. colquhoun, _amongst the shans_, , introduction, p. lv. [ ] _op. cit._ p. . [ ] _temples and elephants_, p. . [ ] "der gesichtsausdruck überhaupt nähert sich der kaukasischen race" (_im fernen osten_, p. ). [ ] low's _siamese grammar_, p. . [ ] r. g. woodthorpe, "the shans and hill tribes of the mekong," in _journ. anthr. inst._ , p. . [ ] _op. cit._ p. . [ ] this omission, however, is partly supplied by t. de lacouperie, who gives us an account of a wonderful lolo ms. on satin, red on one side, blue on the other, containing nearly words written in black, "apparently with the chinese brush." the ms. was obtained by e. colborne baber from a lolo chief, forwarded to europe in , and described by de lacouperie, _journ. r. as. soc._ vol. xiv. part i. "the writing runs in lines from top to bottom and from left to right, as in chinese" (p. ), and this authority regards it as the link that was wanting to connect the various members of a widely diffused family radiating from india (harapa seal, indo-pali, vatteluttu) to malaysia (batta, rejang, lampong, bugis, makassar, tagal), to indo-china (lao, siamese, lolo), korea and japan, and also including the siao-chuen chinese system "in use a few centuries b.c." (p. ). it would be premature to say that all these connections are established. [ ] _op. cit._ p. . [ ] _beginnings of writing in central and eastern asia, passim._ for the lolos see a. f. legendre, "les lolos. Étude ethnologique et anthropologique," _t'oung pao ii._ vol. x. . [ ] "quelques-uns de ces kiou-tsés me rappellent des européens que je connais." (_op. cit._ p. ). [ ] _deux ans dans le haut-tonkin_, etc., paris, . [ ] with regard to _man_ (_man-tse_) it should be explained that in chinese it means "untameable worms," that is, _wild_ or _barbarous_, and we are warned by desgodins that "il ne faut pas prendre ces mots comme des noms propres de tribus" (_bul. soc. géogr._ xii. p. ). in capt. w. gill visited a large nation of _man-tse_ with tribal divisions, reaching from west yunnan to the extreme north of sechuen, a sort of federacy recognising a king, with chinese habits and dress, but speaking a language resembling sanskrit (?). these were the _sumu_, or "white man-tse," apparently the same as those visited in by mrs bishop, and by her described as semi-independent, ruled by their own chiefs, and in appearance "quite caucasian, both men and women being very handsome," strict buddhists, friendly and hospitable, and living in large stone houses (letter to _times_, aug. , ). [ ] "des paysannes nóngs dont les cheveux étaient blonds, quelquefois même roux." _op. cit._ [ ] _l'anthropologie_, , p. sq. [ ] "on the relations of the indo-chinese and inter-oceanic races and languages." paper read at the meeting of the brit. association, sheffield, , and printed in the _journ. anthr. inst._, february, . [ ] in the javanese annals the invaders are called "cambojans," but at this time (about ) camboja had already been reduced, and the siamese conquerors had brought back from its renowned capital, angkor wat, over , captives. these were largely employed in the wars of the period, which were thus attributed to camboja instead of to siam by foreign peoples ignorant of the changed relations in indo-china. [ ] how very dark some of these corners can be may be seen from the sad picture of maladministration, vice, and corruption still prevalent so late as , given by hallett in _a thousand miles on an elephant_, ch. xxxv.; and even still later by h. warington smyth in _five years in siam, from to _ ( ). this observer credits the siamese with an undeveloped sense of right and wrong, so that they are good only by accident. "to do a thing because it is right is beyond them; to abstain from a thing because it is against their good name, or involves serious consequences, is possibly within the power of a few; the question of right and wrong does not enter the calculation." but he thinks they may possess a high degree of intelligence, and mentions the case of a peasant, who from an atlas had taught himself geography and politics. p. a. thompson, _lotus land_, , gives an account of the country and people of southern siam. [ ] probably a corruption of _talapat_, the name of the palm-tree which yields the fan-leaf constantly used by the monks. [ ] "in conversation with the monks m'gilvary was told that it would most likely be countless ages before they would attain the much wished for state of nirvana, and that one transgression at any time might relegate them to the lowest hell to begin again their melancholy pilgrimage" (hallett, _a thousand miles on an elephant_, p. ). [ ] "le gros orteil est très développé et écarté des autres doigts du pied. a ce caractère distinctif, que l'on retrouve encore aujourd'hui chez les indigènes de race pure, on peut reconnaître facilement que les giao-chi sont les ancêtres des annamites" (_la cochinchine française en _, p. ). see also a note on the subject by c. f. tremlett in _journ. anthr. inst._ , p. . [ ] properly _an-nan_, a modified form of _ngan-nan_, "southern peace." [ ] cf. _nan-king_, _pe-king_, "southern" and "northern" courts (capitals). [ ] _la gazette géographique_, march , . [ ] _geogr. journ._, sept. , p. . [ ] "parmi les citoyens règne la plus parfaite égalité. point d'esclavage, la servitude est en horreur. aussi tout homme peut-il aspirer aux emplois, se plaindre aux mêmes tribunaux que son adversaire" (_op. cit._ p. ). [ ] from _bonzo_, a portuguese corruption of the japanese _busso_, a devout person, applied first to the buddhist priests of japan, and then extended to those of china and neighbouring lands. [ ] this name, probably the chinese _jin_, men, people, already occurs in sanskrit writings in its present form: [sanskrit symbol], _chína_, whence the hindi [arabic symbol], _chín_, and the arabo-persian [arabic symbol], _sín_, which gives the classical _sinae_. the most common national name is chûng-kûe, "middle kingdom" (presumably the centre of the universe), whence chûng-kûe-jín, the chinese people. some have referred _china_ to the _chin_ (_tsin_) dynasty ( b.c.), while marco polo's _kataia_ (russian _kitai_) is the _khata_ (north china) of the mongol period, from the manchu _k'î-tan_, founders of the liâo dynasty, which was overthrown a.d. by the nü-ch[)a]n tatars. ptolemy's _thinae_ is rightly regarded by edkins as the same word as _sinae_, the substitution of t for s being normal in annam, whence this form may have reached the west through the southern seaport of kattigara. [ ] _western origin of the early chinese civilization, from b.c. to a.d., or chapters on the elements derived from the old civilizations of west asia in the formation of the ancient chinese culture_, london, . [ ] "observations upon the languages of the early inhabitants of mesopotamia," in _journ. r. as. soc._ xvi. part . [ ] ms. note, may , . [ ] c. j. ball, _chinese and sumerian_, . [ ] _history of the archaic chinese writing and texts_, , p. . [ ] the first actual date given is that of tai hao (fu-hi), b.c., but this ruler belongs to the fabulous period, and is stated to have reigned years. the first certain date would appear to be that of yau, first of the chinese sages and reformer of the calendar ( b.c.). the date b.c. for confucius's model king shun seems also established. but of course all this is modern history compared with the now determined babylonian and egyptian records. [ ] amongst the metals reference is made to iron so early as the time of the emperor ta yü ( b.c.), when it is mentioned as an article of tribute in the _shu-king_. f. hirth, who states this fact, adds that during the same period, if not even earlier, iron was already a flourishing industry in the liang district (paper on the "history of chinese culture," munich anthropological society, april, ). at the discussion which followed the reading of this paper montelius argued that iron was unknown in western asia and egypt before b.c., although the point was contested by hommel, who quoted a word for iron in the earliest egyptian texts. montelius, however, explained that terms originally meaning "ore" or "metal" were afterwards used for "iron." such was certainly the case with the gk. [greek: chalkos], at first "copper," then metal in general, and used still later for [greek: sidêros], "iron"; hence [greek: chalkeus] = coppersmith, blacksmith, and even goldsmith. so also with the lat. _aes_ (sanskrit _ayas_, akin to _aurora_, with simple idea of brightness), used first especially for copper (_aes cyprium, cuprum_), and then for _bronze_ (lewis and short). for hirth's later views see his _ancient history of china_, (from the fabulous ages to b.c.). [ ] this term _y-jen_ (_yi-jen_), meaning much the same as _man_, _man-tse_, savage, rude, untameable, has acquired a sort of diplomatic distinction. in the treaty of tien-tsin ( ) it was stipulated that it should no longer, as heretofore, be applied in official documents to the english or to any subjects of the queen. [ ] see j. edkins, _china's place in philology_, p. . the hok-los were originally from fo-kien, whence their alternative name, _fo-lo_. the _lo_ appears to be the same word as in the reduplicated _lo-lo_, meaning something like the greek and latin _bar-bar_, stammerers, rude, uncultured. [ ] the _hakkas_, _i.e._ "strangers," speak a well-marked dialect current on the uplands between kwang-tung, kiang-si, and fo-kien. j. dyer ball, _easy lessons in the hakka dialect_, . [ ] numerous in the western parts of kwang-tung and in the canton district. j. dyer ball, _cantonese made easy_, hongkong, . [ ] in this expression "pidgin" appears to be a corruption of the word _business_ taken in a very wide sense, as in such terms as _talkee-pidgin_ = a conversation, discussion; _singsong pidgin_ = a concert, etc. it is no unusual occurrence for persons from widely separated chinese provinces meeting in england to be obliged to use this common jargon in conversation. [ ] for the aboriginal peoples, with bibliography, see m. kennelly's translation of l. richard's _comprehensive geography of the chinese empire and its dependencies_, , pp. - . [ ] _kung-tse_, "teacher kung," or more fully _kung-fu-tse_, "the eminent teacher kung," which gives the latinised form _confucius_. [ ] _kwong ki chiu_, , p. . confucius was born in and died in b.c., and to him are at present dedicated as many as temples, in which are observed real sacrificial rites. for these sacrifices the state yearly supplies , sheep, pigs, rabbits and other animals, besides , pieces of silk, most of which things, however, become the "perquisites" of the attendants in the sanctuaries. [ ] arthur h. smith, _chinese characteristics_, new york, . the good, or at least the useful, qualities of the chinese are stated by this shrewd observer to be a love of industry, peace, and social order, a matchless patience and forbearance under wrongs and evils beyond cure, a happy temperament, no nerves, and "a digestion like that of an ostrich." see also h. a. giles, _china and the_ _chinese_, ; e. h. parker, _john chinaman and a few others_, ; j. dyer ball, _things chinese_, ; and m. kennelly in richard's _comprehensive geography of the chinese empire and its dependencies_, . [ ] see _contemporary review_, feb. , "report on christian missions in china," by mr f. w. fox, professor macalister and sir alexander simpson. [ ] a happy portuguese coinage from the malay _mantri_, a state minister, which is the sanskrit _mantrin_, a counsellor, from _mantra_, a sacred text, a counsel, from aryan root _man_, to think, know, whence also the english _mind_. [ ] miss bird (mrs bishop), _the golden chersonese_, , p. . [ ] h. a. giles, _the civilisation of china_, , p. . see especially chap. xi., "chinese and foreigners," for the etiquette of street regulations and the habit of shouting conversation. chapter vii the oceanic mongols range of the oceanic mongols--the terra "malay"--the historical malays--malay cradle--migrations and present range--the malayans--the javanese--balinese and sassaks--hindu legends in bali--the malayan seafarers and rovers--malaysia and pelasgia: a historical parallel--malayan folklore--borneo--punan--klemantan-- bahau-kenyah-kayan--iban (sea dayak)--summary--religion--early man and his works in sumatra--the mentawi islanders--javanese and hindu influences--the malaysian alphabets--the battas: cultured cannibals--hindu and primitive survivals--the achinese--early records--islam and hindu reminiscences--ethnical relations in madagascar--prehistoric peoples--oceanic immigrants--negroid element--arab element--uniformity of language--malagasy gothamites--partial fusion of races--hova type--black element from africa--mental qualities of the malagasy--spread of christianity--culture--malagasy folklore--the philippine natives--effects of a christian theocratic government on the national character--social groups: the indios, the infielos, and the moros--malayans and indonesians in formosa--the chinese settlers--racial and linguistic affinities--formosa a connecting link between the continental and oceanic populations--the nicobarese. conspectus. #present range.# _indonesia, philippines, formosa, nicobar is., madagascar._ #hair#, _same as southern mongols, scant or no beard_. #colour#, _yellowish or olive brown, yellow tint sometimes very faint or absent, light leathery hue common in madagascar_. #skull#, _brachy or sub-brachycephalic ( to )_. #jaws#, _slightly projecting_. #cheek-bones#, _prominent, but less so than true mongol_. #nose#, _rather small, often straight with widish nostrils (mesorrhine)_. #eyes#, _black, medium size, horizontal or slightly oblique, often with mongol fold_. #stature#, _undersized, from . m. to . m. ( ft. to ft. in.)_. #lips#, _thickish, slightly protruding, and kept a little apart in repose_. #arms# _and_ #legs#, _rather small, slender and delicate_; #feet#, _small_. #temperament.# _normally quiet, reserved and taciturn, but under excitement subject to fits of blind fury_; _fairly intelligent, polite and ceremonious, but uncertain, untrustworthy, and even treacherous_; _daring, adventurous and reckless_; _musical_; _not distinctly cruel, though indifferent to physical suffering in others_. #speech#, _various branches of a single stock language_--_the_ #austronesian# (#oceanic# _or_ #malayo-polynesian#), _at different stages of agglutination_. #religion#, _of the primitive malayans somewhat undeveloped--a vague dread of ghosts and other spirits, but rites and ceremonies mainly absent although human sacrifices to the departed occurred in borneo_; _the cultured malayans formerly hindus (brahman and buddhist), now mostly moslem, but in the philippines and madagascar christian_; _belief in witchcraft, charms, and spells everywhere prevalent_. #culture#, _of the primitive malayans very low--head-hunting, mutilation, common in borneo_; _hunting, fishing; no agriculture; simple arts and industries_; _the moslem and christian malayans semi-civilised_; _the industrial arts--weaving, dyeing, pottery, metal-work, also trade, navigation, house and boat-building--well developed_; _architecture formerly flourishing in java under hindu influences_; _letters widespread even amongst some of the rude malayans, but literature and science rudimentary_; _rich oral folklore_. #malayans (proto-malays)#: _lampongs, rejangs, battas, achinese, and palembangs in sumatra_; _sundanese, javanese proper, and madurese in java_; _dayaks in borneo_; _balinese_; _sassaks (lombok)_; _bugis and mangkassaras in celebes_; _tagalogs, visayas, bicols, ilocanos and pangasinanes in philippines_; _aborigines of formosa_; _nicobar islanders_; _hovas, betsimisarakas, and sakalavas in madagascar_. #malays proper# (_historical malays_): _menangkabau (sumatra)_; _malay peninsula_; _pinang, singapore, lingga, bangka_; _borneo coastlands_; _tidor, ternate_; _amboina_; _parts of the sulu archipelago_. * * * * * in the oceanic domain, which for ethnical purposes begins at the neck of the malay peninsula, the mongol peoples range from madagascar eastwards to formosa and micronesia, but are found in compact masses chiefly on the mainland, in the sunda islands (sumatra, java, bali, lombok, borneo, celebes) and in the philippines. even here they have mingled in many places with other populations, forming fresh ethnical groups, in which the mongol element is not always conspicuous. such fusions have taken place with the negrito aborigines in the malay peninsula and the philippines; with papuans in micronesia, flores, and other islands east of lombok; with dolichocephalic indonesians in sumatra, borneo, celebes, halmahera (jilolo), parts of the philippines[ ], and perhaps also timor and ceram; and with african negroes (bantu) in madagascar. to unravel some of these racial entanglements is one of the most difficult tasks in anthropology, and in the absence of detailed information cannot yet be everywhere attempted with any prospect of success. the problem has been greatly, though perhaps inevitably complicated by the indiscriminate extension of the term "malay" to all these and even to other mixed oceanic populations farther east, as, for instance, in the expression "malayo-polynesian," applied by many writers not only in a linguistic, but also in an ethnical sense, to most of the insular peoples from madagascar to easter island, and from hawaii to new zealand. it is now of course too late to hope to remedy this misuse of terms by proposing a fresh nomenclature. but much of the consequent confusion will be avoided by restricting _malayo-polynesian_[ ] altogether to linguistic matters, and carefully distinguishing between _indonesian_, the pre-malay dolichocephalic element in oceania[ ], _malayan_ or _proto-malayan_, collective name of all the oceanic mongols, who are brachycephals, and _malay_, a particular branch of the malayan family, as fully explained in _ethnology_, pp. - [ ]. the essential point to remember is that the true malays--who call themselves _orang-maláyu_, speak the standard but quite modern malay language, and are all muhammadans--are a historical people who appear on the scene in relatively recent times, ages after the insular world had been occupied by the mongol peoples to whom their name has been extended, but who never call themselves malays. the orang-maláyu, who have acquired such an astonishing predominance in the eastern archipelago, were originally an obscure tribe who rose to power in the menangkabau district, sumatra, not before the twelfth century, and whose migrations date only from about the year a.d. at this time, according to the native records[ ], was founded the first foreign settlement, singapore, a pure sanskrit name meaning the "lion city," from which it might be inferred that these first settlers were not muhammadans, as is commonly assumed, but brahmans or buddhists, both these forms of hinduism having been propagated throughout sumatra and the other sunda islands centuries before this time. it is also noteworthy that the early settlers on the mainland are stated to have been pagans, or to have professed some corrupt form of hindu idolatry, till their conversion to islam by the renowned sultan mahmud shah about the middle of the thirteenth century. it is therefore probable enough that the earlier movements were carried out under hindu influences, and may have begun long before the historical date . menangkabau, however, was the first mussulman state that acquired political supremacy in sumatra, and this district thus became the chief centre for the later diffusion of the cultured malays, their language, usages, and religion, throughout the peninsula and the archipelago. here they are now found in compact masses chiefly in south sumatra (menangkabau, palembang, the lampongs); in all the insular groups between sumatra and borneo; in the malay peninsula as far north as the kra isthmus, here intermingling with the siamese as "sam-sams," partly buddhists, partly muhammadans; round the coast of borneo and about the estuaries of that island; in tidor, ternate, and the adjacent coast of jilolo; in the banda, sula, and sulu groups; in batavia, singapore, and all the other large seaports of the archipelago. in all these lands beyond sumatra the orang-maláyu are thus seen to be comparatively recent arrivals[ ], and in fact intruders on the other malayan populations, with whom they collectively constitute the oceanic branch of the mongol division. their diffusion was everywhere brought about much in the same way as in ternate, where a. r. wallace tells us that the ruling people "are an intrusive malay race somewhat allied to the macassar people, who settled in the country at a very early epoch, drove out the indigenes, who were no doubt the same as those of the adjacent island of gilolo, and established a monarchy. they perhaps obtained many of their wives from the natives, which will account for the extraordinary language they speak--in some respects closely allied to that of the natives of gilolo, while it contains much that points to a malayan [malay] origin. to most of these people the malay language is quite unintelligible[ ]." the malayan populations, as distinguished from the malays proper, form socially two very distinct classes--the _orang benua_, "men of the soil," rude aborigines, numerous especially in the interior of the malay peninsula, borneo, celebes, jilolo, timor, ceram, the philippines, formosa, and madagascar; and the cultured peoples, formerly hindus but now mostly muhammadans, who have long been constituted in large communities and nationalities with historical records, and flourishing arts and industries. they speak cultivated languages of the austronesian family, generally much better preserved and of richer grammatical structure than the simplified modern speech of the orang-maláyu. such are the achinese, rejangs, and passumahs of sumatra; the bugis, mangkassaras and some minahasans of celebes[ ]; the tagalogs and visayas of the philippines; the sassaks and balinese of lombok and bali (most of these still hindus); the madurese and javanese proper of java; and the hovas of madagascar. to call any of these "malays[ ]," is like calling the italians "french," or the germans "english," because of their respective romance and teutonic connections. preëminent in many respects amongst all the malayan peoples are the _javanese_--_sundanese_ in the west, _javanese proper_ in the centre, _madurese_ in the east--who were a highly civilised nation while the sumatran malays were still savages, perhaps head-hunters and cannibals like the neighbouring battas. although now almost exclusively muhammadans, they had already adopted some form of hinduism probably over years ago, and under the guidance of their indian teachers had rapidly developed a very advanced state of culture. "under a completely organised although despotic government, the arts of peace and war were brought to considerable perfection, and the natives of java became famous throughout the east as accomplished musicians and workers in gold, iron and copper, none of which metals were found in the island itself. they possessed a regular calendar with astronomical eras, and a metrical literature, in which, however, history was inextricably blended with romance. bronze and stone inscriptions in the kavi, or old javanese language, still survive from the eleventh or twelfth century, and to the same dates may be referred the vast ruins of brambanam and the stupendous temple of boro-budor in the centre of the island. there are few statues of hindu divinities in this temple, but many are found in its immediate vicinity, and from the various archaeological objects collected in the district it is evident that both the buddhist and brahmanical forms of hinduism were introduced at an early date. "but all came to an end by the overthrow of the chief hindu power in , after which event islam spread rapidly over the whole of java and madura. brahmanism, however, still holds its ground in bali and lombok, the last strongholds of hinduism in the eastern archipelago[ ]." on the obscure religious and social relations in these lesser sundanese islands much light has been thrown by capt. w. cool, an english translation of whose work _with the dutch in the east_ was issued by e. j. taylor in . here it is shown how hinduism, formerly dominant throughout a great part of malaysia, gradually yielded in some places to a revival of the never extinct primitive nature-worship, in others to the spread of islam, which in bali alone failed to gain a footing. in this island a curious mingling of buddhist and brahmanical forms with the primordial heathendom not only persisted, but was strong enough to acquire the political ascendancy over the mussulman sassaks of the neighbouring island of lombok. thus while islam reigns exclusively in java--formerly the chief domain of hinduism in the archipelago--bali, lombok, and even sumbawa, present the strange spectacle of large communities professing every form of belief, from the grossest heathendom to pure monotheism. as i have elsewhere pointed out[ ], it is the same with the cultures and general social conditions, which show an almost unbroken transition from the savagery of sumbawa to the relative degrees of refinement reached by the natives of lombok and especially of bali. here, however, owing to the unfavourable political relations, a retrograde movement is perceptible in the crumbling temples, grass-grown highways, and neglected homesteads. but it is everywhere evident enough that "just as hinduism has only touched the outer surface of their religion, it has failed to penetrate into their social institutions, which, like their gods, originate from the time when polynesian heathendom was all powerful[ ]." a striking illustration of the vitality of the early beliefs is presented by the local traditions, which relate how these foreign gods installed themselves in the lesser sundanese islands after their expulsion from java by the muhammadans in the fifteenth century. being greatly incensed at the introduction of the koran, and also anxious to avoid contact with the "foreign devils," the hindu deities moved eastwards with the intention of setting up their throne in bali. but bali already possessed its own gods, the wicked rakshasas, who fiercely resented the intrusion, but in the struggle that ensued were annihilated, all but the still reigning mraya dewana. then the new thrones had to be erected on heights, as in java; but at that time there were no mountains in bali, which was a very flat country. so the difficulty was overcome by bodily transferring the four hills at the eastern extremity of java to the neighbouring island. gunong agong, highest of the four, was set down in the east, and became the olympus of bali, while the other three were planted in the west, south, and north, and assigned to the different gods according to their respective ranks. thus were at once explained the local theogony and the present physical features of the island. despite their generally quiet, taciturn demeanour, all these sundanese peoples are just as liable as the orang-maláyu himself, to those sudden outbursts of demoniacal frenzy and homicidal mania called by them _m[)e]ng-ámok_, and by us "running amok." indeed a. r. wallace tells us that such wild outbreaks occur more frequently (about one or two every month) amongst the civilised mangkassaras and bugis of south celebes than elsewhere in the archipelago. "it is the national and therefore the honourable mode of committing suicide among the natives of celebes, and is the fashionable way of escaping from their difficulties. a roman fell upon his sword, a japanese rips up his stomach, and an englishman blows out his brains with a pistol. the bugis mode has many advantages to one suicidically inclined. a man thinks himself wronged by society--he is in debt and cannot pay--he is taken for a slave or has gambled away his wife or child into slavery--he sees no way of recovering what he has lost, and becomes desperate. he will not put up with such cruel wrongs, but will be revenged on mankind and die like a hero. he grasps his kris-handle, and the next moment draws out the weapon and stabs a man to the heart. he runs on, with bloody kris in his hand, stabbing at everyone he meets. 'amok! amok!' then resounds through the streets. spears, krisses, knives and guns are brought out against him. he rushes madly forward, kills all he can--men, women, and children--and dies overwhelmed by numbers amid all the excitement of a battle[ ]." possibly connected with this blind impulse may be the strange nervous affection called _látah_, which is also prevalent amongst the malayans, and which was first clearly described by the distinguished malay scholar, sir frank athelstane swettenham[ ]. no attempt has yet been made thoroughly to diagnose this uncanny disorder[ ], which would seem so much more characteristic of the high-strung or shattered nervous system of ultra-refined european society, than of that artless unsophisticated child of nature, the orang-maláyu. its effects on the mental state are such as to disturb all normal cerebration, and swettenham mentions two látah-struck malays, who would make admirable "subjects" at a séance of theosophic psychists. any simple device served to attract their attention, when by merely looking them hard in the face they fell helplessly in the hands of the operator, instantly lost all self-control, and went passively through any performance either verbally imposed or even merely suggested by a sign. a peculiar feminine strain has often been imputed to the malay temperament, yet this same oceanic people displays in many respects a curiously kindred spirit with the ordinary englishman, as, for instance, in his love of gambling, boxing, cock-fighting, field sports[ ], and adventure. no more fearless explorers of the high seas, formerly rovers and corsairs, at all times enterprising traders, are anywhere to be found than the menangkabau malays and their near kinsmen, the renowned bugis "merchant adventurers" of south celebes. their clumsy but seaworthy praus are met in every seaport from sumatra to the aru islands, and they have established permanent trading stations and even settlements in borneo, the philippines, timor, and as far east as new guinea. on one occasion wallace sailed from dobbo in company with fifteen large makassar praus, each with a cargo worth about £ , and as many of the bugis settle amongst the rude aborigines of the eastern isles, they thus cooperate with the sumatran malays in extending the area of civilising influences throughout papuasia. formerly they combined piracy with legitimate trade, and long after the suppression of the north bornean corsairs by keppel and brooke, the inland waters continued to be infested especially by the _bajau_ rovers of celebes, and by the _balagnini_ of the sulu archipelago, most dreaded of all the _orang-laut_, "men of the sea," the "sea gypsies" of the english. these were the "cellates" (_orang-selat_, "men of the straits") of the early portuguese writers, who described them as from time immemorial engaged in fishing and plundering on the high seas[ ]. in those days, and even in comparatively late times, the relations in the eastern archipelago greatly resembled those prevailing in the aegean sea at the dawn of greek history, while the restless seafaring populations were still in a state of flux, passing from island to island in quest of booty or barter before permanently settling down in favourable sites[ ]. with the greek historian's philosophic disquisition on these pelasgian and proto-hellenic relations may be compared a. r. wallace's account of the batjan coastlands when visited by him in the late fifties. "opposite us, and all along this coast of batchian, stretches a row of fine islands completely uninhabited. whenever i asked the reason why no one goes to live in them, the answer always was 'for fear of the magindano pirates[ ].' every year these scourges of the archipelago wander in one direction or another, making their rendezvous on some uninhabited island, and carrying devastation to all the small settlements around; robbing, destroying, killing, or taking captive all they meet with. their long, well-manned praus escape from the pursuit of any sailing vessel by pulling away right in the wind's eye, and the warning smoke of a steamer generally enables them to hide in some shallow bay, or narrow river, or forest-covered inlet, till the danger is passed[ ]." thus, like geographical surroundings, with corresponding social conditions, produce like results in all times amongst all peoples. this fundamental truth receives further illustration from the ideas prevalent amongst the malayans regarding witchcraft, the magic arts, charms and spells, and especially the belief in the power of certain malevolent human beings to transform themselves into wild beasts and prey upon their fellow-creatures. such superstitions girdle the globe, taking their local colouring from the fauna of the different regions, so that the were-wolf of medieval europe finds its counterpart in the human jaguar of south america, the human lion or leopard of africa[ ], and the human tiger of the malay peninsula. hugh clifford, who relates an occurrence known to himself in connection with a "were-tiger" story of the perak district, aptly remarks that "the white man and the brown, the yellow and the black, independently, and without receiving the idea from one another, have all found the same explanation for the like phenomena, all apparently recognising the truth of the malay proverb, that we are like unto the _táman_ fish that preys upon its own kind[ ]." the story in question turns upon a young bride, whose husband comes home late three nights following, and the third time, being watched, is discovered by her in the form of a full-grown tiger stretched on the ladder, which, as in all malay houses, leads from the ground to the threshold of the door. "patímah gazed at the tiger from a distance of only a foot or two, for she was too paralysed with fear to move or cry out, and as she looked a gradual transformation took place in the creature at her feet. slowly, as one sees a ripple of wind pass over the surface of still water, the tiger's features palpitated and were changed, until the horrified girl saw the face of her husband come up through that of the beast, much as the face of a diver comes up to the surface of a pool. in another moment patímah saw that it was haji ali who was ascending the ladder of his house, and the spell that had hitherto bound her was snapped." these same malays of perak, h. h. rajah dris tells us, are still specially noted for many strange customs and superstitions "utterly opposed to muhammadan teaching, and savouring strongly of devil-worship. this enormous belief in the supernatural is possibly a relic of the pre-islam state[ ]." we do not know who were the primitive inhabitants of borneo. one would expect to find negritoes in the interior, but despite the assertion of a. de quatrefages[ ] it is impossible to overlook the conclusions of a. b. meyer[ ] that no authoritative evidence of their occurrence is forthcoming, and a. c. haddon[ ] confidently states that there are none in sarawak. it might be supposed that the pre-dravidian element found in sumatra and celebes might occur also in borneo, but the only indication of such influence is the "black skin" noticed among certain ulu ayar of the upper kapuas in western dutch borneo[ ]. with the exception of certain peoples such as europeans, indians, chinese, and orang-maláyu, whose foreign origin is obvious, the population as a whole may be regarded as being composed of two main races, the indonesian and proto-malay. probably all tribes are of mixed origin, but some, such as the _murut_, _dusun_, _kalabit_, and _land dayak_ are more indonesian while the _iban_ (_sea dayak_) are distinctly proto-malay. the _land dayak_ have doubtless been crossed with indo-javans. scattered over a considerable part of the jungle live the nomad _punan_ and _ukit_. they are a slender pale people with a slightly broad head. they are grouped in small communities and inhabit the dense jungle at the head waters of the principal rivers of borneo. they live on whatever they can find in the jungle, and do not cultivate the soil, nor live in permanent houses. their few wants are supplied by barter from friendly settled peoples, or in return for iron implements, calico, beads, tobacco, etc., they offer jungle produce, mainly gutta, indiarubber, camphor, dammar and ratans. they are very mild savages, not head-hunters, they are generous to one another, moderately truthful, kind to the women and very fond of their children. hose and haddon have introduced the term _klemantan_ (_kalamantan_) for the weak agricultural tribes such as the _murut_, _kalabit_, _land dayak_, _sebop_, _barawan_, _milanau_, etc.[ ] brook low[ ], who knew the land dayak well, gives a very favourable account of the people and this opinion has been confirmed by other travellers. they are described as amiable, honest, grateful, moral and hospitable. crimes of violence, other than head-hunting, are unknown. the circular _panga_ is a "house set apart for the residence of young unmarried men, in which the trophy-heads are kept, and here also all ceremonial receptions take place[ ]." the _baloi_ of the ot danom of the kahajan river is very similar[ ]. the very energetic and dominating _bahau-kenyah-kayan_ group are rather short in stature, with slightly broad heads. they occupy the best tracts of land which lie in the undulating hills at the upper reaches of the rivers, between the swampy low country and the mountains. the kayan more especially have almost exterminated some of the smaller tribes. the klemantan and kenyah-kayan tribes are agriculturalists. they clear the jungle off the low hills that flank the tributaries of the larger rivers, but always leave a few scattered trees standing; irrigation is attempted by the kalabits only, as _padi_ rice is grown like any other cereals on dry ground; swamp _padi_ is also grown on the low land. in their gardens they grow yams, pumpkins, sugar cane, bananas, and sometimes coconuts and other produce. they hunt all land animals that serve as food, and fish, usually with nets, in the rivers, or spear those fish that have been stupefied with _tuba_; river prawns are also a favourite article of diet. they all live in long communal houses which are situated on the banks of the rivers. among the klemantan tribes the headman has not much influence, unless he is a man of exceptional power and energy, but among the larger tribes and especially among the kayan and kenyah the headmen are the real chiefs and exercise undisputed sway. the kenyah are perhaps the most advanced in social evolution, holding their own by superior solidarity and intelligence against the turbulent kayan. all the agricultural tribes are artistic, but in varying degrees; they are also musical and sing delightful chorus songs. in some tribes the ends of the beams of the houses are carved to represent various animals, in some the verandah is decorated with boldly carved planks, or with painted boards and doors. the bamboo receptacles carved in low relief, the bone handles of their swords and the minor articles of daily life, are decorated in a way that reveals the true artistic spirit. both kenyah and kayan smelt iron and make spear heads and sword blades, the former being especially noted for their good steel. the forge with two bellows is the form widely spread in malaysia. the truculent _iban_ (_sea dayak_) have spread from a restricted area in sarawak[ ]. they are short and have broader heads than the other tribes; the colour is on the whole darker than among the cinnamon coloured inland tribes. they have the same long, slightly wavy, black hair showing a reddish tinge in certain lights, that is characteristic of the borneans generally. most of the iban inhabit low lying land; they prefer to live on the low hills, but as this is not always practicable they plant swamp _padi_; all those who settle at the heads of rivers plant _padi_ on the hills in the same manner as the up-river natives. they also cultivate maize, sugar cane, sweet potatoes, gourds, pumpkins, cucumbers, melons, mustard, ginger and other vegetables. generally groups of relations work together in the fields. although essentially agricultural, they are warlike and passionately devoted to head-hunting. the iban of the batang lupar and saribas in the olden days joined the malays in their large war praus on piratical raids along the coast and up certain rivers and they owe their name of sea dayaks to this practice. the raids were organised by malays who went for plunder but they could always ensure the aid of iban by the bribe of the heads of the slain as their share. the iban women weave beautiful cotton cloths on a very simple loom. intricate patterns are made by tying several warp strands with leaves at varying intervals, then dipping the whole into the dye which does not penetrate the tied portions. this process is repeated if a three-colour design is desired. the pattern is produced solely in the warp, the woof threads are self-coloured and are not visible in the fabric, which is therefore a cotton rep. little tattooing is seen among the iban women though the men have adopted the custom from the kayan. it is probable that the iban belong to the same stock as the original malay and if so, their migration may be regarded as the first wave of the movement that culminated in the malay empire. the malays must have come to borneo not later than the early part of the fifteenth century as brunei was a large and wealthy town in . probably the malays came directly from the malay peninsula, but they must have mixed largely with the _kadayan_, _milanau_ and other coastal people. the sarawak and brunei malays are probably mainly coastal borneans with some malay blood, but they have absorbed the malay culture, spirit and religion. from the sociological point of view the punan, living by the chase and on exploitation of jungle produce, represent the lowest grade of culture in borneo. without social organisation they are alike incapable of real endemic improvement or of seriously affecting other peoples. the purely agricultural tribes that cultivate _padi_ on the low hills or in the swamps form the next social stratum. these indigenous tillers of the soil have been hard pressed by various swarms of foreigners. the kenyah-kayan migration was that of a people of a slightly higher grade of culture. they were agriculturalists, but the social organisation was firmer and they were probably superior in physique. if they introduced iron weapons, this would give them an enormous advantage. these immigrant agricultural artisans, directed by powerful chiefs, had no difficulty in taking possession of the most desirable land. from an opposite point of the compass in early times came another agricultural people who strangely enough have strong individualistic tendencies, the usually peaceable habits of tillers of the soil having been complicated by a lust for heads and other warlike propensities. but the iban do not appear to have gained much against the kenyah and kayan. conquest implies a strong leader, obedience to authority and concerted action. the iban appear to be formidable only when led and organised by europeans. the malay was of a yet higher social type. his political organisation was well established, and he had the advantage of religious enthusiasm, for islam has no small share in the expansion of the malay. he is a trader, and still more an exploiter, having a sporting element in his character not altogether compatible with steady trade. then appeared on the scene the anglo-saxon overlord. the quality of firmness combined with justice made itself felt. at times the lower social types hurled themselves, but in vain, against the instrument that had been forged and tempered in a similar turmoil of iberian, celt, angle and viking in northern europe. now they acknowledge that safety of life and property and almost complete liberty are fully worth the very small price that they have to pay for them[ ]. the cult of omen animals, most frequently birds, is indigenous to borneo. these are possessed with the spirit of certain invisible beings above, and bear their names, and are invoked to secure good crops, freedom from accident, victory in war, profit in exchange, skill in discourse and cleverness in all native craft. the iban have a belief in _ngarong_ or spirit-helpers, somewhat resembling that of the _manitu_ of north america. the _ngarong_ is the spirit of a dead relative who visits a dreamer, who afterwards searches for the outward and visible sign of his spiritual protector, and finds it in some form, perhaps a natural object, or some one animal, henceforth held in special respect[ ]. in sumatra there occur some remains of hindu temples[ ], as well as other mysterious monuments in the passumah lands inland from benkulen, relics of a former culture, which goes back to prehistoric times. they take the form of huge monoliths, which are roughly shaped to the likeness of human figures, with strange features very different from the malay or hindu types. the present sarawi natives of the district, who would be quite incapable of executing such works, know nothing of their origin, and attribute them to certain legendary beings who formerly wandered over the land, turning all their enemies into stone. further research may possibly discover some connection between these relics of a forgotten past and the numerous prehistoric monuments of easter island and other places in the pacific ocean. of all the indonesian peoples still surviving in malaysia, none present so many points of contact with the eastern polynesians, as do the natives of the mentawi islands which skirt the south-west coast of sumatra. "on a closer inspection of the inhabitants the attentive observer at once perceives that the mentawi natives have but little in common with the peoples and tribes of the neighbouring islands, and that as regards physical appearance, speech, customs, and usages they stand almost entirely apart. they bear such a decided stamp of a polynesian tribe that one feels far more inclined to compare them with the inhabitants of the south sea islands[ ]." the survival of an indonesian group on the western verge of malaysia is all the more remarkable since the _nias_ islanders, a little farther north, are of mongol stock, like most if not all of the inhabitants of the sumatran mainland. here the typical malays of the central districts (menangkabau, korinchi, and siak) merge southwards in the mixed malayo-javanese peoples of the _rejang_, _palembang_, and _lampong_ districts. although muhammadans probably since the thirteenth century, all these peoples had been early brought under hindu influences by missionaries and even settlers from java, and these influences are still apparent in many of the customs, popular traditions, languages, and letters of the south sumatran settled communities. thus the lampongs, despite their profession of islam, employ, not the arabic characters, like the malays proper, but a script derived from the peculiar javanese writing system. this system itself, originally introduced from india probably over years ago, is based on some early forms of the devanagari, such as those occurring in the rock inscriptions of the famous buddhist king as'oka (third century b.c.)[ ]. from java, which is now shown beyond doubt to be the true centre of dispersion[ ], the parent alphabet was under hindu influences diffused in pre-muhammadan times throughout malaysia, from sumatra to the philippines. but the thinly-spread indo-javanese culture, in few places penetrating much below the surface, received a rude shock from the muhammadan irruption, its natural development being almost everywhere arrested, or else either effaced or displaced by islam. no trace can any longer be detected of graphic signs in borneo, where the aborigines have retained the savage state even in those southern districts where buddhism or brahmanism had certainly been propagated long before the arrival of the muhammadan malays. but elsewhere the javanese stock alphabet has shown extraordinary vitality, persisting under diverse forms down to the present day, not only amongst the semi-civilised mussulman peoples, such as the sumatran rejangs[ ], korinchi, and lampongs, the bugis and mangkassaras of celebes, and the (now christian) tagalogs and visayas of the philippines, but even amongst the somewhat rude and pagan palawan natives, the wild manguianes of mindoro, and the cannibal battas[ ] of north sumatra. these battas, however, despite their undoubted cannibalism[ ], cannot be called savages, at least without some reserve. they are skilful stock-breeders and agriculturists, raising fine crops of maize and rice; they dwell together in large, settled communities with an organised government, hereditary chiefs, popular assemblies, and a written civil and penal code. there is even an effective postal system, which utilises for letter-boxes the hollow tree-trunks at all the cross-roads, and is largely patronised by the young men and women, all of whom read and write, and carry on an animated correspondence in their degraded devanagari script, which is written on palm-leaves in vertical lines running upwards and from right to left. the battas also excel in several industries, such as pottery, weaving, jewellery, iron work, and house-building, their picturesque dwellings, which resemble swiss chalets, rising to two stories above the ground-floor reserved for the live stock. for these arts they are no doubt largely indebted to their hindu teachers, from whom also they have inherited some of their religious ideas, such as the triune deity--creator, preserver, and destroyer--besides other inferior divinities collectively called _diebata_, a modified form of the indian _devaté_[ ]. in the strangest contrast to these survivals of a foreign culture which had probably never struck very deep roots, stand the savage survivals from still more ancient times. conspicuous amongst these are the cannibal practices, which if not now universal still take some peculiarly revolting forms. thus captives and criminals are, under certain circumstances, condemned to be eaten alive, and the same fate is or was reserved for those incapacitated for work by age or infirmities. when the time came, we are told by the early european observers and by the reports of the arabs, the "grandfathers" voluntarily suspended themselves by their arms from an overhanging branch, while friends and neighbours danced round and round, shouting, "when the fruit is ripe it falls." and when it did fall, that is, as soon as it could hold on no longer, the company fell upon it with their krisses, hacking it to pieces, and devouring the remains seasoned with lime-juice, for such feasts were generally held when the limes were ripe[ ]. grouped chiefly round about lake toba, the battas occupy a very wide domain, stretching south to about the parallel of mount ophir, and bordering northwards on the territory of the achin people. these valiant natives, who have till recently stoutly maintained their political independence against the dutch, were also at one time hinduized, as is evident from many of their traditions, their malayan language largely charged with sanskrit terms, and even their physical appearance, suggesting a considerable admixture of hindu as well as of arab blood. with the arab traders and settlers came the koran, and the achinese people have been not over-zealous followers of the prophet since the close of the twelfth century. the muhammadan state, founded in , acquired a dominant position in the archipelago early in the sixteenth century, when it ruled over about half of sumatra, exacted tribute from many vassal princes, maintained powerful armaments by land and sea, and entered into political and commercial relations with egypt, japan, and several european states. there are two somewhat distinct ethnical groups, the _orang-tunong_ of the uplands, a comparatively homogeneous malayan people, and the mixed _orang-baruh_ of the lowlands, who are described by a. lubbers[ ] as taller than the average malay ( feet or in.), also less round-headed (index . ), with prominent nose, rather regular features, and muscular frames; but the complexion is darker than that of the orang-maláyu, a trait which has been attributed to a larger infusion of dravidian blood (klings and tamuls) from southern india. the charge of cruelty and treachery brought against them by the dutch may be received with some reserve, such terms as "patriot" and "rebel" being interchangeable according to the standpoints from which they are considered. in any case no one denies them the virtues of valour and love of freedom, with which are associated industrious habits and a remarkable aptitude for such handicrafts as metal work, jewellery, weaving, and ship-building. the achinese do not appear to be very strict muhammadans; polygamy is little practised, their women are free to go abroad unveiled, nor are they condemned to the seclusion of the harem, and a pleasing survival from buddhist times is the _kanduri_, a solemn feast, in which the poor are permitted to share. another reminiscence of hindu philosophy may perhaps have been an outburst of religious fervour, which took the form of a pantheistic creed, and was so zealously preached, that it had to be stamped out with fire and sword by the dominant moslem monotheists[ ]. since the french occupation of madagascar, the malagasy problem has naturally been revived. but it may be regretted that so much time and talent have been spent on a somewhat thrashed-out question by a number of writers, who did not first take the trouble to read up the literature of the subject. by what race madagascar was first peopled it is no longer possible to say. the local reports or traditions of primitive peoples, either extinct or still surviving in the interior, belong rather to the sphere of malagasy folklore than to that of ethnological research. in these reports mention is frequently made of the _kimos_, said to be now or formerly living in the bara country, and of the _vazimbas_, who are by some supposed to have been gallas (_ba-simba_)--though they had no knowledge of iron--whose graves are supposed to be certain monolithic monuments which take the form of menhirs disposed in circles, and are believed by the present inhabitants of the land to be still haunted by evil spirits, that is, the ghosts of the long extinct vazimbas. much of the confusion prevalent regarding the present ethnical relations may be avoided if certain points (ably summarised by t. a. joyce[ ]) are borne in mind. the greater part of the population is negroid; the language spoken over the whole of the island and many institutions and customs are malayo-polynesian. a small section (antimerina commonly called hovas)--forming the dominant people in the nineteenth century--is of fairly pure malay (or javanese) blood, but is composed of sixteenth-century immigrants, whereas the language belongs to a very early branch of the malayo-polynesian (austronesian) family. it would be natural to suppose that the negroid element was african[ ], for in later times large numbers of africans have been brought over by arabs and other slavers; but there are several objections to this view. in the first place, the natives of the neighbouring coast are not seamen, and the voyage to madagascar offers peculiar difficulties owing to the strong currents. in the second place, it seems impossible that the first inhabitants, supposing them to be african, should have abandoned their own language in favour of one introduced by a small minority of immigrants; the few bantu words found in madagascar may well have been adopted from the slaves. in the third place, the culture exhibits no distinctively african features, but is far more akin to that of south-east asia. there is much to be said, therefore, for the view that the earliest and negroid inhabitants of madagascar were oceanic negroids, who have always been known as expert seamen. since the coming of the negroid population, which probably arrived in very early days, various small bands of immigrants or castaways have landed on the shores of madagascar and imposed themselves as reigning dynasties on the surrounding villages, each thus forming the nucleus of what now appears as a tribe. among these were immigrants from arabia, and j. t. last, who identifies madagascar with the island of _menuthias_ described by arrian in the third century a.d.[ ], suggests the "possibility that madagascar may have been reached by arabs before the christian era." this "possibility" is converted almost into a certainty by the analysis of the arabo-malagasy terms made by dahle, who clearly shows that such terms "are comparatively very few," and also "very ancient," in fact that, as already suggested by fleischer of leipzig, many, perhaps the majority of them, "may be traced back to himyaritic influence[ ]," that is, not merely to pre-muhammadan, but to pre-christian times, just like the sanskritic elements in the oceanic tongues. the evidence that malagasy is itself one of these oceanic tongues, and not an offshoot of the comparatively recent standard malay is overwhelming, and need not here detain us[ ]. the diffusion of this austronesian language over the whole island--even amongst distinctly negroid bantu populations, such as the betsileos and tanalas--to the absolute exclusion of all other forms of speech, is an extraordinary linguistic phenomenon more easily proved than explained. there are, of course, provincialisms and even what may be called local dialects, such as that of the antankarana people at the northern extremity of the island who, although commonly included in the large division of the western sakalavas, really form a separate ethnical group, speaking a somewhat marked variety of malagasy. but even this differs much less from the normal form than might be supposed by comparing, for instance, such a term as _maso-mahamay_, sun, with the hova _maso-andro_, where _maso_ in both means "eye," _mahamay_ in both = "burning," and _andro_ in both = "day." thus the only difference is that one calls the sun "burning eye," while the hovas call it the "day's eye," as do so many peoples in malaysia[ ]. so also the fish-eating _anorohoro_ people, a branch of the _sihanakas_ in the alaotra valley, are said to have "quite a different dialect from them[ ]." but the statement need not be taken too seriously, because these rustic fisherfolk, who may be called the gothamites of madagascar, are supposed, by their scornful neighbours, to do everything "contrariwise." of them it is told that once when cooking eggs they boiled them for hours to make them soft, and then finding they got harder and harder threw them away as unfit for food. others having only one slave, who could not paddle the canoe properly, cut him in two, putting one half at the prow, the other at the stern, and were surprised at the result. it was not to be expected that such simpletons should speak malagasy properly, which nevertheless is spoken with surprising uniformity by all the malayan and negro or negroid peoples alike. in madagascar, however, the fusion of the two races is far less complete than is commonly supposed. various shades of transition between the two extremes are no doubt presented by the _sakalavas_ of the west, and the _betsimisarakas_, _sitanakas_, and others of the east coast. but, strange to say, on the central tableland the two seem to stand almost completely apart, so that here the politically dominant hovas still present all the essential characteristics of the oceanic mongol, while their southern neighbours, the _betsileos_, as well as the _tanalas_ and _ibaras_, are described as "african pure and simple, allied to the south-eastern tribes of that continent[ ]." specially remarkable is the account given by a careful observer, g. a. shaw, of the betsileos, whose "average height is not less than six feet for the men, and a few inches less for the women. they are large-boned and muscular, and their colour is several degrees darker than that of the hovas, approaching very close to a black. the forehead is low and broad, the nose flatter, and the lips thicker than those of their conquerors, whilst their hair is _invariably_ crisp and woolly. no pure betsileo is to be met with having the smooth long hair of the hovas. in this, as in other points, there is a very clear departure from the malayan type, and a close approximation to the negro races of the adjacent continent[ ]." now compare these brawny negroid giants with the wiry undersized malayan hovas. as described by a. vouchereau[ ], their type closely resembles that of the javanese--short stature, yellowish or light leather complexion, long, black, smooth and rather coarse hair, round head ( . ), flat and straight forehead, flat face, prominent cheek-bones, small straight nose, tolerably wide nostrils, small black and slightly oblique eyes, rather thick lips, slim lithesome figure, small extremities, dull restless expression, cranial capacity c.c., superior to both negro and sakalava[ ]. except in respect of this high cranial capacity, the measurements of three malagasy skulls in the cambridge university anatomical museum, studied by w. l. h. duckworth[ ], correspond fairly well with these descriptions. thus the cephalic index of the reputed betsimisaraka (negroid) and that of the betsileo (negro) are respectively and . , while that of the hova is . ; the first two, therefore, are long-headed, the third round-headed, as we should expect. but the cubic capacity of the hova (presumably mongoloid) is only as compared with and of two others, presumably african negroes. duckworth discusses the question whether the black element in madagascar is of african or oceanic (melanesian-papuan) origin, about which much diversity of opinion still prevails, and on the evidence of the few cranial specimens available he decides in favour of the african. despite the low cubic capacity of duckworth's hova, the mental powers of these, and indeed of the malagasy generally, are far from despicable. before the french occupation the london missionary society had succeeded in disseminating christian principles and even some degree of culture among considerable numbers both in the hova capital and surrounding districts. the local press had been kept going by native compositors who had issued quite an extensive literature both in malagasy and english. agricultural and industrial methods had been improved, some engineering works attempted, and the hova craftsmen had learnt to build but not to complete houses in the european style, because, although they could master european processes, they could not, christians though they were, get the better of the old superstitions, one of which is that the owner of a house always dies within a year of its completion. longevity is therefore ensured by not completing it, with the curious result that the whole city looks unfinished or dilapidated. in the house where mrs colvile stayed, "one window was framed and glazed, the other nailed up with rough boards; part of the stair-banister had no top-rail; outside only a portion of the roof had been tiled; and so on throughout[ ]." the culture has been thus summarised by t. a. joyce[ ]. clothing is entirely vegetable, and the malay _sarong_ is found throughout the east; bark-cloth in the south-east and west. hairdressing varies considerably, and among the bara and sakalava is often elaborate. silver ornaments are found amongst the antimerina and some other eastern tribes, made chiefly from european coins dating from the sixteenth century. circumcision is universal. in the east the tribes are chiefly agricultural; in the north, west and south, pastoral. fishing is important among those tribes situated on coast, lake or river. houses are all rectangular and pile-dwellings are found locally. rice is the staple crop and the cattle are of the humped variety. the antimerina excel the rest in all crafts. weaving, basket-work (woven variety) and iron-working are all good; the use of iron is said to have been unknown to the bara and vazimba until comparatively recent times. pottery is poor. carvings in the round (men and animals) are found amongst the sakalava and bara, in relief (arabesques, etc.) among the betsileo and others. before the introduction of firearms, the spear was the universal weapon; bows are rare and possibly of late introduction; slings and the blowgun are also found. shields are circular, made of wood covered with hide. the early system of government was patriarchal, and villages were independent; the later immigrants introduced a system of feudal monarchy with themselves as a ruling caste. thus the antimerina have three main castes; _andriana_ or nobles (_i.e._ pure-blooded descendants of the conquerors), _hova_, or freemen (descendants of the incorporated vazimba more or less mixed with the conquerors), and _andevo_ or slaves. the king was regarded almost as a god. an institution thoroughly suggestive of malayo-polynesian sociology is that of _fadi_ or tabu, which enters into every sphere of human activity. an indefinite creator-god was recognized, but more important were a number of spirits and fetishes, the latter with definite functions. signs of tree worship and of belief in transmigration are sporadic. at the present time, half the population of the island is, at least nominally, christian. a good deal of fancy is displayed in the oral literature, comprising histories, or at least legends, fables, songs, riddles, and a great mass of folklore, much of which has already been rescued from oblivion by the "malagasy folklore society." some of the stories present the usual analogies to others in widely separated lands, stories which seem to be perennial, and to crop up wherever the surface is a little disturbed by investigators. one of those in dahle's extensive collection, entitled the "history of andrianarisainaboniamasoboniamanoro" might be described as a variant of our "beauty and the beast." besides this prince with the long name, called _bonia_ "for short," there is a princess "golden beauty," both being of miraculous birth, but the latter a cripple and deformed, until found and wedded by bonia. then she is so transfigured that the "beast" is captivated and contrives to carry her off. thereupon follows an extraordinary series of adventures, resulting of course in the rescue of golden beauty by bonia, when everything ends happily, not only for the two lovers, but for all other people whose wives had also been abducted. these are now restored to their husbands by the hero, who vanquishes and slays the monster in a fierce fight, just as in our nursery tales of knights and dragons. in the philippines, where the ethnical confusion is probably greater than in any other part of malaysia, the great bulk of the inhabitants appear to be of indonesian and proto-malayan stocks. except in the southern island of mindanao, which is still mainly muhammadan or heathen, most of the settled populations have long been nominal roman catholics under a curious theocratic administration, in which the true rulers are not the civil functionaries, but the priests, and especially the regular clergy[ ]. one result has been over three centuries of unstable political and social relations, ending in the occupation of the archipelago by the united states ( ). another, with which we are here more concerned, has been such a transformation of the subtle malayan character that those who have lived longest amongst the natives pronounce their temperament unfathomable. having to comply outwardly with the numerous christian observances, they seek relief in two ways, first by making the most of the catholic ceremonial and turning the many feast-days of the calendar into occasions of revelry and dissipation, connived at if not even shared in by the padres[ ]; secondly by secretly cherishing the old beliefs and disguising their true feelings, until the opportunity is presented of throwing off the mask and declaring themselves in their true colours. a franciscan friar, who had spent half his life amongst them, left on record that "the native is an incomprehensible phenomenon, the mainspring of whose line of thought and the guiding motive of whose actions have never yet been, and perhaps never will be, discovered. a native will serve a master satisfactorily for years, and then suddenly abscond, or commit some such hideous crime as conniving with a brigand band to murder the family and pillage the house[ ]." in fact nobody can ever tell what a tagal, and especially a visaya, will do at any moment. his character is a succession of surprises; "the experience of each year brings one to form fresh conclusions, and the most exact definition of such a kaleidoscopic creature is, after all, hypothetical." after centuries of misrule, it was perhaps not surprising that no kind of sympathy was developed between the natives and the whites. foreman fells us that everywhere in the archipelago he found mothers teaching their little ones to look on their white rulers as demoniacal beings, evil spirits, or at least something to be dreaded. "if a child cries, it is hushed by the exclamation, _castila!_ (spaniard); if a white man approaches a native dwelling, the watchword always is _castila!_ and the children hasten to retreat from the dreadful object." for administrative purposes the natives were classed in three social divisions--_indios_, _infieles_, and _moros_--which, as aptly remarked by f. h. h. guillemard, is "an ecclesiastical rather than a scientific classification[ ]." the _indios_ were the christianized and more or less cultured populations of all the towns and of the settled agricultural districts, speaking a distinct malayo-polynesian language of much more archaic type than the standard malay. according to the census of the total population of the islands was , , , of whom nearly , , were classed as civilised, and the rest as wild, including , negritoes (_aeta_, see p. ). at the time of the spanish occupation in the sixteenth century the _visayas_ of the central islands and part of mindanao were the most advanced among the native tribes, but this distinction is now claimed for the _tagalogs_, who form the bulk of the population in manila and other parts of luzon, and also in mindanao, and whose language is gradually displacing other dialects throughout the archipelago. other civilised tribes are the _ilocano_, _bicol_, _pangasinan_, _pampangan_ and _cagayan_, all of luzon. less civilised tribes are the _manobo_, _mandaya_, _subano_ and _bagobo_ of mindanao, the _bukidnon_ of mindanao and the central islands, the _tagbanua_ and _batak_ of palawan, and the _igorots_ of luzon, some of whom are industrious farmers, while among others, head-hunting is still prevalent. these have been described by a. e. jenks in a monograph[ ]. the head form is very variable. of men measured by jenks the extremes of cephalic index were . and . . the stature is always low, averaging . m. ( ft. in.) but with an appearance of greater height. the hair is black, straight, lank, coarse and abundant but "i doubt whether to-day an entire tribe of perfectly straight-haired primitive malayan people exists in the archipelago[ ]." under _moros_ ("moors") are comprised the muhammadans exclusively, some of whom are malayans (chiefly in mindanao, basilan, and palawan), some true malays (chiefly in the sulu archipelago). many of these are still independent, and not a few, if not actually wild, are certainly but little removed from the savage state. yet, like the sumatran battas, they possess a knowledge of letters, the sulu people using the arabic script, as do all the orang-maláyu, while the palawan natives employ a variant of the devanagari prototype derived directly from the javanese, as above explained. they number nearly , , of whom more than one half are in mindanao, and they form the bulk of the population in some of the islands of the sulu archipelago. some of these sulu people, till lately fierce sea-rovers, get baptized now and then; but, says foreman, "they appeared to be as much christian as i was mussulman[ ]." they keep their harems all the same, and when asked how many gods there are, answer "four," presumably allah plus the athanasian trinity. so the ba-fiots of angola add crucifying to their "penal code," and so in king m'tesa's time the baganda scrupulously kept two weekly holidays, the mussulman friday, and the christian sunday. lofty creeds superimposed too rapidly on primitive beliefs are apt to get "mixed"; they need time to become assimilated. that in the aborigines of formosa are represented both mongol (proto-malayan) and indonesian elements may now probably be accepted as an established fact. the long-standing reports of negritoes also, like the philippine aeta, have never been confirmed, and may be dismissed from the present consideration. probably five-sixths of the whole population are chinese immigrants, amongst whom are a large number of hakkas and hok-los from the provinces of fo-kien and kwang-tung[ ]. they occupy all the cultivated western lowlands, which from the ethnological standpoint may be regarded as a seaward outpost of the chinese mainland. the rest of the island, that is, the central highlands and precipitous eastern slopes, may similarly be looked on as a north-eastern outpost of malaysia, being almost exclusively held by indonesian and malayan aborigines from malaysia (especially the philippines), with possibly some early intruders both from polynesia and from the north (japan). all are classed by the chinese settlers after their usual fashion in three social divisions:-- . the _pepohwans_ of the plains, who although called "barbarians," are sedentary agriculturists and quite as civilised as their chinese neighbours themselves, with whom they are gradually merging in a single ethnical group. the pepohwans are described by p. ibis as a fine race, very tall, and "fetishists," though the mysterious rites are left to the women. their national feasts, dances, and other usages forcibly recall those of the micronesians and polynesians. they may therefore, perhaps, be regarded as early immigrants from the south sea islands, distinct in every respect from the true aborigines. . the _sekhwans_, "tame savages[ ]," who are also settled agriculturists, subject to the chinese (since to the japanese) administration, but physically distinct from all the other formosans--light complexion, large mouth, thick lips, remarkably long and prominent teeth, weak constitution. p. ibis suspects a strain of dutch blood dating from the seventeenth century. this is confirmed by the old books and other curious documents found amongst them, which have given rise to so much speculation, and, it may be added, some mystification, regarding a peculiar writing system and a literature formerly current amongst the formosan aborigines[ ]. . the _chinhwans_, "green barbarians"--that is, utter savages--the true independent aborigines, of whom there are an unknown number of tribes, but regarding whom the chinese possess but little definite information. not so their japanese successors, one of whom, kisak tamai[ ], tells us that the chinhwans show a close resemblance to the malays of the malay peninsula and also to those of the philippines, and in some respects to the japanese themselves. when dressed like japanese and mingling with japanese women, they can hardly be distinguished from them. the vendetta is still rife amongst many of the ruder tribes, and such is their traditional hatred of the chinese intruders that no one can either be tattooed or permitted to wear a bracelet until he has carried off a celestial head or two. in every household there is a frame or bracket on which these heads are mounted, and some of their warriors can proudly point to over seventy of such trophies. it is a relief to hear that with their new japanese masters they have sworn friendship, these new rulers of the land being their "brothers and sisters." the oath of eternal alliance is taken by digging a hole in the ground, putting a stone in it, throwing earth at each other, then covering the stone with the earth, all of which means that "as the stone in the ground keeps sound, so do we keep our word unbroken." it is interesting to note that this japanese ethnologist's remarks on the physical resemblances of the aborigines are fully in accord with those of european observers. thus to hamy "they recalled the igorrotes of north luzon, as well as the malays of singapore[ ]." g. taylor also, who has visited several of the wildest groups in the southern and eastern districts[ ] (_tipuns_, _paiwans_, _diaramocks_, _nickas_, _amias_ and many others), traces some "probably" to japan (tipuns); others to malaysia (the cruel, predatory paiwan head-hunters); and others to the liu-kiu archipelago (the pepohwans now of chinese speech). he describes the diaramocks as the most dreaded of all the southern groups, but doubts whether the charge of cannibalism brought against them by their neighbours is quite justified. whether the historical malays from singapore or elsewhere, as above suggested, are really represented in formosa may be doubted, since no survivals either of hindu or muhammadan rites appear to have been detected amongst the aborigines. it is of course possible that they may have reached the island at some remote time, and since relapsed into savagery, from which the orang-laut were never very far removed. but in the absence of proof, it will be safer to regard all the wild tribes as partly of indonesian, partly of proto-malayan origin. this view is also in conformity with the character of the numerous formosan dialects, whose affinities are either with the gyarung and others of the asiatic indonesian tongues, or else with the austronesian organic speech generally, but not specially with any particular member of that family, least of all with the comparatively recent standard malay. thus arnold schetelig points out that only about a sixth part of the formosan vocabulary taken generally corresponds with modern malay[ ]. the analogies of all the rest must be sought in the various branches of the oceanic stock language, and in the gyarung and the non-chinese tongues of eastern china[ ]. formosa thus presents a curious ethnical and linguistic connecting link between the continental and oceanic populations. in the nicobar archipelago are distinguished two ethnical groups, the coast people, _i.e._ the _nicobarese_[ ] proper, and the _shom pen_, aborigines of the less accessible inland districts in great nicobar. but the distinction appears to be rather social than racial, and we may now conclude with e. h. man that all the islanders belong essentially to the mongolic division, the inlanders representing the pure type, the others being "descended from a mongrel malay stock, the crosses being probably in the majority of cases with burmese and occasionally with natives of the opposite coast of siam, and perchance also in remote times with such of the shom pen as may have settled in their midst[ ]." among the numerous usages which point to an indo-chinese and oceanic connection are pile-dwellings; the chewing of betel, which appears to be here mixed with some earthy substance causing a dental incrustation so thick as even to prevent the closing of the lips; distention of the ear-lobe by wooden cylinders; aversion from the use of milk; and the _couvade_, as amongst some bornean dayaks. the language, which has an extraordinarily rich phonetic system (as many as consonantal and vowel sounds), is polysyllabic and untoned, like the austronesian, and the type also seems to resemble the oceanic more than the continental mongol subdivision. mean height ft. in. (shom pen one inch less); nose wide and flat; eyes rather obliquely set; cheekbones prominent; features flat, though less so than in the normal malayan; complexion mostly a yellowish or reddish brown (shom pen dull brown); hair a dark rusty brown, rarely quite black, straight, though not seldom wavy and even ringletty, but shom pen generally quite straight. on the other hand they approach nearer to the burmese in their mental characters; in their frank, independent spirit, inquisitiveness, and kindness towards their women, who enjoy complete social equality, as in burma; and lastly in their universal belief in spirits called _iwi_ or _síya_, who, like the _nats_ of indo-china, cause sickness and death unless scared away or appeased by offerings. like the burmese, also, they place a piece of money in the mouth or against the cheek of a corpse before burial, to help in the other world. one of the few industries is the manufacture of a peculiar kind of rough painted pottery, which is absolutely confined to the islet of chowra, miles north of teressa. the reason of this restriction is explained by a popular legend, according to which in remote ages the great unknown decreed that, on pain of sudden death, an earthquake, or some such calamity, the making of earthenware was to be carried on only in chowra, and all the work of preparing the clay, moulding and firing the pots, was to devolve on the women. once, a long time ago, one of these women, when on a visit in another island, began, heedless of the divine injunction, to make a vessel, and fell dead on the spot. thus was confirmed the tradition, and no attempt has since been made to infringe the "chowra monopoly[ ]." all things considered, it may be inferred that the archipelago was originally occupied by primitive peoples of malayan stock now represented by the shom pen of great nicobar, and was afterwards re-settled on the coastlands by indo-chinese and malayan intruders, who intermingled, and either extirpated or absorbed, or else drove to the interior the first occupants. nicobar thus resembles formosa in its intermediate position between the continental and oceanic mongol populations. another point of analogy is the absence of negritoes from both of these insular areas, where anthropologists had confidently anticipated the presence of a dark element like that of the andamanese and philippine aeta. footnotes: [ ] here e. t. hamy finds connecting links between the true malays and the indonesians in the bicols of albay and the bisayas of panay ("les races malaïques et américaines," in _l'anthropologie_, , p. ). used in this extended sense, hamy's _malaïque_ corresponds generally to our _malayan_ as defined presently. [ ] ethnically malayo-polynesian is an impossible expression, because it links together the malays, who belong to the mongol, and the polynesians, who belong to the caucasic division. but as both undoubtedly speak languages of the same linguistic stock the expression is permitted in philology, although, as p. w. schmidt points out, "malay" and "polynesian" are not of equal rank: and the combination is as unbalanced as "indo-bavarian" for "indo-germanic"; it is best therefore to adopt schmidt's term _austronesian_ for this family of languages (_die mon-khmer völker_, , p. ). [ ] indonesian type: undulating black hair, often tinged with red; tawny skin, often rather light; low stature, . m.- . m. ( ft. - / in.- ft. - / in.); mesaticephalic head ( - ) probably originally dolichocephalic; cheek-bones sometimes projecting; nose often flattened, sometimes concave. it is difficult to isolate this type as it has almost everywhere been mixed with a brachycephalic proto-malay stock, but the muruts of borneo (cranial index ) are probably typical (a. c. haddon, _the races of man_, , p. ). [ ] recent literature on this area includes f. a. swettenham, _the real malay_, , _british malaya_, ; w. w. skeat, _malay magic_, ; n. annandale and h. c. robinson, _fasciculi malayenses_, ; w. w. skeat and c. o. blagden, _pagan races of the malay peninsula_, . [ ] j. leyden, _malay annals_, , p. . [ ] in some places quite recent, as in rembau, malay peninsula, whose inhabitants are mainly immigrants from sumatra in the seventeenth century; and in the neighbouring group of petty negri sembilan states, where the very tribal names, such as _anak acheh_, and _sri lemak menangkabau_, betray their late arrival from the sumatran districts of achin and menangkabau. [ ] _the malay archipelago_, p. . [ ] for celebes see von paul und fritz sarasin, _reisen in celebes ausgeführt in den jahren - und - _, , and _versuch einer anthropologie der insel celebes_, . [ ] in a troop of javanese minstrels visited london, and one of them, whom i addressed in a few broken malay sentences, resented in his sleepy way the imputation that he was an orang-maláyu, explaining that he was _orang java_, a javanese, and (when further questioned) _orang solo_, a native of the solo district, east java. it was interesting to notice the very marked mongolic features of these natives, vividly recalling the remark of a. r. wallace, on the difficulty of distinguishing between a javanese and a chinaman when both are dressed alike. the resemblance may to a small extent be due to "mixture with chinese blood" (b. hagen, _jour. anthrop. soc._ vienna, ); but occurs over such a wide area that it must mainly be attributed to the common origin of the chinese and javanese peoples. [ ] a. h. keane, _eastern geography_, nd ed. , p. . [ ] _academy_, may , , p. . [ ] cool, p. . [ ] _the malay archipelago_, p. . [ ] in _malay sketches_, . [ ] cf. m. a. czaplicka on arctic hysteria in _aboriginal siberia_, , p. . [ ] on these national pastimes see sir hugh clifford, _in court and kampong_, , p. sq. [ ] _cujo officio he rubar e pescar_, "whose business it is to rob and fish" (barros). many of the bajaus lived entirely afloat, passing their lives in boats from the cradle to the grave, and praying allah that they might die at sea. [ ] thucydides, _pel. war_, i. - . [ ] these are the noted _illanuns_, who occupy the south side of the large philippine island of mindanao, but many of whom, like the bajaus of celebes and the sulu islanders, have formed settlements on the north-east coast of borneo. "long ago their warfare against the spaniards degenerated into general piracy. their usual practice was not to take captives, but to murder all on board any boat they took. those with us [british north borneo] have all settled down to a more orderly way of life" (w. b. pryer, _journ. anthr. inst._ , p. ). [ ] _the malay archipelago_, p. . [ ] in central africa "the belief in 'were' animals, that is to say in human beings who have changed themselves into lions or leopards or some such harmful beasts, is nearly universal. moreover there are individuals who imagine they possess this power of assuming the form of an animal and killing human beings in that shape." sir h. h. johnston, _british central africa_, p. . [ ] _in court and kampong_, p. . [ ] _journ. anthr. inst._ , p. . the rajah gives the leading features of the character of his countrymen as "pride of race and birth, extraordinary observance of punctilio, and a bigoted adherence to ancient custom and tradition." [ ] _the pygmies_ (translation), , p. , fig. . [ ] _the distribution of the negritos_, , p. . [ ] in the appendix to c. hose and w. mcdougall, _the pagan tribes of borneo_, , p. . [ ] j. h. kohlbrugge, _l'anthropologie_, ix. . [ ] a. c. haddon, "a sketch of the ethnography of sarawak," _archivio per l'antropologia e l'etnologia_, xxxi. ; c. hose and w. mcdougall, _the pagan tribes of borneo_, , appendix, p. . [ ] h. ling roth, _the natives of sarawak and british north borneo_, . [ ] o. beccari, _wanderings in the great forests of borneo_, , p. . [ ] schwaner, in h. ling roth, _the natives of sarawak_, etc., . [ ] a. c. haddon, _head-hunters, black, white and brown_, , p. . [ ] a. c. haddon, _head-hunters, black, white and brown_, , pp. - . [ ] for further literature on borneo see w. h. furness, _the home-life of the borneo head-hunters_, ; a. w. nieuwenhuis, _quer durch borneo_, ; e. h. gomes, _seventeen years among the sea-dyaks of borneo_, ; c. hose and w. mcdougall, _journ. anthr. inst._, xxxi. , and _the pagan tribes of borneo_, . [ ] not only in the southern districts for centuries subject to javanese influences, but also in battaland, where they were first discovered by h. von rosenberg in , and figured and described in _der malayische archipel_, leipzig, , vol. i. p. sq. "nach ihrer form und ihren bildwerken zu urtheilen, waren die gebäude tempel, worin der buddha-kultus gefeiert wurde" (p. ). these are all the more interesting since hindu ruins are otherwise rare in sumatra, where there is nothing comparable to the stupendous monuments of central and east java. [ ] von rosenberg, _op. cit._ vol. i. p. . amongst the points of close resemblance may be mentioned the outriggers, for which mentawi has the same word (_abak_) as the samoan (_va'r_ = _vaka_); the funeral rites; taboo; the facial expression; and the language, in which the numerical systems are identical; cf. ment. _limongapula_ with sam. _limagafulu_, the malay being _limapulah_ (fifty), where the sam. infix _ga_ (absent in malay) is pronounced _gna_, exactly as in ment. [ ] see fr. müller, _ueber den ursprung der schrift der malaiischen völker_, vienna, ; and my appendix to stanford's _australasia_, first series, , p. . [ ] _die mangianenschrift von mindoro, herausgegeben von a. b. meyer u. a. schadenberg_, speciell bearbeitet von w. foy, dresden, ; see also my remarks in _journ. anthr. inst._ , p. sq. [ ] the rejang, which certainly belongs to the same indo-javanese system as all the other malaysian alphabets, has been regarded by sayce and renan as "pure phoenician," while neubauer has compared it with that current in the fourth and fifth centuries b.c. the suggestion that it may have been introduced by the phoenician crews of alexander's admiral, nearchus (_archaeol. oxon._ , no. ), could not have been made by anyone aware of its close connection with the lampong of south, and the batta of north sumatra (see also prof. kern, _globus_, , p. ). [ ] sing. _batta_, pl. _battak_, hence the current form _battaks_ is a solecism, and we should write either _battas_ or _battak_. lassen derives the word from the sanskrit _b'háta_, "savage." [ ] again confirmed by volz and h. von autenrieth, who explored battaland early in , and penetrated to the territory of the "cannibal pakpaks" (_geogr. journ._, june, , p. ); not however "for the first time," as here stated. the pakpaks had already been visited in by von rosenberg, who found cannibalism so prevalent that "niemand anstand nimmt das essen von menschenfleisch einzugestehen" (_op. cit._ . p. ). [ ] it is interesting to note that by the aid of the lampong alphabet, south sumatra, john mathew reads the word _daibattah_ in the legend on the head-dress of a gigantic figure seen by sir george grey on the roof of a cave on the glenelg river, north-west australia ("the cave paintings of australia," etc., in _journ. anthr. inst._ , p. sq.). he quotes from coleman's _mythology of the hindus_ the statement that "the battas of sumatra believe in the existence of one supreme being, whom they name _debati hasi asi_. since completing the work of creation they suppose him to have remained perfectly quiescent, having wholly committed the government to his three sons, who do not govern in person, but by vakeels or proxies." here is possibly another confirmation of the view that early malayan migrations or expeditions, some even to australia, took place in pre-muhammadan times, long before the rise and diffusion of the orang-maláyu in the archipelago. [ ] _memoir of the life etc. of sir t. s. raffles_, by his widow, . [ ] "anthropologie des atjehs," in _rev. med._, batavia, xxx. , . [ ] see c. snouck hurgronje, _the achenese_, . [ ] _handbook to the ethnographical collections, british museum_, , p. . [ ] this opinion is still held by many competent authorities. cf. j. deniker, _the races of man_, , p. ff. [ ] "his remarks would scarcely apply to any other island off the east african coast, his descriptions of the rivers, crocodiles, land-tortoises, canoes, sea-turtles, and wicker-work weirs for catching fish, apply exactly to madagascar of the present day, but to none of the other islands" (_journ. anthr. inst._ , p. ). [ ] _loc. cit._ p. . thus, to take the days of the week, we have:--malagasy _alahady_, _alatsinainy_; old arab. (himyar.) _al-áhadu_, _al-itsnáni_; modern arab. _el-áhad_, _el-etnén_ (sunday, monday), where the mal. forms are obviously derived not from the present, but from the ancient arabic. from all this it seems reasonable to infer that the early semitic influences in madagascar may be due to the same sabaean or minaean peoples of south arabia, to whom the zimbabwe monuments in the auriferous region south of the zambesi were accredited by theodore bent. [ ] those who may still doubt should consult m. aristide marre, _les affinités de la langue malgache_, leyden, ; last's above quoted paper in the _journ. anthr. inst._ and r. h. codrington's _melanesian languages_, oxford, . [ ] malay _mata-ari_; bajau _mata-lon_; menado _mata-ro[=u]_; salayer _mato-allo_, all meaning literally "day's eye" (_mata_, _mato_ = malagasy _maso_ = eye; _ari_, _allo_, etc. = day, with normal interchange of _r_ and _l_). [ ] j. sibree, _antananarivo annual_, , p. . [ ] w. d. cowan, _the bara land_, antananarivo, , p. . [ ] "the betsileo, country and people," in _antananarivo annual_, , p. . [ ] "note sur l'anthropologie de madagascar," etc., in _l'anthropologie_, , p. sq. [ ] the contrast between the two elements is drawn in a few bold strokes by mrs z. colvile, who found that in the east coast districts the natives (betsimisarakas chiefly) were black "with short, curly hair and negro type of feature, and showed every sign of being of african origin. the hovas, on the contrary, had complexions little darker than those of the peasantry of southern europe, straight black hair, rather sharp features, slim figures, and were unmistakably of the asiatic type" (_round the black man's garden_, , p. ). but even amongst the hovas a strain of black blood is betrayed in the generally rather thick lips, and among the lower classes in the wavy hair and dark skin. [ ] _journ. anthr. inst._ , p. sq. [ ] _journ. anthr. inst._ , p. . [ ] _handbook to the ethnological collection, british museum_, , pp. - . [ ] augustinians, dominicans, recollects (friars minor of the strict observance), and jesuits. [ ] in fact there is no great parade of morality on either side, nor is it any reflection on a woman to have children by the priest. [ ] j. foreman, _the philippine islands_, , p. . [ ] _australasia_, , ii. p. . [ ] _the bontoc igorot_, eth. survey pub. vol. i. . further information concerning the philippines is published in the _census report in _, ; _ethnological survey publications_, - ; c. a. koeze, _crania ethnica philippinica, ein beitrag zur anthropologie der philippinen_, - ; henry gannett, _people of the philippines_, ; r. b. bean, _the racial anatomy of the philippine islanders_, ; fay-cooper cole, _wild tribes of davao district, mindanao_, . [ ] a. e. jenks, _the bontoc igorot_, , p. . [ ] _op. cit._ p. . [ ] girard de rialle, _rev. d'anthrop._, jan. and april, . these studies are based largely on the data supplied by m. paul ibis and earlier travellers in the island. nothing better has since appeared except g. taylor's valuable contributions to the _china review_ (see below). the census of gave , , chinese, , japanese and , aborigines. [ ] lit. "ripe barbarians" (_barbares mûrs_, ibis). [ ] see facsimiles of bilingual and other mss. from formosa in t. de lacouperie's _formosa notes on mss., languages, and races_, hertford, . the whole question is here fully discussed, though the author seems unable to arrive at any definite conclusion even as to the _bona_ or _mala fides_ of the noted impostor george psalmanazar. [ ] _globus_, , p. sq. [ ] "les races malaïques," etc., in _l'anthropologie_, . [ ] "the aborigines of formosa," in _china review_, xiv. p. sq., also xvi. no. ("a ramble through southern formosa"). the services rendered by this intelligent observer to formosan ethnology deserve more general recognition than they have hitherto received. see also the _report on the control of the aborigines of formosa_, bureau of aboriginal affairs, formosa, . [ ] "sprachen der ureinwohner formosa's," in _zeitschr. f. völkerpsychologie_, etc., v. p. sq. this anthropologist found to his great surprise that the polynesian and maori skulls in the london college of surgeons presented striking analogies with those collected by himself in formosa. here at least is a remarkable harmony between speech and physical characters. [ ] de lacouperie, _op. cit._ p. . [ ] the natives of course know nothing of this word, and speak of their island homes as _mattai_, a vague term applied equally to land, country, village, and even the whole world. [ ] "the nicobar islanders," in _journ. anthr. inst._ , p. sq. cf. c. b. kloss, _in the andamans and nicobars_, . [ ] e. h. man, _journ. anthr. inst._ , p. . chapter viii the northern mongols domain of the mongolo-turki section--early contact with caucasic peoples--primitive man in siberia--and mongolia--early man in korea and japan--in finland and east europe--early man in babylonia--the sumerians--the akkadians--babylonian chronology--elamite origins--historical records--babylonian religion--social system--general culture--the mongols proper--physical type--ethnical and administrative divisions--buddhism--the tunguses--cradle and type--mental characters--shamanism--the manchus--origins and early records--type--the dauri--mongolo-turki speech--language and racial characters--mongol and manchu script--the yukaghirs--a primitive writing system--chukchis and koryaks--chukchi and eskimo relations--type and social state--koryaks and kamchadales--the gilyaks--the koreans--ethnical elements--korean origins and records--religion--the korean script--the japanese--origins-- constituent elements--the japanese type--japanese and liu-kiu islanders--their languages and religions--cult of the dead-- shintoism and buddhism. conspectus. #present range.# _the northern hemisphere from japan to lapland, and from the arctic ocean to the great wall and tibet_; _aralo-caspian basin_; _parts of irania_; _asia minor_; _parts of east russia, balkan peninsula, and lower danube_. #hair#, _generally the same as south mongol, but in mongolo-caucasic transitional groups brown, chestnut, and even towy or light flaxen, also wavy and ringletty_; _beard mostly absent except amongst the western turks and some koreans_. #colour#, _light or dirty yellowish amongst all true mongols and siberians_; _very variable (white, sallow, swarthy) in the transitional groups (finns, lapps, magyars, bulgars, western turks), and many manchus and koreans_; _in japan the unexposed parts of the body also white_. #skull#, _highly brachycephalic in the true mongol( to )_; _variable (sub-brachy and sub-dolicho) in most transitional groups and even some siberians (ostyaks and voguls )_. #jaws#, #cheek-bones#, #nose#, _and_ #eyes# _much the same as in south mongols_; _but nose often large and straight, and eyes straight, greyish, or even blue in finns, manchus, koreans, and some other mongolo-caucasians_. #stature#, _usually short (below . m., ft. in.), but many manchus and koreans tall, . m. to . m. ( ft. or in.)_. #lips#, #arms#, #legs#, _and_ #feet#, _usually the same as south mongols_; _but japanese legs disproportionately short_. #temperament#, _of all true mongols and many mongoloids, dull, reserved, somewhat sullen and apathetic_; _but in some groups (finns, japanese) active and energetic_; _nearly all brave, warlike, even fierce, and capable of great atrocities, though not normally cruel_; _within the historic period the character has almost everywhere undergone a marked change from a rude and ferocious to a milder and more humane disposition_; _ethical tone higher than south mongol, with more developed sense of right and wrong_. #speech#, _very uniform_; _apparently only one stock language_ (#finno-tatar# _or_ #ural-altaic family#), _a highly typical agglutinating form with no prefixes, but numerous postfixes attached loosely to an unchangeable root, by which their vowels are modified in accordance with subtle laws of vocalic harmony_; _the chief members of the family (finnish, magyar, turkish, mongol, and especially korean and japanese) diverge greatly from the common prototype_. #religion#, _originally spirit-worship through a mediator_ (shaman), _perhaps everywhere, and still exclusively prevalent amongst siberian and all other uncivilised groups_; _all mongols proper, manchus, and koreans nominal buddhists_; _all turki peoples moslem_; _japanese buddhists and shintoists_; _finns, lapps, bulgars, magyars, and some siberians real or nominal christians_. #culture#, _rude and barbaric rather than savage amongst the siberian aborigines, who are nearly all nomadic hunters and fishers with half-wild reindeer herds but scarcely any industries_; _the mongols proper, kirghiz, uzbegs and turkomans semi-nomadic pastors_; _the anatolian and balkan turks, manchus, and koreans settled agriculturists, with scarcely any arts or letters and no science_; _japanese, finns, bulgars and magyars civilised up to, and in some respects beyond the european average (magyar and finnish literature, japanese art)_. #mongol proper.# _sharra (eastern), kalmak (western), buryat (siberian) mongol._ #tungus.# _tungus proper, manchu, gold, oroch, lamut._ #korean#; #japanese# _and_ #liu-kiu#. #turki.# _yakut; kirghiz; uzbeg; taranchi; kara-kalpak; nogai; turkoman; anatolian; osmanli._ #finno-ugrian.# _baltic finn; lapp; samoyed; cheremiss; votyak; vogul; ostyak; bulgar; magyar._ #east siberian.# _yukaghir; chukchi; koryak; kamchadale; gilyak._ * * * * * by "northern mongols" are here to be understood all those branches of the mongol division of mankind which are usually comprised under the collective geographical expression _ural-altaic_, to which corresponds the ethnical designation _mongolo-tatar_, or more properly _mongolo-turki_[ ]. their domain is roughly separated from that of the southern mongols (chap. vi.) by the great wall and the kuen-lun range, beyond which it spreads out westwards over most of western asia, and a considerable part of north europe, with many scattered groups in central and south russia, the balkan peninsula, and the middle danube basin. in the extreme north their territory stretches from the shores of the pacific with japan and parts of sakhalin continually westwards across korea, siberia, central and north russia to finland and lapland. but its southern limits can be indicated only approximately by a line drawn from the kuen-lun range westwards along the northern escarpments of the iranian plateau, and round the southern shores of the caspian to the mediterranean. this line, however, must be drawn in such a way as to include afghan turkestan, much of the north persian and caucasian steppes, and nearly the whole of asia minor, while excluding armenia, kurdestan, and syria. nor is it to be supposed that even within these limits the north mongol territory is everywhere continuous. in east europe especially, where they are for the most part comparatively recent intruders, the mongols are found only in isolated and vanishing groups in the lower and middle volga basin, the crimea, and the north caucasian steppe, and in more compact bodies in rumelia, bulgaria, and hungary. throughout all these districts, however, the process of absorption or assimilation to the normal european physical type is so far completed that many of the nogai and other russian "tartars," as they are called, the volga and baltic finns, the magyars, and osmanli turks, would scarcely be recognised as members of the north mongol family but for their common finno-turki speech, and the historic evidence by which their original connection with this division is established beyond all question. in central asia also (north irania, the aralo-caspian and tarim basins) the mongols have been in close contact with caucasic peoples probably since the new stone age, and here intermediate types have been developed, by which an almost unbroken transition has been brought about between the yellow and the white races. during recent years much light has been shed on the physiographical conditions of central asia in early times. stein's[ ] explorations in - and - in chinese turkestan, the pumpelly expeditions[ ] in and in russian turkestan, the travels of sven hedin[ ] in - , and - , of carruthers[ ] in n.w. mongolia, and the researches of ellsworth huntington[ ] (a member of the first pumpelly expedition) in - all bear testimony to the variation in climate which the districts of central asia have undergone since glacial times. there has been a general trend towards arid conditions, alternating with periods of greater humidity, when tracts, now deserted, were capable of maintaining a dense population. abundant evidence of man's occupation has been found in delta oases formed by snow-fed mountain streams, or on the banks of vanished rivers, where now-a-days all is desolation, though, as t. peisker[ ] points out, climate was not the sole or even the main factor in many areas. in some places, as at merv, the earliest occupation was only a few centuries before the christian era, but at anau near askhabad some miles east of the caspian, explored by the pumpelly expedition, the earliest strata contained remains of stone age culture. the north kurgan or tumulus, rising some or feet above the plain, showed a definite stratification of structures in sun-dried bricks, raised by successive generations of occupants. h. schmidt, who was in charge of the excavations, was able to collect a valuable series of potsherds, showing a gradual evolution in form, technique and ornamentation, from the earliest to the latest periods. one point of great significance for establishing cultural if not physical relationships in this obscure region is the resemblance between the geometrical designs on pots of the early period and similar pottery found by mm. gautier and lampre[ ] at mussian, and by m. j. de morgan[ ] at susa, while clay figurines from the south kurgan (copper culture) are clearly of babylonian type, the influence of which is seen much later in terra-cotta figurines discovered by stein[ ] at yotkan. with the progress of archaeological research, it becomes daily more evident that the whole of the north mongol domain, from finland to japan, has passed through the stone and metal ages, like most other habitable parts of the globe. during his wanderings in siberia and mongolia in the early nineties, hans leder[ ] came upon countless prehistoric stations, kurgans (barrows), stone circles, and many megalithic monuments of various types. in west siberia the barrows, which consist solely of earth without any stone-work, are by the present inhabitants called _chudskiye kurgani_, "chudish graves," and, as in north russia, this term "chude" is ascribed to a now vanished unknown race which formerly inhabited the land. to them, as to the "toltecs" in central america, all ancient monuments are credited, and while some regard them as prehistoric finns, others identify them with the historic scythians, the scythians of herodotus. there are reasons, however, for thinking that the chudes may represent an earlier race, the men of the stone age, who, migrating from north europe eastwards, had reached the tom valley (which drains to the obi) before the extinction of the mammoth, and later spread over the whole of northern asia, leaving everywhere evidence of their presence in the megalithic monuments now being daily brought to light in east siberia, mongolia, korea, and japan. this view receives support from the characters of two skulls found in by a. p. mostitz in one of the five prehistoric stations on the left bank of the sava affluent of the selenga river, near ust-kiakta in trans-baikalia. they differ markedly from the normal buryat (siberian mongol) type, recalling rather the long-shaped skulls of the south russian kurgans, with cephalic indices . and . , as measured by m. j. d. talko-hryncewicz[ ]. thus, in the very heart of the mongol domain, the characteristically round-headed race would appear to have been preceded, as in europe, by a long-headed type. in east siberia, and especially in the lake baikal region, leder found extensive tracts strewn with kurgans, many of which have already been explored, and their contents deposited in the irkutsk museum. amongst these are great numbers of stone implements, and objects made of bone and mammoth tusks, besides carefully worked copper ware, betraying technical skill and some artistic taste in the designs. in trans-baikalia, still farther east, with the kurgans are associated the so-called _kameni babi_, "stone women," monoliths rough-hewn in the form of human figures. many of these monoliths bear inscriptions, which, however, appear to be of recent date (mostly buddhist prayers and formularies), and are not to be confounded with the much older rock inscriptions deciphered by w. thomsen through the turki language. continuing his investigations in mongolia proper, leder here also discovered earthen kurgans, which, however, differed from those of siberia by being for the most part surmounted either with circular or rectangular stone structures, or else with monoliths. they are called _kürüktsúr_ by the present inhabitants, who hold them in great awe, and never venture to touch them. unfortunately strangers also are unable to examine their contents, all disturbance of the ground with spade or shovel being forbidden under pain of death by the chinese officials, for fear of awakening the evil spirits, now slumbering peacefully below the surface. the siberian burial mounds have yielded no bronze, a fact which indicates considerable antiquity, although no date can be set for its introduction into these regions. better evidence of antiquity is found in the climatic changes resulting in recent desiccation, which must have taken place here as elsewhere, for the burials bear witness to the existence of a denser population than could be supported at the present time[ ]. such an antiquity is indeed required to explain the spread of neolithic remains to the pacific seaboard, and especially to korea and japan. in korea w. gowland examined a dolmen miles from seul, which he describes and figures[ ], and which is remarkable especially for the disproportionate size of the capstone, a huge undressed megalith - / by over feet. he refers to four or five others, all in the northern part of the peninsula, and regards them as "intermediate in form between a cist and a dolmen." but he thinks it probable that they were never covered by mounds, but always stood as monuments above ground, in this respect differing from the japanese, the majority of which are all buried in tumuli. in some of their features these present a curious resemblance to the brittany structures, but no stone implements appear to have been found in any of the burial mounds, and the japanese chambered tombs, according to hamada, professor of archaeology in kyoto university, are usually attributed to the iron age (fifth to seventh centuries a.d.[ ]). in many districts japan contains memorials of a remote past--shell mounds, cave-dwellings, and in yezo certain pits, which are not occupied by the present ainu population, but are by them attributed to the _koro-pok-guru_, "people of the hollows," who occupied the land before their arrival, and lived in huts built over these pits. similar remains on an islet near nemuro on the north-east coast of yezo are said by the japanese to have belonged to the _kobito_, a dwarfish race exterminated by the ainu, hence apparently identical with the koro-pok-guru. they are associated by john milne with some primitive peoples of the kurile islands, sakhalin, and kamchatka, who, like the eskimo of the american coast, had extended formerly much farther south than at present. in a kitchen-midden, by feet, near shiidzuka in the province of ibaraki, the japanese antiquaries s. yagi and m. shinomura[ ] have found numerous objects belonging to the stone age of japan. amongst them were flint implements, worked bones, ashes, pottery, and a whole series of clay figures of human beings. the finders suggest that these remains may have belonged to a homogeneous race of the stone period, who, however, were not the ancestors of the ainu--hitherto generally regarded as the first inhabitants of japan. in the national records vague reference is made to other aborigines, such as the "long legs," and the "eight wild tribes," described as the enemies of the first japanese settlers in kiu-shiu, and reduced by jimmu tenno, the semi-mythical founder of the present dynasty; the _ebisu_, who are probably to be identified with the ainu; and the _seki-manzi_, "stone-men," also located in the southern island of kiu-shiu. the last-mentioned, of whom, however, little further is known, seem to have some claim to be associated with the above described remains of early man in japan[ ]. in the extreme west the present mongol peoples, being quite recent intruders, can in no way be connected with the abundant prehistoric relics daily brought to light in that region (south russia, the balkan peninsula, hungary). the same remark applies even to finland itself, which was at one time supposed to be the cradle of the finnish people, but is now shown to have been first occupied by germanic tribes. from an exhaustive study of the bronze-yielding tumuli a. hackman[ ] concludes that the population of the bronze period was teutonic, and in this he agrees both with montelius and with w. thomsen. the latter holds on linguistic grounds that at the beginning of the new era the finns still dwelt east of the gulf of finland, whence they moved west in later times. it is unfortunate that, owing probably to the character of the country, remains of the stone age in babylonia are wanting so that no comparison can yet be made with the neolithic cultures of egypt and the aegean. the constant floods to which babylonia was ever subject swept away all traces of early occupations until the advent of the sumerians, who built their cities on artificial mounds. the question of akkado-sumerian[ ] origins is by no means clear, for many important cities are unexplored and even unidentified, but the general trend of recent opinion may be noted. the linguistic problem is peculiarly complicated by the fact that almost all the sumerian texts show evidence of semitic influence, and consist to a great extent of religious hymns and incantations which often appear to be merely translations of semitic ideas turned by semitic priests into the formal religious sumerian language. j. halévy, indeed, followed by others, regarded sumerian as no true language, but merely a priestly system of cryptography[ ], based on semitic. as regards linguistic affinities, k. a. hermann[ ] endeavoured to establish a connection between the early texts and ural-altaic, more especially with ugro-finnish. a more recent suggestion that the language is of indo-european origin and structure rests on equally slight resemblances. the comparison with chinese has already been noticed. j. d. prince[ ] utters a word of caution against comparing ancient texts with idioms of more recent peoples of western asia, in spite of many tempting resemblances, and claims that until further light has been shed on the problem sumerian should be regarded as standing quite alone, "a prehistoric philological remnant." e. meyer[ ] claims for the sumerians not only linguistic but also physical isolation. the sumerian type as represented on the monuments shows a narrow pointed nose, with straight bridge and small nostrils, cheeks and lips not fleshy, like the semites, with prominent cheek-bones, small mouth, narrow lips finely curved, the lower jaw very short, with angular sharply projecting chin, oblique mongolian eyes, low forehead, usually sloping away directly from the root of the nose. in fact the nose has almost the appearance of a bird's beak, projecting far in advance of mouth and chin, while the forehead almost disappears. the hair and beard are closely shaven. the sumerians were undoubtedly a warlike people, fighting not like the semites in loosely extended battle array, but in close phalanx, their large shields protecting their bodies from neck to feet, forming a rampart beyond which projected the inclined spears of the foremost rank. battle axe and javelin were also used. helmets protected head and neck. besides lance or spear the royal leaders carried a curved throwing weapon, formed of three strands bound together at intervals with thongs of leather or bands of metal; this seems to have developed later into a sign of authority and hence into a sceptre. the bow, the typical weapon of the semites and the mountainous people to the east, was unrepresented. the gods carried clubs with stone heads. it is important to notice that, in direct contrast to the sumerians themselves, their gods had abundant hair on their heads, carefully curled and dressed, and a long curly beard on the chin, though cheeks and lips were closely shaven; these fashions recall those of the semites. thus, although the general view is to regard the sumerians as the autochthones and the semites as the later intruders in babylonia, the semitic character of the sumerian gods points to an opposite conclusion. but the time has not yet come for any definite conclusion to be reached. all that can be said is that according to our present knowledge the assumption that the earliest population was sumerian and that the semites were the conquering intruders is only slightly more probable than the reverse[ ]. recent archaeological discoveries make sumerian origins a little clearer. explorations in central asia (as mentioned above p. ) show that districts once well watered, and capable of supporting a large population, have been subject to periods of excessive drought, and this no doubt is the prime cause of the racial unrest which has ever been characteristic of the dwellers in these regions. a cycle of drought may well have prompted the sumerian migration of the fourth millennium b.c., as it is shown to have prompted the later invasions of the last two thousand years[ ]. although there is no evidence to connect the original home of the sumerians with any of the oases yet excavated in central asia, yet signs of cultural contact are not wanting, and it may safely be inferred that their civilisation was evolved in some region to the east of the euphrates valley before their entrance into babylonia[ ]. since semitic influence was first felt in the north of babylonia, at akkad, it is assumed that the immigration was from the north-west from arabia by way of the syrian coastlands, and in this case also the impulse may have been the occurrence of an arid period in the centre of the arabian continent. the semites are found not as barbarian invaders, but as a highly cultivated people. they absorbed several cultural elements of the sumerians, notably their script, and were profoundly influenced by sumerian religion. the akkadians are represented with elaborately curled hair and beard, and hence, in contradistinction to the shaven sumerians, are referred to as "the black-headed ones." their chief weapon was the bow, but they had also lances and battle axes. as among the sumerians the sign of kingship was a boomerang-like sceptre[ ]. except for babylon and sippar, which throw little light on the early periods, no systematic excavation has been undertaken in northern babylonia, and the site of akkad is still unidentified. the chronology of this early age of babylonia is much disputed. the very high dates of or b.c. formerly assigned by many writers to the earliest remains of the sumerians and the babylonian semites, depended to a great extent on the statement of nabonidus ( b.c.) that years separated his own age from that of naram-sin, the son of sargon of agade; for to sargon, on this statement alone, a date of has usually been assigned[ ]. this date presents many difficulties, leaving many centuries unrepresented by any royal names or records. even the suggested emendation of the text reducing the estimate by a thousand years is not generally acceptable. most authorities hesitate to date any babylonian records before b.c.[ ] and agree that the time has not arrived for fixing any definite dates for the early period. despite the legendary matter associated with his memory, shar-gani-sharri, commonly called sargon of akkad, about b.c. (meyer), b.c. (king), was beyond question a historical person though it seems that there has been some confusion with sharru-gi, or sharrukin, also called sargon, earliest king of kish[ ]. tradition records how his mother, a royal princess, concealed his birth by placing him in a rush basket closed with bitumen and sending him adrift on the stream, from which he was rescued by akki the water-carrier, who brought him up as his own child. the incident, about which there is nothing miraculous, presents a curious parallel to, if it be not the source of, similar tales related of moses, cyrus, and other ancient leaders of men. sargon also tells us that he ruled from his capital, agade, for years over upper and lower mesopotamia, governed the black-headed ones, as the akkads are constantly called, rode in bronze chariots over rugged lands, and made expeditions thrice to the sea-coast. the expeditions are confirmed by inscriptions from syria, though the cylinder of his son, naram-sin, found by cesnola in cyprus, is now regarded as of later date[ ]. as they also penetrated to sinai their influence appears to have extended over the whole of syria and north arabia. they erected great structures at nippur, which was at that time so ancient that naram-sin's huge brick platform stood on a mass feet thick of the accumulated debris of earlier buildings. among the most interesting of recent discoveries at nippur are pre-semitic tablets containing accounts similar to those recorded in the book of genesis, from which in some cases the latter have clearly been derived. the "deluge fragment" published in relates the warning given by the god ea to utnapishtim, the babylonian noah, and the directions for building a ship by means of which he and his family may escape, together with the beasts of the field and the birds of heaven[ ]. a still later discovery agrees more closely with the bible version, giving the name of the one pious man as tagtog, semitic nûhu, and assigning nine months as the period of the duration of the flood. the same tablet also contains an account of the fall of man; but it is noah, not adam, who is tempted and falls, and the forbidden fruit is cassia[ ]. sennacherib's grandson, ashurbanipal, who belongs to the late assyrian empire when the centre of power had been shifted from babylonia to nineveh, has left recorded on his brick tablets how he overran elam and destroyed its capital, susa ( b.c.). he states that from this place he brought back the effigy of the goddess, nana, which had been carried away from her temple at erech by an elamite king by whom akkad had been conquered years before, _i.e._ b.c. over akkad elam ruled years, and it was a king of this dynasty, khudur-lagamar, who has been identified by t. g. pinches with the "chedorlaomer, king of elam" routed by abraham (gen. xiv. - )[ ]. thus is explained the presence of elamites at this time so far west as syria, their own seat being amid the kurdish mountains in the upper tigris basin. the elamites do not appear to have been of the same stock as the sumerians. they are described as peaceful, industrious, and skilful husbandmen, with a surprising knowledge of irrigating processes. the non-semitic language shows possible connections with mitanni[ ]. yet the type would appear to be on the whole rather semitic, judging at least from the large arched nose and thick beard of the susian god, ramman, brought by ashurbanipal out of elam, and figured in layard's _monuments of nineveh_, st series, plate . this, however, may be explained by the fact that the elamites were subdued at an early date by intruding semites, although they afterwards shook off the yoke and became strong enough to conquer mesopotamia and extend their expeditions to syria and the jordan. the capital of elam was the renowned city of susa (shushan, whence susiana, the modern khuzistan). recent excavations show that the settlement dates from neolithic times[ ]. even after the capture of susa by ashurbanipal, elam again rose to great power under cyrus the great, who, however, was no persian adventurer, as stated by herodotus, but the legitimate elamite ruler, as inscribed on his cylinder and tablet now in the british museum:--"cyrus, the great king, the king of babylon, the king of sumir and akkad, the king of the four zones, the son of kambyses, the great king, the king of elam, the grandson of cyrus the great king," who by the favour of merodach has overcome the black-headed people (_i.e._ the akkads) and at last entered babylon in peace. on an earlier cylinder nabonidus, last king of babylon, tells us how this same cyrus subdued the medes--here called _mandas_, "barbarians"--and captured their king astyages and his capital ekbatana. but although cyrus, hitherto supposed to be a persian and a zoroastrian monotheist, here appears as an elamite and a polytheist, "it is pretty certain that although descended from elamite kings, these were [at that time] kings of persian race, who, after the destruction of the old [elamite] monarchy by ashurbanipal, had established a new dynasty at the city of susa. cyrus always traces his descent from achæmenes, the chief of the leading persian clan of pasargadæ[ ]." hence although wrong in speaking of cyrus as an adventurer, herodotus rightly calls him a persian, and at this late date elam itself may well have been already aryanised in speech[ ], while still retaining its old sumerian religion. the babylonian pantheon survived, in fact, till the time of darius hystaspes, who introduced zoroastrianism with its supreme gods, ahura-mazda, creator of all good, and ahriman, author of all evil. it is now possible to gain some idea of the gradual growth of the city states of babylonia. beginning with a mere collection of rude reed huts, these were succeeded by structures of sun-dried bricks, built in a group for mutual protection, probably around a centre of a local god, and surrounded by a wall. the land around the settlement was irrigated by canals, and here the corn and vegetables were grown and the flocks and herds were tended for the maintenance of the population. the central figure was always the god, who occasionally gave his name to the site, and who was the owner of all the land, the inhabitants being merely his tenants who owed him rent for their estates. it was the god who waged wars with the neighbours, and with whom treaties were made. the treaty between lagash and umma fixing the limitations of their boundaries, a constant matter of dispute, was made by ningirsu, god of lagash, and the city god of umma, under the arbitration of enlil, the chief of the gods, whose central shrine was at nippur. with the growth of the cities disputes of territory were sure to arise, and either by conquest or amalgamation, cities became absorbed into states. the problem then was the adjustment of the various city gods, each reigning supreme in his own city, but taking a higher or lower place in the babylonian pantheon. when one city gained a supremacy over all its neighbours, its governor might assume the title of king. but the king was merely the _patesi_, the steward of the city god. even when the supremacy was sufficiently permanent for the establishment of a dynasty, this was a dynasty of the city rather than of a family, for the successive kings were not necessarily of the same family[ ]. among the city gods who developed into powerful deities were anu of uruk (erech), enlil of nippur and ea of eridu (originally a sea-port). these became the supreme triad, anu ruling over the heavens, enthroned on the northern pole, as king and father of the gods; enlil, the semitic bel, god of earth, lord of the lands, formerly chief of all the gods; and ea, god of the water-depths, whose son was ultimately to eclipse his father as marduk of babylon. a second triad is composed of the local deities who developed into sin, the moon-god of ur, shamash the sun-god of larsa, and the famous ishtar, the great mother, goddess of love and queen of heaven. the realm of the dead was a dark place under the earth, where the dead lived as shadows, eating the dust of the earth. their lot depended partly on their earlier lives, and partly on the devotion of their surviving relatives. although their dead kings were deified there seems to be no evidence for a belief in a general resurrection or in the transmigration of souls. the hymns and prayers to the gods however show a very high religious level in spite of the important part played by soothsaying and exorcism, relics of earlier culture. the permanence of these may be partly ascribed to the essentially theocratic character of babylonian government. the king was merely the agent of the god, whose desires were interpreted by the priestly soothsayers and exorcists, and no action could be undertaken in worldly or in religious concerns without their superintendence. the kings occasionally attempted to free themselves from the power of the priests, but the attempt was always vain. the power of the priests had often a sound economic basis, for the temples of the great cities were centres of vast wealth and of far-reaching trade, as is proved by the discovery of the commercial contracts stored in the temple archives[ ]. how the family expands through the clan and tribe into the nation, is clearly seen in the babylonian social system, in which the inhabitants of each city were still "divided into clans, all of whose members claimed to be descended from a common ancestor who had flourished at a more or less remote period. the members of each clan were by no means all in the same social position, some having gone down in the world, others having raised themselves; and amongst them we find many different callings--from agricultural labourers to scribes, and from merchants to artisans. no natural tie existed among the majority of these members except the remembrance of their common origin, perhaps also a common religion, and eventual rights of succession or claims upon what belonged to each one individually[ ]." the god or goddess, it is suggested, who watched over each man, and of whom each was the son, was originally the god or goddess of the clan (its totem). so also in egypt, the members of the community were all supposed to come of the same stock (_páit_), and to belong to the same family (_páitu_), whose chiefs (_ropáitu_) were the guardians of the family, several groups of such families being under a _ropáitú-há_, or head chief[ ]. amongst the local institutions, it is startling to find a fully developed ground-landlord system, though not quite so bad as that still patiently endured in england, already flourishing ages ago in babylonia. "the cost of repairs fell usually on the lessee, who was also allowed to build on the land he had leased, in which case it was declared free of all charges for a period of about ten years; but the house and, as a rule, all he had built, then reverted to the landlord[ ]." in many other respects great progress had been made, and it is the belief of von ihring[ ], hommel[ ] and others that from babylonia was first diffused a knowledge of letters, astronomy, agriculture, navigation, architecture, and other arts, to the nile valley, and mainly through egypt to the western world, and through irania to china and india. in this generalisation there is probably a large measure of truth, although it will be seen farther on that the asiatic origin of egyptian culture is still far from being proved[ ]. one element the two peoples certainly had in common--a highly developed agricultural system, which formed the foundation of their greatness, and was maintained in a rainless climate by a stupendous system of irrigation works. such works were carried out on a prodigious scale by the ancient babylonians six or eight thousand years ago. the plains of the lower euphrates and tigris, since rendered desolate under turkish misrule, are intersected by the remains of an intricate network of canalisation covering all the space between the two rivers, and are strewn with the ruins of many great cities, whose inhabitants, numbering scores of thousands, were supported by the produce of a highly cultivated region, which is now an arid waste varied only by crumbling mounds, stagnant waters, and the camping-grounds of a few arab tent-dwellers. * * * * * those who attach weight to distinctive racial qualities have always found a difficulty in attributing this wonderful civilisation to the same mongolic people, who in their own homes have scarcely anywhere advanced beyond the hunting, fishing, or pastoral states. but it has always to be remembered that man, like all other zoological forms, necessarily reflects the character of his environment. the mongols might in time become agriculturalists in the alluvial mesopotamian lands, though the kindred people who give their name to the whole ethnical division and present its physical characters in an exaggerated form, ever remain tented nomads on the dry central asiatic steppe, which yields little but herbage, and is suitable for tillage only in a few more favoured districts. here the typical mongols, cut off from the arable lands of south siberia by the tian-shan and altai ranges, and to some extent denied access to the rich fluvial valleys of the middle kingdom by the barrier of the great wall, have for ages led a pastoral life in the inhabitable tracts and oases of the gobi wilderness and the ordos region within the great bend of the hoang-ho. during the historic period these natural and artificial ramparts have been several times surmounted by fierce mongol hordes, pouring like irresistible flood-waters over the whole of china and many parts of siberia, and extending their predatory or conquering expeditions across the more open northern plains westwards nearly to the shores of the atlantic. but such devastating torrents, which at intervals convulsed and caused dislocations amongst half the settled populations of the globe, had little effect on the tribal groups that remained behind. these continued and continue to occupy the original camping-grounds, as changeless and uniform in their physical appearance, mental characters, and social usages as the arab bedouins and all other inhabitants of monotonous undiversified steppe lands. de ujfalvy's suggestion that the typical mongols of the plains, with whom we are now dealing, were originally a long-headed race, can scarcely be taken seriously. at present and, in fact, throughout historic times, all true mongol peoples are and have been distinguished by a high degree of brachycephaly, with cephalic index generally from upwards, and it may be remembered that the highest known index of any undeformed skull was that of huxley's mongol ( . ). but, as already noticed, those recovered from prehistoric, or neolithic kurgans, are found to be dolichocephalous like those of palaeolithic and early neolithic man in europe. taken in connection with the numerous prehistoric remains above recorded from all parts of central asia and siberia, this fact may perhaps help to bring de ujfalvy's view into harmony with the actual conditions. everything will be explained by assuming that the proto-mongolic tribes, spreading from the tibetan plateau over the plains now bearing their name, found that region already occupied by the long-headed caucasic peoples of the stone ages, whom they either exterminated or drove north to the altai uplands, and east to manchuria and korea, where a strong caucasic strain still persists. de ujfalvy's long-heads would thus be, not the proto-mongols who were always round-headed, but the long-headed neolithic pre-mongol race expelled by them from mongolia who may provisionally be termed proto-nordics. that this region has been their true home since the first migrations from the south there can be no doubt. here land and people stand in the closest relation one to the other; here every conspicuous physical feature recalls some popular memory; every rugged crest is associated with the name of some national hero, every lake or stream is still worshipped or held in awe as a local deity, or else the abode of the ancestral shades. here also the mongols proper form two main divisions, _sharra_ in the east and _kalmúk_ in the west, while a third group, the somewhat mixed _buryats_, have long been settled in the siberian provinces of irkutsk and trans-baikalia. under the chinese semi-military administration all except the buryats, who are russian subjects, are constituted since the seventeenth century in _aimaks_ (large tribal groups or principalities with hereditary khans) and _koshungs_, "banners," that is, smaller groups whose chiefs are dependent on the khans of their respective aimaks, who are themselves directly responsible to the imperial government. subjoined is a table of these administrative divisions, which present a curious but effective combination of the tribal and political systems, analogous to the arrangement in pondoland and some other districts in cape colony, where the hereditary tribal chief assumes the functions of a responsible british magistrate. tribal or territorial aimaks koshungs divisions (principalities) (banners) khalkas inner mongolia with ordos chakars ala-shan koko-nor and tsaidam sungaria uriankhai -- --- since their organisation in aimaks and koshungs, the mongols have ceased to be a terror to the surrounding peoples. the incessant struggles between these tented warriors and the peaceful chinese populations, which began long before the dawn of history, were brought to a close with the overthrow of the sungarian power in the eighteenth century, when their political cohesion was broken, and the whole nation reduced to a state of abject helplessness, from which they cannot now hope to recover. the arm of chinese rule could be replaced only by the firmer grip of the northern autocrat, whose shadow already lies athwart the gobi wilderness. thus the only escape from the crushing monotony of a purely pastoral life, no longer relieved by intervals of warlike or predatory expeditions, lies in a survival of the old shamanist superstitions, or a further development of the degrading tibetan lamaism represented at urga by the _kutukhtu_, an incarnation of the buddha only less revered than the dalai lama himself[ ]. besides this high priest at urga, there are over a hundred smaller incarnations--_gigens_, as they are called--and these saintly beings possess unlimited means of plundering their votaries. the smallest favour, the touch of their garments, a pious ejaculation or blessing, is regarded as a priceless spiritual gift, and must be paid for with costly offerings. even the dead do not escape these exactions. however disposed of, whether buried or cremated, like the khans and lamas, or exposed to beasts and birds of prey, as is the fate of the common folk, "masses," which also command a high price, have to be said for forty days to relieve their souls from the torments of the buddhist purgatory. it is a singular fact, which, however, may perhaps admit of explanation, that nearly all the true mongol peoples have been buddhists since the spread of sakya-muni's teachings throughout central asia, while their turki kinsmen are zealous followers of the prophet. thus is seen, for instance, the strange spectacle of two mongolic groups, the kirghiz of the turki branch and the kalmuks of the west mongol branch, encamped side by side on the lower volga plains, the former all under the banner of the crescent, the latter devout worshippers of all the incarnations of buddha. but analogous phenomena occur amongst the european peoples, the teutons being mainly protestants, those of neo-latin speech mainly roman catholics, and the easterns orthodox. from all this, however, nothing more can be inferred than that the religions are partly a question of geography, partly determined by racial temperament and political conditions; while the religious sentiment, being universal, is above all local or ethnical considerations. under the first term of the expression _mongolo-turki_ (p. ) are comprised, besides the mongols proper, nearly all those branches of the division which lie to the east and north-east of mongolia, and are in most respects more closely allied with the mongol than with the turki section. such are the _tunguses_, with the kindred _manchus_, _golds_, _orochons_, _lamuts_, and others of the amur basin, the upper lena head-streams, the eastern affluents of the yenisei, and the shores of the sea of okhotsk; the _gilyaks_ about the amur estuary and in the northern parts of sakhalin; the _kamchadales_ in south kamchatka; in the extreme north-east the _koryaks_, _chukchis_, and _yukaghirs_; lastly the _koreans_, _japanese_, and _liu-kiu (lu-chu) islanders_. to the mongol section thus belong nearly all the peoples lying between the yenisei and the pacific (including most of the adjacent archipelagos), and between the great wall and the arctic ocean. the only two exceptions are the _yakuts_ of the middle and lower lena and neighbouring arctic rivers, who are of turki stock; and the _ainus_ of yezo, south sakhalin, and some of the kurile islands, who belong to the caucasic division. m. a. czaplicka proposes a useful classification of the various peoples of siberia, usually grouped on account of linguistic affinities as ural-altaians, and as "no other part of the world presents a racial problem of such complexity and in regard to no other part of the world's inhabitants have ethnologists of the last hundred years put forward such widely differing hypotheses of their origin[ ]," her tabulation may serve to clear the way. she divides the whole area[ ] into _palaeo-siberians_, representing the most ancient stock of dwellers in siberia, and _neo-siberians_, comprising the various tribes of central asiatic origin who are sufficiently differentiated from the kindred peoples of their earlier homes as to deserve a generic name of their own. the palaeo-siberians thus include the _chukchi_, _koryak_, _kamchadale_, _ainu_, _gilyak_, _eskimo_, _aleut_, _yukaghir_, _chuvanzy_ and _ostyak_ of yenisei. the neo-siberians include the finnic tribes (ugrian _ostyak_, and _vogul_), samoyedic tribes, turkic tribes (_yakut_ and turko-tatars of tobolsk and tomsk governments), mongolic tribes (western mongols or _kalmuk_, eastern mongols, and _buryat_), and tungusic tribes (_tungus_, _chapogir_, _gold_, _lamut_, _manchu_, _manyarg_, _oroch_, _orochon_ ("reindeer tungus"), _oroke_). a striking illustration of the general statement that the various cultural states are a question not of race, but of environment, is afforded by the varying social conditions of the widespread tungus family, who are fishers on the arctic coast, hunters in the east siberian woodlands, and for the most part sedentary tillers of the soil and townspeople in the rich alluvial valleys of the amur and its southern affluents. the russians, from whom we get the term tungus[ ], recognise these various pursuits, and speak of _horse_, _cattle_, _reindeer_, _dog_, _steppe_, and _forest_ tunguses, besides the settled farmers and stock-breeders of the amur. their original home appears to have been the shan-alin uplands, where they dwelt with the kindred _niu-chi_ (manchus) till the thirteenth century, when the disturbances brought about by the wars and conquests of jenghiz-khan drove them to their present seat in east siberia. the type, although essentially mongolic in the somewhat flat features, very prominent cheek-bones, slant eyes, long lank hair, yellowish brown colour and low stature, seems to show admixture with a higher race in the shapely frame, the nimble, active figure, and quick, intelligent expression, and especially in the variable skull. while generally round (indices ° to °), the head is sometimes flat on the top, like that of the true mongol, sometimes high and short, which, as hamy tells us, is specially characteristic of the turki race[ ]. all observers speak in enthusiastic language of the temperament and moral qualities of the tunguses, and particularly of those groups that roam the forests about the tunguska tributaries of the yenisei, which take their name from these daring hunters and trappers. "full of animation and natural impulse, always cheerful even in the deepest misery, holding themselves and others in like respect, of gentle manners and poetic speech, obliging without servility, unaffectedly proud, scorning falsehood, and indifferent to suffering and death, the tunguses are unquestionably an heroic people[ ]." a few have been brought within the pale of the orthodox church, and in the extreme south some are classed as buddhists. but the great bulk of the tungus nation are still shamanists. indeed the very word _shaman_ is of tungus origin, though current also amongst the buryats and yakuts. it is often taken to be the equivalent of priest; but in point of fact it represents a stage in the development of natural religion which has scarcely yet reached the sacerdotal state. "although in many cases the shamans act as priests, and take part in popular and family festivals, prayers, and sacrifices, their chief importance is based on the performance of duties which distinguish them sharply from ordinary priests[ ]." their functions are threefold, those of the medicine-man (the leech, or healer by supernatural means); of the soothsayer (the prophet through communion with the invisible world); and of the priest, especially in his capacity as exorcist, and in his general power to influence, control, or even coerce the good and evil spirits on behalf of their votaries. but as all spirits are, or were originally, identified with the souls of the departed, it follows that in its ultimate analysis shamanism resolves itself into a form of ancestry-worship. the system, of which there are many phases reflecting the different cultural states of its adherents, still prevails amongst all the siberian aborigines[ ], and generally amongst all the uncivilised ural-altaic populations, so that here again the religions strictly reflect the social condition of the peoples. thus the somewhat cultured finns, turks, mongols, and manchus are all either christians, muhammadans, or buddhists; while the uncultured but closely related samoyeds, ostyaks, orochons, tunguses, golds, gilyaks, koryaks, and chukchi, are almost without exception shamanists. the shamans do not appear to constitute a special caste or sacerdotal order, like the hierarchies of the christian churches. some are hereditary, some elected by popular vote, so to say. they may be either men, or women (_shamanka_), married or single; and if "rank" is spoken of, it simply means greater or less proficiency in the performance of the duties imposed on them. everything thus depends on their personal merits, which naturally gives rise to much jealousy between the members of the craft. thus amongst the "whites" and the "blacks," that is, those whose dealings are with the good and the bad spirits respectively, there is in some districts a standing feud, often resulting in fierce encounters and bloodshed. the buryats tell how the two factions throw axes at each other at great distances, the struggle usually ending in the death of one of the combatants. the blacks, who serve the evil spirits, bringing only disease, death, or ill-luck, and even killing people by eating up their souls, are of course the least popular, but also the most dreaded. many are credited with extraordinary and even miraculous powers, and there can be no doubt that they often act up to their reputation by performing almost incredible conjuring tricks in order to impose on the credulity of the ignorant, or outbid their rivals for the public favour. old richard johnson of chancelour's expedition to muscovy records how he saw a samoyed shaman stab himself with a sword, then make the sword red hot and thrust it through his body, so that the point protruded at the back, and johnson was able to touch it with his finger. they then bound the wizard tight with a reindeer-rope, and went through some performances curiously like those of the davenport brothers and other modern conjurers[ ]. to the much-discussed question whether the shamans are impostors, the best answer has perhaps been given by castrèn, who, speaking of the same samoyed magicians, remarks that if they were merely cheats, we should have to suppose that they did not share the religious beliefs of their fellow-tribesmen, but were a sort of rationalists far in advance of the times. hence it would seem much more probable that they deceived both themselves and others[ ], while no doubt many bolster up a waning reputation by playing the mountebank where there is no danger of detection. "shamanism amongst the siberian peoples," concludes our russian authority, "is at the present time in a moribund condition; it must die out with those beliefs among which alone such phenomena can arise and flourish. buddhism on the one hand, and muhammadanism on the other, not to mention christianity, are rapidly destroying the old ideas of the tribes among whom the shamans performed. especially has the more ancient black faith suffered from the yellow faith preached by the lamas. but the shamans, with their dark mysterious rites, have made a good struggle for life, and are still frequently found among the native christians and muhammadans. the mullahs and lamas have even been obliged to become shamans to a great extent, and many siberian tribes, who are nominally christians, believe in shamans, and have recourse to them." of all members of the tungusic family the manchus alone can be called a historical people. if they were really descended from the _khitans_ of the sungari valley, then their authentic records will date from the tenth century a.d., when these renowned warriors, after overthrowing the pu-haï ( ), founded the liao dynasty and reduced a great part of north china and surrounding lands. the khitans, from whom china was known to marco polo as _khitai_ (cathay), as it still is to the russians, were conquered in by the _niu-chi_ (_yu-chi, nu-chin_) of the shan-alin uplands, reputed cradle of the manchu race. these niu-chi, direct ancestors of the manchus, founded ( ) the state known as that of the "golden tartars," from _kin_, "gold," the title adopted by their chief aguta, "because iron (in reference to the _liao_, 'iron' dynasty) may rust, but gold remains ever pure and bright." the kins, however, retained their brightness only a little over a century, having been eclipsed by jenghiz-khan in . but about the middle of the fourteenth century the niu-chi again rose to power under aishiu-gioro, who, although of miraculous birth and surrounded by other legendary matter, appears to have been a historical person. he may be regarded as the true founder of the manchu dynasty, for it was in his time that this name came into general use. sing-tsu, one of his descendants, constructed the palisade, a feeble imitation of the great wall, sections of which still exist. thai-tsu, a still more famous member of the family, greatly extended the manchu kingdom ( - ), and it was his son tai-dsung who first assumed the imperial dignity under the title of tai-tsing. after his death, the ming dynasty having been overthrown by a rebel chief, the manchus were invited by the imperialists to aid in restoring order, entered peking in triumph, and, finding that the last of the mings had committed suicide, placed tai-dsung's nephew on the throne, thus founding the manchu dynasty ( ) which lasted down to . such has been the contribution of the manchu people to history; their contributions to arts, letters, science, in a word, to the general progress of mankind, have been _nil_. they found the middle kingdom, after ages of a sluggish growth, in a state of absolute stagnation, and there they have left it. on the other hand their assumption of the imperial administration brought about their own ruin, their effacement, and almost their very extinction as a separate nationality[ ]. manchuria, like mongolia, is organised in a number of half military, half civil divisions, the so-called _paki_, or "eight banners," and the constant demand made on these reserves, to support the dynasty and supply trustworthy garrisons for all the strongholds of the empire, has drawn off the best blood of the people, in fact sapped its vitality at the fountain-head. then the rich arable tracts thus depleted were gradually occupied by agricultural settlers from the south, with the result that the manchu race has nearly disappeared. from the ethnical standpoint the whole region beyond the great wall as far north as the amur has practically become an integral part of china, and from the political standpoint since an integral part of the russian empire. towards the middle of the nineteenth century the eight banners numbered scarcely more than a quarter of a million, and about that time the abbé huc declared that "the manchu nationality is destroyed beyond recovery. at present we shall look in vain for a single town or a single village throughout manchuria which is not exclusively inhabited by chinese. the local colour has been completely effaced, and except a few nomad groups nobody speaks manchu[ ]." similar testimony is afforded by later observers, and henry lansdell, amongst others, remarks that "the manchu, during the two centuries they have reigned in china, may be said to have been working out their own annihilation. their manners, language, their very country has become chinese, and some maintain that the manchu proper are now extinct[ ]." but the type, so far from being extinct, may be said to have received a considerable expansion, especially amongst the populations of north-east china. the taller stature and greatly superior physical appearance of the inhabitants of tien-tsin and surrounding districts[ ] over those of the southern provinces (fokien, kwang-tung), who are the chief representatives of the chinese race abroad, seem best explained by continual crossings with the neighbouring manchu people, at least since the twelfth century, if not earlier. closely related to the manchus (of the same stock says sir h. h. howorth, the distinction being purely political) are the _dauri_, who give their name to the extensive daur plateau, and formerly occupied both sides of the upper amur. daur is, in fact, the name applied by the buryats to all the tungus peoples of the amur basin. the dauri proper, who are now perhaps the best representatives of the original manchu type, would seem to have intermingled at a remote time with the long-headed pre-mongol populations of central asia. they are "taller and stronger than the oronchons [tungus groups lower down the amur]; the countenance is oval and more intellectual, and the cheeks are less broad. the nose is rather prominent, and the eyebrows straight. the skin is tawny, and the hair brown[ ]." most of these characters are such as we should expect to find in a people of mixed mongolo-caucasic descent, the latter element being derived from the long-headed race who had already reached the present mongolia, manchuria, korea, and the adjacent islands during neolithic times. thus may be explained the tall stature, somewhat regular features, brown hair, light eyes, and even florid complexion so often observed amongst the present inhabitants of manchuria, korea, and parts of north china. but no admixture, except of chinese literary terms, is seen in the manchu language, which, like mongolic, is a typical member of the agglutinating ural-altaic family. despite great differences, lexical, phonetic, and even structural, all the members of this widespread order of speech have in common a number of fundamental features, which justify the assumption that all spring from an original stock language, which has long been extinct, and the germs of which were perhaps first developed on the tibetan plateau. the essential characters of the system are:--( ) a "root" or notional term, generally a closed syllable, nominal or verbal, with a vowel or diphthong, strong or weak (hard or soft) according to the meaning of the term, hence incapable of change; ( ) a number of particles or relational terms somewhat loosely postfixed to the root, but incorporated with it by the principle of ( ) vowel harmony, a kind of vocal concordance, in virtue of which the vowels of all the postfixes must harmonise with the unchangeable vowel of the root. if this is strong all the following vowels of the combination, no matter what its length, must be strong; if weak they must conform in the same way. with nominal roots the postfixes are necessarily limited to the expression of a few simple relations; but with verbal roots they are in principle unlimited, so that the multifarious relations of the verb to its subject and object are all incorporated in the verbal compound itself, which may thus run at times to inordinate lengths. hence we have the expression "incorporating," commonly applied to this agglutinating system, which sometimes goes so far as to embody the notions of causality, possibility, passivity, negation, intensity, condition, and so on, besides the direct pronominal objects, in one interminable conglomerate, which is then treated as a simple verb, and run through all the secondary changes of number, person, tense, and mood. the result is an endless number of theoretically possible verbal forms, which, although in practice naturally limited to the ordinary requirements of speech, are far too numerous to allow of a complete verbal paradigm being constructed of any fully developed member of the ural-altaic group, such, for instance, as yakut, tungus, turki, mordvinian, finnish, or magyar. in this system the vowels are classed as strong or hard (_a, o, u_), weak or soft (the same _umlauted_: _ä_, _ö_, _ü_), and neutral (generally _e_, _i_), these last being so called because they occur indifferently with the two other classes. thus, if the determining root vowel is _a_ (strong), that of the postfixes may be either _a_ (strong), _e_ or _i_ (neutral); if _ä_ (weak), that of the postfixes may be either _ä_ (weak), or _e_ or _i_ as before. the postfixes themselves no doubt were originally notional terms worn down in form and meaning, so as to express mere abstract relation, as in the magyar _vel_ = with, from _veli_ = companion. tacked on to the root _fa_ = tree, this will give the ablative case, first unharmonised, _fa-vel_, then harmonised, _fa-val_ = tree-with, with a tree. in the early magyar texts of the twelfth century inharmonic compounds, such as _halál-nek_, later _halák-nak_ = at death, are numerous, from which it has been inferred that the principle of vowel harmony is not an original feature of the ural-altaic languages, but a later development, due in fact to phonetic decay, and still scarcely known in some members of the group, such as votyak and highland cheremissian (volga finn). but m. lucien adam holds that these idioms have lost the principle through foreign (russian) influence, and that the few traces still perceptible are survivals from a time when all the ural-altaic tongues were subject to progressive vowel harmony[ ]. but however this be, dean byrne is disposed to regard the alternating energetic utterance of the hard, and indolent utterance of the soft vowel series, as an expression of the alternating active and lethargic temperament of the race, such alternations being themselves due to the climatic conditions of their environment. "certainly the life of the great nomadic races involves a twofold experience of this kind, as they must during their abundant summer provide for their rigorous winter, when little can be done. their character, too, involves a striking combination of intermittent indolence and energy; and it is very remarkable that this distinction of roots is peculiar to the languages spoken originally where this great distinction of seasons exists. the fact that the distinction [between hard and soft] is imparted to all the suffixes of a root proves that the radical characteristic which it expresses is thought with these; and consequently that the radical idea is retained in the consciousness while these are added to it[ ]." this is a highly characteristic instance of the methods followed by dean byrne in his ingenious but hopeless attempt to explain the subtle structure of speech by the still more subtle temperament of the speaker, taken in connection with the alternating nature of the climate. the feature in question cannot be due to such alternation of mood and climate, because it is persistent throughout all seasons, while the hard and soft elements occur simultaneously, one might say, promiscuously, in conversation under all mental states of those conversing. the true explanation is given by schleicher, who points out that progressive vocal assimilation is the necessary result of agglutination, which by this means binds together the idea and its relations in their outward expression, just as they are already inseparately associated in the mind of the speaker. hence it is that such assonance is not confined to the ural-altaic group, analogous processes occurring at certain stages of their growth in all forms of speech, as in wolof, zulu-xosa, celtic (expressed by the formula of irish grammarians: "broad to broad, slender to slender"), and even in latin, as in such vocalic concordance as: _annus, perennis_; _ars, iners_; _lego, diligo_. in these examples the root vowel is influenced by that of the prefix, while in the mongolo-turki family the root vowel, coming first, is unchangeable, but, as explained, influences the vowels of the postfixes, the phonetic principle being the same in both systems. both mongol and manchu are cultivated languages employing modified forms of the uiguric (turki) script, which is based on the syriac introduced by the christian (nestorian) missionaries in the seventh century. it was first adopted by the mongols about , and perfected by the scribe tsorji osir under jenezek khan ( - ). the letters, connected together by continuous strokes, and slightly modified, as in syriac, according to their position at the beginning, middle, or end of the word, are disposed in vertical columns from left to right, an arrangement due no doubt to chinese influence. this is the more probable since the manchus, before the introduction of the mongol system in the sixteenth century, employed the chinese characters ever since the time of the kin dynasty. none of the other tungusic or north-east siberian peoples possess any writing system except the yukaghirs of the yasachnaya affluent of the kolymariver, who were visited in by the russian traveller, s. shargorodsky. from his report[ ], it appears that this symbolic writing is carved with a sharp knife out of soft fresh birch-bark, these simple materials sufficing to describe the tracks followed on hunting and fishing expeditions, as well as the sentiments of the young women in their correspondence with their sweethearts. specimens are given of these curious documents, some of which are touching and even pathetic. "thou goest hence, and i bide alone, for thy sake still to weep and moan," writes one disconsolate maid to her parting lover. another with a touch of jealousy: "thou goest forth thy russian flame to seek, who stands 'twixt thee and me, thy heart from me apart to keep. in a new home joy wilt thou find, while i must ever grieve, as thee i bear in mind, though another yet there be who loveth me." or again: "each youth his mate doth find; my fate alone it is of him to dream, who to another wedded is, and i must fain contented be, if only he forget not me." and with a note of wail: "thou hast gone hence, and of late it seems this place for me is desolate; and i too forth must fare, that so the memories old i may forget, and from the pangs thus flee of those bright days, which here i once enjoyed with thee." details of domestic life may even be given, and one accomplished maiden is able to make a record in her note-book of the combs, shawls, needles, thimble, cake of soap, lollipops, skeins of wool, and other sundries, which she has received from a yakut packman, in exchange for some clothes she has made him. without illustrations no description of the process would be intelligible. indeed it would seem these primitive documents are not always understood by the young folks themselves. they gather at times in groups to watch the process of composition by some expert damsel, the village "notary," and much merriment, we are told, is caused by the blunders of those who fail to read the text aright. it is not stated whether the system is current amongst the other yukaghir tribes, who dwell on the banks of the indigirka, yana, kerkodona, and neighbouring districts. they thus skirt the frozen ocean from near the lena delta to and beyond the kolyma, and are conterminous landwards with the yakuts on the south-west and the chukchi on the north-east. with the chukchi, the koryaks, the kamchadales, and the gilyaks they form a separate branch of the mongolic division sometimes grouped together as "hyperboreans," but distinguished from other ural-altaic peoples perhaps strictly on linguistic grounds. although now reduced to scarcely , the yukaghirs were formerly a numerous people, and the popular saying that their hearths on the banks of the kolyma at one time outnumbered the stars in the sky seems a reminiscence of more prosperous days. but great inroads have been made by epidemics, tribal wars, the excessive use of coarse ukraine tobacco and of bad spirits, indulged in even by the women and children. "a yukaghir, it is said, never intoxicates himself alone, but calls upon his family to share the drink, even children in arms being supplied with a portion[ ]." their language, which a. schiefner regards as radically distinct from all others[ ], is disappearing even more rapidly than the people themselves, if it be not already quite extinct. in the eighties it was spoken only by about a dozen old persons, its place being taken almost everywhere by the turki dialect of the yakuts[ ]. there appears to be a curious interchange of tribal names between the chukchi and their koryak neighbours, the term _koryak_ being the chukchi _khorana_, "reindeer," while the koryaks are said to call themselves _chauchau_, whence some derive the word _chukchi_. hooper, however, tells us that the proper form of chukchi is _tuski_, "brothers," or "confederates[ ]," and in any case the point is of little consequence, as dittmar is probably right in regarding both groups as closely related, and sprung originally from one stock[ ]. jointly they occupy the north-east extremity of the continent between the kolyma and bering strait, together with the northern parts of kamchatka; the chukchi lying to the north, the koryaks to the south, mainly round about the north-eastern inlets of the sea of okhotsk. reasons have already been advanced for supposing that the chukchi were a tungus people who came originally from the amur basin. in their arctic homes they appear to have waged long wars with the onkilon (ang-kali) aborigines, gradually merging with the survivors and also mingling both with the koryaks and chuklukmiut eskimo settled on the asiatic side of bering strait. but their relations to all these peoples are involved in great obscurity, and while some connect them with the itelmes of kamchatka[ ], by others they have been affiliated to the eskimo, owing to the eskimo dialect said to be spoken by them. but this "dialect" is only a trading jargon, a sort of "pidgin eskimo" current all round the coast, and consisting of chukchi, innuit, koryak, english, and even hawaii elements, mingled together in varying proportions. the true chukchi language, of which nordenskiöld collected words, is quite distinct from eskimo, and probably akin to koryak[ ], and the swedish explorer aptly remarks that "this race, settled on the primeval route between the old and new world, bears an unmistakable stamp of the mongols of asia and the eskimo and indians of america." he was much struck by the great resemblance of the chukchi weapons and household utensils to those of the greenland eskimo, while signe rink shows that even popular legends have been diffused amongst the populations on both sides of bering strait[ ]. such common elements, however, prove little for racial affinity, which seems excluded by the extremely round shape of the chukchi skull, as compared with the long-headed eskimo. but the type varies considerably both amongst the so-called "fishing chukchi," who occupy permanent stations along the seaboard, and the "reindeer chukchi," who roam the inland districts, shifting their camping-grounds with the seasons. there are no hereditary chiefs, and little deference is paid to the authority even of the owner of the largest reindeer herds, on whom the russians have conferred the title of _jerema_, regarding him as the head of the chukchi nation, and holding him responsible for the good conduct of his rude subjects. although nominal christians, they continue to sacrifice animals to the spirits of the rivers and mountains, and also to practise shamanist rites. they believe in an after-life, but only for those who die a violent death. hence the resignation and even alacrity with which the hopelessly infirm and the aged submit, when the time comes, to be dispatched by their kinsfolk, in accordance with the tribal custom of _kamitok_, which still survives in full vigour amongst the chukchi, as amongst the sumatran battas, and may be traced in many other parts of the world. "the doomed one," writes harry de windt, "takes a lively interest in the proceedings, and often assists in the preparation for his own death. the execution is always preceded by a feast, where seal and walrus meat are greedily devoured, and whisky consumed till all are intoxicated. a spontaneous burst of singing and the muffled roll of walrus-hide drums then herald the fatal moment. at a given signal a ring is formed by the relations and friends, the entire settlement looking on from the background. the executioner (usually the victim's son or brother) then steps forward, and placing his right foot behind the back of the condemned, slowly strangles him to death with a walrus-thong. a kamitok took place during the latter part of our stay[ ]." this custom of "voluntary death" is sometimes due to sorrow at the death of a near relative, a quarrel at home, or merely weariness of life, and bogoras thinks that the custom of killing old people does not exist as such, but is voluntarily chosen in preference to the hard life of an invalid[ ]. most recent observers have come to look upon the chukchi and _koryaks_ as essentially one and the same people, the chief difference being that the latter are if possible even more degraded than their northern neighbours[ ]. like them they are classed as sedentary fisherfolk or nomad reindeer-owners, the latter, who call themselves tumugulu, "wanderers," roaming chiefly between ghiyiginsk bay and the anadyr river. through them the chukchi merge gradually in the _itelmes_, who are better known as kamchadales, from the kamchatka river, where they are now chiefly concentrated. most of the itelmes are already russified in speech and--outwardly at least--in religion; but they still secretly immolate a dog now and then, to propitiate the malevolent beings who throw obstacles in the way of their hunting and fishing expeditions. yet their very existence depends on their canine associates, who are of a stout, almost wolfish breed, inured to hunger and hardships, and excellent for sledge work. somewhat distinct both from all these hyperboreans and from their neighbours, the orochons, golds, manegrs and other tungus peoples, are the _gilyaks_, formerly widespread, but now confined to the amur delta and the northern parts of sakhalin[ ]. some observers have connected them with the ainu and the korean aborigines, while a. anuchin detects two types--a mongoloid with sparse beard, high cheek-bones, and flat face, and a caucasic with bushy beard and more regular features[ ]. the latter traits have been attributed to russian mixture, but, as conjectured by h. von siebold, are more probably due to a fundamental connection with their ainu neighbours[ ]. mentally the gilyaks take a low position--h. lansdell thought the lowest of any people he had met in siberia[ ]. despite the zeal of the russian missionaries, and the inducements to join the fold, they remain obdurate shamanists, and even fatalists, so that "if one falls into the water the others will not help him out, on the plea that they would thus be opposing a higher power, who wills that he should perish.... the soul of the gilyak is supposed to pass at death into his favourite dog, which is accordingly fed with choice food; and when the spirit has been prayed by the shamans out of the dog, the animal is sacrificed on his master's grave. the soul is then represented as passing underground, lighted and guided by its own sun and moon, and continuing to lead there, in its spiritual abode, the same manner of life and pursuits as in the flesh[ ]." a speciality of the gilyaks, as well as of their gold neighbours, is the fish-skin costume, made from the skins of two kinds of salmon, and from this all these aborigines are known to the chinese as _yupitatse_, "fish-skin-clad-people." "they strip it off with great dexterity, and by beating with a mallet remove the scales, and so render it supple. clothes thus made are waterproof. i saw a travelling-bag, and even the sail of a boat, made of this material[ ]." like the ainu, the gilyaks may be called bear-worshippers. at least this animal is supposed to be one of their chief gods, although they ensnare him in winter, keep him in confinement, and when well fattened tear him to pieces, devouring his mangled remains with much feasting and jubilation. since the opening up of korea, some fresh light has been thrown upon the origins and ethnical relations of its present inhabitants. in his monograph on the yellow races[ ] hamy had included them in the mongol division, but not without reserve, adding that "while some might be taken for tibetans, others look like an oceanic cross; hence the contradictory reports and theories of modern travellers." since then the study of some skulls forwarded to paris has enabled him to clear up some of the confusion, which is obviously due to interminglings of different elements dating from remote (neolithic) times. on the data supplied by these skulls hamy classes the koreans in three groups:-- . the natives of the northern provinces (ping-ngan-tao and hienking-tao), strikingly like their mongol [tungus] neighbours; . those of the southern provinces (klingchang-tao and thsiusan-lo-tao), descendants of the ancient chinhans and pien-hans, showing japanese affinities; . those of the inner provinces (hoanghae-tao and ching-tsing-tao), who present a transitional form between the northerns and southerns, both in their physical type and geographical position[ ]. caucasic features--light eyes, large nose, hair often brown, full beard, fair and even white skin, tall stature--are conspicuous, especially amongst the upper classes and many of the southern koreans[ ]. they are thus shown to be a mixed race, the mongol element dominating in the north, as might be expected, and the caucasic in the south. these conclusions seem to be confirmed by what is known of the early movements, migrations, and displacements of the populations in north-east asia about the dawn of history. in these vicissitudes the koreans, as they are now called[ ], appear to have first taken part in the twelfth century b.c., when the peninsula was already occupied, as it still is, by mongols, the _sien-pi_, in the north, and in the south by several branches of the _hans_ (_san-san_), of whom it is recorded that they spoke a language unintelligible to the sien-pi, and resembled the japanese in appearance, manners, and customs. from this it may be inferred that the hans were the true aborigines, probably direct descendants of the caucasic peoples of the new stone age, while the sien-pi were mongolic (tungusic) intruders from the present manchuria. for some time these sien-pi played a leading part in the political convulsions prior and subsequent to the erection of the great wall by shih hwang ti, founder of the tsin dynasty ( - b.c.)[ ]. soon after the completion of this barrier, the _hiung-nu_, no longer able to scour the fertile plains of the middle kingdom, turned their arms against the neighbouring _yué-chi_, whom they drove westwards to the sungarian valleys. here they were soon displaced by the _usuns_ (_wusun_), a fair, blue-eyed people of unknown origin, who have been called "aryans," and even "teutons," and whom ch. de ujfalvy identifies with the tall long-headed western blonds (de lapouge's _homo europaeus_), mixed with brown round-headed hordes of white complexion[ ]. accepting this view, we may go further, and identify the usuns, as well as the other white peoples of the early chinese records, with the already described central asiatic caucasians of the stone ages, whose osseous remains we now possess, and who come to the surface in the very first chinese documents dealing with the turbulent populations beyond the great wall. the white element, with all the correlated characters, existed beyond all question, for it is continuously referred to in those documents. how is its presence in east central asia, including manchuria and korea, to be explained? only on two assumptions--_proto-historic_ migrations from the far west, barred by the proto-historic migrations from the far east, as largely determined by the erection of the great wall; or _pre-historic_ (neolithic) migrations, also from the far west, but barred by no serious obstacle, because antecedent to the arrival of the proto-mongolic tribes from the tibetan plateau. the true solution of the endless ethnical complications in the extreme east, as in the oceanic world, will still be found in the now-demonstrated presence of a caucasic element antecedent to the mongol in those regions. when the hiung-nu[ ] power was weakened by their westerly migrations to sungaria and south-west siberia (upper irtysh and lake balkash depression), and broken into two sections during their wars with the two han dynasties ( b.c.- a.d.), the korean sien-pi became the dominant nation north of the great wall. after destroying the last vestiges of the unstable hiung-nu empire, and driving the mongolo-turki hordes still westwards, the yuan-yuans, most powerful of all the sien-pi tribes, remained masters of east central asia for about years and then disappeared from history[ ]. at least after the sixth century a.d. no further mention is made of the sien-pi principalities either in manchuria or in korea. here, however, they appear still to form a dominant element in the northern (mongol) provinces, calling themselves ghirin (khirin), from the khirin (sungari) valley of the amur, where they once held sway. since those days korea has been alternately a vassal state and a province of the middle kingdom, with interludes of japanese ascendancy, interrupted only by the four centuries of koraï ascendancy ( - ). this was the most brilliant epoch in the national records, when korea was rather the ally than the vassal of china, and when trade, industry, and the arts, especially porcelain and bronze work, flourished in the land. but by centuries of subsequent misrule, a people endowed with excellent natural qualities have been reduced to the lowest state of degradation. before the reforms introduced by the political events of - , "the country was eaten up by officialism. it is not only that abuses without number prevailed, but the whole system of government was an abuse, a sea of corruption, without a bottom or a shore, an engine of robbery, crushing the life out of all industry[ ]." but an improvement was speedily remarked. "the air of the men has undergone a subtle and real change, and the women, though they nominally keep up their habits by seclusion, have lost the hang-dog air which distinguished them at home. the alacrity of movement is a change also, and has replaced the conceited swing of the _yang-ban_ [nobles] and the heartless lounge of the peasant." this improvement was merely temporary. the last years of the century were marked by the waning of japanese influence, due to russian intrigues, the restoration of absolute monarchy together with its worst abuses, the abandonment of reforms and a retrograde movement throughout the kingdom. the successes of japan in - resulted in the restoration of her ascendancy, culminating in in the cession of sovereignty by the emperor of korea to the emperor of japan. the religious sentiment is perhaps less developed than among any other asiatic people. buddhism, introduced about a.d., never took root, and while the _literati_ are satisfied with the moral precepts of confucius, the rest have not progressed beyond the nature-worship which was the ancient religion of the land. every mountain, pass, ford or even eddy of a river has a spirit to whom offerings are made. honour is also paid to ancestors, both royal and domestic, at their temples or altars, and chapels are built and dedicated to men who have specially distinguished themselves in loyalty, virtue or lofty teaching. philologists now recognise some affinity between the korean and japanese languages, both of which appear to be remotely connected with the ural-altaic family. the koreans possess a true alphabet of letters, which, however, is not a local invention, as is sometimes asserted. it appears to have been introduced by the buddhist monks about or before the tenth century, and to be based on some cursive form of the indian (devanagari) system[ ], although scarcely any resemblance can now be traced between the two alphabets. this script is little used except by the lower classes and the women, the _literati_ preferring to write either in chinese, or else in the so-called _nido_, that is, an adaptation of the chinese symbols to the phonetic expression of the korean syllables. the _nido_ is exactly analogous to the japanese _katakana_ script, in which modified forms of chinese ideographs are used phonetically to express syllables (the so-called _i-ro-fa_ syllabary), raised to by the _nigori_ and _maru_ diacritical marks. the present population of japan, according to e. baelz, shows the following types. the first and most important is the manchu-korean type, characteristic of north china and korea, and most frequent among the upper classes in japan. the stature is conspicuously tall, the effect being heightened by slender and elegant figure. the face is long, with more or less oblique eyes but no marked prominence of the cheek-bones. the nose is aquiline, the chin slightly receding. with this type is associated a narrow chest, giving an air of elegance rather than of muscularity, an effect which is enhanced by the extremely delicate hands with long slender fingers. the second type is the mongol, and presents a distinct contrast, with strong and squarely built figure, broad face, prominent cheek-bones, oblique eyes, flat nose and wide mouth. this type is not common in the japanese islands. the third type, more conspicuous than either of the preceding, is the malay. the stature is small, with well-knit frame, and broad, well-developed chest. the face is generally round, the nose short, jaws and chin frequently projecting. none of these three types represents the aboriginal race of japan, for there seems to be no doubt that the ainu, who now survive in parts of the northern island of yezo, occupied a greater area in earlier times and to them the prehistoric shell-mounds and other remains are usually attributed[ ]. the ainu are thickly and strongly built, but differ from all other oriental types in the hairiness of face and body. the head is long, with a cephalic index of . . face and nose are broad, and the eyes are horizontal, not oblique, lacking the mongolian fold. it is generally assumed that this population represents the easterly migration of that long-headed type which can be traced across the continents of europe and asia in the stone age, and that their entrance into the islands was effected at a time when the channel separating them from the mainland was neither so wide nor so deep as at the present time. later manchu-korean invaders from the west, mongols from the south, and malays from the east pressed the aborigines further and further north, to yezo, sakhalin and the kuriles. but it is possible that the ainu were not the earliest inhabitants of japan, for they themselves bear witness to predecessors, the _koro-pok-guru_, mentioned above (p. ). neither is the assumption of kinship between the ainu and prehistoric populations of western europe accepted without demur. deniker, while acknowledging the resemblance to certain european types, classes the ainu as a separate race, the _palaeasiatics_. for while in head-length, prominent superciliary ridges, hairiness and the form of the nose they may be compared to russians, todas, and australians, their skin colour, prominent cheek-bones, and other somatic features make any close affinity impossible[ ]. in spite of these various ingredients the japanese people may be regarded as fairly homogeneous. apart from some tall and robust persons amongst the upper classes, and athletes, acrobats, and wrestlers, the general impression that the japanese are a short finely moulded race is fully borne out by the now regularly recorded military measurements of recruits, showing for height an average of . m. ( ft. - / in.) to . m. ( ft. - / in.), for chest in., and disproportionately short legs. other distinctive characters, all tending to stamp a certain individuality on the people, taken as a whole and irrespective of local peculiarities, are a flat forehead, great distance between the eyebrows, a very small nose with raised nostrils, no glabella, no perceptible nasal root[ ]; an active, wiry figure; the exposed skin less yellow than the chinese, and rather inclining to a light fawn, but the covered parts very light, some say even white; the eyes also less oblique, and all other characteristically mongol features generally softened, except the black lank hair, which in transverse section is perhaps even rounder than that of most other mongol peoples[ ]. with this it will be instructive to compare f. h. h. guillemard's graphic account of the liu-kiu islanders, whose koreo-japanese affinities are now placed beyond all doubt: "they are a short race, probably even shorter than the japanese, but much better proportioned, being without the long bodies and short legs of the latter people, and having as a rule extremely well-developed chests. the colour of the skin varies of course with the social position of the individual. those who work in the fields, clad only in a waist-cloth, are nearly as dark as a malay, but the upper classes are much fairer, and are at the same time devoid of any of the yellow tint of the chinaman. to the latter race indeed they cannot be said to bear any resemblance, and though the type is much closer to the japanese, it is nevertheless very distinct.... in liu-kiu the japanese and natives were easily recognised by us from the first, and must therefore be possessed of very considerable differences. the liu-kiuan has the face less flattened, the eyes are more deeply set, and the nose more prominent at its origin. the forehead is high and the cheek-bones somewhat less marked than in the japanese; the eyebrows are arched and thick, and the eyelashes long. the expression is gentle and pleasing, though somewhat sad, and is apparently a true index of their character[ ]." this description is not accepted without some reserve by chamberlain, who in fact holds that "the physical type of the luchuans resembles that of the japanese almost to identity[ ]." in explanation however of the singularly mild, inoffensive, and "even timid disposition" of the liu-kiuans, this observer suggests "the probable absence of any admixture of malay blood in the race[ ]." but everybody admits a malay element in japan. it would therefore appear that guillemard must be right, and that, as even shown by all good photographs, differences do exist, due in fact to the presence of this very malay strain in the japanese race. elsewhere[ ] chamberlain has given us a scholarly account of the liu-kiu language, which is not merely a "sister," as he says, but obviously an _elder_ sister, more archaic in structure and partly in its phonetics, than the oldest known form of japanese. in the verb, for instance, japanese retains only one past tense of the indicative, with but one grammatical form, whereas liu-kiuan preserves the three original past tenses, each of which possesses a five-fold inflection. all these racial, linguistic, and even mental resemblances, such as the fundamental similarity of many of their customs and ways of thought, he would explain with much probability by the routes followed by the first emigrants from the mainland. while the great bulk spread east and north over the great archipelago, everywhere "driving the aborigines before them," a smaller stream may have trended southward to the little southern group, whose islets stretch like stepping-stones the whole way from japan to great liu-kiu[ ]. amongst the common mental traits, mention is made of the shinto religion, "the simplest and most rustic form" of which still survives in liu-kiu. here, as in japan, it was originally a rude system of nature-worship, the normal development of which was arrested by chinese and buddhist influences. later it became associated with spirit-worship, the spirits being at first the souls of the dead, and although there is at present no cult of the dead, in the strict sense of the expression, the liu-kiu islanders probably pay more respect to the departed than any other people in the world. in japan, shintoism, as reformed in recent times, has become much more a political institution than a religious system. the _kami-no-michi_, that is, the japanese form of the chinese _shin-to_, "way of the gods," or "spirits," is not merely the national faith, but is inseparably bound up with the interests of the reigning dynasty, holding the mikado to be the direct descendant of the sun-goddess hence its three cardinal precepts now are:-- . honour the _kami_ (spirits), of whom the emperor is the chief representative on earth; . revere him as thy sovereign; . obey the will of his court, and that is the whole duty of man. there is no moral code, and loyal expositors have declared that the mikado's will is the only test of right and wrong. but apart from this political exegesis, shintoism in its higher form may be called a cultured deism, in its lower a "blind obedience to governmental and priestly dictates[ ]." there are dim notions about a supreme creator, immortality, and even rewards and penalties in the after-life. some also talk vaguely, as a pantheist might, of a sublime being or essence pervading all nature, too vast and ethereal to be personified or addressed in prayer, identified with the _tenka_, "heavens," from which all things emanate, to which all return. yet, although a personal deity seems thus excluded, there are shinto temples, apparently for the worship of the heavenly bodies and powers of nature, conceived as self-existing personalities--the so-called _kami_, "spirits," "gods," of which there are "eight millions," that is, they are countless. one cannot but suspect that some of these notions have been grafted on the old national faith by buddhism, which was introduced about a.d. and for a time had great vogue. it was encouraged especially by the shoguns, or military usurpers of the mikado's[ ] functions, obviously as a set-off against the shinto theocracy. during their tenure of power ( - a.d.) the land was covered with buddhist shrines and temples, some of vast size and quaint design, filled with hideous idols, huge bells, and colossal statues of buddha. but with the fall of the shogun the little prestige still enjoyed by buddhism came to an end, and the temples, spoiled of their treasures, have more than ever become the resort of pleasure-seekers rather than of pious worshippers. "to all the larger temples are attached regular spectacles, playhouses, panoramas, besides lotteries, games of various sorts, including the famous 'fan-throwing,' and shooting-galleries, where the bow and arrow and the blow-pipe take the place of the rifle. the accumulated treasures of the priests have been confiscated, the monks driven from their monasteries, and many of these buildings converted into profane uses. countless temple bells have already found their way to america, or have been sold for old metal[ ]." besides these forms of belief, there is a third religious, or rather philosophic system, the so-called _siza_, based on the ethical teachings of confucius, a sort of refined materialism, such as underlies the whole religious thought of the nation. siza, always confined to the _literati_, has in recent years found a formidable rival in the "english philosophy," represented by such writers as buckle, mill, herbert spencer, darwin, and huxley, most of whose works have already been translated into japanese. thus this highly gifted people are being assimilated to the western world in their social and religious, as well as their political institutions. their intellectual powers, already tested in the fields of war, science, diplomacy, and self-government, are certainly superior to those of all other asiatic peoples, and this is perhaps the best guarantee for the stability of the stupendous transformation that a single generation has witnessed from an exaggerated form of medieval feudalism to a political and social system in harmony with the most advanced phases of modern thought. the system has doubtless not yet penetrated to the lower strata, especially amongst the rural populations. but their natural receptivity, combined with a singular freedom from "insular prejudice," must ensure the ultimate acceptance of the new order by all classes of the community. footnotes: [ ] as fully explained in _eth._ p. . [ ] mark aurel stein, _sand-buried cities of khotan_, , and _geog. journ._, july, sept. . [ ] r. pumpelly, _explorations in turkestan_, , and _explorations in turkestan; expedition of _, . [ ] sven hedin, _scientific results of a journey in central asia_, - , , and _geog. journ._, april, . [ ] douglas carruthers, _unknown mongolia_, (with bibliography). [ ] ellsworth huntington, _the pulse of asia_, . [ ] "the asiatic background," _cambridge medieval history_, vol. i. . [ ] _mémoires de la délégation en perse; recherches archéologiques_ (from ). [ ] _sand-buried cities of khotan_, . [ ] "ueber alte grabstätten in sibirien und der mongolei," in _mitt. d. anthrop. ges._, vienna, , xxv. . [ ] th. volkov, in _l'anthropologie_, , p. . [ ] too much stress must not, however, be laid upon the theory of gradual desiccation as a factor in depopulation. there are many causes such as earthquake, water-spouts, shifting of currents, neglect of irrigation and, above all, the work of enemies to account for the sand-buried ruins of populous cities in central asia. see t. peisker, "the asiatic background," _cambridge medieval history_, vol. i. , p. . [ ] _journ. anthr. inst._ , p. sq. [ ] cf. _archæologia cambrensis_, th ser. xiv. part , , p. , and _zeitschr. f. ethnol._ , p. . [ ] "zur prähistorik japans," _globus_, , no. . [ ] the best account of the archaeology of japan will be found in _prehistoric japan_, by n. g. munro, . [ ] _die bronzezeit finnlands_, helsingfors, . [ ] "akkadian," first applied by rawlinson to the non-semitic texts found at nineveh, is still often used by english writers in place of the more correct _sumerian_, the akkadians being now shown to be semitic immigrants into northern babylonia (p. ). [ ] cf. l. w. king, _history of sumer and akkad_, , pp. , . [ ] _ueber die summerische sprache_, paper read at the russian archaeological congress, riga, . [ ] "sumer and sumerian," _ency. brit._ , with references. [ ] _geschichte des altertums_, i. , nd ed. , p. . [ ] e. meyer, _geschichte des altertums_, i. , nd ed. , p. . l. w. king (_history of sumer and akkad_, ) discusses meyer's arguments and points out that the earliest sumerian gods appear to be free from semitic influence (p. ). he is inclined, however, to regard the sumerians as displacing an earlier semitic people (hutchinson's _history of the nations_, , pp. and ). [ ] ellsworth huntington, _the pulse of asia_, , p. . [ ] l. w. king, _history of sumer and akkad_, , p. . [ ] e. meyer, _geschichte des altertums_, i. , nd ed. , p. . [ ] l. w. king, _history of sumer and akkad_, , p. , and the article, "chronology. babylonia and assyria," _ency. brit._ . cf. also e. meyer, _geschichte des altertums_, i. , nd ed. , §§ and . [ ] the cylinder-seals and tablets of fara, excavated by koldewey, andrae and noeldeke in - may go back to b.c. cf. l. w. king, _loc. cit._ p. . [ ] c. h. w. johns, _ancient babylonia_, , regards sharrukin as "sargon of akkad," p. . [ ] l. w. king, _history of sumer and akkad_, , pp. , , where the seal is referred to a period not much earlier than the first dynasty of babylon. [ ] h. v. hilprecht, _the babylonian expedition of the university of pennsylvania_, series d, vol. v. . . [ ] see _the times_, june , . [ ] "babylonia and elam four thousand years ago," in _knowledge_, may , , p. sq. and elsewhere. [ ] the term "elam" is said to have the same meaning as "akkad" (_i.e._ highland) in contradistinction to "sumer" (lowland). it should be noted that neither akkad nor sumer occurs in the oldest texts, where akkad is called _kish_ from the name of its capital, and sumer _kiengi_ (_kengi_), probably a general name meaning "the land." kish has been identified with the kush of gen. x., one of the best abused words in palethnology. for this identification, however, there is some ground, seeing that kush is mentioned in the closest connection with "babel, and erech, and accad, and calneh, in the land of shinar" (mesopotamia) _v._ . [ ] j. de morgan, _mémoires de la délégation en perse_, - . [ ] s. laing, _human origins_, p. . [ ] and it has remained so ever since, the present lur and bakhtiari inhabitants of susiana speaking, not the standard neo-persian, but dialects of the ruder kurdish branch of the iranian family, as if they had been aryanised from media, the capital of which was ekbatana. we have here, perhaps, a clue to the origin of the medes themselves, who were certainly the above-mentioned mandas of nabonidus, their capital being also the same ekbatana. now sayce (_academy_, sept. , , p. ) identified the kimmerians with these manda nomads, whose king tukdammé (tugdammé) was the lygdanis of strabo (i. , ), who led a horde of kimmerians into lydia and captured sardis. we know from esarhaddon's inscriptions that by the assyrians these kimmerians were called manda, their prince teupsa (teispe) being described as "of the people of the manda." an oracle given to esar-haddon begins: "the kimmerian in the mountains has set fire in the land of ellip," _i.e._ the land where ekbatana was afterwards founded, which is now shown to have already been occupied by the kimmerian or manda hordes. it follows that kimmerians, mandas, medes with their modern kurd and bakhtiari representatives, were all one people, who were almost certainly of aryan speech, if not actually of proto-aryan stock. "the kurds are the descendants of aryan invaders and have maintained their type and their language for more than years," f. v. luschan, "the early inhabitants of western asia," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xli. , p. . for a classification of kurds see mark sykes, "the kurdish tribes of the ottoman empire," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xxxviii. , p. . cf. also d. g. hogarth, _the nearer east_, . [ ] c. h. w. johns, _ancient babylonia_, , p. . [ ] cf. h. zimmern, article "babylonians and assyrians," _ency. religion and ethics_, . [ ] g. maspero, _dawn of civilisation_, p. . [ ] _ibid._ p. . [ ] _ibid._ p. . [ ] _vorgeschichte_, etc., book ii. _passim_. [ ] _geschichte babyloniens u. assyriens._ [ ] g. maspero, _the struggle of the nations, egypt, syria and assyria_, . [ ] it is noteworthy that _dalai_, "ocean," is itself a mongol word, though _lama_, "priest," is tibetan. the explanation is that in the thirteenth century a local incarnation of buddha was raised by the then dominant mongols to the first rank, and this title of _dalai lama_, the "ocean priest," _i.e._ the priest of fathomless wisdom, was bestowed on one of his successors in the sixteenth century, and still retained by the high pontiff at lhasa. [ ] _aboriginal siberia_, , p. . [ ] _loc. cit._ pp. - . [ ] either from the chinese _tunghu_, "eastern barbarians," or from the turki _tinghiz_, as in isaac massa: _per interpretes se tingoesi vocari dixerunt_ (_descriptio_, etc., amsterdam, ). but there is no collective national name, and at present they call themselves _don-ki_, _boía_, _boíe_, etc., terms all meaning "men," "people." in the chinese records they are referred to under the name of _i-lu_ so early as a.d., when they dwelt in the forest region between the upper temen and yalu rivers on the one hand and the pacific ocean on the other, and paid tribute in kind--sable furs, bows, and stone arrow-heads. arrows and stone arrow-heads were also the tribute paid to the emperors of the shang dynasty ( - b.c.) by the _su-shen_, who dwelt north of the liao-tung peninsula, so that we have here official proof of a stone age of long duration in manchuria. later, the chinese chronicles mention the _u-ki_ or _mo-ho_, a warlike people of the sungari valley and surrounding uplands, who in the th century founded the kingdom of _pu-ha[=i]_, overthrown in by the khitans of the lower sungari below its noni confluence, who were themselves tunguses and according to some chinese authorities the direct ancestors of the manchus. [ ] "c'est la tendance de la tête à se développer en hauteur, juste en sens inverse de l'aplatissement vertical du mongol. la tête du turc est donc à la fois plus haute et plus courte" (_l'anthropologie_, vi. , p. ). [ ] reclus, vi.; eng. ed. p. . [ ] v. m. mikhailovskii, _shamanism in siberia and european russia_, translated by oliver wardrop, _journ. anthr. inst._ , p. . [ ] m. a. czaplicka, _aboriginal siberia_, . part iii. discusses shamanism, pp. - . [ ] hakluyt, ed., i. p. sq. [ ] quoted by mikhailovskii, p. . [ ] cf. h. a. giles, _china and the manchus_, . [ ] _souvenirs d'un voyage dans la tartarie_, , i. . [ ] _through siberia_, , vol. ii. p. . [ ] european visitors often notice with surprise the fine physique of these natives, many of whom average nearly six feet in height. but there is an extraordinary disparity between the two sexes, perhaps greater than in any other country. the much smaller stature and feebler constitution of the women is no doubt due to the detestable custom of crippling the feet in childhood, thereby depriving them of natural exercise during the period of growth. it may be noted that the anti-foot-bandaging movement is making progress throughout china, the object being to abolish the cruel practice by making the _kin lien_ ("golden lilies") unfashionable, and the _ti mien_, the "heavenly feet,"--_i.e._ the natural--popular in their stead. [ ] h. lansdell, _through siberia_, , ii. p. . [ ] _de l'harmonie des voyelles dans les langues uralo-altaïques_, , p. sq. [ ] _general principles of the structure of language_, , vol. i. p. . the evidence here chiefly relied upon is that afforded by the yakutic, a pure turki idiom, which is spoken in the region of extremest heat and cold (middle and lower lena basin), and in which the principle of progressive assonance attains its greatest development. [ ] explained and illustrated by general krahmer in _globus_, , p. sq. [ ] h. lansdell, _through siberia_, , i. p. . [ ] "ueber die sprache der jukagiren," in _mélanges asiatiques_, , iii. p. sq. [ ] w. i. jochelson recently discovered two independent yukaghir dialects. "essay on the grammar of the yukaghir language," _annals n. y. ac. sc._ ; _the yukaghir and the yukaghirized tungus._ _memoir of the jesup north pacific expedition_, vol. ix. . for the koryak see his monograph in the same series, vol. vi. - . [ ] _ten months among the tents of the tuski._ [ ] "ueber die koriaken u. ihnen nahe verwandten tchouktchen," _in bul. acad. sc._, st petersburg, xii. p. . [ ] peschel, _races of man_, p. , who says the chukchi are "as closely related to the itelmes in speech as are spaniards to portuguese." [ ] _petermann's mitt._ vol. , , p. . [ ] "the girl and the dogs, an eskimo folk-tale," _amer. anthropologist_, june , p. sq. [ ] _through the gold fields of alaska to bering strait_, . [ ] cf. w. bogoras, _the chukchee, memoir of the jesup north pacific expedition_, vol. vii. - [ ] this, however, applies only to the fishing koryaks, for g. kennan speaks highly of the domestic virtues, hospitality, and other good qualities of the nomad groups (_tent life in siberia_, ). [ ] see l. sternberg, _the tribes of the amur river, memoirs of the jesup north pacific expedition_, vol. iv. . [ ] _mem. imp. soc. nat. sc._ xx. supplement, moscow, . [ ] "scheinen grosse aenlichkeit in sprache, gesichtsbildung und sitten mit den aino zu haben" (_ueber die aino_, berlin, , p. ). [ ] _through siberia_, , ii. p. . [ ] _ibid._ p. . [ ] _ibid._ p. . [ ] _l'anthropologie_, vi. no. . [ ] _bul. du muséum d'hist. nat._ , no. . all the skulls were brachy or sub-brachy, varying from to . and . . the author remarks generally that "photographes et crânes diffèrent, du tout au tout, des choses similaires venues jusqu'à présent de mongolie et de chine, et font plutôt penser au japon, à formose, et d'une manière plus générale à ce vaste ensemble de peuples maritimes que lesson désignait jadis sous le nom de 'mongols-pélasgiens,'" p. . [ ] on this juxtaposition of the yellow and blond types in korea v. de saint-martin's language is highly significative: "cette dualité de type, un type tout à fait caucasique à côté du type mongol, est un fait commun à toute la ceinture d'îles qui couvre les côtes orientales de l'asie, depuis les kouriles jusqu'à formose, et même jusqu'à la zone orientale de l'indo-chine" (_art. corée_, p. ). [ ] from _koraï_, in japanese _kome_ (chinese _kaoli_), name of a petty state, which enjoyed political predominance in the peninsula for about years (tenth to fourteenth century a.d.). an older designation still in official use is _tsio-sien_, that is, the chinese _chao-sien_, "bright dawn" (klaproth, _asia polyglotta_, p. sq.). [ ] this stupendous work, on which about , , hands are said to have been engaged for five years, possesses great ethnical as well as political importance. running for over miles across hills, valleys, and rivers along the northern frontier of china proper, it long arrested the southern movements of the restless mongolo-turki hordes, and thus gave a westerly direction to their incursions many centuries before the great invasions of jenghiz-khan and his successors. it is strange to reflect that the ethnological relations were thus profoundly disturbed throughout the eastern hemisphere by the work of a ruthless despot who reigned only twelve years, and in that time waged war against all the best traditions of the empire, destroying the books of confucius and the other sages, and burying alive men of letters for their efforts to rescue those writings from total extinction. [ ] _les aryens au nord et au sud de l'hindou-kouch_, , p. . this writer does not think that the usuns should be identified with the tall race of horse-like face, large nose, and deep-set eyes mentioned in the early chinese records, because no reference is made to "blue eyes," which would not have been omitted had they existed. but, if i remember, "green eyes" are spoken of, and we know that none of the early writers use colour terms with strict accuracy. [ ] i have not thought it desirable to touch on the interminable controversy respecting the ethnical relations of the hiung-nu, regarding them, not as a distinct ethnical group, but like the huns, their later western representatives, as a heterogeneous collection of mongol, tungus, turki, and perhaps even finnish hordes under a mongol military caste. at the same time i have little doubt that mongolo-tungus elements greatly predominated in the eastern regions (mongolia proper, manchuria) both amongst the hiung-nu and their yuan-yuan (sien-pi) successors, and that all the founders of the first great empires prior to that of the turki assena in the altai region (sixth century a.d.) were full-blood mongols, as indeed recognised by jenghiz-khan himself. for the migrations of these and neighbouring peoples, consult a. c. haddon, _the wanderings of peoples_, , pp. and . [ ] on the authority of the wei-shu documents contained in the wei-ch[=i], e. h. parker gives (in the _china review_ and _a thousand years of the tartars_, shanghai, ) the dates - a.d. as the period covered by the "sien-pi tartar dynasty of wei." this is not to be confused with the chinese dynasty of wei ( - , or according to kwong ki-chiu - a.d.). the term "tartar" (ta-ta), it may be explained, is used by parker, as well as by the chinese historians generally, in a somewhat wide sense, so as to include all the nomad populations north of the great wall, whether of tungus (manchu), mongol, or even turki stock. the original tribes bearing the name were mongols, and jenghiz-khan himself was a tata on his mother's side. [ ] mrs bishop, _korea and her neighbours_, . [ ] t. de lacouperie says on "a tibeto-indian base" (_beginnings of writing in central and eastern asia_, , p. ); and e. h. parker: "it is demonstrable that the korean letters are an adaptation from the sanskrit," _i.e._ the devanagari (_academy_, dec. , , p. ). [ ] see p. . also koganei, "ueber die urbewohner von japan," _mitt. d. deutsch. gesell. f. natur- u. völkerkunde ostasiens_, ix. , , containing an exhaustive review of recent literature, and n. g. munro, _prehistoric japan_, . [ ] j. deniker, _races of man_, , pp. - . see also j. batchelor, _the ainu of japan_, , and the article "ainus" in _ency. of religion and ethics_, . [ ] g. baudens, _bul. soc. geogr._ x. p. . [ ] see especially e. baelz, "die körperlichen eigenschaften der japaner," in _mitt. der deutsch. gesell. f. natur- u. völkerkunde ostasiens_, and . [ ] _cruise of the marchesa_, , i. p. . [ ] _geogr. journ._ , ii. p. . [ ] _geogr. journ._ , ii. p. . [ ] _journ. anthrop. soc._ , p. sq. [ ] _ibid._ p. . [ ] ripley and dana, _amer. cyc._ ix. . [ ] _shogun_ from _sho_ = general, and _gún_ = army, hence commander-in-chief; _mikado_ from _mi_ = sublime, and _kado_ = gate, with which cf. the "sublime porte" (j. j. rein, _japan nach reisen u. studien,_ , i. p. ). but mikado has become somewhat antiquated, being now generally replaced by the title _kotei,_ "emperor." [ ] keane's _asia_, i. p. . chapter ix the northern mongols (_continued_) the finno-turki peoples--assimilation to the caucasic type--turki cradle--ural-altaian invasions--the scythians--parthians and turkomans--massagetae and yué-chi--indo-scythians and graeco-baktrians--dahae, ját, and rájput origins--the "white huns"--the uigurs--orkhon inscriptions--the assena turki dynasty--toghuz-uigur empire--kashgarian and sungarian populations--the oghuz turks and their migrations--seljuks and osmanli--the yakuts--the kirghiz--kazák and kossack--the kara-kirghiz--the finnish peoples--former and present domain--late westward spread of the finns--the bronze and iron ages in the finnish lands--the baltic finns--relations to goths, letts, and slavs--finno-russ origins--tavastian and karelian finns--the kwæns--the lapps--samoyeds and permian finns--lapp origins and migrations--temperament--religion--the volga finns--the votyak pagans--human sacrifices--the bulgars--origins and migrations--an ethnical transformation--great and little bulgaria--avars and magyars--magyar origins and early records--present position of the magyars--ethnical and linguistic relations in eastern europe. in a very broad way all the western branches of the north mongol division may be comprised under the collective designation of finno-turki mongols. jointly they constitute a well-marked section of the family, being distinguished from the eastern section by several features which they have in common, and the most important of which is unquestionably a much larger infusion of caucasic blood than is seen in any of the mongolo-tungusic groups. so pronounced is this feature amongst many finnish as well as turkish peoples, that some anthropologists have felt inclined to deny any direct connection between the eastern and western divisions of mongolian man and to regard the baltic finns, for instance, rather as "allophylian whites" than as original members of the yellow race. prichard, to whom we owe this now nearly obsolete term "allophylian," held this view[ ], and even sayce is "more than doubtful whether we can class the mongols physiologically with the turkish-tatars [the turki peoples], or the ugro-finns[ ]." it may, indeed, be allowed that at present the great majority of the finno-turki populations occupy a position amongst the varieties of mankind which is extremely perplexing for the strict systematist. when the whole division is brought under survey, every shade of transition is observed between the siberian samoyeds of the finnic branch and the steppe kirghiz of the turki branch on the one hand, both of whom show mongol characters in an exaggerated form, and on the other the osmanli turks and hungarian magyars, most of whom may be regarded as typical caucasians. moreover, the difficulty is increased by the fact, already pointed out, that these mixed mongolo-caucasic characters occur not only amongst the late historic groups, but also amongst the earliest known groups--"chudes," usuns, uigurs and others--who may be called proto-finnish and proto-turki peoples. but precisely herein lies the solution of the problem. most of the region now held by turki and finnish nations was originally occupied by long-headed caucasic men of the late stone ages (see above). then followed the proto-mongol intruders from the tibetan table-land, who partly submerged, partly intermingled with their neolithic neighbours, many thus acquiring those mixed characters by which they have been distinguished from the earliest historic times. later, further interminglings took place according as the finno-turki hordes, leaving their original seats in the altai and surrounding regions, advanced westwards and came more and more into contact with the european populations of caucasic type. we may therefore conclude that the majority of the finno-turki were almost from the first a somewhat mixed race, and that during historic times the original mongol element has gradually yielded to the caucasic in the direction from east to west. such is the picture now presented by these heterogeneous populations, who in their primeval eastern seats are still mostly typical mongols, but have been more and more assimilated to the european type in their new anatolian, baltic, danubian, and balkan homes. observant travellers have often been impressed by this progressive conformity of the mongolo-turki to europeans. during his westward journey through central asia younghusband, on passing from mongolia to eastern turkestan, found that the people, though tall and fine-looking, had at first more of the mongol cast of feature than he had expected. "their faces, however, though somewhat round, were slightly more elongated than the mongol, and there was considerably more intelligence about them. but there was more roundness, less intelligence, less sharpness in the outlines than is seen in the inhabitants of kashgar and yarkand." then he adds: "as i proceeded westwards i noticed a gradual, scarcely perceptible, change from the round of a mongolian type to a sharper and yet more sharp type of feature.... as we get farther away from mongolia, we notice that the faces become gradually longer and narrower; and farther west still, among some of the inhabitants of afghan turkestan, we see that the tartar or mongol type of feature is almost entirely lost[ ]." to complete the picture it need only be added that still further west, in asia minor, the balkan peninsula, hungary, and finland, the mongol features are often entirely lost. "the turks of the west have so much aryan and semitic blood in them, that the last vestiges of their original physical characters have been lost, and their language alone indicates their previous descent[ ]." before they were broken up and dispersed over half the northern hemisphere by mongol pressure from the east, the primitive turki tribes dwelt, according to howorth, mainly between the ulugh-dagh mountains and the orkhon river in mongolia, that is, along the southern slopes and spurs of the altai-sayan system from the head waters of the irtysh to the valleys draining north to lake baikal. but the turki cradle is shifted farther east by richthofen, who thinks that their true home lay between the amur, the lena, and the selenga, where at one time they had their camping-grounds in close proximity to their mongol and tungus kinsmen. there is nothing to show that the yakuts, who are admittedly of turki stock, ever migrated to their present northern homes in the lena basin, which has more probably always been their native land[ ]. but when they come within the horizon of history the turki are already a numerous nation, with a north-western and south-eastern division[ ], which may well have jointly occupied the whole region from the irtysh to the lena, and both views may thus be reconciled. in any case the turki domain lay west of the mongol, and the altai uplands, taken in the widest sense, may still be regarded as the most probable zone of specialisation for the turki physical type. the typical characteristics are a yellowish white complexion, a high brachycephalic head, often almost cuboid, due to parieto-occipital flattening (especially noticeable among the yakuts), an elongated oval face, with straight, somewhat prominent nose, and non-mongolian eyes. the stature is moderate, with an average of . m. ( ft. in.), and a tendency to stoutness. intermediate between the typical turki and the mongols hamy places the uzbegs, kirghiz, bashkirs, and nogais; and between the turks and finns those extremely mixed groups of east russia commonly but wrongly called "tartars," as well as other transitions between turk, slav, greek, arab, osmanli of constantinople, kurugli of algeria and others, whose study shows the extreme difficulty of accurately determining the limits of the yellow and the white races[ ]. analogous difficulties recur in the study of the northern (siberian) groups--samoyeds, ostyaks, voguls and other ugrians--who present great individual variations, leading almost without a break from the mongol to the lapp, from the lapp to the finn, from finn to slav and teuton. thus may be shown a series of observations continuous between the most typical mongol, and those aberrant mongolo-caucasic groups which answer to prichard's "allophylian races." thus also is confirmed by a study of details the above broad generalisation in which i have endeavoured to determine the relation of the finno-turki peoples to the primary mongol and caucasic divisions. peisker's description of the scythian invasions of irania[ ] may be taken as typical of the whole area, and explains the complexity of the ethnological problems. the steppes and deserts of central asia are an impassable barrier for the south asiatics, the aryans, but not for the north asiatic, the altaian; for him they are an open country, providing him with the indispensable winter pastures. on the other hand, for the south asiatic aryan these deserts are an object of terror, and besides he is not impelled towards them as he has winter pastures near at hand. it is this difference in the distance of summer and winter pastures that makes the north asiatic altaian an ever-wandering herdsman, and the grazing part of the indo-european race cattle-rearers settled in limited districts. thus, while the native iranian must halt before the trackless region of steppes and deserts and cannot follow the well-mounted robber-nomad thither, iran itself is the object of greatest longing to the nomadic altaian. here he can plunder and enslave to his heart's delight, and if he succeeds in maintaining himself for a considerable time among the aryans, he learns the language of the subjugated people and, by mingling with them, loses his mongol characteristics more and more. if the iranian is now fortunate enough to shake off the yoke, the dispossessed iranised altaian intruder inflicts himself upon other lands. so it was with the scythians. leaving their families behind in the south russian steppes, the scythians invaded media _c._ b.c. , and advanced into mesopotamia as far as egypt. in media they took median wives and learned the median language. after being driven out by cyaxares, on their return, some years later, they met with a new generation, the offspring of the wives and daughters whom they had left behind, and slaves of an alien race. a hundred and fifty years later hippocrates remarked their yellowish red complexion, corpulence, smooth skins, and their consequent eunuch-like appearance--all typically mongol characteristics. hippocrates was the most celebrated physician and natural philosopher of the ancient world. his evidence is unshakeable and cannot be invalidated by the aryan speech of the scythians. their mongol type was innate in them, whereas their iranian speech was acquired and is no refutation of hippocrates' testimony. on the later greek vases from south russian excavations they already appear strongly demongolised and the altaian is only suggested by their hair, which is as stiff as a horse's mane--hence aristotle's epithet [greek: euthytriches]--the characteristic that survives longest among all ural-altaian hybrid peoples. e. h. parker unfortunately lent the weight of his authority to the statement that the word "türkö" [turki] "goes no farther back than the fifth century of our era," and that "so far as recorded history is concerned the name of turk dates from this time[ ]." but turki tribes bearing this national name had penetrated into east europe hundreds of years before that time, and were already seated on the tanais (don) about the new era. they are mentioned by name both by pomponius mela[ ] and by pliny[ ], and to the same connection belonged, beyond all doubt, the warlike _parthians_, who years earlier were already seated on the confines of iran and turan, routed the legions of crassus and antony, and for five centuries ( b.c.- a.d.) usurped the throne of the "king of kings," holding sway from the euphrates to the ganges, and from the caspian to the indian ocean. direct descendants of the parthians are the fierce turkoman nomads, who for ages terrorised over all the settled populations encircling the aralo-caspian depression. their power has at last been broken by the russians, but they are still politically dominant in persia[ ]. they have thus been for many ages in the closest contact with caucasic iranians, with the result that the present turkoman type is shown by j. l. yavorsky's observations to be extremely variable[ ]. both the parthians and the _massagetae_ have been identified with the _yué-chi_, who figured so largely in the annals of the han dynasties, and are above mentioned as having been driven west to sungaria by the hiung-nu after the erection of the great wall. it has been said that, could we follow the peregrinations of the yué-chi bands from their early seats at the foot of the kinghan mountains to their disappearance amid the snows of the western himalayas, we should hold the key to the solution of the obscure problems associated with the migrations of the mongolo-turki hordes since the torrent of invasion was diverted westwards by shih hwang ti's mighty barrier. one point, however, seems clear enough, that the yué-chi were a different people both from the parthians who had already occupied hyrcania (khorasan) at least in the third century b.c., if not earlier, and from the massagetae. for the latter were seated on the yaxartes (sir-darya) in the time of cyrus (sixth century b.c.), whereas the yué-chi still dwelt east of lake lob (tarim basin) in the third century. after their defeat by the hiung-nu and the usuns ( and b.c.), they withdrew to sogdiana (transoxiana), reduced the _ta-hia_ of baktria, and in b.c. overthrew the graeco-baktrian kingdom, which had been founded after the death of alexander towards the close of the fourth century. but in the kabul valley, south of the hindu-kush, the greeks still held their ground for over years, until kadphises i., king of the kushans--a branch of the yué-chi--after uniting the whole nation in a single indo-scythian state, extended his conquests to kabul and succeeded hermaeus, last of the greek dynasty ( - b.c.?). kadphises' son kadaphes ( a.d.) added to his empire a great part of north india, where his successors of the yué-chi dynasty reigned from the middle of the first to the end of the fourth century a.d. here they are supposed by some authorities to be still represented by the _játs_ and _rájputs_, and even prichard allows that the supposition "does not appear altogether preposterous," although "the physical characters of the játs are very different from those attributed to the yuetschi [yué-chi] and the kindred tribes [suns, kushans, etc.] by the writers cited by klaproth and abel remusat, who say that they are of sanguine complexion with blue eyes[ ]." we now know that these characters present little difficulty when the composite origin of the turki people is borne in mind. on the other hand it is interesting to note that the above-mentioned ta-hia have by some been identified with the warlike scythian dahae[ ], and these with the dehiya or dhé one of the great divisions of the indian játs. but if rawlinson[ ] is right, the term _dahae_ was not racial but social, meaning _rustici_,--the peasantry as opposed to the nomads; hence the dahae are heard of everywhere throughout irania, just as _dehwar_[ ] is still the common designation of the tajik (persian) peasantry in afghanistan and baluchistan. this is also the view taken by de ujfalvy, who identifies the ta-hia, not with the scythian dahae, or with any other particular tribe, but with the peaceful rural population of baktriana[ ], whose reduction by the yué-chi, possibly strabo's tokhari, was followed by the overthrow of the graeco-baktrians. the solution of the puzzling yué-chi-ját problem would therefore seem to be that the dehiya and other játs, always an agricultural people, are descended from the old iranian peasantry of baktriana, some of whom followed the fortunes of their greek rulers into kabul valley, while others accompanied the conquering yué-chi founders of the indo-scythian empire into northern india. then followed the overthrow of the yué-chi themselves by the _yé-tha_ (_ye-tha-i-li-to_) of the chinese records, that is, the _ephthalites_, or so-called "white huns," of the greek and arab writers, who about a.d. overran transoxiana, and soon afterwards penetrated through the mountain passes into the kabul and indus valleys. although confused by some contemporary writers (zosimus, am. marcellinus) with attila's huns, m. drouin has made it clear that the yé-tha were not huns (mongols) at all, but, like the yué-chi, a turki people, who were driven westwards about the same time as the hiung-nu by the yuan-yuans (see above). of hun they had little but the name, and the more accurate procopius was aware that they differed entirely from "the huns known to us, not being nomads, but settled for a long time in a fertile region." he speaks also of their white colour and regular features, and their sedentary life[ ] as in the chinese accounts, where they are described as warlike conquerors of twenty kingdoms, as far as that of the a-si (arsacides, parthians), and in their customs resembling the tu-kiu (turks), being in fact "of the same race." on the ruins of the indo-scythian (yué-chi) empire, the white huns ruled in india and the surrounding lands from to the middle of the sixth century. a little later came the arabs, who in captured samarkand, and under the abassides were supreme in central asia till scattered to the winds by the oghuz turki hordes. from all this it has been suggested that--while the baktrian peasants entered india as settlers, and are now represented by the agricultural játs--the yué-chi and yé-tha, both of fair turki stock, came as conquerors, and are now represented by the rájputs, "sons of kings," the warrior and land-owning race of northern india. it is significant that these thákur, "feudal lords," mostly trace their genealogies from about the beginning of the seventh century, as if they had become hinduized soon after the fall of the foreign yé-tha dynasty, while on the other hand "the country legends abound with instances of the conflict between the rájput and the bráhman in prehistoric times[ ]." this supports the conjecture that the rájputs entered india, not as "aryans" of the kshatriya or military caste, as is commonly assumed, but as aliens (turki), the avowed foes of the true aryans, that is, the bráhman or theocratic (priestly) caste. thus also is explained the intimate association of the rájputs and the játs from the first--the rájputs being the turki leaders of the invasions; and the játs their peaceful baktrian subjects following in their wake. the theory that the haughty rájputs are of unsullied "aryan blood" is scarcely any longer held even by the rájputs themselves; they are undoubtedly of mixed origin. but the definite physical type which h. h. risley[ ] describes as characteristic of rájputs and játs in the kashmir valley, punjab and rajputana, shows them to be wavy-haired dark-skinned dolichocephals, linked rather with the "caucasic" than the "mongolian" division. nearly related to the white huns were the _uigurs_, the _kao-che_ of the chinese annals, who may claim to be the first turki nation that founded a relatively civilised state in central asia. before the general commotion caused by the westward pressure of the hiung-nu, they appear to have dwelt in eastern turkestan (kashgaria) between the usuns and the sacae, and here they had already made considerable progress under buddhist influences about the fourth or fifth century of the new era. later, the buddhist missionaries from tibet were replaced by christian (nestorian) evangelists from western asia, who in the seventh century reduced the uigur language to written form, adapting for the purpose the syriac alphabet, which was afterwards borrowed by the mongols and the manchus. this syriac script--which, as shown by the authentic inscription of si-ngan-fu, was introduced into china in a.d.--is not to be confused with that of the orkhon inscriptions[ ] dating from a.d., and bearing a certain resemblance to some of the runic characters, as also to the korean, at least in form, but never in sound. yet although differing from the uiguric, prof. thomsen, who has successfully deciphered the orkhon text, thinks that this script may also be derived, at least indirectly through some of the iranian varieties, from the same aramean (syriac) form of the semitic alphabet that gave birth to the uiguric[ ]. it is more important to note that all the non-chinese inscriptions are in the turki language, while the chinese text refers by name to the father, the grandfather, and the great-grandfather of the reigning khan bilga, which takes us back nearly to the time when sinjibu (dizabul), great khan of the altai turks, was visited by the byzantine envoy, zimarchus, in a.d. in the still extant report of this embassy[ ] the turks ([greek: tourkoi]) are mentioned by name, and are described as nomads who dwelt in tents mounted on wagons, burnt the dead, and raised to their memory monuments, statues, and cairns with as many stones as the foes slain by the deceased in battle. it is also stated that they had a peculiar writing system, which must have been that of these orkhon inscriptions, the uiguric having apparently been introduced somewhat later. originally the uigurs comprised nineteen clans, which at a remote period already formed two great sections:--the on-uigur ("ten uigurs") in the south, and the toghuz-uigur ("nine uigurs") in the north. the former had penetrated westwards to the aral sea[ ] as early as the second century a.d., and many of them undoubtedly took part in attila's invasion of europe. later, all these western uigurs, mentioned amongst the hordes that harassed the eastern empire in the fifth and sixth centuries, in association especially with the turki avars, disappear from history, being merged in the ugrian and other finnish peoples of the volga basin. the toghuz section also, after throwing off the yoke of the mongol or tungus geugen (jeu-jen) in the fifth century, were for a time submerged in the vast empire of the altai turks, founded in by tumen of the house of assena (a-shi-na), who was the first to assume the title of kha-khan, "great khan," and whose dynasty ruled over the united turki and mongol peoples from the pacific to the caspian, and from the frozen ocean to the confines of china and tibet. both the above-mentioned sinjibu, who received the byzantine envoy, and the bilga khan of the orkhon _stele_, belonged to this dynasty, which was replaced in by pei-lo (huei-hu), chief of the toghuz-uigurs. this is how we are to understand the statement that all the turki peoples who during the somewhat unstable rule of the assena dynasty from to had undergone many vicissitudes, and about were even broken into two great sections (eastern turks of the karakoram region and western turks of the tarim basin), were again united in one vast political system under the toghuz-uigurs. these are henceforth known in history simply as uigurs, the on branch having, as stated, long disappeared in the west. the centre of their power seems to have oscillated between karakoram and turfan in eastern turkestan, the extensive ruins of which have been explored by d. a. klements, sven hedin and m. a. stein. their vast dominions were gradually dismembered, first by the _hakas_, or _ki-li-kissé_, precursors of the present kirghiz, who overran the eastern (orkhon) districts about , and then by the muhammadans of máwar-en-nahar (transoxiana), who overthrew the "lion kings," as the uigur khans of turfan were called, and set up several petty mussulman states in eastern turkestan. later they fell under the yoke of the kara-khitais, and were amongst the first to join the devastating hordes of jenghiz-khan; their name, which henceforth vanishes from history[ ], has been popularly recognised under the form of "ogres," in fable and nursery tales, but the derivation lacks historical foundation. at present the heterogeneous populations of the tarim basin (kashgaria, eastern turkestan), where the various elements have been intermingled, offer a striking contrast to those of the ili valley (sungaria), where one invading horde has succeeded and been superimposed on another. hence the complexity of the kashgarian type, in which the original "horse-like face" everywhere crops out, absorbing the later mongolo-turki arrivals. but in sungaria the kalmuk, chinese, dungan, taranchi, and kirghiz groups are all still sharply distinguished and perceptible at a glance. "amongst the kashgarians--a term as vague ethnically as 'aryan'--richthofen has determined the successive presence of the su, yué-chi, and usun hordes, as described in the early chinese chronicles[ ]." the recent explorations of m. a. stein have thrown some light on the ethnology of this region, and a preliminary survey of results was prepared and published by t. a. joyce. he concludes that the original inhabitants were of alpine type, with, in the west, traces of the indo-afghan, and that the mongolian has had very little influence upon the population[ ]. in close proximity to the toghuz-uigurs dwelt the _oghuz_ (_ghuz, uz_), for whom eponymous heroes have been provided in the legendary records of the eastern turks, although all these terms would appear to be merely shortened forms of toghuz[ ]. but whether true uigurs, or a distinct branch of the turki people, the ghuz, as they are commonly called by the arab writers, began their westward migrations about the year . after occupying transoxiana, where they are now represented by the uzbegs[ ] of bokhara and surrounding lands, they gradually spread as conquerors over all the northern parts of irania, asia minor, syria, the russian and caucasian steppes, ukrainia, dacia, and the balkan peninsula. in most of these lands they formed fresh ethnical combinations both with the caucasic aborigines, and with many kindred turki as well as mongol peoples, some of whom were settled in these regions since neolithic times, while others had either accompanied attila's expeditions, or followed in his wake (pechenegs, komans, alans, kipchaks, kara-kalpaks), or else arrived later in company with jenghiz-khan and his successors (kazan and nogai "tatars"[ ]). in russia, rumania (dacia), and most of the balkan peninsula these mongolo-turki blends have been again submerged by the dominant slav and rumanian peoples (great and little russians, servo-croatians, montenegrini, moldavians, and walachians). but in south-western asia they still constitute perhaps the majority of the population between the indus and constantinople, in many places forming numerous compact communities, in which the mongolo-turki physical and mental characters are conspicuous. such, besides the already mentioned turkomans of parthian lineage, are all the nomad and many of the settled inhabitants of khiva, ferghana, karategin, bokhara, generally comprised under the name of uzbegs and "sartes." such also are the turki peoples of afghan turkestan, and of the neighbouring uplands (hazaras and aimaks who claim mongol descent, though now of persian speech); the aderbaijani and many other more scattered groups in persia; the nogai and kumuk tribes of caucasia, and especially most of the nomad and settled agricultural populations of asia minor. the anatolian peasantry form, in fact, the most numerous and compact division of the turki family still surviving in any part of their vast domain between the bosporus and the lena. out of this prolific oghuz stock arose many renowned chiefs, founders of vast but somewhat unstable empires, such as those of the gasnevides, who ruled from persia to the indus; the seljuks, who first wrested the asiatic provinces from byzantium; the osmanli, so named from othman, the arabised form of athman, who prepared the way for orkhan ( - ), true builder of the ottoman power, which has alone survived the shipwreck of all the historical turki states. the vicissitudes of these monarchies, looked on perhaps with too kindly an eye by gibbon, belong to the domain of history, and it will suffice here to state that from the ethnical standpoint the chief interest centres in that of the seljukides, covering the period from about the middle of the eleventh to the middle of the thirteenth century. it was under togrul-beg of this dynasty ( - ) that "the whole body of the turkish nation embraced with fervour and sincerity the religion of mahomet[ ]." a little later began the permanent turki occupation of asia minor, where, after the conquest of armenia ( - ) and the overthrow of the byzantine emperor romanus diogenes ( ), numerous military settlements, followed by nomad turkoman encampments, were established by the great seljuk rulers, alp arslan and malek shah ( - ), at all the strategical points. these first arrivals were joined later by others fleeing before the mongol hosts led by jenghiz-khan's successors down to the time of timur-beg. but the christians (greeks and earlier aborigines) were not exterminated, and we read that, while great numbers apostatised, "many thousand children were marked by the knife of circumcision; and many thousand captives were devoted to the service or the pleasures of their masters" (_ib._). in other words, the already mixed turki intruders were yet more modified by further interminglings with the earlier inhabitants of asia minor. those who, following the fortunes of the othman dynasty, crossed the bosporus and settled in rumelia and some other parts of the balkan peninsula, now prefer to call themselves _osmanli_, even repudiating the national name "turk" still retained with pride by the ruder peasant classes of asia minor. the latter are often spoken of as "seljuk turks," as if there were some racial difference between them and the european osmanli, and for the distinction there is some foundation. as pointed out by arminius vambéry[ ], the osmanli have been influenced and modified by their closer association with the christian populations of the balkan lands, while in anatolia the seljuks have been able better to preserve the national type and temperament. the true turki spirit ("das türkentum") survives especially in the provinces of lykaonia and kappadokia, where the few surviving natives were not only islamised but ethnically fused, whereas in europe most of them (bosnians, albanians) were only islamised, and here the turki element has always been slight. at present the original turki type and temperament are perhaps best preserved amongst the remote _yakuts_ of the lena, and the _kirghiz_ groups (_kirghiz kazaks_ and _kara kirghiz_) of the west siberian steppe and the pamir uplands. the turki connection of the yakuts, about which some unnecessary doubts had been raised, has been set at rest by v. a. sierochevsky[ ], who, however, describes them as now a very mixed people, owing to alliances with the tunguses and russians. they are of short stature, averaging scarcely ft. in., and this observer thought their dark but not brilliant black eyes, deeply sunk in narrow orbits, gave them more of a red indian than of a mongol cast. they are almost the only progressive aboriginal people in siberia, although numbering not more than , souls, concentrated chiefly along the river banks on the plateau between the lena and the aldan. in the yakuts we have an extreme instance of the capacity of man to adapt himself to the _milieu_. they not merely exist, but thrive and display a considerable degree of energy and enterprise in the coldest region on the globe. within the isothermal of - ° fahr., verkhoyansk, in the heart of their territory, is alone included, for the period from november to february, and in this temperature, at which the quicksilver freezes, the yakut children may be seen gambolling naked in the snow. in midwinter r. kennan met some of these "men of iron," as wrangel calls them, airily arrayed in nothing but a shirt and a sheepskin, lounging about as if in the enjoyment of the balmy zephyrs of some genial sub-tropical zone. although nearly all are orthodox christians, or at least baptized as such, they are mere shamanists at heart, still conjuring the powers of nature, but offering no worship to a supreme deity, of whom they have a vague notion, though he is too far off to hear, or too good to need their supplications. the world of good and evil spirits, however, has been enriched by accessions from the russian calendar and pandemonium. thanks to their commercial spirit, the yakut language, a very pure turki idiom, is even more widespread than the race, having become a general medium of intercourse for tungus, russian, mongol and other traders throughout east siberia, from irkutsk to the sea of okhotsk, and from the chinese frontier to the arctic ocean[ ]. to some extent w. radloff is right in describing the great kirghiz turki family as "of all turks most nearly allied to the mongols in their physical characters, and by their family names such as kyptshak [kipchak], argyn, naiman, giving evidence of mongolian descent, or at least of intermixture with mongols[ ]." but we have already been warned against the danger of attaching too much importance to these tribal designations, many of which seem, after acquiring renown on the battle-field, to have passed readily from one ethnic group to another. there are certain hindu-kush and afghan tribes who think themselves greeks or arabs, because of the supposed descent of their chiefs from alexander the great or the prophet's family, and genealogical trees spring up like the conjurer's mango plant in support of such illustrious lineage. the chagatai (jagatai) tribes, of turki stock and speech, take their name from a full-blood mongol, chagatai, second son of jenghiz-khan, to whom fell eastern turkestan in the partition of the empire. in the same way many uzbeg and kirghiz turki tribes are named from famous mongol chiefs, although no one will deny a strain of true mongol blood in all these heterogeneous groups. this is evident enough from the square and somewhat flat mongol features, prominent cheek-bones, oblique eyes, large mouth, feet and hands, yellowish brown complexion, ungainly obese figures and short stature, all of which are characteristic of both sections, the kara-kirghiz highlanders, and the kazaks of the lowlands. some ethnologists regard these kirghiz groups, not as a distinct branch of the mongolo-turki race, but rather as a confederation of several nomad tribes stretching from the gobi to the lower volga, and mingled together by jenghiz-khan and his successors[ ]. the true national name is _kazák_, "riders," and as they were originally for the most part mounted marauders, or free lances of the steppe, the term came to be gradually applied to all nomad and other horsemen engaged in predatory warfare. it thus at an early date reached the south russian steppe, where it was adopted in the form of _kossack_ by the russians themselves. it should be noted that the compound term kirghiz-kazak, introduced by the russians to distinguish these nomads from their own cossacks, is really a misnomer. the word "kirghiz," whatever its origin, is never used by the kazaks in reference to themselves, but only to their near relations, the kirghiz, or kara-kirghiz[ ], of the uplands. these highlanders, who roam the tian-shan and pamir valleys, form two sections:--_on_, "right," or east, and _sol_, "left," or west. they are the _diko kamennyi_, that is, "wild rock people," of the russians, whence the expression "block kirghiz" still found in some english books of travel. but they call themselves simply kirghiz, claiming descent from an original tribe of that name, itself sprung from a legendary kirghiz-beg, from whom are also descended the chiliks, kitars and others, all now reunited with the ons and the sols. the kazaks also are grouped in long-established and still jealously maintained sections--the _great_, _middle_, _little_, and _inner horde_--whose joint domain extends from lake balkash round the north side of the caspian down to the lower volga[ ]. all accepted the teachings of islam many centuries ago, but their muhammadanism[ ] is of a somewhat negative character, without mosques, mollahs, or fanaticism, and in practice not greatly to be distinguished from the old siberian shamanism. kumiss, fermented mare's milk, their universal drink, as amongst the ancient scythians, plays a large part in the life of these hospitable steppe nomads. one of the lasting results of castrèn's labours has been to place beyond reasonable doubt the altai origin of the finnish peoples[ ]. their cradle may now be localised with some confidence about the head waters of the yenisei, in proximity to that of their turki kinsmen. here is the seat of the _soyotes_ and of the closely allied _koibals_, _kamassintzi_, _matores_, _karagasses_ and others, who occupy a considerable territory along both slopes of the sayan range, and may be regarded as the primitive stock of the widely diffused finnish race. some of these groups have intermingled with the neighbouring turki peoples, and even speak turki dialects. but the original finnish type and speech are well represented by the soyotes, who are here indigenous, and "from these their ... kinsmen, the samoyeds have spread as breeders of reindeer to the north of the continent from the white sea to the bay of chatanga[ ]." others, following a westerly route along the foot of the altai and down the irtysh to the urals, appear to have long occupied both slopes of that range, where they acquired some degree of culture, and especially that knowledge of, and skill in working, the precious and other metals, for which the "white-eyed chudes" were famous, and to which repeated reference is made in the songs of the _kalevala_[ ]. as there are no mines or minerals in finland itself, it seems obvious that the legendary heroes of the finnish national epic must have dwelt in some metalliferous region, which could only be the altai or the urals, possibly both. in any case the urals became a second home and point of dispersion for the finnish tribes (_ugrian finns_), whose migrations--some prehistoric, some historic--can be followed thence down the pechora and dvina to the frozen ocean[ ], and down the kama to the volga. from this artery, where permanent settlements were formed (_volga finns_), some conquering hordes went south and west (_danubian finns_), while more peaceful wanderers ascended the great river to lakes ladoga and onega, and thence to the shores of the baltic and lapland (_baltic and lake finns_). thus were constituted the main branches of the widespread finnish family, whose domain formerly extended from the katanga beyond the yenisei to lapland, and from the arctic ocean to the altai range, the caspian, and the volga, with considerable _enclaves_ in the danube basin. but throughout their relatively short historic life the finnish peoples, despite a characteristic tenacity and power of resistance, have in many places been encroached upon, absorbed, or even entirely eliminated, by more aggressive races, such as the siberian "tatars" in their altai cradleland, the turki kirghiz and bashkirs in the west siberian steppes and the urals, the russians in the volga and lake districts, the germans and lithuanians in the baltic provinces (kurland, livonia, esthonia), the rumanians, slavs, and others in the danube regions, where the ugrian bulgars and magyars have been almost entirely assimilated in type (and the former also in speech) to the surrounding european populations. few anthropologists now attach much importance to the views not yet quite obsolete regarding a former extension of the finnish race over the whole of europe and the british isles. despite the fact that all the finns are essentially round-headed, they were identified first with the long-headed cavemen, who retreated north with the reindeer, as was the favourite hypothesis, and then with the early neolithic races who were also long-headed. elaborate but now forgotten essays were written by learned philologists to establish a common origin of the basque and the finnic tongues, which have nothing in common, and half the myths, folklore, and legendary heroes of the western nations were traced to finno-ugrian sources. now we know better, and both archaeologists and philologists have made it evident that the finnish peoples are relatively quite recent arrivals in europe, that the men of the bronze age in finland itself were not finns but teutons, and that at the beginning of the new era all the finnish tribes still dwelt east of the gulf of finland[ ]. not only so, but the eastern migrations themselves, as above roughly outlined, appear to have taken place at a relatively late epoch, long after the inhabitants of west siberia had passed from the new stone to the metal ages. j. r. aspelin, "founder of finno-ugrian archaeology," points out that the finno-ugrian peoples originally occupied a geographical position between the indo-germanic and the mongolic races, and that their first iron age was most probably a development, between the yenisei and the kama, of the so-called ural-altai bronze age, the last echoes of which may be traced westwards to finland and north scandinavia. in the upper yenisei districts iron objects had still the forms of the bronze age, when that ancient civilisation, associated with the name of the "chudes," was interrupted by an invasion which introduced the still persisting turki iron age, expelled the aboriginal inhabitants, and thus gave rise to the great migrations first of the finno-ugrians, and then of the turki peoples (bashkirs, volga "tatars" and others) to and across the urals. it was here, in the permian territory between the irtysh and the kama, that the west siberian (chudish) iron age continued its normal and unbroken evolution. the objects recovered from the old graves and kurgans in the present governments of tver and iaroslav, and especially at ananyino on the kama, centre of this culture, show that here took place the transition from the bronze to the iron age some years before the new era, and here was developed a later iron age, whose forms are characteristic of the northern finno-ugrian lands. the whole region would thus appear to have been first occupied by these immigrants from asia after the irruption of the turki hordes into western siberia during the first iron age, at most some or years before the christian era. the finno-ugrian migrations are thus limited to a period of not more than years from the present time, and this conclusion, based on archaeological grounds, agrees fairly well with the historical, linguistic, and ethnical data. it is especially in this obscure field of research that the eminent danish scholar, vilhelm thomsen, has rendered inestimable services to european ethnology. by the light of his linguistic studies a. h. snellman[ ] has elucidated the origins of the baltic finns, the proto-esthonians, the now all but extinct livonians, and the quite extinct kurlanders, from the time when they still dwelt east and south-east of the baltic lands, under the influence of the surrounding lithuanian and gothic tribes, till the german conquest of the baltic provinces. we learn from jordanes, to whom is due the first authentic account of these populations, that the various finnish tribes were subject to the gothic king hermanarich, and thomsen now shows that all the western finns (esthonians, livonians, votes, vepses, karelians, tavastians, and others of finland) must in the first centuries of the new era have lived practically as one people in the closest social union, speaking one language, and following the same religious, tribal, and political institutions. earlier than the gothic was the letto-lithuanian contact, as shown by the fact that its traces are perceptible in the language of the volga finns, in which german loan-words are absent. from these investigations it becomes clear that the finnish domain must at that time have stretched from the present esthonia, livonia, and lake ladoga south to the western dvina. the westward movement was connected with the slav migrations. when the slavs south of the letts moved west, other slav tribes must have pushed north, thus driving both letts and finns west to the baltic provinces, which had previously been occupied by the germans (goths). some of the western finns must have found their way about a.d., scarcely earlier, into parts of this region, where they came into hostile and friendly contact with the norsemen. these relations would even appear to be reflected in the norse mythology, which may be regarded as in great measure an echo of historic events. the wars of the swedish and danish kings referred to in these oral records may be interpreted as plundering expeditions rather than permanent conquests, while the undoubtedly active intercourse between the east and west coasts of the baltic may be explained on the assumption that, after the withdrawal of the goths, a remnant of the germanic populations remained behind in the baltic provinces. from nestor's statement that all three of the varangian princes settled, not amongst slavish but amongst finnish peoples, it may be inferred that the finnish element constituted the most important section in the newly founded russian state; and it may here be mentioned that the term "russ" itself has now been traced to the finnish word _ruost_ (_ruosti_), a "norseman." but although at first greatly outnumbering the slavs, the finnish peoples soon lost the political ascendancy, and their subsequent history may be summed up in the expression--gradual absorption in the surrounding slav populations. this inevitable process is still going on amongst all the volga, lake and baltic finns, except in finland and lapland, where other conditions obtain[ ]. most finnish ethnologists agree that however much they may now differ in their physical and mental characters and usages, finns and lapps were all originally one people. some variant of _suoma_[ ] enters into the national name of all the baltic groups--_suomalaiset_, the finns of finland, _somelaïzed_, those of esthonia, _samelats_ (sabmelad), the lapps, _samoyad_, the samoyeds. in ohthere's time the norsemen called all the lapps "finnas" (as the norwegians still do), and that early navigator already noticed that these "finns" seemed to speak the same language as the beormas, who were true finns[ ]. nor do the present inhabitants of finland, taken as a whole, differ more in outward appearance and temperament from their lapp neighbours than do the tavastians and the karelians, that is, their western and eastern sections, from each other. the tavastians, who call themselves hémelaiset, "lake people," have rather broad, heavy frames, small and oblique blue or grey eyes, towy hair and white complexion, without the clear florid colour of the north germanic and english peoples. the temperament is somewhat sluggish, passive and enduring, morose and vindictive, but honest and trustworthy. very different are the tall, slim, active karelians (_karialaiset_, "cowherds," from _kari_, "cow"), with more regular features, straight grey eyes, brown complexion, and chestnut hair, like that of the hero of the kalevala, hanging in ringlets down the shoulders. many of the karelians, and most of the neighbouring _ingrians_ about the head of the gulf of finland, as well as the votes and vepses of the great lakes, have been assimilated in speech, religion, and usages to the surrounding russian populations. but the more conservative tavastians have hitherto tenaciously preserved the national sentiment, language, and traditions. despite the pressure of sweden on the west, and of russia on the east, the finns still stand out as a distinct european nationality, and continue to cultivate with success their harmonious and highly poetical language. since the twelfth century they have been christians, converted to the catholic faith by "saint" eric, king of sweden, and later to lutheranism, again by the swedes[ ]. the national university, removed in from abo to helsingfors, is a centre of much scientific and literary work, and here e. lönnrot, father of finnish literature, brought out his various editions of the _kalevala_, that of consisting of some , strophes[ ]. a kind of transition from these settled and cultured finns to the lapps of scandinavia and russia is formed by the still almost nomad, or at least restless _kwæns_, who formerly roamed as far as the white sea, which in alfred's time was known as the _cwen sæ_ (kwæn sea). these kwæns, who still number nearly , , are even called nomads by j. a. friis, who tells us that there is a continual movement of small bands between finland and scandinavia. "the wandering kwæns pass round the gulf of bothnia and up through lappmarken to kittalä, where they separate, some going to varanger, and others to alten. they follow the same route as that which, according to historians, some of the norsemen followed in their wanderings from finland[ ]." the references of the sagas are mostly to these primitive bothnian finns, with whom the norsemen first came in contact, and who in the sixth and following centuries were still in a rude state not greatly removed from that of their ugrian forefathers. as shown by almqvist's researches, they lived almost exclusively by hunting and fishing, had scarcely a rudimentary knowledge of agriculture, and could prepare neither butter nor cheese from the milk of their half-wild reindeer herds. such were also, and in some measure still are, the kindred lapps, who with the allied _yurak samoyeds_ of arctic russia are the only true nomads still surviving in europe. a. h. cocks, who travelled amongst all these rude aborigines in , describes the kwæns who range north to lake enara, as "for the most part of a very rough class," and found that the russian lapps of the kola peninsula, "except as to their clothing and the addition of coffee and sugar to their food supply, are living now much the same life as their ancestors probably lived or more years ago, a far more primitive life, in fact, than the reindeer lapps [of scandinavia]. they have not yet begun to use tobacco, and reading and writing are entirely unknown among them. unlike the three other divisions of the race [the norwegian, swedish, and finnish lapps], they are a very cheerful, light-hearted people, and have the curious habit of expressing their thoughts aloud in extempore sing-song[ ]." similar traits have been noticed in the samoyeds, whom f. g. jackson describes as an extremely sociable and hospitable people, delighting in gossip, and much given to laughter and merriment[ ]. he gives their mean height as nearly ft. in., which is about the same as that of the lapps (von düben, ft. in., others rather less), while that of the finns averages ft. in. (topinard). although the general mongol appearance is much less pronounced in the lapps than in the samoyeds, in some respects--low stature, flat face with peculiar round outline--the latter reminded jackson of the ziryanians, who are a branch of the beormas (permian finns), though like them now much mixed with the russians. the so-called prehistoric "lapp graves," occurring throughout the southern parts of scandinavia, are now known from their contents to have belonged to the norse race, who appear to have occupied this region since the new stone age, while the lapp domain seems never to have reached very much farther south than trondhjem. all these facts, taken especially in connection with the late arrival of the finns themselves in finland, lend support to the view that the lapps are a branch, not of the suomalaiset, but of the permian finns, and reached their present homes, not from finland, but from north russia through the kanin and kola peninsulas, if not round the shores of the white sea, at some remote period prior to the occupation of finland by its present inhabitants. this assumption would also explain ohthere's statement that lapps and permians seemed to speak nearly the same language. the resemblance is still close, though i am not competent to say to which branch of the finno-ugrian family lapp is most nearly allied. of the mongol physical characters the lapp still retains the round low skull (index ), the prominent cheek-bones, somewhat flat features, and ungainly figure. the temperament, also, is still perhaps more asiatic than european, although since the eighteenth century they have been christians--lutherans in scandinavia, orthodox in russia. in pagan times shamanism had nowhere acquired a greater development than among the lapps. a great feature of the system were the "rune-trees," made of pine or birch bark, inscribed with figures of gods, men, or animals, which were consulted on all important occasions, and their mysterious signs interpreted by the shamans. even foreign potentates hearkened to the voice of these renowned magicians, and in england the expression "lapland witches" became proverbial, although it appears that there never were any witches, but only wizards, in lapland. such rites have long ceased to be practised, although some of the crude ideas of a material after-life still linger on. money and other treasures are often buried or hid away, the owners dying without revealing the secret, either through forgetfulness, or more probably of set purpose in the hope of thus making provision for the other world. amongst the kindred samoyeds, despite their russian orthodoxy, the old pagan beliefs enjoy a still more vigorous existence. "as long as things go well with him, he is a christian; but should his reindeer die, or other catastrophe happen, he immediately returns to his old god _num_ or _chaddi_.... he conducts his heathen services by night and in secret, and carefully screens from sight any image of chaddi[ ]." jackson noticed several instances of this compromise between the old and the new, such as the wooden cross supplemented on the samoyed graves by an overturned sledge to convey the dead safely over the snows of the under-world, and the rings of stones, within which the human sacrifices were perhaps formerly offered to propitiate chaddi; and although these things have ceased, "it is only a few years ago that a samoyad living on novaia zemlia sacrificed a young girl[ ]." similar beliefs and practices still prevail not only amongst the siberian finns--ostyaks of the yenisei and obi rivers, voguls of the urals--but even amongst the votyaks, mordvinians, cheremisses and other scattered groups still surviving in the volga basin. so recently as the year a number of votyaks were tried and convicted for the murder of a passing mendicant, whom they had beheaded to appease the wrath of kiremet, spirit of evil and author of the famine raging at that time in central russia. besides kiremet, the votyaks--who appear to have migrated from the urals to their present homes between the kama and the viatka rivers about a.d., and are mostly heathens--also worship inmar, god of heaven, to whom they sacrifice animals as well as human beings whenever it can be safely done. we are assured by baron de baye that even the few who are baptized take part secretly in these unhallowed rites[ ]. to the ugrian branch, rudest and most savage of all the finnish peoples, belong these now moribund volga groups, as well as the fierce bulgar and magyar hordes, if not also their precursors, the _jazyges_ and _rhoxolani_, who in the second century a.d. swarmed into pannonia from the russian steppe, and in company with the germanic quadi and marcomanni twice ( and ) advanced to the walls of aquileia, and were twice arrested by the legions of marcus aurelius and verus. of the once numerous jazyges, whom pliny calls sarmates, there were several branches--_maeotae_, metanastae, _basilii_ ("royal")--who were first reduced by the goths spreading from the baltic to the euxine and lower danube, and then overwhelmed with the dacians, getae, bastarnae, and a hundred other ancient peoples in the great deluge of the hunnish invasion. from the same south russian steppe--the plains watered by the lower don and dnieper--came the _bulgars_, first in association with the huns, from whom they are scarcely distinguished by the early byzantine writers, and then as a separate people, who, after throwing off the yoke of the avars ( a.d.), withdrew before the pressure of the khazars westwards to the lower danube ( ). but their records go much farther back than these dates, and while philologists and archaeologists are able to trace their wanderings step by step north to the middle volga and the ural mountains, authentic armenian documents carry their history back to the second century b.c. under the arsacides numerous bands of bulgars, driven from their homes about the kama confluence by civil strife, settled on the banks of the aras, and since that time ( - b.c.) the bulgars were known to the armenians as a great nation dwelling away to the north far beyond the caucasus. originally the name, which afterwards acquired such an odious notoriety amongst the european peoples, may have been more geographical than ethnical, implying not so much a particular nation as all the inhabitants of the _bulga_ (volga) between the kama and the caspian. but at that time this section of the great river seems to have been mainly held by more or less homogeneous branches of the finno-ugrian family, and palethnologists have now shown that to this connection beyond all question belonged in physical appearance, speech, and usages those bands known as bulgars, who formed permanent settlements in moesia south of the lower danube towards the close of the seventh century[ ]. here "these bold and dexterous archers, who drank the milk and feasted on the flesh of their fleet and indefatigable horses; whose flocks and herds followed, or rather guided, the motions of their roving camps; to whose inroads no country was remote or impervious, and who were practised in flight, though incapable of fear[ ]," established a powerful state, which maintained its independence for over seven hundred years ( - ). acting at first in association with the slavs, and then assuming "a vague dominion" over their restless sarmatian allies, the bulgars spread the terror of their hated name throughout the balkan lands, and were prevented only by the skill of belisarius from anticipating their turki kinsmen in the overthrow of the byzantine empire itself. procopius and jornandes have left terrible pictures of the ferocity, debasement, and utter savagery, both of the bulgars and of their slav confederates during the period preceding the foundation of the bulgar dynasty in moesia. wherever the slavs (antes, slavini) passed, no soul was left alive; thrace and illyria were strewn with unburied corpses; captives were shut up with horse and cattle in stables, and all consumed together, while the brutal hordes danced to the music of their shrieks and groans. indescribable was the horror inspired by the bulgars, who killed for killing's sake, wasted for sheer love of destruction, swept away all works of the human hand, burnt, razed cities, left in their wake nought but a picture of their own cheerless native steppes. of all the barbarians that harried the empire, the bulgars have left the most detested name, although closely rivalled by the slavs. to the ethnologist the later history of the bulgarians is of exceptional interest. they entered the danubian lands in the seventh century as typical ugro-finns, repulsive alike in physical appearance and mental characters. their dreaded chief, krum, celebrated his triumphs with sanguinary rites, and his followers yielded in no respects to the huns themselves in coarseness and brutality. yet an almost complete moral if not physical transformation had been effected by the middle of the ninth century, when the bulgars were evangelised by byzantine missionaries, exchanged their rude ugrian speech for a slavonic tongue, the so-called "church slav," or even "old bulgarian," and became henceforth merged in the surrounding slav populations. the national name "bulgar" alone survives, as that of a somewhat peaceful southern "slav" people, who in our time again acquired the political independence of which they had been deprived by bajazet i. in . nor did this name disappear from the volga lands after the great migration of bulgar hordes to the don basin during the third and fourth centuries a.d. on the contrary, here arose another and a greater bulgar empire, which was known to the byzantines of the tenth century as "black bulgaria," and later to the arabs and western peoples as "great bulgaria," in contradistinction to the "little bulgaria" south of the danube[ ]. it fell to pieces during the later "tatar" wars, and nothing now remains of the volga bulgars, except the volga itself from which they were named. in the same region, but farther north[ ], lay also a "great hungary," the original seat of those other ugrian finns known as hungarians and magyars, who followed later in the track of the bulgars, and like them formed permanent settlements in the danube basin, but higher up in pannonia, the present kingdom of hungary. here, however, the magyars had been preceded by the kindred (or at least distantly connected) avars, the dominant people in the middle danube lands for a great part of the period between the departure of the huns and the arrival of the magyars[ ]. rolling up like a storm cloud from the depths of siberia to the volga and euxine, sweeping everything before them, reducing kutigurs, utigurs, bulgars, and slavs, the avars presented themselves in the sixth century on the frontiers of the empire as the unwelcome allies of justinian. arrested at the elbe by the austrasian franks, and hard pressed by the gepidae, they withdrew to the lower danube under the ferocious khagan bayan, who, before his overthrow by the emperor mauritius and death in , had crossed the danube, captured sirmium, and reduced the whole region bordering on the byzantine empire. later the still powerful avars with their slav followers, "the avar viper and the slav locust," overran the balkan lands, and in nearly captured constantinople. they were at last crushed by pepin, king of italy, who reoccupied sirmium in , and brought back such treasure that the value of gold was for a time enormously reduced. then came the opportunity of the _hunagars_ (hungarians), who, after advancing from the urals to the volga ( a.d.), had reached the danube about . here they were invited to the aid of the germanic king arnulf, threatened by a formidable coalition of the western slavs under the redoubtable zventibolg, a nominal christian who would enter the church on horseback followed by his wild retainers, and threaten the priest at the altar with the lash. in the upland transylvanian valleys the hunagars had been joined by eight of the derelict khazar tribes, amongst whom were the _megers_ or _mogers_, whose name under the form of _magyar_ was eventually extended to the united hunagar-khazar nation. under their renowned king arpad, son of almuth, they first overthrew zventibolg, and then with the help of the surviving avars reduced the surrounding slav populations. thus towards the close of the ninth century was founded in pannonia the present kingdom of hungary, in which were absorbed all the kindred mongol and finno-turki elements that still survived from the two previous mongolo-turki empires, established in the same region by the huns under attila ( - ), and by the avars under khagan bayan ( - ). after reducing the whole of pannonia and ravaging carinthia and friuli, the hunagars raided bavaria and italy ( - ), imposed a tribute on the feeble successor of arnulf ( ), and pushed their plundering expeditions as far west as alsace, lorraine, and burgundy, everywhere committing atrocities that recalled the memory of attila's savage hordes. trained riders, archers and javelin-throwers from infancy, they advanced to the attack in numerous companies following hard upon each other, avoiding close quarters, but wearing out their antagonists by the persistence of their onslaughts. they were the scourge and terror of europe, and were publicly proclaimed by the emperor otto i. ( ) the enemies of god and humanity. this period of lawlessness and savagery was closed by the conversion of saint stephen i. ( - ), after which the magyars became gradually assimilated in type and general culture, but not in speech, to the western nations[ ]. their harmonious and highly cultivated language still remains a typical member of the ural-altaic family, reflecting in its somewhat composite vocabulary the various finno-ugric and turki elements (ugrians and permians from the urals, volga finns, turki avars and khazars), of which the substratum of the magyar nation is constituted[ ]. "the modern magyars," says peisker, "are one of the most varied race-mixtures on the face of the earth, and one of the two chief magyar types of today--traced to the arpad era [end of ninth century] by tomb-findings--is dolichocephalic with a narrow visage. there we have before us altaian origin, ugrian speech and indo-european type combined[ ]." politically the magyars continue to occupy a position of vital importance in eastern europe, wedged in between the northern and southern slav peoples, and thus presenting an insurmountable obstacle to the aspirations of the panslavist dreamers. the fiery and vigorous magyar nationality, a compact body of about , , ( ), holds the boundless plains watered by the middle danube and the theiss, and thus permanently separates the chechs, moravians, and slovaks of bohemia and the northern carpathians from their kinsmen, the yugo-slavs ("southern slavs") of servia and the other now slavonised balkan lands. these yugo-slavs are in their turn severed by the rumanians of neo-latin speech from their northern and eastern brethren, the ruthenians, poles, great and little russians. had the magyars and rumanians adopted any of the neighbouring slav idioms, it is safe to say that, like the ugrian bulgarians, they must have long ago been absorbed in the surrounding panslav world, with consequences to the central european nations which it would not be difficult to forecast. here we have a striking illustration of the influence of language in developing and preserving the national sentiment, analogous in many respects to that now witnessed on a larger scale amongst the english-speaking populations on both sides of the atlantic and in the austral lands. from this point of view the ethnologist may unreservedly accept ehrenreich's trenchant remark that "the nation stands and falls with its speech[ ]." footnotes: [ ] _natural history of man_, ed. pp. - . [ ] _science of language_, , ii. p. . [ ] _the heart of a continent,_ , p. . [ ] o. peschel, _races of man,_ , p. . [ ] see ch. de ujfalvy, _les aryens_, etc., , p. . reference should perhaps be also made to e. h. parker's theory (_academy_, dec. , ) that the turki cradle lay, not in the altai or altun-dagh ("golden mountains") of north mongolia, but miles farther south in the "golden mountains" (_kin-shan_) of the present chinese province of kansu. but the evidence relied on is not satisfactory, and indeed in one or two important instances is not evidence at all. [ ] j. b. bury, _english historical rev.,_ july, . [ ] _l'anthropologie,_ vi. no. . [ ] t. peisker, "the asiatic background," _cambridge medieval history,_ vol. i. , p. . [ ] _academy,_ dec. , , p. . [ ] "budini gelonion urbem ligneam habitant; juxta thyssagetae _turcaeque_ vastas silvas occupant, alunturque venando" (i. , p. of leipzig ed. ). [ ] "dein tanain amnem gemino ore influentem incolunt sarmatae ... tindari, thussagetae, _tyrcae_, usque ad solitudines saltuosis convallibus asperas, etc." (bk. viii. , vol. i. p. of berlin ed. ). the variants _turcae_ and _tyrcae_ are noteworthy, as indicating the same vacillating sound of the root vowel (_u_ and _y = ü_) that still persists. [ ] not only was the usurper nadir shah a turkoman of the afshár tribe but the present reigning family belongs to the rival clan of qajar turkomans long settled in khorasan, the home of their parthian forefathers. [ ] of turkomans the hair was generally a dark brown; the eyes brown ( ) and light grey ( ); face orthognathous ( ) and prognathous ( ); eyes mostly _not_ oblique; cephalic index . to . , mean . ; dolicho , sub-dolicho , mesati, sub-brachy. five skulls from an old graveyard at samarkand were also very heterogeneous, cephalic index ranging from . to . . this last, unless deformed, exceeds in brachycephaly "le célèbre crâne d'un slave vende qu'on cite dans les manuels d'anthropologie" (th. volkov, _l'anthropologie,_ , pp. - ). [ ] quoted by w. crooke, who points out that "the opinion of the best indian authorities seems to be gradually turning to the belief that the connection between játs and rájputs is more intimate than was formerly supposed" (_the tribes and castes of the north-western provinces and oudh_, calcutta, , iii. p. ). [ ] virgil's "indomiti dahae" (_aen._ viii. ): possibly the dehavites (dievi) of ezra iv. . [ ] _herodotus_, vol. i. p. . [ ] from pers. [arabic symbol], _dih, dah_, village (parsi _dahi_). [ ] _les aryens_, etc., p. sq. [ ] _de bello persico, passim._ [ ] crooke, _op. cit._ iv. p. . [ ] _the tribes and castes of bengal_, ; _the people of india_, . [ ] discovered in by n. m. yadrintseff in the orkhon valley, which drains to the selenga affluent of lake baikal. the inscriptions, one in chinese and three in turki, cover the four sides of a monument erected by a chinese emperor to the memory of kyul-teghin, brother of the then reigning turki khan bilga (mogilan). in the same historical district, where stand the ruins of karakoram--long the centre of turki and later of mongol power--other inscribed monuments have also been found, all apparently in the same turki language and script, but quite distinct from the glyptic rock carvings of the upper yenisei river, siberia. the chief workers in this field were the finnish archaeologists, j. r. aspelin, a. snellman and axel o. heikel, the results of whose labours are collected in the _inscriptions de l'jénisséi recueillies et publiées par la société finlandaise d'archéologie_, helsingfors, ; and _inscriptions de l'orkhon_, etc., helsingfors, . [ ] "la source d'où est tirée l'origine de l'alphabet turc, sinon immédiatement, du moins par intermédiaire, c'est la forme de l'alphabet sémitique qu'on appelle araméenne" (_inscriptions de l'orkhon déchiffrées_, helsingfors, ). [ ] see klaproth, _tableau historique de l'asie_, p. sq. [ ] they are the _onoi_, the "tens," who at this time dwelt beyond the scythians of the caspian sea (dionysius periegetes). [ ] it still persists, however, as a tribal designation both amongst the kirghiz and uzbegs, and in potanin visited the _yegurs_ of the edzin-gol valley in south-east mongolia, said to be the last surviving representatives of the uigur nation (h. schott, "zur uigurenfrage," in _abhandl. d. k. akad. d. wiss._, berlin, , pp. - ). [ ] ch. de ujfalvy, _les aryens au nord et au sud de l'hindou-kouch_, p. . [ ] "notes on the physical anthropology of chinese turkestan and the pamirs," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xlii. . [ ] "the uzi of the greeks are the gozz [ghuz] of the orientals. they appear on the danube and the volga, in armenia, syria, and chorasan, and their name seems to have been extended to the whole turkoman [turki] race" [by the arab writers]; gibbon, ch. lvii. [ ] who take their name from a mythical uz-beg, "prince uz" (_beg_ in turki = a chief, or hereditary ruler). [ ] both of these take their name, not from mythical but from historical chiefs:--_kazan khan_ of the volga, "the rival of cyrus and alexander," who was however of the house of jenghiz, consequently not a turk, like most of his subjects, but a true mongol (_ob._ ); and _noga_, the ally and champion of michael palaeologus against the mongols marching under the terrible holagu almost to the shores of the bosporus. [ ] gibbon, chap. lvii. by the "turkish nation" is here to be understood the western section only. the turks of máwar-en-nahar and kashgaria (eastern turkestan) had been brought under the influences of islam by the first arab invaders from persia two centuries earlier. [ ] "die stellung der türken in europa," in _geogr. zeitschrift_, leipzig, , part , p. sq. [ ] "ethnographic researches," edited by n. e. vasilofsky for the _imperial geogr. soc._ , quoted in _nature_, dec. , , p. . [ ] a. erman, _reise um die erde_, , vol. iii. p. . [ ] quoted by peschel, _races of man_, p. . [ ] m. balkashin in _izvestia russ. geogr. soc._, april, . [ ] _kara_ = "black," with reference to the colour of their round felt tents. [ ] on the obscure relations of these hordes to the kara-kirghiz and prehistoric usuns some light has been thrown by the investigations of n. a. aristov, a summary of whose conclusions is given by a. ivanovski in _centralblatt für anthropologie_, etc., , p. . [ ] although officially returned as muhammadans of the sunni sect, levchine tells as that it is hard to say whether they are moslem, pagan (shamanists), or manichean, this last because they believe god has made good angels called _mankir_ and bad angels called _nankir_. two of these spirits sit invisibly on the shoulders of every person from his birth, the good on the right, the bad on the left, each noting his actions in their respective books, and balancing accounts at his death. it is interesting to compare these ideas with those of the uzbeg prince who explained to lansdell that at the resurrection, the earth being flat, the dead grow out of it like grass; then god divides the good from the bad, sending these below and those above. in heaven nobody dies, and every wish is gratified; even the wicked creditor may seek out his debtor, and in lieu of the money owing may take over the equivalent in his good deeds, if there be any, and thus be saved (_through central asia_, , p. ). [ ] see especially his _reiseberichte u. briefe aus den jahren - _, p. sq.; and _versuch einer koibalischen u. karagassischen sprachlehre_, , vol. i. _passim_. but cf. j. szinnyei, _finnisch-ugrische sprachwissenschaft_, , pp. - . [ ] peschel, _races of man_, p. . [ ] in a suggestive paper on this collection of finnish songs c. u. clark (_forum_, april, , p. sq.) shows from the primitive character of the mythology, the frequent allusions to copper or bronze, and the almost utter absence of christian ideas and other indications, that these songs must be of great antiquity. "there seems to be no doubt that some parts date back to at least years ago, before the finns and the hungarians had become distinct peoples; for the names of the divinities, many of the customs, and even particular incantations and bits of superstitions mentioned in the kalevala are curiously duplicated in ancient hungarian writings." [ ] when ohthere made his famous voyage round north cape to the cwen sea (white sea) all this arctic seaboard was inhabited, not by samoyeds, as at present, but by true finns, whom king alfred calls _beormas_, _i.e._ the _biarmians_ of the norsemen, and the _permiaki_ (_permians_) of the russians (_orosius_, i. ). in medieval times the whole region between the white sea and the urals was often called permia; but since the withdrawal southwards of the zirynians and other permian finns this arctic region has been thinly occupied by samoyed tribes spreading slowly westward from siberia to the pechora and lower dvina. [ ] see a. hackman, _die bronzezeit finnlands_, helsingfors, ; also m. aspelin, o. montelius, v. thomsen and others, who have all, on various grounds, arrived at the same conclusion. even d. e. d. europaeus, who has advanced so many heterodox views on the finnish cradleland, and on the relations of the finnic to the mongolo-turki languages, agrees that "vers l'époque de la naissance de j. c., c'est-à-dire bien longtemps avant que ces tribus immigrassent en finlande, elles [the western finns] étaient établies immédiatement au sud des lacs d'onéga et de ladoga." (_travaux géographiques exécutés en finlande jusqu'en_ , helsingfors, , p. .) [ ] _finska forminnesföreningens tidskrift, journ. fin. antiq. soc._ , p. sq. [ ] "les finnois et leurs congénères ont occupé autrefois, sur d'immenses espaces, les vastes régions forestières de la russie septentrionale et centrale, et de la sibérie occidentale; mais plus tard, refoulés et divisés par d'autres peuples, ils furent réduits à des tribus isolées, dont il ne reste maintenant que des débris épars" (_travaux géographiques_, p. ). [ ] a word of doubtful meaning, commonly but wrongly supposed to mean _swamp_ or _fen_, and thus to be the original of the teutonic _finnas_, "fen people" (see thomsen, _einfluss d. ger. spr. auf die finnisch-lappischen_, p. ). [ ] "Þa finnas, him þuhte, and þa beormas spræcon neah án geðeode" (orosius, i. ). [ ] see my paper on the finns in cassel's _storehouse of information_, p. . [ ] the fullest information concerning finland and its inhabitants is found in the _atlas de finlande_, with _texte_ ( vols.) published by the _soc. géog. finland_ in . [ ] _laila_, earl of ducie's english ed., p. . the swedish _bothnia_ is stated to be a translation of _kwæn_, meaning low-lying coastlands; hence _kainulaiset_, as they call themselves, would mean "coastlanders." [ ] _a boat journey to inari_, viking club, feb. , . [ ] _the great frozen land_, , p. . [ ] _the great frozen land_, p. . [ ] cf. m. a. czaplicka, _aboriginal siberia_, , pp. , _n._ [ ] _notes sur les votiaks payens des gouvernements de kazan et viatka_, paris, . they are still numerous, especially in viatka, where they numbered , in . [ ] see especially schafarik's classical work _slavische alterthümer_, ii. p. sq. and v. de saint-martin, _Études de géographie ancienne et d'ethnographie asiatique_, ii. p. sq., also the still indispensable gibbon, ch. xlii., etc. [ ] _decline and fall_, xlii. [ ] rubruquis (thirteenth century): "we came to the etil, a very large and deep river four times wider than the seine, flowing from 'great bulgaria,' which lies to the north." farther on he adds: "it is from this great bulgaria that issued those bulgarians who are beyond the danube, on the constantinople side" (quoted by v. de saint-martin). [ ] evidently much nearer to the ural mountains, for jean du plan carpin says this "great hungary was the land of _bascart_," that is, _bashkir_, a large finno-turki people, who still occupy a considerable territory in the orenburg government about the southern slopes of the urals. [ ] with them were associated many of the surviving fugitive on-uigurs (gibbon's "ogors or varchonites"), whence the report that they were not true avars. but the turki genealogies would appear to admit their claim to the name, and in any case the uigurs and avars of those times cannot now be ethnically distinguished. _kandish_, one of their envoys to justinian, is clearly a turki name, and _varchonites_ seems to point to the warkhon (orkhon), seat in successive ages of the eastern turks, the uigurs, and the true mongols. [ ] _ethnology_, p. . [ ] vambéry, perhaps the best authority on this point, holds that in its structure magyar leans more to the finno-ugric, and in its vocabulary to the turki branch of the ural-altaic linguistic family. he attributes the effacement of the physical type partly to the effects of the environment, partly to the continuous interminglings of the ugric, turki, slav, and germanic peoples in pannonia ("ueber den ursprung der magyaren," in _mitt. d. k. k. geograph. ges._, vienna, , xl. nos. and ). [ ] t. peisker, "the asiatic background," _cambridge medieval history_, vol. i. , p. . [ ] "das volk steht und fällt mit der sprache" (_urbewohner brasiliens_, , p. ). chapter x the american aborigines american origins--fossil man in america--the lagoa-santa race--physical type in north america--cranial deformation--the toltecs--type of n.w. coast indians--date of migrations--evidence from linguistics--stock languages--culture--classification-- by linguistics--ethnic movements--archaeological classification--cultural classification--_eskimo area_--material culture--origin and affinities--physical type--social life--_mackenzie area_--the déné--material culture--physical type--social life--_north pacific coast area_--material culture--physical type--social life--_plateau area_--material culture--interior salish--social organisation--_californian area_--material culture--social life--_plains area_--material culture--dakota--religion--the sun dance--pawnee--blackfeet-- arapaho--cheyenne--_eastern woodland area_--material culture-- central group--eastern group--iroquoian tribes: ojibway-- religion--iroquois--_south-eastern area_--material culture-- creeks--yuchi--mound-builders--_south-western area_--material culture--transitional or intermediate tribes--pueblos--cliff dwellings--religion--physical type--social life. conspectus. #present range.# _n. w. pacific coastlands; the shores of the arctic ocean, labrador, and greenland; the unsettled parts of alaska and the dominion; reservations and agencies in the dominion and the united states; parts of florida, arizona, and new mexico; most of central and south america with fuegia either wild and full-blood, or semi-civilised half-breeds._ #hair#, _black, lank, coarse, often very long, nearly round in transverse section; very scanty on face and practically absent on body_; #colour#, _differs, according to localities, front dusky yellowish white to that of solid chocolate, but the prevailing colour is brown_; #skull#, _generally mesaticephalous ( ), but with wide range from (some eskimo) to or (some british columbians, peruvians); the_ #os incae# _more frequently present than amongst other races, but the_ #os linguae# _(hyoid bone) often imperfectly developed_; #jaws#, _massive, but moderately projecting_; #cheek-bone#, _as a rule rather prominent laterally, and also high_; #nose#, _generally large, straight or even aquiline, and mesorrhine_; #eyes#, _nearly always dark brown, with a yellowish conjunctiva, and the eye-slits show a prevailing tendency to a slight upward slant_; #stature#, _usually above the medium . m. ( ft. or in.), but variable--under . m. ( ft. in.) on the western plateaux (peruvians, etc.), also in fuegia and alaska; . m. ( ft.) and upwards in patagonia (tehuelches), central brazil (bororos) and prairie (algonquians, iroquoians); the relative proportions of the two elements of the arms and of the legs (radio-humeral and tibio-femoral indices) are intermediate between those of whites and negroes_. #temperament#, _moody, reserved, and wary; outwardly impassive and capable of enduring extreme physical pain; considerate towards each other, kind and gentle towards their women and children, but not in a demonstrative manner; keen sense of justice, hence easily offended, but also easily pacified. the outward show of dignity and a lofty air assumed by many seems due more to vanity or ostentation than to a feeling of true pride. mental capacity considerable, much higher than the negro, but on the whole inferior to the mongol_. #speech#, _exclusively polysynthetic, a type unknown elsewhere; is not a primitive condition, but a highly specialised form of agglutination, in which all the terms of the sentence tend to coalesce in a single polysyllabic word; stock languages very numerous, perhaps more so than all the stock languages of all the other orders of speech in the rest of the world_. #religion#, _various grades of spirit and nature worship, corresponding to the various cultural grades; a crude form of shamanism prevalent amongst most of the north american aborigines, polytheism with sacrifice and priestcraft amongst the cultured peoples (aztecs, mayas, etc.); the monotheistic concept nowhere clearly evolved; belief in a natural after-life very prevalent, if not universal_. #culture#, _highly diversified, ranging from the lowest stages of savagery through various degrees of barbarism to the advanced social state of the more or less civilised mayas, aztecs, chibchas, yungas, quichuas, and aymaras; amongst these pottery, weaving, metal-work, agriculture, and especially architecture fairly well developed; letters less so, although the maya script seems to have reached the true phonetic state; navigation and science rudimentary or absent; savagery generally far more prevalent and intense in south than in north america, but the tribal state almost everywhere persistent_. i. _eskimo._ ii. _mackenzie area._ déné tribes. yellow knives, dog rib, hares, slavey, chipewyan, beaver, nahane, sekani, babine, carrier, loucheux, ahtena, khotana. iii. _north pacific area._ tlingit, haida, kwakiutl, bellacoola, coast salish, nootka, chinook, kalapooian. iv. _plateau area._ shahapts or nez percés, shoshoni, interior salish, thompson, lillooet, shushwap. v. _californian area._ wintun, pomo, miwok, yokut. vi. _plains area._ assiniboin, arapaho, siksika or blackfoot, blood, piegan, crow, cheyenne, comanche, gros ventre, kiowa, sarsi, teton-dakota (sioux), arikara, hidatsa, mandan, iowa, missouri, omaha, osage, oto, pawnee, ponca, santee-dakota (sioux), yankton-dakota (sioux), wichita, wind river shoshoni, plains-ojibway, plains-cree. vii. _eastern woodland area._ ojibway, saulteaux, wood cree, montagnais, naskapi, huron, wyandot, erie, susquehanna, iroquois, algonquin, ottawa, menomini, sauk and fox, potawatomi, peoria, illinois, kickapoo, miami, abnaki, micmac. viii. _south-eastern area._ shawnee, creek, chickasaw, choctaw, seminole, cherokee, tuscarora, yuchi, powhatan, tunican, natchez. ix. _south-western area._ pueblo tribes. hopi, zuñi, rio grande, navaho, pima, mohave, jicarilla, mescalero. [illustration: map of areas of material culture in north america (after c. wissler, _am. anth._ xvi. ).] #north america#: _eskimauan_ (innuit, aleut, karalit); _athapascan_ (déné, pacific division, apache, navaho); _koluschan_; _algonquian_ (delaware, abnaki, ojibway, shawnee, arapaho, sauk and fox, blackfeet); _iroquoian_ (huron, mohawk, tuscarora, seneca, cayuga, onondaga); _siouan_ (dakota, omaha, crow, iowa, osage, assiniboin); _shoshonian_ (comanche, ute); _salishan_; _shahaptian_; _caddoan_; _muskhogean_ (creek, choctaw, chickasaw, seminole); _pueblo_ (zuñian, keresan, tanoan). #central america#: _nahuatlan_ (aztec, pipil, niquiran); _huaxtecan_ (maya, quiché); _totonac_; _miztecan_; _zapotecan_; _chorotegan_; _tarascan_; _otomitlan_; _talamancan_; _choco_. #south america#: _muyscan_ (chibcha); _quichuan_ (inca, aymara); _yungan_ (chimu); _antisan_; _jivaran_; _zaparan_; _betoyan_; _maku_; _pana_ (cashibo, karipuna, setebo); _ticunan_; _chiquitan_; _arawakan_ (arua, maypure, vapisiana, ipurina, mahinaku, layana, kustenau, moxo); _cariban_ (bakaïri, nahuqua, galibi, kalina, arecuna, macusi, ackawoi); _tupi-guaranian_ (omagua, mundurucu, kamayura, emerillon); _gesan_ (botocudo, kayapo, cherentes); _charruan_; _bororo_; _karayan_; _guaycuruan_ (abipones, mataco, toba); _araucanian_ or _moluchean_; _patagonian_ or _tehuelchean_ (pilma, yacana, ona); _enneman_ (lengua, sanapana, angaites); _fuegian_ (yahgan, alakaluf). * * * * * it is impossible to dissociate the ethnological history of the new world from that of the old. the absence from america at any period of the world's history not only of anthropoid apes but also of the _cercopithecidae_, in other words of the catarrhini, entirely precludes the possibility of the independent origin of man in the western hemisphere. therefore the population of the americas must have come from the old world. in prehistoric times there were only two possible routes for such immigration to have taken place. for the mid-atlantic land connection was severed long ages before the appearance of man, and the connection of south america with antarctica had also long disappeared[ ]. we are therefore compelled to look to a farther extension of land between north america and northern europe on the one hand, and between north-west america and north-east asia on the other. we know that in late tertiary times there was a land-bridge connecting north-west europe with greenland, and scharff[ ] believes that the barren-ground reindeer took this route to norway and western europe during early glacial times, but that "towards the latter part of the glacial period the land-connection ... broke down." other authorities are of opinion that the continuous land between the two continents in higher latitudes remained until post-glacial times. brinton[ ] considered that it was impossible for man to have reached america from asia, because siberia was covered with glaciers and not peopled until late neolithic times, whereas man was living in both north and south america at the close of the glacial age. he acknowledged frequent communication in later times between asia and america, but maintained that the movement was rather from america to asia than otherwise. he was therefore a strong advocate of the european origin of the american race. there is no doubt that north america was connected with asia in tertiary times, though some geologists assert that "the far north-west did not rise from the waves of the pacific ocean (which once flowed with a boundless expanse to the north pole) until after the glacial period." in that case "the first inhabitants of america certainly did not get there in this way, for by that time the bones of many generations were already bleaching on the soil of the new world[ ]." the "miocene bridge," as the land connecting asia and america in late geological times has been called, was probably very wide, one side would stretch from kamchatka to british columbia, and the other across behring strait. if, as seems probable, this connection persisted till, or was reconstituted during, the human period, tribes migrating to america by the more northerly route would enter the land east of the great barrier of the rocky mountains. the route from the old world to the new by the pacific margin probably remained nearly always open. thus, while not denying the possibility of a very early migration from north europe to north america through greenland, it appears more probable that america received its population from north asia. we have next to determine what were the characteristics of the earliest inhabitants of america, and the approximate date of their arrival. there have been many sensational accounts of the discoveries of fossil man in america, which have not been able to stand the criticism of scientific investigation. it must always be remembered that the evidence is primarily one of stratigraphy. assuming, of course, that the human skeletal remains found in a given deposit are contemporaneous with the formation of that deposit and not subsequently interred in it, it is for the geologist to determine the age. the amount of petrifaction and the state of preservation of the bones are quite fallacious nor can much reliance be placed upon the anatomical character of the remains. primordial human remains may be expected to show ancestral characters to a marked degree, but as we have insufficient data to enable us to determine the rate of evolution, anatomical considerations must fit into the timescale granted by the geologist. apart from pure stratigraphy associated animal remains may serve to support or refute the claims to antiquity, while the presence of artifacts, objects made or used by man, may afford evidence for determining the relative date if the cultural stratigraphy of the area has been sufficiently established. fortunately the fossil human remains of america have been carefully studied by a competent authority who says, "irrespective of other considerations, in every instance where enough of the bones is preserved for comparison the somatological evidence bears witness against the geological antiquity of the remains and for their close affinity to, or identity with those of the modern indian. under these circumstances but one conclusion is justified, which is that thus far on this continent, no human bones of undisputed geological antiquity are known[ ]." hrdli[vc]ka subsequently studied the remains of south america and says, "a conscientious, unbiased study of all the available facts has shown that the whole structure erected in support of the theory of geologically ancient man on that continent rests on very imperfectly and incorrectly interpreted data and in many instances on false premises, and as a consequence of these weaknesses must completely collapse when subjected to searching criticism.--as to the antiquity of the various archaeological remains from argentina attributed to early man, all those to which particular importance has been attached have been found without tenable claim to great age, while others, mostly single objects, without exception fall into the category of the doubtful[ ]." the conclusions of w. h. holmes, bailey willis, f. e. wright and c. n. fenner, who collaborated with hrdli[vc]ka, with regard to the evidence thus far furnished, are that, "it fails to establish the claim that in south america there have been brought forth thus far tangible traces of either geologically ancient man himself or of any precursors of the human race[ ]." hrdli[vc]ka is careful to add, however, "this should not be taken as a categorical denial of the existence of early man in south america, however improbable such a presence may now appear." according to j. w. gidley[ ] the evidence of vertebrate paleontology indicates ( ) that man did not exist in north america at the beginning of the pleistocene although there was a land connection between asia and north america at that time permitting a free passage for large mammals. ( ) that a similar land connection was again in existence at the close of the last glacial epoch, and probably continued up to comparatively recent times, as indicated by the close resemblance of related living mammalian species on either side of the present behring strait. ( ) that the first authentic records of prehistoric man in america have been found in deposits that are not older than the last glacial epoch, and probably of even later date, the inference being that man first found his way into north america at some time near the close of the existence of this last land bridge. ( ) that this land bridge was broad and vegetative, and the climate presumably mild, at least along its southern coast border, making it habitable for man. rivet[ ] points out that from brazil to terra del fuegia on the atlantic slope, in bolivia and peru, on the high plateaux of the andes, on the pacific coast and perhaps in the south of california, traces of a distinct race are met with, sometimes in single individuals, sometimes in whole groups. this race of lagoa santa is an important primordial element in the population of south america, and has been termed by deniker the palaeo-american sub-race[ ]. the men were of low stature but considerable strength, the skull was long, narrow and high, of moderate size, prognathous, with strong brow ridges, but not a retreating forehead. there is no reliable evidence as to the age of these remains. hrdli[vc]ka, after reviewing all the evidence says, "besides agreeing closely with the dolichocephalic american type, which had an extensive representation throughout brazil, including the province of minas geraes, and in many other parts of south america, it is the same type which is met with farther north among the aztec, tarasco, otomi, tarahumare, pima, californians, ancient utah cliff dwellers, ancient north-eastern pueblos, shoshoni, many of the plains tribes, iroquois, eastern siouan, and algonquian. but it is apart from the eskimo, who form a distinct subtype of the yellow-brown strain of humanity[ ]." rivet[ ] adds that an examination of the present distribution of the descendants of the lagoa-santa type shows that they are all border peoples, in east brazil, and the south of patagonia and terra del fuegia, where the climate is rigorous, in desert islands of west and southern chili, on the coast of ecuador, and perhaps in california. this suggests that they have been driven out in a great eccentric movement from their old habitat, into new environment producing fresh crossings. there is an absence of this high narrow-headed type throughout the northern part of south america, and a prevalence of medium or sub-brachycephalic heads which are always low in the crown. these are now represented by the caribs and arawaks, but there was more than one migration of brachycephalic peoples from the north. to return to north america. as we have just seen hrdli[vc]ka recognises a dolichocephalic element in north america, and various ethnic groups range to pronounced brachycephaly. nevertheless he believes in the original unity of the indian race in america, basing his conclusions on the colour of the skin, which ranges from yellowish white to dark brown, the straight black hair, scanty beard, hairless body, brown and often more or less slanting eye, mesorrhine nose, medium prognathism, skeletal proportions and other essential features. in all these characters the american indians resemble the yellowish brown peoples of eastern asia and a large part of polynesia[ ]. he also believes that there were many successive migrations from asia. the differences of opinion between hrdli[vc]ka and other students is probably more a question of nomenclature than of fact. the eastern asiatics and polynesians are mixed peoples, and if there were numerous migrations from asia, spread over a very long period of time, people of different stocks would have found their way into america. "it is indeed probable," hrdli[vc]ka adds, "that the western coast of america, within the last two thousand years, was on more than one occasion reached by small parties of polynesians, and that the eastern coast was similarly reached by small groups of whites; but these accretions have not modified greatly, if at all, the mass of the native population[ ]." the inhabitants of the plains east of the rocky mountains and the eastern wooded area are characterised by a head which varies about the lower limit of brachycephaly, and by tall stature. this stock probably arrived by the north pacific bridge before the end of the last glacial period, and extended over the continent east of the great divide. finally bands from the north, east and south migrated into the prairie area. the markedly brachycephalic immigrants from asia appear to have proceeded mainly down the pacific slope and to have populated central and south america, with an overflow into the south of north america. it is probable that there were several migrations of allied but not similar broad-headed peoples from asia in early days, and we know that recently there have been racial and cultural drifts between the neighbouring portions of america and asia[ ]. indeed bogoras[ ] suggests that ethnographically the line separating asia and america should lie from the lower kolyma river to gishiga bay. owing to these various immigrations and subsequent minglings the cranial forms show much variation, and are not sufficiently significant to serve as a basis of classification. in parts of north america the round-headed mound-builders and others were encroached upon by populations of increasingly dolichocephalic type--plains indians and cherokees, chichimecs, tepanecs, acolhuas. even still dolichocephaly is characteristic of iroquois, coahuilas, sonorans, while the intermediate indices met with on the prairies and plateaux undoubtedly indicate the mixture between the long-headed invaders and the round-heads whom they swept aside as they advanced southwards. thus the minnetaris are highly dolicho; the poncas and osages sub-brachy; the algonquians variable, while the siouans oscillate widely round a mesaticephalous mean. the athapascans alone are homogeneous, and their sub-brachycephaly recurs amongst the apaches and their other southern kindred, who have given it an exaggerated form by the widespread practice of artificial deformation, which dates from remote times. the most typical cases both of brachy and dolicho deformation are from the cerro de las palmas graves in south-west mexico. deformation prevails also in peru and bolivia, as well as in ceara and the rio negro on the atlantic side. the flat-head form, so common from the columbia estuary to peru, occurs amongst the broad-faced huaxtecs, their near relations the maya-quichés, and the nahuatlans. it is also found amongst the extinct cebunys of cuba, hayti and jamaica, and the so-called "toltecs," that is, the people of tollan (tula), who first founded a civilised state on the mexican table-land (sixth and seventh centuries a.d.), and whose name afterwards became associated with every ancient monument throughout central america. on this "toltec question" the most contradictory theories are current; some hold that the toltecs were a great and powerful nation, who after the overthrow of their empire migrated southwards, spreading their culture throughout central america; others regard them as "fabulous," or at all events "nothing more than a sept of the nahuas themselves, the ancestors of those mexicans who built tenochtitlan," _i.e._ the present city of mexico. a third view, that of valentini, that the toltecs were not nahuas but mayas, is now supported both by e. p. dieseldorff[ ] and by förstemann[ ]. t. a. joyce[ ] suggests that the vanguard of the nahuas on reaching the mexican valley adopted and improved the culture of an agricultural people of tarascan affinities whose culture was in part due to mayan inspiration, whom they found settled there. later migrations of nahua were greatly impressed with the "toltec" culture which had thus arisen through the impact of a virile hunting people on more passive agriculturalists. on the north-west pacific coast similar ethnical interminglings recur, and franz boas[ ] here distinguishes as many as four types, the northern (tsimshian and others), the kwakiutl, the lillooet of the harrison lake region and the inland salishan (flat-heads, shuswaps, etc.). all are brachycephalic, but while the tsimshians are of medium height . m. ( ft. in.) with low, concave nose, very large head, and enormously broad face, exceeding the average for north america by mm., the kwakiutls are shorter . m. ( ft. - / in.) with very high and relatively narrow hooked nose, and quite exceptionally high face; the harrison lake very short . m. ( ft in.) with exceedingly short and broad head (c. i. nearly ), "surpassing in this respect all other forms known to exist in north america"; lastly, the inland salish of medium height . m. ( ft. in.) with high and wide nose of the characteristic indian form and a short head. it would be difficult to find anywhere a greater contrast than that which is presented by some of these british columbian natives, those, for instance, of harrison lake with almost circular heads ( . ), and some of the labrador eskimo with a degree of dolichocephaly not exceeded even by the fijian kai-colos ( )[ ]. but this violent contrast is somewhat toned by the intermediate forms, such as those of the tlingits, the aleutian islanders, and the western (alaskan) eskimo, by which the transition is effected between the arctic and the more southern populations. it is not possible at present to indicate even in outline the chronology of any of the ethnic movements outlined above. warren k. moorehead[ ] agrees with the great majority of american archaeologists in holding the existence of palaeolithic man in north america as not proven[ ], the so-called palaeoliths being either rejects or rude tools for rough purposes. when man migrated to america from north and east asia whenever that period may have been, he appears to have been in that stage of culture--or rather of stone technique--which we term neolithic, and the drifting movement ceased before he had learnt the use of metals. a further proof of the antiquity of the migrations is afforded by linguistics. a. f. chamberlain asserts[ ] that "it may be said with certainty, so far as all data hitherto presented are concerned, that no satisfactory proof whatever has been put forward to induce us to believe that any single american indian tongue or group of tongues has been derived from any old world form of speech now existing or known to have existed in the past. in whatever way the multiplicity of american indian languages and dialects may have arisen, one can be reasonably sure that the differentiation and divergence have developed here in america and are in no sense due to the occasional intrusion of old world tongues individually or _en masse_.... certain real relationships between the american indians and the peoples of north-eastern asia, known as 'paleo-asiatics,' have, however, been revealed as a result of the extensive investigations of the jesup north pacific expedition.... the general conclusion to be drawn from the evidence is that the so-called 'paleo-asiatic' peoples of north-eastern asia, _i.e._ the chukchee, koryak, kamchadale, gilyak, yukaghir, etc. really belong physically and culturally with the aborigines of north-western america.... like the modern asiatic eskimo they represent a reflex from america and asia, and not _vice versa_.... it is the opinion of good authorities also that the 'paleo-asiatic' peoples belong linguistically with the american indians rather than with the other tribes and stocks of northern or southern asia. here we have then the only real relationship of a linguistic character that has ever been convincingly argued between tongues of the new world and tongues of the old." it is not merely that the american languages differ from other forms of speech in their general phonetic, structural and lexical features; they differ from them in their very morphology, as much, for instance, as in the zoological world class differs from class, order from order. they have all of them developed on the same polysynthetic lines, from which if a few here and there now appear to depart, it is only because in the course of their further evolution they have, so to say, broken away from that prototype[ ]. take the rudest or the most highly cultivated anywhere from alaska to fuegia--eskimauan, iroquoian, algonquian, aztec, tarascan, ipurina, peruvian, yahgan--and you will find each and all giving abundant evidence of this universal polysynthetic character, not one true instance of which can be found anywhere in the eastern hemisphere. there is incorporation with the verb, as in basque, many of the caucasus tongues, and the ural-altaic group; but it is everywhere limited to pronominal and purely relational elements. but in the american order of speech there is no such limitation, and not merely the pronouns, which are restricted in number, but the nouns with their attributes, which are practically numberless, all enter necessarily into the verbal paradigm. thus in tarascan (mexico): _hopocuni_ = to wash the hands; _hopodini_ = to wash the ears, from _hoponi_ = to wash, which cannot be used alone[ ]. so in ipurina (amazonia): _nicuçacatçaurumatinií_ = i draw the cord tight round your waist, from _ni_, i; _cuçaca_, to draw tight; _tça_, cord; _túruma_, waist; _tini_, characteristic verbal affix; _í_, thy, referring to waist[ ]. we see from such examples that polysynthesis is not a primitive condition of speech, as is often asserted, but on the contrary a highly developed system, in which the original agglutinative process has gone so far as to attract all the elements of the sentence to the verb, round which they cluster like swarming bees round their queen. in eskimauan the tendency is shown in the construction of nouns and verbs, by which other classes of words are made almost unnecessary, and one word, sometimes of interminable length, is able to express a whole sentence with its subordinate clauses. h. rink, one of the first eskimo scholars of modern times, gives the instance: "suérúkame-autdlásassoq-tusaramiuk-tuningingmago-iluarín-gilát = they did not approve that he (_a_) had omitted to give him (_b_) something, as he (_a_) heard that he (_b_) was going to depart on account of being destitute of everything[ ]." such monstrosities "are so complicated that in daily speech they could hardly ever occur; but still they are correct and can be understood by intelligent people[ ]." he gives another and much longer example, which the reader may be spared, adding that there are altogether about particles, as many as ten of which may be piled up on any given stem. the process also often involves great phonetic changes, by which the original form of the elements becomes disguised, as, for instance, in the english _hap'oth_ = half-penny-worth. the attempt to determine the number of words that might be formed in this way on a single stem, such as _igdlo_, a house, had to be given up after getting as far as the compound _igdlorssualiortugssarsiumavoq_ = he wants to find one who will build a large house. it is clear that such a linguistic evolution implies both the postulated isolation from other influences, which must have disturbed and broken up the cumbrous process, and also the postulated long period of time to develop and consolidate the system throughout the new world. but time is still more imperiously demanded by the vast number of stock languages, many already extinct, many still current all over the continent, all of which differ profoundly in their vocabulary, often also in their phonesis, and in fact have nothing in common except this extraordinary polysynthetic groove in which they are cast. there are probably about stock languages in north america, of which occur north of mexico. but even that conveys but a faint idea of the astonishing diversity of speech prevailing in this truly linguistic babel. j. w. powell[ ] points out that the practically distinct idioms are far more numerous than might be inferred even from such a large number of mother tongues. thus, in the algonquian[ ] linguistic family he tells us there are about , no one of which could be understood by a people speaking another; in athapascan from to ; in siouan over ; and in shoshonian a still greater number[ ]. the greatest linguistic diversity in a relatively small area is found in the state of california, where, according to powell's classification, distinct stocks of languages are spoken. r. b. dixon and a. l. kroeber[ ] show however that these fall into three morphological groups which are also characterised by certain cultural features. it is the same, or perhaps even worse, in central and in south america, where the linguistic confusion is so great that no complete classification of the native tongues seems possible. clements r. markham in the third edition of his exhaustive list of the amazonian tribes[ ] has no less than entries. he concludes that these may be referred to distinct tribes in all the periods, since the days of acuña ( ). deducting some as extinct or nearly so, the total amounts to " at the outside" (p. ). but for such linguistic differences, large numbers of these groups would be quite indistinguishable from each other, so great is the prevailing similarity in physical appearance and usages in many districts. thus ehrenreich tells us that, "despite their ethnico-linguistic differences, the tribes about the head-waters of the xingu present complete uniformity in their daily habits, in the conditions of their existence, and their general culture[ ]," though it is curious to note that the art of making pottery is restricted here to the arawak tribes[ ]. yet amongst them are represented three of the radically distinct linguistic groups of brazil, some (bakaïri and nahuqua) belonging to the carib, some (auetö and kamayura) to the tupi-guarani, and some (mehinaku and vaura) to the arawak family. obviously these could not be so discriminated but for their linguistic differences. on the other hand the opposite phenomenon is occasionally presented of tribes differing considerably in their social relations, which are nevertheless of the same origin, or, what is regarded by ehrenreich as the same thing, belong to the same linguistic group. such are the ipurina, the paumari and the yamamadi of the purus valley, all grouped as arawaks because they speak dialects of the arawakan stock language. at the same time it should be noted that the social differences observed by some modern travellers are often due to the ever-increasing contact with the whites, who are now encroaching on the gran chaco plains, and ascending every amazonian tributary in quest of rubber and the other natural produce abounding in these regions. the consequent displacement of tribes is discussed by g. e. church[ ]. in the introduction to his valuable list clements markham observes that the evidence of language favours the theory that the amazonian tribes, "now like the sands on the sea-shore for number, originally sprang from two or at most three parent stocks. dialects of the _tupi_ language extend from the roots of the andes to the atlantic, and southward into paraguay ... and it is established that the differences in the roots, between the numerous amazonian languages, are not so great as was generally supposed[ ]." this no doubt is true, and will account for much. but when we see it here recorded that of the carabuyanas (japura river) there are or were branches, that the chiquito group (bolivia) comprises tribes speaking "seven different languages"; that of the juris (upper amazons) there are ten divisions; of the moxos (beni and mamoré rivers) branches, "speaking nine or, according to southey, thirteen languages"; of the uaupés (rio negro) divisions, and so on, we feel how much there is still left to be accounted for. attempts have been made to weaken the force of the linguistic argument by the assumption, at one time much in favour, that the american tongues are of a somewhat evanescent nature, in an unstable condition, often changing their form and structure within a few generations. but, says powell, "this widely spread opinion does not find warrant in the facts discovered in the course of this research. the author has everywhere been impressed with the fact that savage tongues are singularly persistent, and that a language which is dependent for its existence upon oral tradition is not easily modified[ ]." a test case is the delaware (leni lenapé), an algonquian tongue which, judging from the specimens collected by th. campanius about , has undergone but slight modification during the last years. in this connection the important point to be noticed is the fact that some of the stock languages have an immense range, while others are crowded together in indescribable confusion in rugged upland valleys, or about river estuaries, or in the recesses of trackless woodlands, and this strangely irregular distribution prevails in all the main divisions of the continent. thus of powell's linguistic families in north america as many as are restricted to the relatively narrow strip of coastland between the rocky mountains and the pacific, ten are dotted round the gulf of mexico from florida to the rio grande, and two disposed round the gulf of california, while nearly all the rest of the land--some six million square miles--is occupied by the six widely diffused eskimauan, athapascan, algonquian, iroquoian, siouan, and shoshonian families. the same phenomenon is presented by central and south america, where less than a dozen stock languages--opatan, nahuatlan, huastecan, chorotegan, quichuan, arawakan, gesan (tapuyan), tupi-guaranian, cariban--are spread over millions of square miles, while many scores of others are restricted to extremely narrow areas. here the crowding is largely determined, as in caucasia, by the altitude (andes in colombia, ecuador, peru, and bolivia; sierras in mexico). it is strongly held by many american ethnologists that the various cultures of america are autochthonous, nothing being borrowed from the old world. j. w. powell[ ], who rendered such inestimable services to american anthropology, affirmed that "the aboriginal peoples of america cannot be allied preferentially to any one branch of the human race in the old world"; that "there is no evidence that any of the arts of the american indians were borrowed from the orient"; that "the industrial arts of america were born in america, america was inhabited by tribes at the time of the beginning of industrial arts. they left the old world before they had learned to make knives, spear and arrowheads, or at least when they knew the art only in its crudest state. thus primitive man has been here ever since the invention of the stone knife and the stone hammer." he further contended that "the american indian did not derive his forms of government, his industrial or decorative arts, his languages, or his mythological opinions from the old world, but developed them in the new"; and that "in the demotic characteristics of the american indians, all that is common to tribes of the orient is universal, all that distinguishes one group of tribes from another in america distinguishes them from all other tribes of the world." this view has been emphasised afresh by fewkes[ ], though of recent years it has met with vigorous opposition. at the conclusion of his article "die melanesische bogenkultur und ihre verwandten[ ]" graebner attempts to trace the cultural connection of south america with south-east asia rather than with the south seas, the main links being represented by head-hunting, certain types of skin-drum and of basket, and in particular three types of crutch-handled paddle. according to him the spread of culture has taken place by the land route and behring strait, not across the pacific by way of the south seas, a view to which he adheres in his later work. an ingenious and detailed attempt has also been made by pater schmidt[ ] to trace the various cultures determined for oceania and africa in south america. apart from the great linguistic groups usually adopted as the basis of classification, schmidt would divide the south american indians according to their stage of economic development into collectors, cultivators, and civilised peoples of the andean highlands. though this series may have the appearance of evolution, in point of fact "each group is composed of peoples differing absolutely in language and race, who brought with them to south america in historically distinct migrations at all events the fundamentals of their respective cultures.... as we pass in review the cultural elements of the separate groups, their weapons, implements, dwellings, their sociology, mythology, and religion we discover the innate similarity of these groups to the culture-zones of the old world in all essential features[ ]." the author proceeds to work out his theory in great detail; the earlier cultures he too considers have travelled by the enormously lengthy land route by way of north america, only the "free patrilineal culture" (polynesia and indonesia) having reached the west coast directly by sea[ ]. w. h. holmes[ ] draws attention to analogies between american and foreign archaeological remains, for example the stone gouge of new england and europe. he hints at influences coming from the mediterranean and even from africa. "even more remarkable and diversified are the correspondences between the architectural remains of yucatan and those of cambodia and java in the far east. on the pacific side of the american continent strange coincidences occur in like degree, seeming to indicate that the broad pacific has not proved a complete bar to intercourse of peoples of the opposing continents ... it seems highly probable considering the nature of the archaeological evidence, that the western world has not been always and wholly beyond the reach of members of the white, polynesian, and perhaps even the black races." walter hough[ ] gives various cultural parallels between america and the other side of the pacific but does not commit himself. s. hagar[ ] brings forward some interesting correspondences between the astronomy of the new and of the old worlds, but adopts a cautious attitude. more recently the problem has been attacked with great energy by g. elliot smith[ ]. his investigations into the processes of mummification and the tombs of ancient egypt led him to comparative studies, and he notes that certain customs seem to be found in association, forming what is known as a culture-complex. for example, "in most regions the people who introduced the habit of megalithic building and sun worship also brought with them the practice of mummification." also associated with these are:--stories of dwarfs and giants, belief in the indwelling of gods and great men in megalithic monuments, the use of these structures in a particular manner for special council, the practice of hanging rags on trees in association with such monuments, serpent worship, tattooing, distension of the lobe of the ear, the use of pearls, the conch-shell trumpet, etc. in a map showing the distribution of this "heliolithic" culture-complex he indicates the main lines of migration to america, one across the aleutian chain and down the west coast to california, the other and more important one, across the pacific to peru, and thence to various parts of south america, through central america to the southern half of the united states. contrary to schmidt, elliot smith postulates contact of cultures rather than actual migrations of people; he considers it possible that a small number of aliens arriving by sea in peru, for example, might introduce customs of a highly novel and subversive character which would take root and spread far and wide. the peruvian custom of embalming the dead certainly presents analogies to that of ancient egypt, and elliot smith is convinced that "the rude megalithic architecture of america bears obvious evidence of the same inspiration which prompted that of the old world." in a later paper elliot smith[ ] adduces further evidence in support of his thesis "that the essential elements of the ancient civilization of india, further asia, the malay archipelago, oceania, and america were brought in succession to each of these places by mariners, whose oriental migrations (on an extensive scale) began as trading intercourse between the eastern mediterranean and india some time after b.c. and continued for many centuries." this dissemination was in the first instance due to the phoenicians and there are "unmistakable tokens that the same phoenician methods which led to the diffusion of this culture-complex in the old world also were responsible for planting it in the new[ ] some centuries after the phoenicians themselves had ceased to be" (_l.c._ p. ). further evidence along the same lines is offered by w. j. perry[ ] who has noted the geographical distribution of terraced cultivation and irrigation and finds that it corresponds to a remarkable extent with that of the "heliolithic" culture-complex, and by j. wilfrid jackson[ ] who has investigated the aztec moon-cult and its relation to the chank cult of india, the money cowry as a sacred object among north american indians[ ], shell trumpets and their distribution in the old and new world[ ] and the geographical distribution of the shell purple industry[ ]. he points out that we have ample evidence of the practice of this ancient industry in several places in central america, and refers to zelia nuttall's interesting paper on the subject[ ]. elliot smith also discusses "pre-columbian representations of the elephant in america[ ]" and remarks "coincidences of so remarkable a nature cannot be due to chance. they not only confirm the identification of the elephant in designs in america, but also incidentally point to the conclusion that the hindu god indra was adopted in central america with practically all the attributes assigned to him in his asiatic home." elliot smith believes that practically every element of the early civilisation of america was derived from the old world. small groups of immigrants from time to time brought certain of the beliefs, customs, and inventions of the mediterranean area, egypt, ethiopia, arabia, babylonia, indonesia, eastern asia and oceania, and the confused jumble of practices became assimilated and "americanised" in the new home across the pacific as the result of the domination of the great uncultured aboriginal populations by small bands of more cultured foreigners. these highly suggestive studies will force adherents of the theory of the indigenous origin of american culture to reconsider the grounds for their opinions and will lead them to turn once more to the writings of bancroft[ ], tylor[ ], nuttall[ ], macmillan brown[ ], enoch[ ] and others. there is no satisfactory scheme of classification of the american peoples. although there is a good deal of scattered information about the physical anthropology of the natives it has not yet been systematised and no classification can at present be based thereon. a linguistic classification is therefore usually adopted, but a geographical or cultural grouping, or a combination of the two, has much practical convenience. as farrand[ ] points out "it must never be forgotten that the limits of physical, linguistic and cultural groups do not correspond; and the overlapping of stocks determined by those criteria is an unavoidable complication." an inspection of the map of the distribution of linguistic stocks of north america prepared by j. w. powell[ ] which represents the probable state of affairs about a.d. shows that a few linguistic stocks have a wide distribution while there is a large number of restricted stocks crowded along the pacific slope. the following are the better known tribes of the more important stocks together with their distribution. _eskimauan_ (eskimo), along the arctic coasts from ° n. lat. in the west, to ° in the east. _athapascan_, northern group, déné or tinneh (including many tribes), interior of alaska, northern british columbia and the mackenzie basin, and the sarsi of south-eastern alberta and northern montana; southern group, navaho and apache in arizona, new mexico and northern mexico; the pacific group, a small band in southern british columbia, others in washington, oregon and northern california. _algonquian_, south and west of canada, the united states east of the mississippi, the whole valley of the ohio, and the states of the atlantic coast. blackfoot of montana, alberta, south and further east, cheyenne and arapaho of minnesota. the main group of dialects is divided into the massachusett, ojibway (ojibway, ottawa, illinois, miami, etc.) and cree types. the latter include the cree, montagnais, sauk and fox, menomini, shawnee, abnaki, etc. _iroquoian_, in the provinces of ontario and quebec; hurons in the valley of the st lawrence and lake simcoe. neutral confederacy in western new york and north and west of lake erie. the great confederacy of the iroquois or "five nations" (seneca, cayuga, oneida, onondaga and mohawk, to which the tuscarora were added in ) in central new york; the conestoga and susquehanna to the south. a southern group was located in eastern virginia and north carolina, and the cherokee, centred in the southern appalachians from parts of virginia and kentucky to northern alabama. _muskhogean_ of georgia, alabama and mississippi, including the choctaw, chickasaw, creek, seminole, etc. and the natchez. there are several small groups about the mouth of the mississippi. _caddoan_. the earliest inhabitants of the central and southern plains beyond the missouri belonged to this stock, the largest group occupied parts of louisiana, arkansas, oklahoma and texas, it consists of the caddo, wichita, etc. and the kichai, the pawnee tribes in parts of nebraska and kansas and an offshoot, the arikara in north dakota. _siouan_, a small group in virginia, carolina, catawba, etc. and a very large group, practically occupying the basins of the missouri and arkansas, with a prolongation through wisconsin, where were the winnebago. the main tribes are the mandan, crow, dakota, assiniboin, omaha and osage. _shoshonian_ of the great plateau and southern california. the two outlying tribes were the hopi of north arizona and the comanche who ranged over the southern plains. among the plateau tribes are the ute, shoshoni, mono and luiseño. _yuman_, from arizona to lower california. from the data available j. r. swanton and r. b. dixon draw the following conclusions[ ]. "it appears that the origin of the tribes of several of our stocks may be referred back to a swarming ground, usually of rather indefinite size but none the less roughly indicated. that for the muskhogeans, including probably some of the smaller southern stocks, must be placed in louisiana, arkansas and perhaps the western parts of mississippi and tennessee, although a few tribes seem to have come from the region of the ohio. that for the iroquoians would be along the ohio and perhaps farther west, and that of the siouans on the lower ohio and the country to the north including part at least of wisconsin. the dispersion area for the algonquians was farther north about the great lakes and perhaps also the st lawrence, and that for the eskimo about hudson bay or between it and the mackenzie river. the caddoan peoples seem to have been on the southern plains from earliest times. on the north pacific coast we have indications that the flow of population has been from the interior to the coast. this seems certain in the case of the indians of the chimmesayan stock and some tlinglit subdivisions. some tlinglit clans, however, have moved from the neighbourhood of the nass northward. looking farther south we find evidence that the coast salish have moved from the inner side of the coast ranges, while a small branch has subsequently passed northward to the west of it. the athapascan stock in all probability has moved southward, sending one arm down the pacific coast, and a larger body presumably through the plains which reached as far as northern mexico. most of the stocks of the great plateau and of oregon and california show little evidence of movement, such indications as are present, however, pointing toward the south as a rule. the pueblo indians appear to have had a mixed origin, part of them coming from the north, part from the south. in general there is to be noted a striking contrast between the comparatively settled condition of those tribes west of the rocky mountains and the numerous movements, particularly in later times, of those to the east." with regard to the pacific coast dixon[ ] notes that it "has apparently been occupied from the earliest times by peoples differing but little in their culture from the tribes found in occupancy in the sixteenth century. cut off from the rest of the country by the great chain of the cordilleras and the inhospitable and arid interior plateaus, the tribes of this narrow coastal strip developed in comparative seclusion their various cultures, each adopted to the environment in which it was found.... "in several of the ingenious theories relating to the development and origin of american cultures in general, it has been contended that considerable migrations both of peoples and of cultural elements passed along this coastal highway from north to south. if, however, the archaeological evidence is to be depended on, such great sweeping movements, involving many elements of foreign culture, could hardly have taken place, for no trace of their passage or modifying effect is apparent.... we can feel fairly sure that the prehistoric peoples of each area were in the main the direct ancestors of the local tribes of today.... "in comparison with the relative simplicity of the archaeological record on the pacific coast, that of the eastern portion of the continent is complex, and might indeed be best described as a palimpsest. this complexity leads inevitably to the conclusion that here there have been numerous and far-reaching ethnic movements, resulting in a stratification of cultures." w. h. holmes has compiled a map marking the limits of eleven areas which can be recognised by their archaeological remains[ ]. he points out that the culture units are, as a matter of course, not usually well-defined. cultures are bound to over-lap and blend along the borders and more especially along lines of ready communication. in some cases evidence has been reported of early cultures radically distinct from the type adopted as characteristic of the areas, and ancestral forms grading into the later and into the historic forms are thought to have been recognised. holmes frankly acknowledges the tentative character of the scheme, which forms part of a synthesis that he is preparing of the antiquities of the whole american continent. north america is customarily divided into nine areas of material culture, and though this is convenient, a more correct method, as c. wissler points out[ ], is to locate the respective groups of typical tribes as culture centres, classifying the other tribes as intermediate or transitional. the geographical stability of the material culture centres is confirmed by archaeological evidence which suggests that the striking individuality they now possess resulted from a more or less gradual expansion along original lines. the material cultures of these centres possess great vitality and are often able completely to dominate intrusive cultural unity. thus tribes have passed from an intermediate state to a typical, as when the cheyenne were forced into the plains centre, and the shoshonian hopi adopted the typical pueblo culture. wissler comes to the conclusion that "the location of these centres is largely a matter of ethnic accident, but once located and the adjustments made, the stability of the environment doubtless tends to hold each particular type of material culture to its initial locality, even in the face of many changes in blood and language." it is from his valuable paper that the material culture traits of the following areas have been obtained. i. eskimo area. the fact that the eskimo live by the sea and chiefly upon sea food does not differentiate them from the tribes of the north pacific coast, but they are distinguished from the latter by the habit of camping in winter upon sea ice and living upon seal, and in the summer upon land animals. the kayak and "woman's boat," the lamp, harpoon, float, woman's knife, bowdrill, snow goggles, trussed-bow, and dog traction are almost universal. the type of winter shelter varies considerably, but the skin tent is general in summer and the snow house, as a more or less permanent winter house, prevails east of point barrow. the mode of life of all the eskimo, as f. boas[ ] has pointed out, is fairly uniform and depends on the distribution of food at the different seasons. the migrations of game compel the natives to move their habitations from time to time, and as the inhospitable country does not produce vegetation to an extent sufficient to support human life they are forced to depend entirely upon animal food. the abundance of seals in arctic america enables man to withstand the inclemency of the climate and the sterility of the soil. the skins of seals furnish the materials for summer garments and for the tent, their flesh is almost their only food, and their blubber their indispensable fuel during the long dark winter when they live in solid snow houses. when the ice breaks up in the spring the eskimo establish their settlements at the head of the fiords where salmon are easily caught. when the snow on the land has melted in july the natives take hunting trips inland in order to obtain the precious skins of the reindeer, or of the musk-ox, of whose heavy pelts the winter garments are made. walrus and the ground seal also arrive and birds are found in abundance and eaten raw. the eskimo[ ] occupy more than miles of seaboard from north-east greenland to the mouth of the copper river in western alaska. many views have been advanced as to the position of their centre of dispersion; most probably it lay to the west of hudson bay. rink[ ] is of opinion that they originated as a distinct people in alaska, where they developed an arctic culture; but boas[ ] regards them "as, comparatively speaking, new arrivals in alaska, which they reached from the east." a westward movement is supported by myths and customs, and by the affinities of the eskimo with northern asiatics. there was always hostility between the eskimo and the north american indians, which, apart from their very specialised mode of life, precluded any eskimo extension southwards. the expansion of the eskimo to greenland is explained by steensby[ ] as follows:--the main southern movement would have followed the west coast from melville bay, rounded the southern point and proceeded some distance up the east coast. from the barren grounds north-west of hudson bay the polar eskimo followed the musk-ox, advanced due north to ellesmere land, then crossed to greenland, and, still hunting the musk-ox, advanced along the north coast and down the east coast towards scoresby sound. another line of migration apparently started from the vicinity of southampton island and pursued the reindeer northwards into baffin land; on reaching ponds inlet these reindeer-hunting eskimo for the most part turned along the east coast. physically the eskimo constitute a distinct type. they are of medium stature, but possess uncommon strength and endurance; their skin is light brownish yellow with a ruddy tint on the exposed parts; hands and feet are small and well formed; their heads are high, with broad faces, and narrow high noses, and eyes of a mongolian character. but great varieties are found in different parts of the vast area over which they range. the polar eskimo of greenland, studied by steensby, were more of american indian than of asiatic type[ ]. of their psychology this writer says, "for the polar eskimos life is deadly real and sober, a constant striving for food and warmth which is borne with good humour, and all dispensations are accepted as natural consequences, about which it is of no use to reason or complain." "the hard struggle for existence has not permitted the polar eskimo to become other than a confirmed egoist, who knows nothing of disinterestedness. towards his enemies he is crafty and deceitful--he does not attack them openly, but indulges in backbiting.... it is only during the hunt that a common interest and a common danger engender a deeper feeling of comradeship[ ]." still less mongolian in type are the "blond eskimo" recently encountered by stefánsson in south-west victoria island[ ], who are regarded by him as very possibly the mixed descendants of scandinavian ancestors who had drifted there from west greenland. it is known that eric the red discovered greenland in the year and that years later settlers went there from the norse colony in iceland. the winter snow houses, which are about × ft. in diameter and ft. high, usually with annexes, are always occupied by two families, each woman having her own lamp and sitting on the ledge in front of it. if more families join in making a snow house, they make two main rooms. whenever it is possible the men spend the short days in hunting and each woman prepares the food for her husband. the long nights are mainly spent in various recreations. the social life in the summer settlement is somewhat different. the families do not cook their own meals, but a single one suffices for the whole settlement. the day before it is her turn to cook the woman goes to the hills to fetch enough shrubs for the fire. when a meal is ready the master of the house calls out and everybody comes out of his tent with a knife, the men sit in one circle and the women in another. these dinners, which are always held in the evening, are almost always enlivened by a mimic performance. the great religious feasts take place just before the beginning of winter. there are three forms of social grouping: the family, house-mates, and place-mates. ( ) the family consists of a man, his wife or wives, their children and adopted children; widows and their children may be adopted, but the woman retains her own fireplace. sometimes men are adopted, such as bachelors without any relatives, cripples, or impoverished men. joint ownership and use of a boat and house, and common labour and toil in obtaining the means of support define the real community of the family. ( ) house-mates are families that join together to build and occupy and maintain the same house. this form of establishment is especially common in greenland, but each family keeps its separate establishment inside the common house. ( ) place-fellows. the inhabitants of the same hamlet or winter establishment form one community although no chief is elected or authority acknowledged. generally children are betrothed when very young. the newly married pair usually live at first with the wife's family. both polygyny and polyandry occur. a man may lend or exchange his wife for a whole season or longer, as a sign of friendship. on certain occasions it is even commanded by religious law. there is no government, but there is a kind of chief in the settlement, though his authority is very limited. he is called the "pimain," _i.e._ he who knows everything best. he decides the proper time to shift the huts from one place to another, he may ask some men to go sealing, others to go deer hunting, but there is not the slightest obligation to obey him. the men in a community may form themselves into an informal council for the regulation of affairs. the decorative art of the eskimo is not remarkably developed, but the pictorial art consists of clever sketches of everyday scenes and there is a well developed plastic art. many of the carvings are toys and are made for the pleasure of the work. "the religious views and practices of the eskimo while, on the whole, alike in their fundamental traits, show a considerable amount of differentiation in the extreme east and in the extreme west. it would seem that the characteristic traits of shamanism are common to all the eskimo tribes. the art of the shaman (angakok) is acquired by the acquisition of guardian spirits.... besides the spirits which may become guardian spirits of men, the eskimo believes in a great many others which are hostile and bring disaster and death.... the ritualistic development of eskimo religion is very slight[ ]." ii. mackenzie area. skirting the eskimo area is a belt of semi-arctic lands almost cut in two by hudson bay. to the west are the déné tribes, who are believed to fall into three culture groups, an eastern group, yellow knives, dog rib, hares, slavey, chipewyan and beaver; a south-western group, nahane, sekani, babine and carrier; and a north-western group, comprising the kutchin, loucheux, ahtena and khotana. the material culture of the south-western group is deduced from the writings of father morice[ ]. all the tribes are hunters of large or small game, caribou are often driven into enclosures, small game taken in snares or traps; various kinds of fish are largely used, and a few of the tribes on the head waters of the pacific take salmon; large use of berries is made, they are mashed and dried by a special process; edible roots and other vegetable foods are used to some extent; utensils are of wood and bark; there is no pottery; bark vessels are used for boiling with or without stones; travel in summer is largely by canoe, in winter by snowshoe; dog sleds are used to some extent, but chiefly since trade days, the toboggan form prevailing; clothing is of skins; mittens and caps are worn; there is no weaving except rabbit-skin garments, but fine network occurs on snowshoes, bags, and fish nets, materials being of bark fibre, sinew and babiche; there is also a special form of woven quill work; the typical habitation seems to be the double lean-to, though many intrusive forms occur; other material culture traits include the making of fish-hooks and spears; a limited use of copper; and poorly developed work in stone. the physical characteristics vary very much from tribe to tribe. the sekani, according to morice, are slender and bony, in stature rather below the average, with a narrow forehead, hollow cheeks, prominent cheekbones, small eyes deeply sunk in their orbit, the upper lip very thin and the lower somewhat protruding, the chin very small and the nose straight. the carriers, on the contrary, are tall and stout, without as a rule being too corpulent. the men average . m. in height. their forehead is much broader than that of the sekani, and less receding than is usual with american aborigines. the face is full, and the nose aquiline. all the tribes are remarkably unwarlike, timid, and even cowardly. weapons are seldom used and in personal combat, which consists in a species of wrestling, knives are previously laid aside. the fear of enemies is a marked feature, due in part, doubtless, to traditional recollection of the raids of earlier days. their honesty is noted by all travellers. morice records that among the sekani a trader will sometimes go on a trapping expedition, leaving his store unlocked, without fear of any of its contents going amiss. meantime a native may call in his absence, help himself to as much powder and shot or any other item as he may need, but he will never fail to leave there an exact equivalent in furs. the eastern déné are nomad hunters who gather berries and roots, while the western are semi-sedentary, living for most of the year in villages when they subsist largely on salmon. the former are patrilineal and the latter are grouped into matrilineal exogamic totemic clans. the headmen of the clans formed a class of privileged nobles who alone owned the hunting grounds. morice speaks of clan, honorific and personal totems. the first two were adopted from coastal tribes, the honorific was assumed by some individuals in order to attain a rank to which they were not entitled by heredity. the "personal totem" is the guardian spirit or genius, the belief in which is common to nearly all north american peoples. shamanism prevails throughout the area. the mythology almost always refers to a "transformer" who visited the world when incomplete and set things in order. they have the custom of the potlatch[ ]. if a man desires another man's wife he can challenge the husband to a wrestling match, the winner keeps the woman[ ]. iii. north pacific coast area. this culture is rather complex with tribal variations, but it can be treated under three subdivisions, a northern group, tlingit, haida and tsimshian; a central group, the kwakiutl tribes and the bellacoola; and a southern group, the coast salish, nootka, chinook, kalapooian, waiilatpuan, chimakuan and some athapascan tribes. the first of these seem to be the type and are characterised by: the great dependence upon sea food, some hunting upon the mainland, large use of berries (dried fish, clams and berries are the staple food); cooking with hot stones in boxes and baskets; large rectangular gabled houses of upright cedar planks with carved posts and totem poles; travel chiefly by water in large seagoing dug-out canoes some of which had sails; no pottery nor stone vessels, except mortars; baskets in checker, those in twine reaching a high state of excellence among the tlingit; coil basketry not made; mats of cedar bark and soft bags in abundance; no true loom, the warp hanging from a bar and weaving with the fingers downwards; clothing rather scanty, chiefly of skin, a wide basket hat (the only one of the kind on the continent, apparently for protection against rain); feet usually bare, but skin moccasins and leggings occasionally made; for weapons the bow, club and a peculiar dagger, no lances; slat, rod and skin armour; wooden helmets, no shields; practically no chipped stone tools, but nephrite or green stone used; wood work highly developed; work in copper possibly aboriginal but, if so, weakly developed. the central group differs in a few minor points; twisted and loosely woven bark or wool takes the place of skins for clothing and baskets are all in checkerwork. among the southern group appears a strong tendency to use stone arrowheads, and a peculiar flat club occurs, vaguely similar to the new zealand type[ ]. physically the typical north pacific tribes are of medium stature, with long arms and short bodies. among the northern branches the stature averages . m. ( ft. in.), the head is very large with an average index of . . the face is very broad, the nose concave or straight, seldom convex, with slight elevation. among the southern tribes, notably the kwakiutl, the stature averages . m. ( ft. - / in.), the cephalic index is . , the face very broad but also of great length, the nose very high, rather narrow and frequently convex. the social relations of these peoples vary from tribe to tribe, but on the whole they fall into a sequence from north to south. in the northern portion descent is matrilineal, but patrilineal in the south. j. g. frazer does not accept the view of boas "that the northern kwakiutl have borrowed both the rule of maternal descent and the division into totemic clans from their more northerly neighbours of alien stocks; in other words, that totemism and mother-kin have spread southward among a people who had father-kin and no totemic system[ ]." he inclines "to the other view, formerly favoured by boas himself, namely, that the kwakiutl are in a stage of transition from mother-kin to father-kin[ ]." each village is autonomous and originally may have been restricted to a single totem clan. the population is divided into three ranks, nobles, common people and a low caste consisting of poor people and serfs who cannot participate in the secret societies. in addition there is a totemic grouping. there may be several totemic clans in one village and the same totem may not only occur in every village, but may extend from one tribe to another. this suggests that there were originally two, or in some cases more than two, totemic clans which in process of time became subdivided into sub-clans; these, while retaining the crest of the original clan, acquired fresh ones, and the families contained in each sub-clan may have their special crest or crests in addition. new crests and names are constantly being introduced. marriage is forbidden between people of the same crest, irrespective of the tribe. the natives according to boas do not consider themselves descendants from their totem. a wife brings her father's position, crest and privileges as a dower to her husband, who is not allowed to use them himself, but acquires them for the use of his son, in other words this inheritance is in the female line. the widely spread american custom of a youth acquiring a guardian spirit is far more prevalent among the southern section than the northern, but among the kwakiutl he can only obtain as his patron, one or more of a limited number of spirits which are hereditary in his clan. in the northern tribes the secret societies are coextensive with the totemic clans; among the kwakiutl they are connected with guardian spirits and it is significant that during the summer, when the people are scattered, society is based on the old clan system, but when the people live together in villages in the winter, society is reorganised on the basis of the secret societies. there is a highly developed system of barter of which the blanket is now the unit of value, formerly the units were elk-skins, canoes or slaves. certain symbolic objects have attained fanciful values. a vast credit system has grown up based on the custom of loaning property at high interest, at the great festivals called "potlatch" and by it the giver gains great honour. the religion is closely related to the totemic beliefs; supernatural aid is given by the spirits to those who win their favour. the raven is the chief figure in the mythology; he regulates the phenomena of nature, procures fire, daylight, and fresh water, and teaches men the arts. to the south, and extending inland to the divide, forming a much less characteristic group are the salish or flat-heads who are allied to the athapascans. the coastal salish assimilate the culture just described, but the plateau salish are more democratic, less settled and more individualistic in religious matters[ ]. the chinooks or flat-heads of the lower reaches of the columbia river are nearly extinct. they deformed the heads of infants. these tribes and the shahapts or nez percés are differentiated by garments of raw hides, cranial deformation, absence of tattooing and plain bows, but they still have communal houses though without totem posts. they cook by means of heated stones and have zoomorphic masks[ ]. iv. plateau area. the plateau area lies between the north pacific coast area and the plains. it is far less uniform than either in its topography, the south being a veritable desert while the north is moist and fertile. the traits may be summarised as: extensive use of salmon, deer, roots (especially camas) and berries; the use of a handled digging stick, cooking with hot stones in holes and baskets; the pulverisation of dried salmon and roots for storage; winter houses, semi-subterranean, a circular pit with a conical roof and smoke hole entrance; summer houses, movable or transient, mat or rush-covered tents and the lean-to, double and single; the dog sometimes used as a pack animal; water transportation weakly developed, crude dug-outs and bark canoes being used; pottery not known; basketry highly developed, coil, rectangular shapes, imbricated technique; twine weaving in flexible bags and mats; some simple weaving of bark fibre for clothing; clothing for the entire body usually of deerskins; skin caps for the men, and in some cases basket caps for women; blankets of woven rabbit-skin; the sinew-backed bow prevailed; clubs, lances, and knives, and rod and slat armour were used in war, also heavy leather shirts; fish spears, hooks, traps and bag nets were used; dressing of deerskins highly developed; upright stretching frames and straight long handled scrapers; wood work more advanced than among plains tribes, but insignificant compared to north pacific coast area; stone work confined to the making of tools and points, battering and flaking; work in bone, metal, and feathers very weak[ ]. of the tribes of this area, the interior salish, the thompson, shushwap and lillooet, appear to be the most typical of those concerning which any information is available. the shahapts or nez percés, and the shoshoni show some marked plains traits. "the interior salish are landsmen and hunters, and from time immemorial have been accustomed to follow their game over mountainous country. this mode of life has engendered among them an active, slender, athletic type of men; they are considerably taller and possess a much finer physique than their congeners of the coastal region, who are fishermen, passing the larger portion of their time on the water squatting in their canoes, never walking to any place if they can possibly reach it by water. the typical coast salish are a squat thick-set people, with disproportionate legs and bodies, slow and heavy in their movements, and as unlike their brothers of the interior as it is possible for them to be[ ]." the thompsons represented the salish at their highest and best, both morally and physically, and their ethical precepts and teaching set a very high standard of virtue before the advent of the europeans. hill-tout says that receptiveness and a wholesale adoption of foreign fashions and customs are their striking qualities, and "if they have fallen away from these high standards, as we fear they have, the fault is not theirs but ours.... we assumed a grave responsibility when we undertook to civilise these races[ ]." the simplest form of social organisation is found among the interior hunting tribes, where a state of pure anarchy may be said to have formerly prevailed, each family being a law unto itself and acknowledging no authority save that of its own elderman. each local community was composed of a greater or less number of these self-ruling families. there was a kind of headship or nominal authority given to the oldest and wisest of the eldermen in some of the larger communities, where occasion called for it or where circumstances arose in which it became necessary to have a central representative. this led in some centres to the regular appointing of local chiefs or heads whose business it was to look after the material interest of the commune over which they presided; but the office was always strictly elective and hedged with manifold limitations as to authority and privilege. for example, the local chief was not necessarily the head of all undertakings. he would not lead in war or the chase unless he happened to be the best hunter or the bravest and most skilful warrior among them; and he was subject to deposition at a moment's notice if his conduct did not meet with the approval of the elders of the commune. his office or leadership was therefore purely a nominal one. all hunting, fishing, root, and berry grounds were common property and shared in by all alike.... in one particular tribe even the food was held and meals were taken in common, the presiding elder or headman calling upon a certain family each day to provide and prepare the meals for all the rest, every one, more or less, taking it in turn to discharge this social duty[ ]. v. californian area. of the four sub-culture areas noted by kroeber[ ] the central group is the most extensive and typical. its main characteristics are: acorns as the chief vegetable food, supplemented by wild seeds, while roots and berries are scarcely used; the acorns are made into bread by a roundabout process; hunting is mostly of small game, fishing wherever possible; the houses are of many forms, all simple shelters of brush or tule, or more substantial conical lean-to structures of poles; the dog was not used for packing and there were no canoes, but rafts of tule were used for ferrying; no pottery but high development of basketry both coil and twine; bags and mats scanty; cloth or other weaving of simple elements not known; clothing simple and scanty; feet usually bare; the bow the only weapon, usually sinew-backed; work in skins, wood, bone etc., weak, in metals absent, in stone work not advanced. in the south modifications enter with large groups of yuman and shoshonian tribes where pottery, sandals and wooden war clubs are intrusive. the extinct santa barbara were excellent workers in stone, bone and shell, and made plank canoes. topographical variation produces consequent changes in mode of life as the well watered and wooded country of oregon and northern california gradually merges into the warm dry climate of south california with decreasing moisture towards the tropics. as kroeber says[ ], "from the time of the first settlement of california, its indians have been described as both more primitive and more peaceful than the majority of the natives of north america.... the practical arts of life, the social institutions and the ceremonies of the californian indians are unusually simple and undeveloped. there was no war for its own sake, no confederation of powerful tribes, no communal stone pueblos, no totems, or potlatches. the picturesqueness and the dignity of the indians are lacking. in general rudeness of culture the californian indians are scarcely above the eskimo.... if the degree of civilisation attained by people depends in any large measure on their habitat, as does not seem likely, it might be concluded from the case of the californian indians that natural advantages were an impediment rather than an incentive to progress.... it is possible to speak of typical californian indians and to recognise a typical californian culture area. a feature that should not be lost sight of is the great stability of population.... the social organisation was both simple and loose.... beyond the family the only bases of organisation were the village and the language." in so simple a condition of society difference of rank naturally found but little scope. the influence of chiefs was comparatively small, and distinct classes, as of nobility or slaves, were unknown. individual property rights were developed and what organisation of society there was, was largely on the basis of property. the ceremonies are characterised by a very slight development of the extreme ritualism that is so characteristic of the american indians, and by an almost entire absence of symbolism of any kind. fetishism is also unusual. one set of ceremonies was usually connected with a secret religious society; during initiation members were disguised by feathers and paint, but masks were not worn. there was also an annual tribal spectacular ceremony held in remembrance of the dead. in the north-west portion of the state a somewhat more highly developed and specialised culture existed which has some affinities with that of the north-west tribes, as is indicated by a greater advance in technology, a social organisation largely upon a property basis and a system of mythology that is suggestive of those further north. the now extinct tribes of the santa barbara islands and adjacent mainland were more advanced. they alone employed a plank-built canoe instead of the balsas or canoe-shaped bundles of rushes of the greater part of california. they made stone bowls and did inlaid work. like the north californians and tribes further north they buried instead of burning their dead. the eastern tribes shade off into their neighbours. the luiseño, the southernmost of the shoshonians, had puberty rites for girls and boys[ ]. the belief in a succession of births "is reminiscent of oceanic and asiatic ways of thought[ ]." [about] a secret cult arose inculcating, with penalties, obedience, fasting, and self-sacrifice on initiates[ ]. vi. plains area. the chief traits of this culture are the dependence upon the bison ("buffalo") and the very limited use of roots and berries; absence of fishing; lack of agriculture; the _tipi_ or tent as the movable dwelling and transportation by land only, with the dog and the travois (in historic times, with the horse); no baskets, pottery, or true weaving; clothing of bison and deerskins; there is high development of work in skins and special bead technique and raw-hide work (parfleche, cylindrical bag etc.), and weak development of work in wood, stone and bone. this typical culture is manifested in the assiniboin, arapaho, blackfoot, crow, cheyenne, comanche, gros ventre, kiowa, kiowa-apache, sarsi and teton-dakota[ ]. among the tribes of the eastern border a limited use of pottery and basketry may be added, some spinning and weaving of bags, and rather extensive agriculture. here the tipi alternates with larger and more permanent houses covered with grass, bark or earth, and there was some attempt at water transportation. these tribes are the arikara, hidatsa, iowa, kansa, mandan, missouri, omaha, osage, oto, pawnee, ponca, santee-dakota[ ], yankton-dakota[ ] and wichita. on the western border other tribes (wind river shoshoni, uinta and uncompahgre ute) lack pottery but produce a rather high type of basketry, depending far less on the bison but more on deer and small game, making large use of wild grass seeds. on the north-eastern border the plains-ojibway and plains-cree combine many traits of the forest hunting tribes with those found in the plains. the dakota or sioux are universally conceded to be of the highest type, physically, mentally and probably morally of any of the western tribes. their bravery has never been questioned by white or indian and they conquered or drove out every rival except the ojibway. their physical characteristics are as follows: dark skin faintly tinged with red, facial features more strongly marked than those of the pacific coast indians, nose and lower jaw particularly prominent and heavy, head generally mesocephalic and not artificially deformed. they are a free and dominant race of hunters and warriors, necessarily strong and active. their weapons of stone, wood, bone and horn are tomahawk, club, flint knife, and bow and arrow. all their habits centre in the bison, which provided the staple materials of nutrition and industry. drawing and painting were done on prepared bison skins and elaborately carved pipes were made for ceremonial use. they are divided into kinship groups, with inheritance as a rule in the male line. the woman is autocrat of the home. exogamy was strictly enforced in the clan but marriage within the tribe or with related tribes was encouraged. the marriage was arranged by the parents and polygyny was common where means would permit. government consisted in chieftainship acquired by personal merit, and the old men exercised considerable influence. religious conceptions were based on a belief in _wakonda_ or _manito_[ ], an all-pervading spirit force, whose cult involved various shamanistic ceremonials consisting of dancing, chanting, feasting and fasting. most distinctive of these is the sun dance, practised by almost all the tribes of the plains except the comanche. it is an annual festival lasting several days, in honour of the sun, for the purpose of obtaining abundant produce throughout the year. the sun dance was not only the greatest ceremony of the plains tribes but was a condition of their existence. more than any other ceremony or occasion, it furnished the tribe the opportunity for the expression of emotion in rhythm, and was the occasion of the tribe becoming more closely united. it gave opportunity for the making and renewing of common interests, the inauguration of tribal policies, and the renewing of the rank of the chiefs; for the exhibition, by means of mourning feasts, of grief over the loss of members of families; for the fulfilment of social obligations by means of feasts; and, finally, for the exercise and gratification of the emotions of love on the part of the young in the various social dances which always formed an interesting feature of the ceremony[ ]. being strongly opposed by the missionaries because it was utterly misunderstood[ ], and finding no favour in official circles, the sun dance has been for many years an object of persecution, and in consequence is extinct among the dakota, crows, mandan, pawnee, and kiowa, but it is still performed by the cree, siksika (blackfoot), arapaho, cheyenne, assiniboin, ponca, shoshoni and ute, though in many of these tribes its disappearance is near at hand, for it has lost part of its rites and has become largely a spectacle for gain rather than a great religious ceremony[ ]. the pawnee do not differ at all widely from the dakota, but have a somewhat finer cast of features. they are more given to agriculture, raising crops of maize, pumpkins, etc. the pawnee type of hut is characteristic, consisting of a circular framework of poles or logs, covered with brush, bark and earth. their religious ceremonies were connected with the cosmic forces and the heavenly bodies. the dominating power was tirawa generally spoken of as "father." the winds, thunder, lightning and rain were his messengers. among the skidi the morning and evening stars represented the masculine and feminine elements, and were connected with the advent and perpetuation on earth of all living forms. a series of ceremonies relative to the bringing of life and its increase began with the first thunder in the spring and culminated at the summer solstice in human sacrifice, but the series did not close until the maize, called "mother corn," was harvested. at every stage of the series certain shrines or "bundles" became the centre of a ceremony. each shrine was in charge of an hereditary keeper, but its rituals and ceremonies were in the keeping of a priesthood open to all proper aspirants. through the sacred and symbolic articles of the shrines and their rituals and ceremonies a medium of communication was believed to be opened between the people and the supernatural powers, by which food, long life and prosperity were obtained. the mythology of the pawnee is remarkably rich in symbolism and poetic fancy and their religious system is elaborate and cogent. the secret societies, of which there were several in each tribe, were connected with the belief in supernatural animals. the functions of these societies were to call the game, to heal diseases, and to give occult powers. their rites were elaborate and their ceremonies dramatic[ ]. the blackfeet or siksika[ ], an algonquian confederacy of the northern plains, agree in culture with the plains tribes generally, though there is evidence of an earlier culture, approximately that of the eastern woodland tribes. they are divided into the siksika proper, or blackfeet, the kainah or bloods, and the piegan, the whole being popularly known as blackfoot or blackfeet. formerly bison and deer were their chief food and there is no evidence that they ever practised agriculture, though tobacco was grown and used entirely for ceremonial purposes. the doors of their tipis always faced east. they have a great number of dances--religious, war and social--besides secret societies for various purposes, together with many "sacred bundles" around every one of which centres a ritual. practically every adult has his personal "medicine." the principal deities are the sun, and a supernatural being known as _napi_ "old man," who may be an incarnation of the same idea. the religious activity of a blackfoot consists in putting himself into a position where the cosmic power will take pity upon him and give him something in return. there was no conception of a single personal god[ ]. the arapaho, another algonquian plains tribe, were once according to their own traditions a sedentary agricultural people far to the north of their present range, apparently in north minnesota. they have been closely associated with the cheyenne for many generations[ ]. the annual sun dance is their greatest tribal ceremony, and they were active propagators of the ghost-dance religion of the last century which centred in the belief in the coming of a messiah and the restoration of the country to the indians[ ]. the cheyenne, also of agricultural origin, have been for generations a typical prairie tribe, living in skin tipis, following the bison over large areas, travelling and fighting on horseback. in character they are proud, contentious, and brave to desperation, with an exceptionally high standard for women. under the old system they had a council of elective chiefs, of whom four constituted a higher body, with power to elect one of their number as head chief of the tribe. in all councils that concerned the relations with other tribes, one member of the council was appointed to argue as proxy or "devil's advocate" for the alien people. the council of is still symbolised by a bundle of invitation sticks, kept with the sacred medicine-arrows, and formerly sent round when occasion arose to convene the assembly. the four medicine-arrows constitute the tribal palladium which they claim to have had from the beginning of the world. it was exposed once a year with appropriate rites, and is still religiously preserved. no woman, white man, or even mixed blood of the tribe has ever been allowed to come near the sacred arrows. in priestly dignity the keepers of the medicine-arrows and the priests of the sun dance rites stood first and equal[ ]. vii. eastern woodland area[ ]. the culture north of the great lakes and east of the st lawrence is comparable to that of the déné (see p. ), the main traits being: the taking of caribou in pens; the snaring of game; the importance of small game and fish, also of berries; the weaving of rabbit-skins; the birch canoe; the toboggan; the conical skin or bark-covered shelter; the absence of basketry and pottery and the use of bark and wooden utensils. to this northern group belong the ojibway north of the lakes, including the saulteaux, the wood cree, the montagnais and the naskapi. further south the main body falls into three large divisions: iroquoian tribes (huron, wyandot, erie, susquehanna and five nations); central algonquian to the west of the iroquois (some ojibway, ottawa, menomini, sauk and fox[ ], potawatomi, peoria, illinois, kickapoo, miami, piankashaw, shawnee and siouan winnebago); eastern algonquian (abnaki group and micmac). the central group west of the iroquois appears to be the most typical and the best known and the following are the main culture traits: maize, squashes and bean were cultivated, wild rice where available was a great staple, and maple sugar was manufactured; deer, bear and even bison were hunted; also wild fowl; fishing was fairly developed, especially sturgeon fishing on the lakes; pottery poor, but formerly used for cooking vessels, vessels of wood and bark common; some splint basketry; two types of shelter prevailed, a dome-shaped bark or mat-covered lodge for winter and a rectangular bark house for summer, though the ojibway used the conical type of the northern border group; dug-out and bark canoes and snowshoes were used, occasionally the toboggan and dog traction; weaving was of bark fibre (downward with fingers), and soft bags, pack lines and fish nets were made; clothing was of skins; soft-soled moccasins with drooping flaps, leggings, breech-cloth and sleeved shirts for men, for women a skirt and jacket, though a one-piece dress was known; robes of skin or woven rabbit-skin; no armour or lances; bows of plain wood and clubs; in trade days, the tomahawk; work in wood, stone and bone weakly developed; probably considerable use of copper in prehistoric times; feather-work rare. in the eastern group agriculture was more intensive (except in the north) and pottery was more highly developed. woven feather cloaks were common, there was a special development of work in steatite, and more use was made of edible roots. the iroquoian tribes were even more intensive agriculturalists and potters. they made some use of the blow-gun, developed cornhusk weaving, carved elaborate masks from wood, lived in rectangular houses of peculiar pattern, built fortifications and were superior in bone work[ ]. in physical type the ojibways[ ], who may be taken as typical of the central algonquians, were . m. ( ft. in.) in height, with brachycephalic heads ( in the east, in the west, but variable), heavy strongly developed cheek-bones and heavy and prominent nose. they were hard fighters and beat back the raids of the iroquois on the east and of the foxes on the south, and drove the sioux before them out upon the plains. according to schoolcraft, who was personally acquainted with them and married a woman of the tribe, the warriors equalled in physical appearance the best formed of the north-west indians, with the possible exception of the foxes. they were organised in many exogamous clans; descent was patrilineal although it was matrilineal in most algonquian tribes. the clan system was totemic. there was a clan chief and generally a tribal chief as well, chosen from one clan in which the office was hereditary. his authority was rather indefinite. as regards religion w. jones[ ] notes their belief in a cosmic mystery present throughout all nature, called "manito." it was natural to identify the manito with both animate and inanimate objects and the impulse was strong to enter into personal relations with the mystic power. there was one personification of the cosmic mystery; and this was an animate being called the great manito. although they have long been in friendly relations with the whites christianity has had but little effect on them, largely owing to the conservatism of the native medicine-men. the _medewiwin_, or grand medicine society, was a powerful organisation, which controlled all the movements of the tribe[ ]. the iroquois[ ] are not much differentiated in general culture from the stocks around them, but in political development they stand unique. the five nations, mohawk, onondaga, oneida, cayuga and seneca (subsequently joined by the tuscarora), formed the famous league of the iroquois about the year . each tribe remained independent in matters of local concern, but supreme authority was delegated to a council of elected sachems. they were second to no other indian people north of mexico in political organisation, statecraft and military prowess, and their astute diplomats were a match for the wily french and english statesmen with whom they treated. so successful was this confederacy that for centuries it enjoyed complete supremacy over its neighbours, until it controlled the country from hudson bay to north carolina. the powerful ojibway at the end of lake superior checked their north-west expansion, and their own kindred the cherokee stopped their progress southwards. the social organisation was as a rule much more complex and cohesive than that of any other indians, and the most notable difference was in regard to the important position accorded to the women. among the cherokee, the iroquois and the hurons the women performed important and essential functions in their government. every chief was chosen and retained his position and every important measure was enacted by the consent and cooperation of the child-bearing women, and the candidate for a chieftainship was nominated by the suffrages of the matrons of this group. his selection from among their sons had to be confirmed by the tribal and the federal councils respectively, and finally he was installed into office by federal officers. lands and the "long houses" of related families belonged solely to the women. viii. south-eastern area. this area is conveniently divided by the mississippi, the typical culture occurring in the east. the powhatan group and the shawnee are intermediate, and the chief tribes are the muskhogean (creek, choctaw, chickasaw, seminole, etc.) and iroquoian tribes (cherokee and tuscarora) with the yuchi, eastern siouan, tunican and quapaw. the main culture traits are: great use of vegetable food and intensive agriculture; maize, cane (a kind of millet), pumpkins, watermelons and tobacco being raised. large use of wild vegetables, the dog, the only domestic animal, eaten; later chickens, hogs, horses and cattle quickly adopted; large game, deer, bear and bison, in the west; turkeys and small game also hunted; some fishing (with fish poison); of manufactured foods bears' oil, hickory-nut oil, persimmon bread and hominy are noteworthy, together with the famous black drink[ ]; houses generally rectangular with curved roofs, covered with thatch or bark, often with plaster walls, reinforced with wicker work; towns were fortified with palisades; dug-out canoes were used for transport. clothing chiefly of deerskins and bison robes, shirt-like garments for men, skirts and toga-like, upper garments for women, boot-like moccasins in winter; there were woven fabrics of bark fibre, fine netted feather cloaks, and some bison hair weaving in the west (the weaving being downwards with the fingers); baskets of cane and splints, the double or netted basket and the basket meal sieve being special forms; knives of cane, darts of cane and bone; blow-guns in general use; pottery good, coil process, with paddle decorations; a particular method of skin dressing (macerated in mortars), good work in stone, but little in metal[ ]. the creek women were short though well formed, while the warrior according to pickett[ ] was "larger than the ordinary race of europeans, often above ft. in height, but was invariably well formed, erect in his carriage, and graceful in every movement. they were proud, haughty and arrogant, brave and valiant in war." as a people they were more than usually devoted to decoration and ornament; they were fond of music and ball play was their most important game. each creek town had its independent government, under an elected chief who was advised by the council of the town in all important matters. certain towns were consecrated to peace ceremonies and were known as "white towns," while others, set apart for war ceremonials, were known as "red towns." the solemn annual festival of the creeks was the "busk" or _puskita_, a rejoicing over the first-fruits of the year. each town celebrated its busk whenever the crops had come to maturity. all the worn-out clothes, household furniture, pots and pans and refuse, grain and other provisions were gathered together into a heap and consumed. after a fast, all the fires in the town were extinguished and a priest kindled a new fire from which were made all the fires in the town. a general amnesty was proclaimed, all malefactors might return to their towns and their offences were forgiven. indeed the new fire meant the new life, physical and moral, which had to begin with the new year[ ]. the yuchi houses are grouped round a square plot of ground which is held as sacred, and here the religious ceremonies and social gatherings take place. on the edges stand four ceremonial lodges, in conformity with the four cardinal points, in which the different clan groups have assigned places. the square ground symbolises the rainbow, where in the sky-world, sun, the mythical culture-hero, underwent the ceremonial ordeals which he handed down to the first yuchi. the sun, as chief of the sky-world, author of the life, the ceremonies and the culture of the people, is by far the most important figure in their religious life. various animals in the sky-world and vegetation spirits are recognised, besides the totemic ancestral spirits, who play an important part. according to speck[ ] "the members of each clan believe that they are relatives and, in some vague way, the descendants of certain pre-existing animals whose names and identity they now bear. the animal ancestors are accordingly totemic. in regard to the living animals, they, too, are the earthly types and descendants of the pre-existing ones, hence, since they trace their descent from the same sources as the human clans, the two are consanguinely related." thus the members of a clan feel obliged not to do violence to the wild animals having the form or name of their tutelaries, though the flesh and fur may be obtained from the members of other clans who are under no such obligations. the different individuals of the clan inherit the protection of the clan totems at the initiatory rites, and thenceforth retain them as their protectors through life. public religious worship centres in the complex annual ceremony connected with the corn harvest and includes the making of new fire, clan dances impersonating totemic ancestors, dances to propitiate maleficent spirits and acknowledge the assistance of beneficent ones in the hope of a continuance of their benefits, scarification of the males for sacrifice and purification, taking an emetic as a purifier, the partaking of the first green corn of the season, and the performance of a characteristic ball game with two sticks. the middle and lower portions of the mississippi valley with out-lying territories exhibit archaeological evidence of a remarkable culture, higher than that of any other area north of mexico. this culture was characterised by "well established sedentary life, extensive practice of agricultural pursuits, and construction of permanent works--domiciliary, religious, civic, defensive and mortuary, of great magnitude and much diversity of form." the people, some, if not all of whom were mound-builders, were of numerous linguistic stocks, siouan, algonquian, iroquoian, muskhogean, tunican, chitimachan, caddoan and others, and "these historic peoples, remnants of which are still found within the area, were doubtless preceded by other groups not of a distinct race but probably of the same or related linguistic families. this view, in recent years, has gradually taken the place of the early assumption that the mound culture belonged to a people of high cultural attainments who had been succeeded by indian tribes. that mound building continued down to the period of european occupancy is a well established fact, and many of the burial mounds contain as original inclusions articles of european make[ ]." these general conclusions are in no way opposed to de nadaillac's suggestion that the mounds were certainly the work of indians, but of more civilised tribes than the present algonquians, by whom they were driven south to florida, and there found with their towns, council-houses, and other structures by the first white settlers[ ]. it would appear, however, from f. h. cushing's investigations, that these tribal council-houses of the seminole indians were a local development, growing up on the spot under conditions quite different from those prevailing in the north. many of the vast shell-mounds, especially between tampa and cape sable, are clearly of artificial structure, that is, made with definite purpose, and carried up symmetrically into large mounds comparable in dimensions with the indian mounds of the interior. they originated with pile dwellings in shallow water, where the kitchen refuse, chiefly shells, accumulates and rises above the surface, when the building appears to stand on posts in a low mound. then this type of structure comes to be regarded as the normal for house-building everywhere. "through this natural series of changes in type there is a tendency to the development of mounds as sites for habitations and for the council-house of the clan or tribe, the sites being either separate mounds or single large mounds, according to circumstances. thus the study of the living seminole indians and of the shell-mounds in the same vicinity ... suggests a possible origin for a custom of mound-building at one time so prevalent among the north american indians[ ]." but if this be the genesis of such structures, the custom must have spread from the shores of the gulf inland, and not from the ohio valley southwards to florida. ix. south-western area. on account of its highly developed state and its prehistoric antecedents, the pueblo culture appears as the type, though this is by no means uniform in the different villages. three geographical groups may be recognised, the hopi[ ], the zuñi[ ] and the rio grande[ ]. the culture of the whole may be characterised by: main dependence upon maize and other cultivated foods (men doing the cultivating and cloth-weaving instead of women); use of a grinding stone instead of a mortar; the art of masonry; loom or upward weaving; cultivated cotton as a textile material; pottery decorated in colour; unique style of building and the domestication of the turkey. though the main dependence was on vegetable food there was some hunting; the eastern villages hunted bison and deer, especially taos. drives of rabbits and antelopes were practised, the unique hunting weapon being the curved rabbit stick. woven robes were usual. men wore aprons and a robe when needed. women wore a garment reaching from shoulder to knee fastened on the right shoulder only. in addition to cloth robes some were woven of rabbit-skin and some netted with turkey feathers. hard-soled moccasins were worn, those for women having long strips of deerskin wound round the leg. pottery was highly developed, not only for practical use. basketry was known but not so highly developed as among the non-pueblo tribes. the dog was not used for transportation and there were no boats. work in stone and wood not superior to that of other areas; some work in turquoise, but none in metal. many tribes appear to be transitional to the pueblo type. thus the pima once lived in adobe houses, though not of pueblo type, they developed irrigation but also made extensive use of wild plants, raised cotton, wove cloth, were indifferent potters but experts in basketry. the mohave, yuma, cocopa, maricopa and yavapai built a square flat-roofed house of wood, had no irrigation, were not good basket-makers (except the yavapai) but otherwise resembled the pima. the walapai and havasupai were somewhat more nomadic. the athapascan tribes to the east show intermediate cultures. the jicarilla and mescalero used the plains tipi, gathered wild vegetable food, hunted bison, had no agriculture or weaving, but dressed in skins, and had the glass-bead technique of the plains. the western apache differed little from these, but rarely used tipis and gave a little more attention to agriculture. in general the apache have certain undoubted pueblo traits, they also remind one of the plains, the plateaus, and, in a lean-to like shelter, of the mackenzie area. the navaho seem to have taken their most striking features from european influence, but their shelter is of the northern type, while costume, pottery and feeble attempts at basketry and formerly at agriculture suggest pueblo influence[ ]. pueblo culture takes its name from the towns or villages of stone or adobe houses which form the characteristic feature of the area. these vary according to the locality, those in the north being generally of sandstone, while adobe or sun-dried brick was employed to the south. the groups of dwellings were generally compact structures of several stories, with many small rooms, built in terrace fashion, the roof of one storey forming a promenade for the storey next above. thus from the front the structure is like a gigantic staircase, from the back a perpendicular wall. the upper houses were and still are reached by means of movable ladders and a hatchway in the roof. mainly in the north but scattered throughout the area are the remains of dwellings built in natural recesses of cliffs, while in some places the cliff face is honeycombed with masonry to provide habitations. although doubtless designed for purposes of hiding and defence, many of the cliff houses were near streams and fields and were occupied because they afforded shelter and were natural dwelling places; many were storage places for maize and other property: others again were places for outlook from which the fields could be watched or the approach of strangers observed. in some districts evidence of post-spanish occupancy exists. from intensive investigation of the cliff dwellings it is evident that the inhabitants had the same material culture as that of existing pueblo indians, and from the ceremonial objects which have been discovered and the symbolic decoration that was employed it is equally clear that their religion was essentially similar. moreover the various types of skulls that have been recovered are similar to those of the present population of the district. it may therefore be safely said that there is no evidence of the former general occupancy of the region by peoples other than those now classed as pueblo indians or their neighbours. j. w. fewkes points out that the district is one of arid plateaus, separated and dissected by deep cañons, frequently composed of flat-lying rock strata forming ledge-marked cliffs by the erosive action of the rare storms. "only along the few streams heading in the mountains does permanent water exist, and along the cliff lines slabs of rock suitable for building abound; and the primitive ancients, dependent as they were on environment, naturally produced the cliff dwellings. the tendency toward this type was strengthened by intertribal relations; the cliff dwellers were probably descended from agricultural or semi-agricultural villagers who sought protection against enemies, and the control of land and water through aggregation in communities.... locally the ancient villages of canyon de chelly are known as aztec ruins, and this designation is just so far as it implies relationship with the aborigines of moderately advanced culture in mexico and central america, though it would be misleading if regarded as indicating essential difference between the ancient villagers and their modern descendants and neighbours still occupying the pueblos[ ]." each pueblo contains at least one _kiva_, either wholly or partly underground, entered by means of a ladder and hatchway, forming a sacred chamber for the transaction of civil or religious affairs, and also a club for the men. in some villages each totemic clan has its own _kiva_. the indians are eminently a religious people and much time is devoted to complicated rites to ensure a supply of rain, their main concern, and the growth of crops. among the hopi from four to sixteen days in every month are employed by one society or another in the carrying out of religious rites. the secret portions of these complicated ceremonies take place in the _kiva_, while the so-called "dances" are performed in the open. the clan ancestors may be impersonated by masked men, called _katcinas_, the name being also applied to the religious dramas in which they appear[ ]. in reference to j. walter fewkes' account of the "tusayan snake ceremonies," it is pointed out that "the pueblo indians adore a plurality of deities, to which various potencies are ascribed. these zoic deities, or beast gods, are worshipped by means of ceremonies which are sometimes highly elaborate; and, so far as practicable, the mystic zoic potency is represented in the ceremony by a living animal of similar species or by an artificial symbol. prominent among the animate representatives of the zoic pantheon throughout the arid region is the serpent, especially the venomous and hence mysteriously potent rattlesnake. to the primitive mind there is intimate association, too, between the swift-striking and deadly viper and the lightning, with its attendant rain and thunder; there is intimate association, too, between the moisture-loving reptile of the subdeserts and the life-giving storms and freshets; and so the native rattlesnake plays an important rôle in the ceremonies, especially in the invocations for rain, which characterize the entire arid region[ ]." fewkes pursues the same fruitful line of thought in his monograph on _the feather symbol in ancient hopi designs_[ ], showing how amongst the tusayan pueblos, although they have left no written records, there survives an elaborate paleography, the feather _motif_ in the pottery found in the old ruins, which is in fact "a picture writing often highly symbolic and complicated," revealing certain phases of hopi thought in remote times. "thus we come back to a belief, taught by other reasoning, that ornamentation of ancient pottery was something higher than simple effort to beautify ceramic wares. the ruling motive was a religious one, for in their system everything was under the same sway. esthetic and religious feelings were not differentiated, the one implied the other, and to elaborately decorate a vessel without introducing a religious symbol was to the ancient potter an impossibility[ ]." physically the pueblo indians are of short stature, with long, low head, delicate face and dark skin. they are muscular and of great endurance, able to carry heavy burdens up steep and difficult trails, and to walk or even run great distances. it is said to be no uncommon thing for a hopi to run miles over a burning desert to his cornfield, hoe his corn, and return home within hours. distances of miles are frequently made within hours[ ]. in disposition they are mild and peaceable, industrious, and extraordinarily conservative, a trait shown in the fidelity with which they retain and perpetuate their ancient customs[ ]. labour is more evenly divided than among most indian tribes. the men help the women with the heavier work of house-building, they collect the fuel, weave blankets and make moccasins, occupations usually regarded as women's work. the women carry the water, and make the pottery for which the region is famous[ ]. a. l. kroeber has made a careful study of zuñi sociology[ ] and come to the conclusion that the family is fundamental and the clan secondary, though kinship terms are applied to clan mates in a random fashion, and even the true kinship terms are applied loosely. in view of the obvious preëminence of the woman, who receives the husband into her and her mother's house, it is worthy of note that she and her children recognise her husband's relatives as their kin as fully as he adopts hers. the zuñi are not a woman-ruled people. as regards government, women neither claim nor have any voice whatever, nor are there women priests, nor fraternity officers. even within the house, so long as a man is a legitimate inmate thereof, he is master of it and of its affairs. they are a monogamous people. divorce is more easy than marriage, and most men and women of middle age have been married to several partners. marriage in the mother's clan is forbidden; in the father's clan, disapproved. the phratries have no social significance, there is no central clan house, no recognised head, no meeting, council or any organisation, nor does the clan as such ever act as a body. the clans have little connection with the religious societies or fraternities. there are no totemic tabus nor is there worship of the clan totem. people are reckoned as belonging to the father's clan almost as much as to that of the mother. if one of the family of a person who belongs to a fraternity falls sick the fraternity is called in to cure the patient, who is subsequently received into its ranks. the zuñi fraternity is largely a body of religious physicians, membership is voluntary and not limited by sex. at hopi we hear of rain-making more than of doctoring, more of "priests" than of "theurgists." the religious functions of the zuñi are most marked in the ceremonies of the ko-tikkyanne, the "god-society" or "masked-dancer society," and it is with these that the _kivas_ are associated. they are almost wholly concerned with rain. only men can become members and entrance is compulsory. kroeber believes that "the truest understanding of zuñi life, other than its purely practical manifestation, can be had by setting the ettowe ['fetish'] as a centre. around these, priesthoods, fraternities, clan organisation, as well as most esoteric thinking and sacred tradition, group themselves; while, in turn, kivas, dances, and acts of public worship can be construed as but the outward means of expression of the inner activities that radiate around the nucleus of the physical fetishes and the ideas attached to them[ ]." footnotes: [ ] a. c. haddon, _the wanderings of peoples_, , p. . [ ] r. f. scharff, _the history of the european fauna_, , pp. , . [ ] d. g. brinton, _the american race_, . [ ] k. haebler, _the world's history_ (ed. helmolt), i. , p. . [ ] a. hrdli[vc]ka, "skeletal remains suggesting or attributed to early man in north america," _bureau am. eth. bull._ , , p. . [ ] a. hrdli[vc]ka, "early man in south america," _bureau am. eth. bull._ , . [ ] _loc. cit._ pp. - . [ ] _american anthropologist_, xiv. , p. . [ ] p. rivet, "la race de lagoa-santa chez les populations précolombiennes de l'Équateur," _bull. soc. d'anth._ v. , , p. . [ ] j. deniker, _the races of man_, , p. . [ ] _bur. am. eth. bull._ , , pp. - . [ ] _loc. cit._ p. . [ ] a. hrdli[vc]ka, _am. anth._ xiv. , p. . [ ] _ibid._ p. . [ ] a. c. haddon, _the wanderings of peoples_, , pp. - . [ ] w. bogoras, _am. anth._ iv. , p. . [ ] _bur. am. eth. bull._ , , p. . [ ] _globus_, lxx. no. . [ ] _mexican archaeology_, , p. ff. [ ] "the social organization, etc. of the kwakiutl indians," _rep. u.s. nat. mus._ , washington ( ), p. sq. and _ann. arch. rep._ , toronto, , p. . [ ] w. l. h. duckworth, _journ. anthr. inst._, august, . [ ] _the stone age in north america_, . [ ] on the other hand there are a few american archaeologists who believe in the occurrence of implements of palaeolithic type in the united states, but there is no corroborative evidence on the part of contemporaneous fossils. see n. h. winchell, "the weathering of aboriginal stone artifacts," no. . _collection of the minnesota hist. soc._ vol. xvi. . [ ] _am. anth._ xiv. , p. . [ ] such disintegration is clearly seen in the carib still surviving in dominica, of which j. numa rat contributed a somewhat full account to the _journ. anthr. inst._ for nov. , p. sq. here the broken form _arametakuahátina buka_ appears to represent the polysynthetic _arametakuanientibubuka_ (root _arameta_, to hide), as in père breton's _grammaire caraibe_, p. , where we have also the form _arametakualubatibubasubutuiruni_ = know that he will conceal thee (p. ). it may at the same time be allowed that great inroads have been made on the principle of polysynthesis even in the continental (south american) carib, as well as in the colombian chibcha, the mexican otomi and pima, and no doubt in some other linguistic groups. but that the system must have formerly been continuous over the whole of america seems proved by the persistence of extremely polysynthetic tongues in such widely separated regions as greenland (eskimo), mexico (aztec), peru (quichuan), and chili (araucanian). [ ] r. de la grasserie and n. léon, _langue tarasque_, paris, . [ ] j. e. r. polak, _ipurina grammar_, etc., london, . [ ] _the eskimo tribes, their distribution and characteristics_, copenhagen, , i. p. sq. [ ] in fact this very word was first given "as an ordinary example" by kleinschmidt, _gram. d. grönlandischen sprache_, sect. , and is also quoted by byrne, who translates: "they disapproved of him, because he did not give to him, when he heard that he would go off, because he had nothing" (_principles_, etc., i. p. ). [ ] "indian linguistic families of america north of mexico," _seventh ann. rept. bureau of ethnology_, - ( ). see also the "handbook of american indian languages," part i by franz boas and others, _bureau of american ethnology, bulletin _, . the introduction by f. boas gives a good general idea of the characteristics of these languages and deals shortly with related problems. [ ] following this ethnologist's convenient precedent, i use both in _ethnology_ and here the final syllable _an_ to indicate stock races and languages in america. thus _algonquin_ = the particular tribe and language of that name; _algonquian_ = the whole family; _iroquois_, _iroquoian_, _carib_, _cariban_, etc. [ ] _forum_, feb. , p. . [ ] studies of these languages by kroeber and others will be found in _university of california publications; american archaeology and ethnology_, l. onwards. cf. also a. l. kroeber, "the languages of the american indians," _pop. sci. monthly_, lxxviii. . [ ] _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xl. , p. . [ ] _urbewohner brasiliens_, , p. . [ ] karl v. d. steinen, _unter den naturvölkern zentral-brasiliens_, , p. . [ ] _aborigines of south america_, . [ ] _loc. cit._ p. . [ ] _indian linguistic families_, p. . [ ] "whence came the american indians?" _forum_, feb. . [ ] j. walter fewkes, "great stone monuments in history and geography," _pres. add. anthrop. soc., washington_, . [ ] f. graebner, _anthropos_, iv. , esp. pp. - . cf. also his _ethnologie_, . [ ] w. schmidt, "kulturkreise und kulturschichten in südamerika," _zeitschrift für ethnologie_, jg. , , p. ff. [ ] _loc. cit._ pp. , . [ ] _ibid._ p. ; cf. also p. where the peruvian sailing balsa is traced to polynesia, sailing rafts being still used in the eastern paumotu islands. [ ] _am. anth._ xiv. , pp. - . [ ] _loc. cit._ p. . [ ] _loc. cit._ p. . [ ] g. elliot smith, _the migrations of early culture_, . [ ] g. elliot smith, "the influence of ancient egyptian civilization in the east and in america," _bull. of the john rylands library_, jany.--march, , pp. , . [ ] cf. w. j. perry, "the relationship between the geographical distribution of megalithic monuments and ancient mines," reprinted from _manchester memoirs_, vol. lx. ( ), pt. . [ ] w. j. perry, _mem. and proc. manchester lit. and phil. soc._ lx. , no. . [ ] _loc. cit._ no. . [ ] _loc. cit._ no. . [ ] _loc. cit._ no. . [ ] _loc. cit._ no. . [ ] _putnam anniversary volume_, , p. . [ ] _nature_, nov. and dec. , . [ ] h. h. bancroft, _the native races of the pacific states of north america_, . [ ] e. b. tylor, "on the game of patolli in ancient mexico and its probably asiatic origin," _journ. anthr. inst._ viii. , p. . _rep. brit. ass._ , p. . [ ] zelia nuttall, "the fundamental principles of old and new world civilisations," _arch. and eth. papers, peabody mus. cambridge, mass._ ii. . [ ] j. macmillan brown, _maori and polynesian_, . [ ] c. r. enoch, _the secret of the pacific_, . [ ] livingston farrand, _basis of american history_, , pp. - . [ ] _ th ann. rep. bur. am. eth. - _ ( ). [ ] "primitive american history," _am. anth._ xvi. , pp. - . [ ] roland b. dixon, _am. anth._ xv. , pp. - . [ ] "areas of american culture characterization tentatively outlined as an aid in the study of the antiquities," _am. anth._ xvi. , pp. - . [ ] clark wissler, "material cultures of the north american indians," _am. anth._ xvi. , pp. - . [ ] "the central eskimo," _ th ann. rep. bur. am. eth. - _ ( ), p. . [ ] the name is said to come from the abnaki _esquimantsic_, or from _ashkimeq_, the ojibway equivalent, meaning "eaters of raw flesh." they call themselves innuit, meaning "people." [ ] h. rink, "the eskimo tribes, their distribution and characteristics," _meddelelser om grönland_, ii. . [ ] f. boas, "ethnological problems in canada," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xl. , p. . [ ] h. p. steensby, "contributions to the ethnology and anthropogeography of the polar eskimos," _meddelelser om grönland_, xxxiv. . [ ] h. p. steensby, _loc. cit._ p. . [ ] _loc. cit_. pp. , . [ ] v. stefánsson, _my life with the eskimo_, , p. ff. [ ] f. boas, "the eskimo," _annual archaeological report_, , toronto ( ), p. ff. [ ] a. g. morice, "notes on the western dénés," _trans. canadian inst._ iv. ; "the western dénés," _proc. canadian inst._ xxv. ( rd series, vii.) ; "the canadian dénés," _ann. arch. rep. _ ( ), p. . [ ] from the nootka word _potlatsh_, "giving" or "a gift," so called because these great winter ceremonials were especially marked by the giving away of quantities of goods, commonly blankets. cf. j. r. swanton in _handbook of american indians_ (f. w. hodge, editor), . [ ] besides c. wissler, _loc. cit._ p. and a. g. morice, _loc. cit._, cf. j. jette, _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xxxvii. , p. ; c. hill-tout, _british north america_, ; and g. t. emmons, "the tahltan indians," _anthr. pub. university of pennsylvania_, iv. , . [ ] c. wissler, _loc. cit._ p. . [ ] j. g. frazer, _totemism and exogamy_, iii. , p. . [ ] _loc. cit._ p. . [ ] see p. . [ ] f. boas, _brit. ass. reports_, - ; _social organisation of the kwakiutl indians_, ; a. p. niblack, "the coast indians," _u.s. nat. mus. report_, . [ ] for this area consult j. teit, "the thompson indians of british columbia," "the lillooet indians," and "the shushwap," in _memoirs, am. mus. nat. hist._ vol. ii. , ; vol. iv. , ; and vol. iv. , ; f. boas, "the salish tribes of the interior of british columbia," _ann. arch. rep._ (toronto, ); c. hill-tout, "the salish tribes of the coast and lower fraser delta," _ann. arch. rep._ (toronto, ); h. j. spinden, "the nez percés indians," _memoirs, am. anth. ass._ ii. , ; r. h. lowie, "the northern shoshone," _anth. papers, am. mus. nat. hist._ ii. , ; a. b. lewis, "tribes of the columbia valley," etc., _memoirs, am. anth. ass._ i. , . [ ] c. hill-tout, _british north america_, , p. . [ ] _loc. cit._ p. . [ ] _loc. cit._ pp. - . [ ] a. l. kroeber, "types of indian culture in california," _university of california publications am. arch. and eth._ ii. , ; cf. also the special anthropological publications of the university of california. [ ] _loc. cit._ p. ff. [ ] p. s. spartman, _university of california publications, am. arch. and eth._ viii. , p. ff.; a. l. kroeber, "types of indian culture in california," _ibid._ ii. , p. ff. [ ] a. l. kroeber, _ibid._ viii. , p. . [ ] c. g. dubois, "the religion of the luiseño indians," _tom. cit._ p. ff. [ ] dakota is the name of the largest division of the siouan linguistic family, commonly called sioux; santee, yankton and teton constituting, with the assiniboin, the four main dialects. [ ] see note , p. . [ ] _wakonda_ is the term employed "when the power believed to animate all natural forms is spoken to or spoken of in supplications or rituals" by many tribes of the siouan family. _manito_ is the algonquian name for "the mysterious and unknown potencies and powers of life and of the universe." "_wakonda_," says miss fletcher, "is difficult to define, for exact terms change it from its native uncrystallized condition to something foreign to aboriginal thought. vague as the concept seems to be to one of another race, to the indian it is as real and as mysterious as the starry night or the flush of the coming day," "handbook of american indians" (ed. f. w. hodge), _bur. am. eth. bull._ , . [ ] see g. a. dorsey, "handbook of american indians" (ed. f. w. hodge), _bur. am. eth. bull._ , . [ ] g. b. grinnell points out that the personal torture often associated with the ceremonies has no connection with them, but represents the fulfilment of individual vows. "the cheyenne medicine lodge," _am. anth._ xvi. , p. . [ ] see g. a. dorsey, "arapaho sun dance," _pub. field col. mus. anth._ iv. (chicago), ; "the cheyenne," _tom. cit._ ix. . [ ] a. c. fletcher, in "handbook of american indians" (ed. f. w. hodge), _bur. am. eth.,_ bull. , ; _am. anth._ iv. , ; "the hako, a pawnee ceremony," _ nd ann. rep. bur. am. eth. - _, ( ); g. a. dorsey, "traditions of the skidi pawnee," _mem. am. folklore soc._ viii. . [ ] from _siksinam_ "black," and _ka_, the root of _oqkatsh_ "foot." the origin of the name is commonly given as referring to the blackening of their moccasins by the ashes of the prairie fires. [ ] j. mooney, "handbook of american indians" (ed. f. w. hodge), _bur. am. eth._, bull. , ; c. wissler, "material culture of the blackfoot indians," _anth. papers, am. mus. nat. hist._ v. , ; j. w. schultz, _my life as an indian_, . [ ] a. l. kroeber. "the arapaho," _bull. am. mus. nat. hist._ xviii. ; g. a. dorsey and a. l. kroeber, "traditions of the arapaho," _pub. field col. mus. anth._ v. ; g. a. dorsey, "arapaho sun dance," _ib._ iv. . [ ] j. mooney, "the ghost dance religion," _ th ann. rep. bur. am. eth._ . [ ] g. a. dorsey, "the cheyenne," _pub. field col. mus. anth._ ix. ; g. b. grinnell, "social organisation of the cheyennes," _rep. int. cong. am._ xiii. . [ ] consult the following: a. c. parker, "iroquois uses of maize and other food plants," bull. , _university of california pub., arch. and eth._ vii. , ; w. j. hoffman, "the menomini indians," _ th ann. rep. bur. am. eth. - _, i. ( ); a. e. jenks, "the wild rice gatherers of the upper lakes," _ th ann. rep. bur. am. eth. - _, ii. ( ); a. f. chamberlain, "the kootenay indians and indians of the eastern provinces of canada," _ann. arch. rep. _ ( ); a. skinner, "notes on the eastern cree and northern saulteaux," _anth. papers, am. mus. nat. hist._ ix. , ; _the indians of greater new york_, ; j. n. b. hewitt, "iroquoian cosmology," _ st ann. rep. bur. am. eth._ - ( ), etc. [ ] for the foxes (properly musquakie) see m. a. owen, _folklore of the musquakie indians_, . [ ] c. wissler, _loc. cit._ p. . [ ] ojibway, meaning "to roast till puckered up," referred to the puckered seam on the moccasins. chippewa is the popular adaptation of the word. [ ] w. jones, _ann. arch. rep._ (toronto), , p. . cf. note on p. . [ ] w. j. hoffman, "the midewiwin or 'grand medicine society' of the ojibwa," _ th ann. rep. bur. am. eth._ ( ). [ ] from the algonkin word meaning "real adders" with french suffix. [ ] a decoction made by boiling the leaves of _ilex cassine_ in water, employed as "medicine" for ceremonial purification. it was a powerful agent for the production of the nervous state and disordered imagination necessary to "spiritual" power. [ ] c. wissler,_ loc. cit._ pp. - . [ ] a. j. pickett, _hist. of alabama_, (ed. ), p. . [ ] cf. a. s. gatschet, "a migration legend of the creek indians," _trans. acad. sci. st louis_, v. . [ ] f. g. speck, "some outlines of aboriginal culture in the s. e. states," _am. anth._ n. s. ix. ; "ethnology of the yuchi indians," _anth. pub. mus. univ. pa._ i. , . [ ] w. h. holmes, "areas of american culture," etc., _am. anth._ xvi. , p. . [ ] _l'anthropologie_, , p. sq. [ ] _ th ann. rep. bur. am. eth._, washington, , p. lvi sq. [ ] walpi, sichumovi, hano (tewa), shipaulovi, mishongnovi, shunopovi and oraibi. [ ] zuñi proper, pescado, nutria and ojo caliente. [ ] taos, picuris, san juan, santa clara, san ildefonso, tesuque, pojoaque, nambe, jemez, pecos, sandia, isleta, all of tanoan stock; san felipe, cochiti, santo domingo, santa ana, sia laguna and acoma, of keresan stock. [ ] for this area see a. f. bandelier, "final report of investigations among the indians of the s. w. united states," _arch. inst. of am. papers_, - ; p. e. goddard, "indians of the southwest," _handbook series, am. mus. nat. hist._ , ; f. russell, "the pima indians," _ th ann. rep. bur. am. eth._ - ( ); g. nordenskiöld, _the cliff dwellers of mesa verde, s. w. colorado_, ; c. mindeleff, "aboriginal remains in verde valley, arizona," _ th ann. rep. bur. am. eth._ - ( ). for chronology cf. l. spier, _am. mus. nat. hist. anth._ xviii. [ ] _ th ann. report_, p. xciv. cf. e. huntington, "desiccation in arizona," _geog. journ._, sept. and oct. . [ ] for the religion consult f. h. cushing, "zuñi creation myths," _ th ann. rep. bur. am. eth._ - ( ); _zuñi folk tales_, ; matilda c. stevenson, "the religious life of the zuñi child," _ th ann. rep. bur. am. eth._ ; "the zuñi indians, their mythology, esoteric fraternities, and ceremonies," _ rd rep._ ; j. w. fewkes, "tusayan katcinas," _ th ann. rep. bur. am. eth._ - ( ); "tusayan snake ceremonies," _ th rep._ - ( ); "tusayan flute and snake ceremonies," _ th rep._ - , . ( ); "hopi katcinas," _ st rep._ - ( ), and other papers. for dances see w. hough, _moki snake dance_, ; g. a. dorsey and h. r. voth, "mishongnovi ceremonies of the snake and antelope fraternities," _pub. field col. mus. anth._ iii. , ; j. w. fewkes, "snake ceremonials at walpi," _jour. am. eth. and arch._ iv. and "tusayan snake ceremonies," _ th ann, rep. bur. am. eth._ ; h. hodge, "pueblo snake ceremonies," _am. anth._ ix. . [ ] p. xcvii. [ ] _amer. anthropologist_, jan. . [ ] p. . [ ] g. w. james, _indians of the painted desert region_, , p. . [ ] l. farrand, _basis of american history_, , p. . [ ] w. h. holmes, "pottery of the ancient pueblos," _ th ann. rep. bur. am. eth. - _ ( ); f. h. cushing, "a study of pueblo pottery," etc., _ib,_; j. w. fewkes, "archaeological expedition to arizona," _ th rep. - _ ( ); w. hough, "archaeological field work in n.e. arizona" ( ), _rep. u.s. nat. mus._ . [ ] "zuñi kin and clan," _anth. papers, am. mus. nat. hist._ xviii. , p. . [ ] p. . chapter xi the american aborigines (_continued_) mexican and central american cultures--aztec and maya scripts and calendars--nahua and shoshoni--chichimec and aztec empires-- uncultured mexican peoples: _otomi_; _seri_--early man in yucatan--the maya to-day--transitions from north to south america--_chontal_ and _choco_--the _catio_--cultures of the andean area--the colombian _chibcha_--empire of the inca--_quichuan_ race and language--inca origins and history--the _aymara_--_chimu_ culture--peruvian politico-social system--the _araucanians_--the _pampas indians_--the _gauchos_--_patagonians_ and _fuegians_-- linguistic relations--the _yahgans_--the _cashibo_--the _pana family_--the _caribs_--_arawakan family_--the _ges (tapuyan) family_--the _botocudo_--the _tupi-guaranian family_--the _chiquito_--_mataco_ and _toba_ of the gran chaco. in mexico and central america interest is centred chiefly in two great ethnical groups--the _nahuatlan_ and _huaxtecan_--whose cultural, historical, and even geographical relations are so intimately interwoven that they can scarcely be treated apart. thus, although their civilisations are concentrated respectively in the anahuac (mexican) plateau and yucatan and guatemala, the two domains overlap completely at both ends, so that there are isolated branches of the huaxtecan family in mexico (the huaxtecs (totonacs) of vera cruz, from whom the whole group is named, and of the nahuatlan in nicaragua (pipils, niquirans, and others)[ ]. this very circumstance has no doubt tended to increase the difficulties connected with the questions of their origins, migrations, and mutual cultural influences. some of these difficulties disappear if the "toltecs" be eliminated (see p. ), who had hitherto been a great disturbing element in this connection, and all the rest have in my opinion been satisfactorily disposed of by e. förstemann, a leading authority on all aztec-maya questions[ ]. this eminent archaeologist refers first to the views of seler[ ], who assumes a southern movement of maya tribes from yucatan, and a like movement of aztecs from tabasco to nicaragua, and even to yucatan. on the other hand dieseldorff holds that maya art was independently developed, while the link between it and the aztec shows that an interchange took place, in which process the maya was the giver, the aztec the recipient. he further attributes the overthrow of the maya power or years before the conquest to the aztecs, and thinks the aztecs or nahuas took their god quetzalcoatl from the "toltecs," who were a maya people. ph. j. valentini also infers that the maya were the original people, the aztecs "mere parasites[ ]." now förstemann lays down the principle that any theory, to be satisfactory, should fit in with such facts as:--( ) the agreement and diversity of both cultures; ( ) the antiquity and disappearance of the mysterious toltecs; ( ) the complete isolation at ° n. lat. of the huaxtecs from the other maya tribes, and their difference from them; ( ) the equally complete isolation of the guatemalan pipils, and of the other southern (nicaraguan) aztec groups from the rest of the nahua peoples; ( ) the remarkable absence of aztec local names in yucatan, while they occur in hundreds in chiapas, guatemala, honduras and nicaragua, where scarcely any trace is left of maya names. to account for these facts he assumes that in the earliest known times central america from about ° to ° n. was mainly inhabited by maya tribes, who had even reached cuba. while these mayas were still at quite a low stage of culture, the aztecs advanced from as far north as at least ° n. but only on the pacific side, thus leaving the huaxtecs almost untouched in the east. the aztecs called the mayas "toltecs" because they first came in contact with one of their northern branches living in the region about tula (north of mexico city)[ ]. but when all the relations became clearer, the toltecs fell gradually into the background, and at last entered the domain of the fabulous. now the aztecs borrowed much from the mayas, especially gods, whose names they simply translated. a typical case is that of cuculcan, which becomes quetzalcoatl, where _cuc_ = _quezal_ = the bird _trogon resplendens_, and _can_ = _coatl_ = snake[ ]. with the higher culture developed in guatemala the aztecs came first in contact after passing through mixtec and zapotec territory, not long before columbian times, so that they had no time here to consolidate their empire and assimilate the mayas. on the contrary the aztecs were themselves merged in these, all but the pipils and the settlements on lake nicaragua, which retained their national peculiarities. but whence came the hundreds of aztec names in the lands between chiapas and nicaragua? here it should be noted that these names are almost exclusively confined to the more important stations, while the less prominent places have everywhere names taken from the tongues of the local tribes. but even the aztec names themselves occur properly only in official use, hence also on the charts, and are not current to-day amongst the natives who have kept aloof from the spanish-speaking populations. hence the inference that such names were mainly introduced by the spaniards and their mexican troops during the conquest of those lands, say, up to about , and do not appear in yucatan which was not conquered from mexico. förstemann reluctantly accepts this view, advanced by sapper[ ], having nothing better to suggest. the coastal towns of yucatan visited by spaniards from cuba in and onwards were decidedly inferior architecturally to the great temple structures of the interior, though doubtless erected by the same people. the inland cities of chichen-itza and uxmal by that time had fallen from their ancient glory though still religious centres[ ]. the maya would thus appear to have stood on a higher plane of culture than their aztec rivals, and the same conclusion may be drawn from their respective writing systems. of all the aborigines these two alone had developed what may fairly be called a script in the strict sense of the term, although neither of them had reached the same level of efficiency as the babylonian cuneiforms, or the chinese or the egyptian hieroglyphs, not to speak of the syllabic and alphabetic systems of the old world. some even of the barbaric peoples, such as most of the prairie indians, had reached the stage of graphic symbolism, and were thus on the threshold of writing at the discovery. "the art was rudimentary and limited to crude pictography. the pictographs were painted or sculptured on cliff-faces, boulders, the walls of caverns, and even on trees, as well as on skins, bark, and various artificial objects. among certain mexican tribes, also, autographic records were in use, and some of them were much better differentiated than any within the present area of the united states. the records were not only painted and sculptured on stone and moulded in stucco, but were inscribed in books or codices of native parchment and paper; while the characters were measurably arbitrary, _i.e._ ideographic rather than pictographic[ ]." the aztec writing may be best described as pictographic, the pictures being symbolical or, in the case of names, combined into a rebus. no doubt much diversity of opinion prevails as to whether the maya symbols are phonetic or ideographic, and it is a fact that no single text, however short, has yet been satisfactorily deciphered. it seems that many of the symbols possessed true phonetic value and were used to express sounds and syllables, though it cannot be claimed that the maya scribes had reached that advanced stage where they could indicate each letter sound by a glyph or symbol[ ]. according to cyrus thomas, a symbol was selected because the name or word it represented had as its chief phonetic element a certain consonant sound or syllable. if this were _b_ the symbol would be used where _b_ was the prominent element of the word to be indicated, no reference, however, to its original signification being necessarily retained. thus the symbol for _cab_, 'earth,' might be used in writing _caban_, a day name, or _cabil_, 'honey,' because _cab_ is their chief phonetic element.... one reason why attempts at decipherment have failed is a misconception of the peculiar character of the writing, which is in a transition stage from the purely ideographic to the phonetic[ ]. from the example here given, the maya script would appear to have in part reached the rebus stage, which also plays so large a part in the egyptian hieroglyphic system. _cab_ is obviously a rebus, and the transition from the rebus to true syllabic and alphabetic systems has already been explained[ ]. the german americanists on the other hand have always regarded maya writing as more ideographic, and h. beuchat adopts this view, for "no symbol has ever been read phonetically with a different meaning from that which it possesses as an ideogram[ ]." but not only were the maya day characters phonetic; the maya calendar itself, afterwards borrowed by the aztecs, has been described as even more accurate than the julian itself. "among the plains indians the calendars are simple, consisting commonly of a record of winters ('winter counts'), and of notable events occurring either during the winter or during some other season; while the shorter time divisions are reckoned by 'nights' (days), 'dead moons' (lunations), and seasons of leafing, flowering, or fruiting of plants, migrating of animals, etc., and there is no definite system of reducing days to lunations or lunations to years. among the pueblo indians calendric records are inconspicuous or absent, though there is a much more definite calendric system which is fixed and perpetuated by religious ceremonies; while among some of the mexican tribes there are elaborate calendric systems combined with complete calendric records. the perfection of the calendar among the maya and nahua indians is indicated by the fact that not only were days reckoned as a year, but the bissextile was recognized[ ]." in another important respect the superiority of the maya-quiché peoples over the northern nahuans is incontestable. when their religious systems are compared, it is at once seen that at the time of the discovery the mexican aztecs were little better than ruthless barbarians newly clothed in the borrowed robes of an advanced culture, to which they had not had time to adapt themselves properly, and in which they could but masquerade after their own savage fashion. it has to be remembered that the aztecs were but one branch of the nahuatlan family, whose affinities buschmann[ ] has traced northwards to the rude shoshonian aborigines who roamed from the present states of montana, idaho, and oregon down into utah, texas, and california[ ]. to this nahuatlan stock belonged the barbaric hordes who overthrew the civilisation which flourished on the anahuac (mexican) table-land about the sixth century a.d. and is associated with the ruins of tula and cholula. it now seems clear that the so-called "toltecs," the "pyramid-builders," were not nahuatlans but huaxtecans, who were absorbed by the immigrants or driven southwards. to north and north-west of the settled peoples of the valley lived nomadic hunting tribes called chichimec[ ], merged in a loose political system which was dignified in the local traditions by the name of the "chichimec empire." the chief part was played by tribes of nahuan origin[ ], whose ascendancy lasted from about the eleventh to the fifteenth century, when they were in their turn overthrown and absorbed by the historical nahuan confederacy of the _aztecs_[ ] whose capital was tenochtitlan (the present city of mexico), the _acolhuas_ (capital tezcuco), and the _tepanecs_ (capital tlacopan). thus the aztec empire reduced by the conquistadores in had but a brief record, although the aztecs themselves as well as many other tribes of nahuatl speech, must have been in contact with the more civilised huaxtecan peoples for centuries before the appearance of the spaniards on the scene. it was during these ages that the nahuas "borrowed much from the mayas," as förstemann puts it, without greatly benefiting by the process. thus the maya gods, for the most part of a relatively mild type like the maya themselves, become in the hideous aztec pantheon ferocious demons with an insatiable thirst for blood, so that the teocalli, "god's houses," were transformed to human shambles, where on solemn occasions the victims were said to have numbered tens of thousands[ ]. besides the aztecs and their allies, the elevated mexican plateaus were occupied by several other relatively civilised nations, such as the _miztecs_ and _zapotecs_ of oajaca, the _tarasco_ and neighbouring _matlaltzinca_, of michoacan[ ], all of whom spoke independent stock languages, and the _totonacs_ of vera cruz, who were of huaxtecan speech, and were in touch to the north with the huaxtecs, a primitive maya people. the high degree of civilisation attained by some of these nations before their reduction by the aztecs is attested by the magnificent ruins of mitla, capital of the zapotecs, which was captured and destroyed by the mexicans in [ ]. of the royal palace viollet-le-duc speaks in enthusiastic terms, declaring that "the monuments of the golden age of greece and rome alone equal the beauty of the masonry of this great building[ ]." in general their usages and religious rites resembled those of the aztecs, although the zapotecs, besides the civil ruler, had a high priest who took part in the government. "his feet were never allowed to touch the ground; he was carried on the shoulders of his attendants; and when he appeared all, even the chiefs themselves, had to fall prostrate before him, and none dared to raise their eyes in his presence[ ]." the zapotec language is still spoken by about natives in the state of oajaca. farther north the plains and uplands continued to be inhabited by a multitude of wild tribes speaking an unknown number of stock languages, and thus presenting a chaos of ethnical and linguistic elements comparable to that which prevails along the north-west coast. of these rude populations one of the most widespread are the otomi of the central region, noted for the monosyllabic tendencies of their language, which najera, a native grammarian, has on this ground compared with chinese, from which, however, it is fundamentally distinct. still more primitive are the seri indians of tiburon island in the gulf of california and the adjacent mainland, who were visited in by w. j. mcgee, and found to be probably more isolated and savage than any other tribe remaining on the north american continent. they hunt, fish, and collect vegetable food, and most of their food is eaten raw, they have no domestic animals save dogs, they are totally without agriculture, and their industrial arts are few and rude. they use the bow and arrow but have no knife. their houses are flimsy huts. they make pottery and rafts of canes. the seri are loosely organised in a number of exogamic, matrilineal, totemic clans. mother-right obtains to a greater extent perhaps than in any other people. at marriage the husband becomes a privileged guest in the wife's mother's household, and it is only in the chase or on the war-path that men take an important place. polygyny prevails. the most conspicuous ceremony is the girls' puberty feast. the dead are buried in a contracted position. "the strongest tribal characteristic is implacable animosity towards aliens.... in their estimation the brightest virtue is the shedding of alien blood, while the blackest crime in their calendar is alien conjugal union[ ]." it is noteworthy that but few traces of such savagery have yet been discovered in yucatan. the investigations of henry mercer[ ] in this region lend strong support to förstemann's views regarding the early huaxtecan migrations and the general southward spread of maya culture from the mexican table-land. nearly thirty caves examined by this explorer failed to yield any remains either of the mastodon, mammoth, and horse, or of early man, elsewhere so often associated with these animals. hence mercer infers that the mayas reached yucatan already in an advanced state of culture, which remained unchanged till the conquest. in the caves were found great quantities of good pottery, generally well baked and of symmetrical form, the oldest quite as good as the latest where they occur in stratified beds, showing no progress anywhere. the caves of loltun (yucatan) and copan (honduras), examined by e. h. thompson and g. byron-gordon, yielded pre-mayan débris from the deep strata. perhaps this very ancient population was of the same race as the little known tribes still living in the forests of honduras and san salvador[ ]. since the conquest the aztecs, and other cultured nations of anahuac, have yielded to european influences to a far greater extent than the maya-quiché of yucatan and guatemala. in the city of mexico the nahuatl tongue has almost died out, and this place has long been a leading centre of spanish arts and letters[ ]; yet the mexicans yearly celebrate a feast in memory of their great ancestors who died in defence of their country[ ]. but merida, standing on the site of the ancient ti-hoó, has almost again become a maya town, where the white settlers themselves have been largely assimilated in speech and usages to the natives. the very streets are still indicated by the carved images of the hawk, flamingo, or other tutelar deities, while the houses of the suburbs continue to be built in the old maya style, two or three feet above the street level, with a walled porch and stone bench running round the enclosure. one reason for this remarkable contrast may be that the nahua culture, as above seen, was to a great extent borrowed in relatively recent times, whereas the maya civilisation is now shown to date from the epoch of the tolan and cholulan pyramid-builders. hence the former yielded to the first shock, while the latter still persists to some extent in yucatan. here about a.d. the cities of chichen-itza, uxmal and mayapan formed a confederacy in which each was to share equally in the government of the country. under the peaceful conditions of the next two centuries followed the second and last great maya epoch, the age of architecture, as it has been termed, as opposed to the first epoch, the age of sculpture, from the second to the sixth century a.d. during this earlier epoch flourished the great cities of the south, palenque, quirigua, copan, and others[ ]. despite their more gentle disposition, as expressed in the softer and almost feminine lines of their features, the mayas held out more valiantly than the aztecs against the spaniards, and a section of the nation occupying a strip of territory between yucatan and british honduras, still maintains its independence. the "barbarians," as the inhabitants of this district are called, would appear to be scarcely less civilised than their neighbours, although they have forgotten the teachings of the padres, and transformed the catholic churches to wayside inns. even as it is the descendants of the spaniards have to a great extent forgotten their mother-tongue, and maya-quiché dialects are almost everywhere current except in the campeachy district. those also who call themselves catholics preserve and practise many of the old rites. after burial the track from the grave to the house is carefully chalked, so that the soul of the departed may know the way back when the time comes to enter the body of some new-born babe. the descendants of the national astrologers everywhere pursue their arts, determining events, forecasting the harvests and so on by the conjunctions of the stars, and every village has its native "zadkiel" who reads the future in the ubiquitous crystal globe. even certain priests continue to celebrate the "field mass," at which a cock is sacrificed to the mayan aesculapius, with invocations to the trinity and their associates, the four genii of the rain and crops. "these tutelar deities, however, have taken christian names, the red, or god of the east, having become st dominic; the white, or god of the north, st gabriel; the black, or god of the west, st james; and the 'yellow goddess' of the south, mary magdalene[ ]." * * * * * to the observer passing from the northern to the southern division of the new world no marked contrasts are at first perceptible, either in the physical appearance, or in the social condition of the aborigines. the substantial uniformity, which in these respects prevails from the arctic to the austral waters, is in fact well illustrated by the comparatively slight differences presented by the primitive populations dwelling north and south of the isthmus of panama. at the discovery the west indies were inhabited by two distinct peoples, both apparently of south american origin. the populations of the greater antilles, cuba, jamaica, santo domingo and porto rico were of arawak stock, as were also the lucayans of the bahamas. the lesser antilles were peopled by caribs, whose culture had been somewhat modified by the arawaks who had preceded them. as regards influences from the north-west and west, joyce considers that intercourse between yucatan and western cuba was confined to occasional trading voyages and did not long antedate the arrival of the spaniards. the same applies to florida where, however, antillean influences may be traced, especially in pottery designs[ ]. according to beuchat, however, the guacanabibes of cuba are of common origin with the tekestas of florida. other tribes from florida spread to the bahamas, cuba[ ], and perhaps hayti, but were checked by arawaks from south america who mastered the whole of the west indies. last came the more vigorous but less advanced caribs, also from the southern mainland (of arawak origin according to joyce and beuchat). the statement of columbus that the lucayans[ ] were "of good size, with large eyes and broader foreheads than he had ever seen in any other race of men" is fully borne out by the character of some old skulls from the bahamas measured by w. k. brooks, who regarded them as belonging to "a well-marked type of the north american indian race which was at that time distributed over the bahama islands, hayti, and the greater part of cuba. as these islands are only a few miles from the peninsula of florida, this race must at some time have inhabited at least the south-eastern extremity of the continent, and it is therefore extremely interesting to note that the north american crania which exhibit the closest resemblance to those from the bahama islands have been obtained from florida[ ]." this observer dwells on the solidity and massiveness of the lucayan skulls, which bring them into direct relation with the races both of the mississippi plains and of the brazilian and venezuelan coast-lands, though the general ethnography of panama and costa rica reveals no active influence exerted by tribes of colombia and venezuela, except in eastern panama[ ]. equally close is the connection established between the surviving isthmian and colombian peoples of the atrato and magdalena basins. the chontal of nicaragua are scarcely to be distinguished from some of the santa marta hillmen, while the choco and perhaps the cuna of panama have been affiliated to the choco of the atrato and san juan rivers. the cultural connection between the tribes of the isthmus and of colombia appears especially in the gold-work and pottery of the chiriqui; at the chiriqui lagoon, however, nahuan influence is perceptible[ ]. attempts, which however can hardly be regarded as successful, have even been made to establish linguistic relations between the costa rican guatuso and the timote of the merida uplands of venezuela, who are themselves a branch of the formerly widespread muyscan family. but with these muyscans we at once enter a new ethnical and cultural domain, in which may be studied the resemblances due to the common origin of all the american aborigines, and the divergences due obviously to long isolation and independent local developments in the two continental divisions. in general the southern populations present more violent contrasts than the northern in their social and intellectual developments, so that while the wild tribes touch a lower depth of savagery, some at least of the civilised peoples rise to a higher degree of excellence, if not in letters--where the inferiority is manifest--certainly in the arts of engineering, architecture, agriculture, and political organisation. thus we need not travel many miles inland from the isthmus without meeting the catio, a wild tribe between the atrato and the cauca, more degraded even than the seri of tiburon island, most debased of all north american hordes. these catio, a now nearly extinct branch of the choco stock, were said to dwell like the anthropoid apes, in the branches of trees; they mostly went naked, and were reported, like the mangbattus and other congo negroes, to "fatten their captives for the table." their darien neighbours of the nore valley, who gave an alternative name to the panama peninsula, were accustomed to steal the women of hostile tribes, cohabit with them, and carefully bring up the children till their fourteenth year, when they were eaten with much rejoicing, the mothers ultimately sharing the same fate[ ]; and the cocoma of the marañon "were in the habit of eating their own dead relations, and grinding their bones to drink in their fermented liquor. they said it was better to be inside a friend than to be swallowed up by the cold earth[ ]." in fact of the colombian aborigines herrera tells us that "the living are the grave of the dead; for the husband has been seen to eat his wife, the brother his brother or sister, the son his father; captives also are eaten roasted[ ]." thus is raised the question of cannibalism in the new world, where at the discovery it was incomparably more prevalent south than north of the equator. compare the eskimo and the fuegians at the two extremes, the former practically exonerated of the charge, and in distress sparing wives and children and eating their dogs; the latter sparing their dogs because useful for catching otters, and smoking and eating their old women because useless for further purposes[ ]. in the north the taste for human flesh had declined, and the practice survived only as a ceremonial rite, chiefly amongst the british columbians and the aztecs, except of course in case of famine, when even the highest races are capable of devouring their fellows. but in the south cannibalism in some of its most repulsive forms was common enough almost everywhere. killing and eating feeble and aged members of the tribe in kindness is still general; but the mayorunas of the upper amazon waters do not wait till they have grown lean with years or wasted with disease[ ]; and it was a baptized member of the same tribe who complained on his death-bed that he would not now provide a meal for his christian friends, but must be devoured by worms[ ]. in the southern continent the social conditions illustrated by these practices prevailed everywhere, except on the elevated plateaus of the western cordilleras, which for many ages before the discovery had been the seats of several successive cultures, in some respects rivalling, but in others much inferior to those of central america. when the conquistadores reached this part of the new world, to which they were attracted by the not altogether groundless reports of fabulous wealth embodied in the legend of _el dorado_, the "man of gold," they found it occupied by a cultural zone which extended almost continuously from the present republic of colombia through ecuador, peru, and bolivia right into chili. in the north the dominant people were the semi-civilised chibcha, already mentioned under the name of muysca[ ], who had developed an organised system of government on the bogota table-land, and had succeeded in extending their somewhat more refined social institutions to some of the other aborigines of colombia, though not to many of the outlying members of their own race. as in mexico many of the nahuatlan tribes remained little better than savages to the last, so in colombia the civilised muyscans were surrounded by numerous kindred tribes--coyaima, natagaima, tocaima and others, collectively known as panches--who were real savages with scarcely any tribal organisation, wearing no clothes, and according to the early accounts still addicted to cannibalism. the muysca proper had a tradition that they owed their superiority to their culture-hero bochica, who came from the east long ago, taught them everything, and was then placed with chiminigagua, the creator, at the head of their pantheon, and worshipped with solemn rites and even human sacrifices. amongst the arts thus acquired was that of the goldsmith, in which they surpassed all other peoples of the new world. the precious metal was even said to be minted in the shape of discs, which formed an almost solitary instance of a true metal currency amongst the american aborigines[ ]. brooches, pendants, and especially grotesque figurines of gold, often alloyed with silver and copper, have been found in great numbers and still occasionally turn up on the plateau. these finds are partly accounted for by the practice of offering such objects in the open air to the personified constellations and forces of nature, for the primitive religion of all the andean tribes consisted of nature-, in particular sun-cults. near bogota was a temple of the sun, where children were reared for sacrifice[ ]. any mysterious sound emanating from a forest, a rock, a mountain pass, or gloomy gorge, was accepted as a manifestation of some divine presence; a shrine was raised to the embodied spirit, and so the whole land became literally crowded with local deities. this world itself was upborne on the shoulders of chibchacum, a national atlas, who now and then eased himself by shifting the burden, and thus caused earthquakes. in most lands subject to underground disturbances analogous ideas prevail, and when their source is so obvious, it seems unreasonable to seek for explanations in racial affinities, contacts, foreign influences, and so forth. it has often been remarked that at the advent of the whites the native civilisations seemed generally stricken as if by the hand of death, so that even if not suddenly arrested by the intruders they must sooner or later have perished of themselves. such speculations are seldom convincing, because we never know what recuperative forces may be at work to ward off the evil day. when the spaniards arrived in colombia they found at one end of the scale naked and savage cannibals, at the other a people with a feudal form of government, whose political system was progressive, who, though possessing no form of writing, had a system of measures and a calendar, and who were skilled in the arts of weaving, pottery, and metallurgy[ ]. the chiefs of the chibcha were all absolute monarchs and the appointment of priests rested with them. succession to the chieftainship was matrilineal, and installation in the office was attended by much ceremony. a great gulf separated nobles and commoners; slavery existed as an institution but slaves were well treated. polygyny was permitted, but relatives within certain degrees might not marry[ ]. this feebly organised political system broke to pieces at the first shock from without, and so disheartened had the people become under their half theocratic rulers, that they scarcely raised a hand in defence of a government which in their minds was associated only with tyranny and oppression. the conquest was in any case facilitated by the civil war at the time raging between the northern and southern kingdoms which with several other semi-independent states constituted the muyscan empire. this empire was almost conterminous southwards with that of the incas. at least the numerous terms occurring in the dialects of the paes, coconucos, and other south colombian tribes, show that peruvian influences had spread beyond the political frontiers far to the north, without, however, quite reaching the confines of the muyscan domain. but for several centuries prior to the discovery the sway of the peruvian incas had been established throughout nearly the whole of the andean lands, and the territory directly ruled by them extended from the quito district about the equator for some miles southwards to the rio maule in chili, with an average breadth of miles between the pacific and the eastern slopes of the cordilleras. their dominion thus comprised a considerable part of the present republics of ecuador, peru, bolivia, chili, and argentina, with a roughly estimated area of , , square miles, and a population of over , , . here the ruling race were the quichua, whose speech, called by themselves _ruma-simi_, "the language of men," is still current in several well-marked dialects throughout all the provinces of the old empire. in lima and all the seaports and inland towns spanish prevails, but in the rural districts quichuan remains the mother-tongue of over , , natives, and has even become the _lingua franca_ of the western regions, just as tupi-guarani is the _lingoa geral_, "general language," of the eastern section of south america. the attempts to find affinities with aryan (especially sanskrit), and other linguistic families of the eastern hemisphere, have broken down before the application of sound philological principles to these studies, and quichuan is now recognised as a stock language of the usual american type, unconnected with any other except that of the bolivian aymaras. even this connection is regarded by some students as verbal rather than structural, an interchange of a considerable number of terms being easily explained by the close contact in which the two peoples have long dwelt. as to the origin of the incas we cannot do better than follow the views of sir clements markham, who has made a careful study of the various early authorities. his account (_the incas of peru,_ ) is based largely on the works of spanish military writers such as ciezo de leon and pedro pizarro (cousin of the conqueror), of priests like molina, montesinos, and the half-breed blas valera, and on those of the inca garcilasso de la vega, son of a spanish knight and an inca princess. the megalithic ruins of tiahuanacu, at the southern end of lake titicaca, mark the earliest known centre of culture in southern peru. they are situated on a lofty plateau, over , feet above the sea, and are the remains of a great city built by highly skilled masons who used enormous stones. the placing of such monoliths, unrivalled except by those of ancient egypt, indicates a dense and well-organised population. the famous monolithic doorway is elaborately carved, the central figure apparently representing the deity, while on either side are figures, human- or bird-headed, kneeling in adoration (_op. cit._, pls. at pp. , ). now it seems probable that the builders of this megalithic city were the ancestors of the incas, assuming that a substratum of truth underlies the paccari-tampu myth. the end of the early civilisation is stated to have been caused by a great invasion from the south, when the king was killed in a battle in the collao, north of lake titicaca. a state of barbarism ensued. a remnant of the royal house took refuge in a district called tampu-tocco ("window tavern")[ ] and there preserved a vestige of their ancient traditions and civilisation. elsewhere religion deteriorated to nature worship, here the kings declared themselves to be children of the sun. montesinos' list of kings gives names for this period of tampu-tocco, which may cover years. the myth, which is "certainly the outcome of a real tradition, ... the fabulous version of a distant historical event," tells how manco ccapac and the three other ayars, his brothers, the children of the sun, came forth with their wives from the central opening or window in the hill tampu-tocco. they advanced slowly at the head of several _ayllus_ (lineages). ayar manco took the lead, and he had with him a falcon-like bird revered as sacred, and a golden staff which he flung ahead; when it reached soil so fertile that the whole length sank in, there the final halt was to be made. this happened in the fertile vale of cuzco. the date of these events would be about four centuries before the spanish conquest. farther north at about ° s. lat. the inca civilisation was preceded, according to uhle, by the very ancient one of ica and nazca, where dwelt a people who made pottery but were ignorant of weaving. the same authority has also discovered about lima the remains of a tall people, who made rude pottery, nets, and objects of bone[ ]. manco established himself in the cuzco valley, his third successor finally subjugating the tribes there. the early position of the incas, cemented by judicious marriages, seems to have been one of priority in a very loose confederacy. the rise of the incas was due to the ambition of the lady siuyacu whose son, inca rocca, appears to have been the pioneer of empire; material prosperity began under him, schools were erected and irrigation works begun. then from a strip of land miles long between the gorge of the apurimac and the wide fertile valley of vilcamayu, the empire was extended to form the ttahua-ntin-suyu, "the four provinces," of which the northern one, chinchay-suyu, reached to quito, and the southern, colla-suyu, into chili. this southward extension was due to the efforts of pachacuti who succeeded after hard fighting in annexing the region around lake titicaca, and the new territory was named after the collas, the largest and most powerful tribe thereabouts. in order to pacify the region permanently large numbers of collas were sent as _mitimaes_, or colonists, as far as the borders of quito, while their places were filled by loyal colonists from inca districts. among these were a number of aymaras from the quichuan region of the pachachaca, a left bank tributary of the apurimac, who were settled among the remaining lupacas on the west shore of lake titicaca at juli. thither came jesuit fathers in and learnt the language of the lupacas from these aymara colonists, who had been there three generations; the name aymara was given by the priests not only to the lupaca language but to those spoken by collas and other titicacan tribes. thus the name aymara is now generally but quite erroneously applied to the language and people of this region; it was first so used in . it must be pointed out, however, that other authorities regard the aymara and quichua as entirely distinct. a. chervin[ ] discusses the physical differences at great length and concludes that they are two separate brachycephalic peoples. the peruvians were primarily agriculturists, maize and at higher altitudes the potato being their chief crops. their aqueducts and irrigation systems moved the admiration of early chroniclers, as did also their roads and suspension bridges[ ]. the supreme deity and creator was uira-cocha, who was worshipped by the more intellectual and had a temple at cuzco. the popular religion was the worship of the founder of each _ayllu_, or clan, and all joined in adoration of the sun as ancestor of the sovereign incas. sun-worship was attended by a magnificent ritual, the high priest was an official of highest rank, often a brother of the sovereign, and there were over virgins of the sun (_aclla_) connected with the cult at cuzco. the peasants put their trust in _conopas_, or household gods, which controlled their crops and their llamas. the calendar had been calculated with considerable ingenuity, and certain festivals took place annually and were usually accompanied with much chicha-drinking. it is remarkable that so advanced a people kept all their elaborate records by means of _quipus_ (coloured strings with knots). here is not the place to enter into the details of the astonishing architectural, engineering, and artistic remains, often assigned to the incas, whose empire had absorbed in the north the old civilisation of the _chimu_, perhaps of the _atacameño_, and other cultured peoples whose very names have perished. the yunga (mochica or chimu), conquered by the inca tupac yupanqui, had a language radically distinct from quichuan, but have long been assimilated to their conquerors. the ruins of grand chimu (modern trujillo) cover a vast area, nearly miles by , which is everywhere strewn with the remains of palaces, reservoirs, aqueducts, ramparts, and especially _huacas_, that is, truncated pyramids not unlike those of mexico, whence the theory that the chimus, of unknown origin, were "toltecs" from central america. one of these huacas is described by squier as feet high with a base feet square, and an area of acres, presenting from a distance the appearance of a huge crater[ ]. still larger is the so-called "temple of the sun," by feet, feet high, and covering an area of acres. an immense population of hundreds of thousands was assigned to this place in pre-inca times; but from some rough surveys made in it would appear that much of the space within the enclosures consists of waste lands, which had never been built over, and it is calculated that at no time could the number of inhabitants have greatly exceeded , . we need not stop to describe the peculiar civil and social institutions of the peruvians, which are of common knowledge. enough to say that here everything was planned in the interests of the theocratic and all-powerful incas, who were more than obeyed, almost honoured with divine worship by their much bethralled and priest-ridden subjects. "the despotic authority of the incas was the basis of government; that authority was founded on the religious respect yielded to the descendant of the sun, and supported by a skilfully combined hierarchy[ ]." from remote antiquity the peoples of this area were organised into _ayllus_ each occupying part of a valley or a limited area. it was a patriarchal system, land belonging to the _ayllu_, which was a group of families. the incas systematised this institution, the _ayllu_ was made to comprise families under a village officer who annually allotted land to the heads of families. each family was divided by the head into classes based on age. ten _ayllus_ (now termed _pachacas_) formed a _huaranca_. a valley with a varying number of _huarancas_ was termed a _hunu_; over four _hunus_ there was an imperial officer. "this was indeed socialism," markham observes, "existing under an inexorable despotism" (p. ). beyond the maule, southernmost limits of all these effete civilisations, man reasserted himself in the "south american iroquois," as those chilian aborigines have been called who called themselves _molu-che_, "warriors," but are better known by their quichuan designation of _aucaes_, "rebels," whence the spanish aucans (araucan, araucanian). these "rebels," who have never hitherto been overcome by the arms of any people, and whose heroic deeds in the long wars waged by the white intruders against their freedom form the topic of a noble spanish epic poem[ ], still maintain a measure of national autonomy as the friends and faithful allies of the chilian republic. individual freedom and equality were leading features of the social system which was in the main patriarchal. the araucanians were led by four independent chiefs, each supported by five _ulmen_, or district chiefs, whose office was hereditary but whose authority was little more than nominal. it was only in time of national warfare that the tribes united under a war-chief[ ]. not only are all the tribes absolutely free, but the same is true of every clan, sept, and family group. needless to say, there are no slaves or serfs. "the law of retaliation was the only one understood, although the commercial spirit of the araucano led him to forego personal revenge for its accruing profit. thus every injury had its price[ ]." the basis of their belief is a rude form of nature worship, the principal deities being malignant and requiring propitiation. the chief god was pillan, the thunder god. spirits of the dead go west over the sea to a place of abundance where no evil spirits have entry[ ]. and this simple belief is almost the only substitute for the rewards and punishments which supply the motive for the observance of an artificial ethical code in so many more developed religious systems. in the sonorous araucanian language, which is still spoken by about , full-blood natives, the term _che_, meaning "people," occurs as the postfix of several ethnical groups, which, however, are not tribal but purely territorial divisions. thus, while _molu-che_ is the collective name of the whole nation, the _picun-che_, _huilli-che_, and _puel-che_ are simply the north, south, and east men respectively. the central and most numerous division are the _puen-che_, that is, people of the pine district, who are both the most typical and most intelligent of all the araucanian family. ehrenreich's remark that many of the american aborigines resemble europeans as much as or even more than the asiatic mongols, is certainly borne out by the facial expression of these puenche. the resemblance is even extended to the mental characters, as reflected in their oral literature. amongst the specimens of the national folklore preserved in the puenche dialect and edited with spanish translations by rodolfo lenz[ ], is the story of a departed lover, who returns from the other world to demand his betrothed and carries her off to his grave. although this might seem an adaptation of bürger's "lenore," lenz is of opinion that it is a genuine araucanian legend. of the above-mentioned groups the puelche are now included politically in argentina. their original home seems to have been north of the rio negro, but they raided westwards and some adopted the araucanian language[ ] and to them also the chilian affix _che_ has also been extended. indeed the term puelche, meaning simply "easterns," is applied not only to the argentine moluche, whose territory stretches east of the cordilleras as far as mendoza in cuyo, but also to all the aborigines commonly called _pampeans_ (_pampas indians_) by the europeans and _penek_ by the patagonians. under the designation of puelche would therefore be comprised the now extinct _ranqualche_ (ranqueles), who formerly raided up to buenos-ayres and the other spanish settlements on the plate river, the _mapoche_ of the lower salado, and generally all the nomads as far south as the rio negro. these aborigines are now best represented by the _gauchos_, who are mostly spaniards on the father's side and indians on the mother's, and reflect this double descent in their half-nomadic, half-civilised life. these gauchos, who are now also disappearing before the encroachments of the "gringos[ ]," _i.e._ the white immigrants from almost every country in europe, have been enveloped in an ill-deserved halo of romance, thanks mainly to their roving habits, splendid horsemanship, love of finery, and genial disposition combined with that innate grace and courtesy which belongs to all of spanish blood. but those who knew them best described them as of sordid nature, cruel to their women-kind, reckless gamblers and libertines, ruthless political partisans, at times even religious fanatics without a spark of true religion, and at heart little better than bloodthirsty savages. beyond the rio negro follow the gigantic patagonians, that is, the _tehuelche_ or _chuelche_ of the araucanians, who have no true collective name unless it be _tsoneca_, a word of uncertain use and origin. most of the tribal groups--_yacana_, _pilma_, _chao_ and others--are broken up, and the former division between the northern tehuelche (tehuelhet), comprising the _callilehet_ (serranos or highlanders) of the upper chupat, with the calilan between the rios chupat and negro, and the southern tehuelche (yacana, sehuan, etc.), south to fuegia, no longer holds good since the general displacement of all these fluctuating nomad hordes. a branch of the tehuelche are unquestionably the _ona_ of the eastern parts of fuegia, the true aborigines of which are the _yahgans_ of the central and the _alakalufs_ of the western islands. hitherto to the question whence came these tall patagonians, no answer could be given beyond the suggestion that they may have been specialised in their present habitat, where nevertheless they seem to be obviously intruders. now, however, one may perhaps venture to look for their original home amongst the _bororo_ of matto grosso, a once powerful race who held the region between the rios cuyaba and paraguay. these bororo, who had been heard of by martius, were visited by ehrenreich[ ] and by karl von den steinen[ ], who found them to be a nomadic hunting people with a remarkable social organisation centring in the men's club-house (_baitó_). their physical characters, as described by the former observer, correspond closely with those of the patagonians: "an exceptionally tall race rivalling the south sea islanders, patagonians, and redskins; by far the tallest indians hitherto discovered within the tropics," their stature ranging nearly up to ft. in., with very large and rounded heads (men . ; women . ). with this should be compared the very large round old patagonian skull from the rio negro, measured by rudolf martin[ ]. the account reads like the description of some forerunner of a prehistoric bororo irruption into the patagonian steppe lands. to the perplexing use of the term puelche above referred to is perhaps due the difference of opinion still prevailing on the number of stock languages in this southern section of the continent. d'orbigny's emphatic statement[ ] that the puelche spoke a language fundamentally distinct both from the araucanian and the patagonian has been questioned on the strength of some puelche words, which were collected by hale at carmen on the rio negro, and differ but slightly from patagonian. but the rio negro lies on the ethnical divide between the two races, which sufficiently accounts for the resemblances, while the words are too few to prove anything. hale calls them "southern puelche," but they were in fact tehuelche (patagonian), the true pampean puelche having disappeared from that region before hale's time[ ]. i have now the unimpeachable authority of t. p. schmid, for many years a missionary amongst these aborigines, for asserting that d'orbigny's statement is absolutely correct. his puelche were the pampeans, because he locates them in the region between the rios negro and colorado, that is, north of patagonian and east of araucanian territory, and schmid assures me that all three--araucanian, pampean, and patagonian--are undoubtedly stock languages, distinct both in their vocabulary and structure, with nothing in common except their common polysynthetic form. in a list of patagonian and araucanian words he found only two alike, _patac_ = , and _huarunc_ = , numerals obviously borrowed by the rude tehuelche from the more cultured moluche. in fuegia there is at least one radically distinct tongue, the yahgan, studied by bridges. here the ona is probably a patagonian dialect, and alakaluf perhaps remotely allied to araucanian. thus in the whole region south of the plate river the stock languages are not known to exceed four: araucanian; pampean (puelche); patagonian (tehuelche); and yahgan. few aboriginal peoples have been the subject of more glaringly discrepant statements than the yahgans, to whom several lengthy monographs have been devoted during the last few decades. how contradictory are the statements of intelligent and even trained observers, whose good faith is beyond suspicion and who have no cause to serve except the truth, will best be seen by placing in juxtaposition the accounts of the family relations by g. bove, a well-known italian observer, and p. hyades of the french cape horn expedition, both summarised[ ]:-- _bove._ the women are treated as slaves. the greater the number of wives or slaves a man has the easier he finds a living; hence polygamy is deep-rooted and four wives common. owing to rigid climate and bad treatment the mortality of children under years is excessive; the mother's love lasts till the child is weaned, after which it rapidly wanes, and is completely gone when the child attains the age of or years. the fuegian's only lasting love is the love of self. as there are no family ties, the word "authority" is devoid of meaning. _hyades._ the fuegians are capable of great love which accounts for the jealousy of the men over their wives and the coquetry sometimes manifested by the women and girls. some men have two or more wives, but monogamy is the rule. children are tenderly cared for by their parents, who in return are treated by them with affection and deference. the fuegians are of a generous disposition and like to share their pleasures with others. the husbands exercise due control, and punish severely any act of infidelity. these seeming contradictions may be partly explained by the general improvement in manners due to the beneficent action of the english missionaries in recent years, and great progress has certainly been made since the accounts of king, fitz-roy and darwin[ ]. but even in the more favoured regions of the parana and amazon basins many tribes are met which yield little if at all to the fuegians of the early writers in sheer savagery and debasement. thus the _cashibo_ or _carapache_ of the ucayali, who are described as "white as germans, with long beards[ ]," may be said to answer almost better than any other human group to the old saying, _homo homini lupus_. they roam the forests like wild beasts, living almost entirely upon game, in which is included man himself. "when one of them is pursuing the chase in the woods and hears another hunter imitating the cry of an animal, he immediately makes the same cry to entice him nearer, and, if he is of another tribe, he kills him if he can, and (as is alleged) eats him." hence they are naturally "in a state of hostility with all their neighbours[ ]." these cashibo, _i.e._ "bats," are members of a widespread linguistic family which in ethnological writings bears the name of _pano_, from the pano of the huallaga and marañon, who are now broken up or greatly reduced, but whose language is current amongst the cashibo, the conibo, the karipuna, the setebo, the sipivio (shipibo) and others about the head waters of the amazons in peru, bolivia, and brazil, as far east as the madeira. amongst these, as amongst the moxo and so many other riverine tribes in amazonia, a slow transformation is in progress. some have been baptized, and while still occupying their old haunts and keeping up the tribal organisation, have been induced to forego their savage ways and turn to peaceful pursuits. they are beginning to wear clothes, usually cotton robes of some vivid colour, to till the soil, take service with the white traders, or even trade themselves in their canoes up and down the tributaries of the amazons. beyond the rubber belt, however, many tribes are quite untouched by outside influences. the cannibal boro and witoto, living between the issa and japura, are ignorant of any method of producing fire, and their women go entirely nude, though some of their arts and crafts exhibit considerable skill, notably the plaitwork and blow-pipes of the boro[ ]. in this boundless amazonian region of moist sunless woodlands fringed north and east by atlantic coast ranges, diversified by the open venezuelan llanos, and merging southwards in the vast alluvial plains of the parana-paraguay basin, much light has been brought to bear on the obscure ethnical relations by the recent explorations especially of paul ehrenreich and karl von den steinen about the xingu, purus, madeira and other southern affluents of the great artery[ ]. these observers comprise the countless brazilian aborigines in four main linguistic divisions, which in conformity with powell's terminology may here be named the cariban, arawakan, gesan and tupi-guaranian families. there remain, however, numerous groups which cannot be so classified, such as the bororo and karaya of matto grosso, while in the relatively small area between the japura and the waupes koch-grünberg found two other language groups, betoya and maku in addition to carib and arawak[ ]. hitherto the caribs were commonly supposed to have had their original homes far to the north, possibly in the alleghany uplands, or in florida, where they have been doubtfully identified with the extinct timuquanans, and whence they spread through the antilles southwards to venezuela, the guianas, and north-east brazil, beyond which they were not known to have ranged anywhere south of the amazons. but this view is now shown to be untenable, and several carib tribes, such as the bakaïri and nahuqua[ ] of the upper xingu, all speaking archaic forms of the carib stock language, have been met by the german explorers in the very heart of brazil; whence the inference that the cradle of this race is to be sought rather in the centre of south america, perhaps on the goyaz and matto grosso table-lands, from which region they moved northwards, if not to florida, at least to the caribbean sea which is named from them[ ]. the wide diffusion of this stock is evidenced by the existence of an unmistakably carib tribe in the basin of the rio magdalena beyond the andes[ ]. in the north the chief groups are the makirifare of venezuela and the macusi, kalina, and galibi of british, dutch, and french guiana[ ] respectively. in general all the caribs present much the same physical characters, although the southerners are rather taller ( ft. in.) with less round heads (index . ) than the guiana caribs ( ft in., and . ). perhaps even a greater extension has been given by the german explorers to the arawakan family, which, like the cariban, was hitherto supposed to be mainly confined to the region north of the amazons, but is now known to range as far south as the upper paraguay, about ° s. lat. (_layana_, _kwana_, etc.), east to the amazons estuary (_aruan_), and north-west to the goajira peninsula. to this great family--which von den steinen proposes to call _nu-aruak_ from the pronominal prefix _nu_ = i, common to most of the tribes--belong also the _maypures_ of the orinoco; the _atarais_ and _vapisiana_ of british guiana; the _manao_ of the rio negro; the _yumana_; the _paumari_ and _ipurina_ of the ipuri basin; the _moxo_ of the upper mamoré, and the _mehinaku_ and _kustenau_ of the upper xingu. physically the arawaks differ from the caribs scarcely, if at all, more than their amazonian and guiana sections differ from each other. in fact, but for their radically distinct speech it would be impossible to constitute these two ethnical divisions, which are admittedly based on linguistic grounds. but while the caribs had their cradle in central brazil and migrated northwards, the arawaks would appear to have originated in eastern bolivia, and spread thence east, north-east and south-east along the amazons and orinoco and into the paraguay basin[ ]. our third great brazilian division, the gesan family, takes its name from the syllable ges which, like the araucan _che_, forms the final element of several tribal names in east brazil. of this the most characteristic are the _aimores_ of the serra dos aimores coast range, who are better known as botocudo, and it was to the kindred tribes of the province of goyaz that the arbitrary collective name of "ges" was first applied by martius. a better general designation would perhaps have been _tapuya_, "strangers," "enemies," a term by which the tupi people called all other natives of that region who were not of their race or speech, or rather who were not "tupi," that is, "allies" or "associates." tapuya had been adopted somewhat in this sense by the early portuguese writers, who however applied it rather loosely not only to the aimores, but also to a large number of kindred and other tribes as far north as the amazons estuary. to the same connection belong several groups in goyaz already described by milliet and martius, and more recently visited by ehrenreich, von den steinen and krause. such are the kayapo or suya, a large nation with several divisions between the araguaya and xingu rivers; and the akua, better known as cherentes, about the upper course of the tocantins. isolated tapuyan tribes, such as the kamés or kaingangs, wrongly called "coroados," and the chogleng of santa catharina and rio grand do sul, are scattered over the southern provinces of brazil. the tapuya would thus appear to have formerly occupied the whole of east brazil from the amazons to the plate river for an unknown distance inland. here they must be regarded as the true aborigines, who were in remote times already encroached upon, and broken into isolated fragments, by tribes of the tupi-guarani stock spreading from the interior seawards[ ]. but in their physical characters and extremely low cultural state, or rather the almost total absence of anything that can be called "culture," the tapuya are the nearest representatives and probably the direct descendants of the primitive race, whose osseous remains have been found in the lagoa santa caves, and the santa catharina shell-mounds (_sambaqui_). on anatomic grounds the botocudo are allied both to the lagoa santa fossil man and to the _sambaqui_ race by j. r. peixoto, who describes the skull as marked by prominent glabella and superciliary arches, keel or roof-shaped vault, vertical lateral walls, simple sutures, receding brow, deeply depressed nasal root, high prognathism, massive lower jaw, and long head (index . ) with cranial capacity c.c. for men, and for women[ ]. it is also noteworthy that some of the botocudo[ ] call themselves _nacnanuk_, _nac-poruc_, "sons of the soil," and they have no traditions of ever having migrated from any other land. all their implements--spears, bow and arrows, mortars, water-vessels, bags--are of wood or vegetable fibre, so that they may be said not to have yet reached even the stone age. they are not, however, in the promiscuous state, as has been asserted, for the unions, though temporary, are jealously guarded while they last, and, as amongst the fuegians whom they resemble in so many respects, the women are constantly subject to the most barbarous treatment, beaten with clubs or hacked about with bamboo knives. one of those in ribeiro's party, who visited london in , had her arms, legs, and whole body covered with scars and gashes inflicted during momentary fits of brutal rage by her ephemeral partner. their dwellings are mere branches stuck in the ground, bound together with bast, and though seldom over ft. in height accommodating two or more families. the botocudo are pure nomads, roaming naked in the woods in quest of the roots, berries, honey, frogs, snakes, grubs, man, and other larger game which form their diet, and are eaten raw or else cooked in huge bamboo canes. formerly they had no hammocks, but slept without any covering, either on the ground strewn with bast, or in the ashes of the fire kindled for the evening meal. about their cannibalism, which has been doubted, there is really no question. they wore the teeth of those they had eaten strung together as necklaces, and ate not only the foe slain in battle, but members of kindred tribes, all but the heads, which were stuck as trophies on stakes and used as butts for the practice of archery. at the graves of the dead, fires are kept up for some time to scare away the bad spirits, from which custom the botocudo might be credited with some notions concerning the supernatural. all good influences are attributed by them to the "day-fire" (sun), all bad things to the "night-fire" (moon), which causes the thunderstorm, and is supposed itself at times to fall on the earth, crushing the hill-tops, flooding the plains and destroying multitudes of people. during storms and eclipses arrows are shot up to scare away the demons or devouring dragons, as amongst so many indo-chinese peoples. but beyond this there is no conception of a supreme being, or creative force, the terms _yanchong_, _tapan_, said to mean "god," standing merely for spirit, demon, thunder, or at most the thunder god. owing to the choice made by the missionaries of the tupi language as the _lingoa geral_, or common medium of intercourse amongst the multitudinous populations of brazil and paraguay, a somewhat exaggerated idea has been formed of the range of the tupi-guarani family. many of the tribes about the stations, after being induced by the padres to learn this convenient _lingua franca_, were apt in course of time to forget their own mother-tongue, and thus came to be accounted members of this family. but allowing for such a source of error, there can be no doubt that at the discovery the tupi or eastern, and the guarani or western, section occupied jointly an immense area, which may perhaps be estimated at about one-fourth of the southern continent. tupi tribes were met as far west as peru, where they were represented by the omagua ("flatheads[ ]"), in french guiana the emerillons and the oyampi belong to this stock, as do the kamayura and auetö on the upper xingu, and the mundurucu of the middle tapajoz. some attention has been paid to the speech of the ticuna of the marañon, which appears to be a stock language with strong pana and weak aymara[ ] affinities. although its numeral system stops at , it is still in advance of a neighbouring _chiquito_ tongue, which is said to have no numerals at all, _etama_, supposed to be , really meaning "alone." yet it would be a mistake to infer that these bolivian chiquito, who occupy the southernmost headstreams of the madeira, are a particularly stupid people. on the contrary, the naquiñoñeis, "men," as they call themselves, are in some respects remarkably clever, and, strange to say, their otherwise rich and harmonious language (presumably the dominant _moncoca_ dialect is meant) has terms to express such various distinctions as the height of a tree, of a house, of a tower, and other subtle shades of difference disregarded in more cultured tongues[ ]. but it is to be considered that, _pace_ max müller, the range of thought and of speech is not the same, and all peoples have no doubt many notions for which they have no equivalents in their necessarily defective languages. the chiquito, _i.e._ "little folks," were so named because, "when the country was first invaded, the indians fled to the forests; and the spaniards came to their abandoned huts, where the doorways were so exceedingly low that the indians who had fled were supposed to be dwarfs[ ]." they are a peaceful industrious nation, who ply several trades, manufacture their own copper boilers for making sugar, weave ponchos and straw hats, and when they want blue trousers they plant a row of indigo, and rows of white and yellow cotton when striped trousers are in fashion. hence the question arises, whether these clever little people may not after all have originally possessed some defective numeral system, which was merely superseded by the spanish numbers. the gran chaco is another area of considerable modification induced by european influence, and there only remain hybridised descendants of many of the ancient peoples, for example, the abipone of the guaycuru family. pure survivals of this family are the mataco and toba of the vermejo and pilcomayo rivers. these two tribes were visited by ehrenreich, who noticed their disproportionately short arms and legs, and excessive development of the thorax[ ]. the daily life, customs, and beliefs of these and other chaco indians have been admirably described and illustrated by erland nordenskiöld[ ], who lived and travelled among them. the toba and mataco frequently fall out with the neighbouring choroti and ashluslays of the pilcomayo anent fishing rights and so on, but the conflict consists in ambuscades and treachery rather than in pitched battles. weapons consist of bows and arrows and clubs, and lances are used on horseback. enemies are scalped and these trophies are greatly prized, being hung outside the victor's hut when fine and playing a part on great occasions. on the conclusion of peace both sides pay the blood-price for those slain by them in sheep, horses, etc. within the choroti or ashluslay village all are equal, and though property is held individually, the fortunate will always share with those in want, so that theft is unknown. to kill old people or young children is regarded as no crime[ ]. footnotes: [ ] some nahuas, whom the spaniards called "mexicans" or "chichimecs," were met by vasquez de coronado even as far south as the chiriqui lagoon, panama. these seguas, as they called themselves, have since disappeared, and it is no longer possible to say how they strayed so far from their northern homes. [ ] "recent maya investigations," _bur. am. eth. bull._ , , p. . [ ] _alterthümer aus guatemala_, p. . [ ] _analysis of the pictorial text inscribed on two palenque tablets_, n. york, . [ ] h. beuchat however considers that "the toltec question remains insoluble"; though the hypothesis that the toltecs formed part of the north to south movement is attractive, it is not yet proved, _manuel d'archéologie américaine_, paris, , pp. - . [ ] quetzalcoatl, the "bright-feathered snake," was one of the three chief gods of the nahuan pantheon. he was the god of wind and inventor of all the arts, round whom clusters much of the mythology, and of the pictorial and plastic art of the mexicans. [ ] _globus_, lxvi. pp. - . [ ] herbert j. spinden, "a study of maya art," _mem. peabody mus._ vi., cambridge, mass. , p. ff., and _proc. nineteenth internat. congress americanists_, , p. . [ ] j. w. powell, _ th ann. rep. bur. am. eth._ , p. xcv. [ ] sylvanus griswold morley ("an introduction to the study of the maya hieroglyphs," _bur. am. eth. bull._ , ), briefly summarises the theories advanced for the interpretation of maya writing (pp. - ). "the theory now most generally accepted is, that while chiefly ideographic, the glyphs are sometimes phonetic." this author is of opinion "that as the decipherment of maya writing progresses, more and more phonetic elements will be identified, though the idea conveyed by a glyph will always be found to overshadow its phonetic value" (p. ). [ ] "day symbols of the maya year," _ th ann. rep. bur. am. eth._ , p. . [ ] p. ff. [ ] _manuel d'archéologie américaine_, p. . [ ] _ th ann. rep. bur. am. eth._ , p. xcvi. in "the maya year" ( ) cyrus thomas shows that "the year recorded in the dresden codex consisted of months of days each, with supplemental days, or of days" (_ib._). s. g. morley points out (_bur. am. eth. bull._ , pp. - ) that though the maya doubtless knew that the true length of the year exceeded days by hours, yet no interpolation of intercalary days was actually made, as this would have thrown the whole calendar into confusion. the priests apparently corrected the calendar by additional calculations to show how far the recorded year was ahead of the true year. those who have persistently appealed to these maya-aztec calendric systems as convincing proofs of asiatic influences in the evolution of american cultures will now have to show where these influences come in. as a matter of fact the systems are fundamentally distinct, the american showing the clearest indications of local development, as seen in the mere fact that the day characters of the maya codices were phonetic, _i.e._ largely rebuses explicable only in the maya language, which has no affinities out of america. a careful study of the maya calendric system based both on the codices and the inscriptions has been made by c. p. bowditch, _the numeration, calendar systems and astronomical knowledge of the mayas_, cambridge, mass. . the aztec month of days is also clearly indicated by the corresponding signs on the great calendar stone now fixed in the wall of the cathedral tower of mexico. this basalt stone, which weighs tons and has a diameter of feet, is briefly described and figured by t. a. joyce, _mexican archaeology_, , pp. , ; cf. pl. viii. fig. . see also the account by alfredo chavero in the _anales del museo nacional de mexico_, and an excellent reproduction of the calendar stone in t. u. brocklehurst's _mexico to-day_, , p. ; also zelia nuttall's study of the "mexican calendar system," _tenth internat. congress of americanists_, stockholm, . "the regular rotation of market-days and the day of enforced rest every days were the prominent and permanent features of the civil solar year" (_ib._). [ ] _spuren der aztek. sprache_, , _passim_. [ ] linguistic and mythological affinities also exist according to spence between the nahuan people and the tsimshian-nootka group of columbia. cf. _the civilization of ancient mexico_, , p. . [ ] "chiefly of the nahuatl race" (de nadaillac, p. ). it should, however be noted that this general name of chichimec (meaning little more than "nomadic hunters") comprised a large number of barbarous tribes--pames, pintos, etc.--who are described as wandering about naked or wearing only the skins of beasts, living in caves or rock-shelters, armed with bows, slings, and clubs, constantly at war amongst themselves or with the surrounding peoples, eating raw flesh, drinking the blood of their captives or treating them with unheard-of cruelty, altogether a horror and terror to all the more civilised communities. "chichimec empire" may therefore be taken merely as a euphemistic expression for the reign of barbarism raised up on the ruins of the early toltec civilisation. yet it had its dynasties and dates and legendary sequence of events, according to the native historian, ixtlilxochitl, himself of royal lineage, and he states that xolotl, founder of the empire, had under orders , , men and women, that his decisive victory over the toltecs took place in , that he assumed the title of "chichimecatl tecuhti," great chief of the chichimecs, and that after a succession of revolts, wars, conspiracies, and revolutions, maxtla, last of the dynasty, was overthrown in by the aztecs and their allies. [ ] h. beuchat, _manuel d'archéologie américaine_, pp. - . [ ] named from the shadowy land of aztlan away to the north, where they long dwelt in the seven legendary caves of chicomoztoc, whence they migrated at some unknown period to the lacustrine region, where they founded tenochtitlan, seat of their empire. [ ] "the gods of the mayas appear to have been less sanguinary than those of the nahuas. the immolation of a dog was with them enough for an occasion that would have been celebrated by the nahuas with hecatombs of victims. human sacrifices did however take place" (de nadaillac, p. ), though they were as nothing compared with the countless victims demanded by the aztec gods. "the dedication by ahuizotl of the great temple of huitzilopochtli in is alleged to have been celebrated by the butchery of , victims," and "under montezuma ii. , captives are said to have perished" on one occasion (_ib._ p. ); all no doubt gross exaggerations, but leaving a large margin for perhaps the most terrible chapter of horrors in the records of natural religions. cf. t. a. joyce, _mexican archaeology_, pp. - . [ ] a popular and well-illustrated account of huichols and tarascos, as also of the tarahumare farther north, is given by carl lumholtz, _unknown mexico_, vols. new york, . [ ] cf. hans gadow, _through southern mexico_, , map p. , also p. . [ ] quoted by de nadaillac, p. . [ ] p. . [ ] _ th ann. rep. bur. am. eth. - _, pt. ( ), p. . [ ] _the hill caves of yucatan_, new york, . [ ] h. beuchat, _manuel d'achéologie américaine_, , p. . [ ] "in the city of mexico everything has a spanish look" (brocklehurst, _mexico to-day_, p. ). the aztec language however is still current in the surrounding districts and generally in the provinces forming part of the former aztec empire. [ ] c. lumholtz, _unknown mexico_, ii. p. ; cf. pp. - . [ ] sylvanus griswold morley, "an introduction to the study of the maya hieroglyphs," _bur. am. eth. bull. _, , pp. - . [ ] e. reclus, _universal geography_, xvii. p. . [ ] t. a. joyce, _central american and west indian archaeology_, , pp. , - . an admirable account is given of the material culture and mode of life of these peoples at the time of the discovery. [ ] the rapid disappearance of the cuban aborigines has been the subject of much comment. between the years - all but some had perished, although they are supposed to have originally numbered about a million, distributed in tribal groups, whose names and territories have all been carefully preserved. but they practically offered no resistance to the ruthless conquistadores, and it was a cuban chief who even under torture refused to be baptized, declaring that he would never enter the same heaven as the spaniard. one is reminded of the analogous cases of jarl hakon, the norseman, and the saxon witikind, who rejected christianity, preferring to share the lot of their pagan forefathers in the next world. [ ] h. beuchat, pp. - , - . [ ] paper read before the national academy of sciences, america, . [ ] t. a. joyce, p. , who deals with the archaeology, as far as it is known as yet, of nicaragua, costa rica and panama. cf. especially linguistic map at p. for distribution of tribes. [ ] t. a. joyce, _south american archaeology_, , p. . [ ] "the travels of p. de cieza de leon" (hakluyt soc. , p. f.). [ ] sir c. r. markham, "list of tribes," etc., _journ. roy. anth. inst._ xi. , p. . "this idea was widespread, and many amazonian peoples declared they preferred to be eaten by their friends than by worms." [ ] quoted by steinmetz, _endokannibalismus_, p. . [ ] c. darwin, _journal of researches_, , p. . thanks to their frequent contact with europeans since the expeditions of fitzroy and darwin, the fuegians have given up the practice, hence the doubts or denials of bridges, hyades, and other later observers. [ ] v. martius, _zur ethnographie brasiliens_, , p. . [ ] herbert spencer, _the principles of ethics_, , i. p. . [ ] the national name was _muysca_, "men," "human body," and the number twenty (in reference to the ten fingers and ten toes making up that score). _chibcha_ was a mimetic name having allusion to the sound _ch_ (as in charles), which is of frequent recurrence in the muysca language. with man = , cf. the bellacoola (british columbia) = man - ; = man, etc.; and this again with lat. _undeviginti_. [ ] w. bollaert, _antiquarian, ethnological, and other researches in new granada_, etc. , _passim_. [ ] t. a. joyce, _south american archaeology_, , p. . [ ] _ibid._ p. . [ ] t. a. joyce, _loc. cit._ pp. - . [ ] markham locates it in the province of paruro, department of cuzco; hiram bingham, director of the peruvian expeditions of the nat. geog. soc. and yale university, identifies it with machu picchu (_nat. geog. mag.,_ washington, d. c., feb. , p. ). [ ] h. beuchat, pp. - . for culture sequences in the andean area see p. a. means, _proc. nineteenth internat. congress of americanists,_ , p. ff., and _man_, , no. . [ ] _anthropologie bolivienne_, vols. paris, - . [ ] an admirable account of the material culture of peru is given by t. a. joyce, _south american archaeology_, , cap. vi. [ ] _peru_, p. . [ ] de nadaillac, _pre-historic america_, , p. . [ ] alonzo de ercilla's _araucana_. [ ] t. a. joyce, _south american archaeology_, , p. ; r. e. latham, "ethnology of the araucanos," _journ. roy. anth. inst._ xxxix. , p. . [ ] latham, p. . [ ] _ibid._ pp. - . [ ] in the _anales de la universidad de chile_ for . [ ] t. a. joyce, p. . [ ] properly _griegos_, "greeks," so called because supposed to speak "greek," _i.e._ any language other than spanish. [ ] _urbewohner brasiliens_, , pp. , , . [ ] _unter den naturvölkern zentral-brasiliens_, , pp. - , ff. [ ] _quarterly journal of swiss naturalists_, zurich, , p. ff.; cf. t. a. joyce, _south american archaeology_, , pp. - . [ ] _l'homme américain_, ii. p. . [ ] they were replaced or absorbed partly by the patagonians, but chiefly by the araucanian puelche, who many years ago migrated down the rio negro as far as el carmen and even to the coast at bahia blanca. hence hale's puelche were in fact araucanians with a patagonian strain. [ ] _mission scientifique de cap horn_, vii., par p. hyades et j. deniker, , pp. , , . [ ] for the latest information and full bibliography see j. m. cooper, _bureau am. eth. bull. _, , and _proc. nineteenth internat. congress americanists_, , p. ; also, c. w. furlong, _ibid._ pp. ff., ff. [ ] markham, "list of tribes," etc., _journ. roy. anth. inst._ xi. , pp. - . [ ] _ibid._ [ ] t. whiffen, _the north-west amazons_, , pp. , , , etc. [ ] for the material culture of the araguayan tribes, cf. fritz krause, _in den wildnissen brasiliens_, . [ ] t. koch-grünberg, _zwei jahre unter den indianern_, vols. berlin, . see vol. ii. map after p. . [ ] ehrenreich, _loc. cit._ p. ff.; von den steinen, _loc. cit._ p. ff. [ ] it should be stated that a like conclusion was reached by lucien adam from the vocabularies brought by crevaux from the upper japura tribes--witotos, corequajes, kariginas and others--all of carib speech. [ ] a. c. haddon, _the wanderings of peoples_, cambridge, , p. . [ ] described by e. f. im thurn, _among the indians of guiana_, london, . [ ] a. c. haddon, _the wanderings of peoples_, pp. - . [ ] v. d. steinen, _unter den naturvölkern zentral-brasiliens_, p. . "d'après gonçalves dias les tribus brésiliennes descendraient de deux races absolument distinctes: la race conquérante des tupi ... et la race vaincue, pourchassée, des tapuya...."; v. de saint-martin, p. , _nouveau dictionnaire de géographie universelle_, , a--c. [ ] _novos estudios craniologicos sobre os botocudos_, rio janeiro, , _passim_. [ ] possibly so called from the portuguese _botoque_, a barrel plug, from the wooden plug or disc formerly worn by all the tribes both as a lip ornament and an ear-plug, distending the lobes like great leathern bat's-wings down to the shoulders. but this embellishment is called _tembeitera_ by the brazilians, and botocudo may perhaps be connected with _betó-apoc_, the native name of the ear-plug. [ ] they are the _cambebas_ of the tupi, a term also meaning flatheads, and they are so called because "apertão aos recemnacidos as cabeças entre duas taboas afim de achatál-as, costume que actualmente han perdido" (milliet, ii. p. ). [ ] such "identities" as tic. _drejà_ = aym. _chacha_ (man); _etai_ = _utax_ (house) etc., are not convincing, especially in the absence of any scientific study of the laws of _lautverschiebung_, if any exist between the aymara-ticuna phonetic systems. and then the question of loan words has to be settled before any safe conclusions can be drawn from such assumed resemblances. the point is important in the present connection, because current statements regarding the supposed reduction of the number of stock languages in south america are largely based on the unscientific comparison of lists of words, which may have nothing in common except perhaps a letter or two like the _m_ in macedon and monmouth. two languages (cf. turkish and arabic) may have hundreds or thousands of words in common, and yet belong to fundamentally different linguistic families. [ ] a. balbi, _atlas ethnographique du globe_, xxvii. with regard to the numerals this authority tells us that "il a emprunté à l'espagnol ses noms de nombres" (_ib._). [ ] markham, _list of the tribes_, p. . [ ] _urbewohner brasiliens_, p. . [ ] "la vie des indiens dans le chaco," trans. by h. beuchat, _rev. de géog. annuelle_, t. vi. paris, . cf. also the forthcoming book by r. karsten of helsingfors who has recently visited some of these tribes. [ ] while this account of central and south america was in the press clark wissler's valuable book was published, _the american indian_, new york, . he describes (pp. - ) the following culture areas: x. the nahua area (the ancient maya and the later aztec cultures). xi. the chibcha area (from the chibcha-speaking talamanca and chiriqui of costa rica to and including colombia and western venezuela). xii. the inca area (ecuador, peru and northern chili). xiii. the guanaco area (lower half of chili, argentine, patagonia, tierra del fuego). xiv. the amazon area (all the rest of south america). xv. the antilles (west indies, linking on to the amazon area). chapter xii the pre-dravidians: jungle tribes of the deccan, vedda, sakai, australians the pre-dravidians--the _kadir_--the _paniyan_--the _irula_--the _kurumba_--the _vedda_--the _sakai_--the _toala_--australia: physical conditions--physical type--australian origins--evidence from language and culture--four successive immigrations--earlier views--material culture--sociology--initiation ceremonies-- totemism--the family--kinship--property and trade--magic and religion. conspectus. #present range.# _jungle tribes, deccan; vedda, ceylon; sakai, malay peninsula and east sumatra; australians, unsettled parts of australia and reservations._ #hair#, _wavy to curly, long, usually black_. #colour#, _dark brown_. #skull#, _typically dolichocephalic_. _vedda skull dolichocephalic ( . ) and very small, sakai mesaticephalic ( ), toala (mixed) low brachycephalic ( )._ #jaws#, _orthognathous_. _australians, generally prognathous._ #nose#, _usually platyrrhine_. #stature#, _low_. _vedda . m. ( ft. - / in.) to australian . m. ( ft. in.)_ #speech#, _jungle tribes, usually borrowed from neighbours_. _australian languages agglutinative, not uniform throughout the continent and unconnected with any other group._ #culture#, _lowest hunting stage, simple agriculture has been adopted by a few tribes from their neighbours_. * * * * * the term pre-dravidian, the first use of which seems to be due to lapicque, is now employed to include certain jungle tribes of south india, the vedda of ceylon, the sakai of the southern malay peninsula, the basal element in certain tribes in the east india archipelago and the main element in the australians. pre-dravidian characters are coarse hair, more or less wavy or curly, a narrow head, a very broad nose, dark brown skin and short stature. the following may be taken as examples of the pre-dravidian jungle tribes of southern india[ ]. the _kadir_ of the anaimalai hills and the mountain ranges south into travancore, are of short stature ( . m. ft. in.), with a dark skin, dolichocephalic and platyrrhine. they chip their incisor teeth, as do the _mala-vadan_, and dilate the lobes of their ears, but do not tattoo. they wear bamboo combs similar to those of the sakai. they speak a tamil patois. "the kadirs," according to thurston, "afford a typical example of happiness without culture"; they are nomad hunters and collectors of jungle products, with scarcely any tillage; they do not possess land but have the right to collect all minor forest produce and sell it to the government. they deal most extensively in wax and honey. they are polygynous. their dead are buried in the jungle, the head is entirely covered with leaves and placed towards the east; there are no monuments. their religion is a crude polytheism with a vague worship of stone images or invisible gods; it is "an ejaculatory religion." the _paniyan_, who live in malabar, the wynad and the nilgiris, have thick and sometimes everted lips and the hair is in some a mass of short curls, in others long wavy curls. they are dark skinned, dolichocephalic (index ), platyrrhine and of short stature ( . m. ft. in.). they sometimes tattoo, and the lobes of the ears are dilated. fire is made by the sawing method. they are agriculturalists and were practically serfs; they are bold and reckless and were formerly often employed as thieves. they speak a debased malayalam patois. their dead are buried; they practise monogamy and have beliefs in various spirits. the _irula_ are the darkest of the nilgiri tribes. they are dolichocephalic (index . ), platyrrhine and of low stature ( . m. nearly ft. in.). no tattooing is recorded, but they dilate the lobes of their ears. their language is a corrupt form of tamil. they are agriculturalists and eat all kinds of meat except that of buffaloes and cattle. they are as a rule monogamous. their dead are buried in a sitting posture and the grave is marked by a stone. professedly they are worshippers of vishnu. the jungle _kurumba_ of the nilgiris appear to be remnants of a great and widely spread people who erected dolmens. they have slightly broader heads (index ) than allied tribes, but resemble them in their broad nose, dark skin and low stature ( . m. ft. in.). they cultivate the ground a little, but are essentially woodcutters, hunters, and collectors of jungle produce. there is said to be no marriage rite, and several brothers share a wife. some bury their dead. after a death a long waterworn stone is usually placed in one of the old dolmens which are scattered over the nilgiri plateau, but occasionally a small dolmen is raised to mark the burial. they have a great reputation for magical powers. some worship siva, others worship kuribattraya (lord of many sheep), and the wife of siva. they also worship a rough stone, setting it up in a cave or in a circle of stones to which they make _puja_ and offer cooked rice at the sowing time. the kadu kurumba of mysore bury children but cremate adults; there is a separate house in each village for unmarried girls and another at the end of the village for unmarried males. the _vedda_ of ceylon have long black coarse wavy or slightly curly hair. the cephalic index is . , the nose is depressed at the root, almost platyrrhine; the broad face is remarkably orthognathous and the forehead is slightly retreating with prominent brow arches; the lips are thin, and the skin is dark brown. the stature is extremely low, only . m. ( ft. - / in.). the coast and less pure vedda average mm. ( - / in.) taller and have broader heads. the true vedda are a grave but happy people, quiet, upright, hospitable with a strong love of liberty. lying and theft are unknown. they are timid and have a great fear of strangers. the bow and arrow are their only weapons and the arrow tipped with iron obtained from the sinhalese forms a universal tool. they speak a modified sinhali, but employ only one numeral and count with sticks. they live under rock shelters or in simple huts made of boughs. they are strictly monogamous and live in isolated families with no chiefs and have no regular clan meetings. each section of the vedda had in earlier days its own hunting grounds where fish, game, honey, and yams constituted their sole food. the wild vedda simply leave their dead in a cave, which is then deserted. the three things that loom largest in the native mind are hunting, honey, and the cult of the dead. the last constitutes almost the whole of the religious life and magical practices of the people; it is the _motif_ of almost every dance and may have been the source of all. after a death they perform certain dances and rites through a _shaman_ in connection with the recently departed ghost, _yaka_. they also propitiate powerful _yaku_, male and female, by sacrifices and ceremonial dances[ ]. the _sakai_ or _senoi_ are jungle folk, some of whom have mixed with semang and other peoples. their skin is of a medium brown colour. their hair is long, mainly wavy or loosely curly, and black with a reddish tinge. the average stature may be taken to be from . m. to . m. ( to inches), the head index varies from about to . the face is fairly broad, with prominent cheek-bones and brow ridges; the low broad nose has spreading alae and short concave ridge; the lips are thick but not everted. they are largely nomadic, and their agriculture is of the most primitive description, their usual implement being the digging stick. their houses are built on the ground and as a rule are rectangular in plan though occasionally conical, and huts are sometimes built in trees as refuges from wild beasts. a scanty garment of bark cloth was formerly worn, and, like the semang, they make fringed girdles from a black thread-like fungus. their distinctive weapon is the blow-pipe which they have brought to great perfection, and their food consists in jungle produce, including many poisonous roots and tubers which they have learnt how to treat, so as to render them innocuous. they do not make canoes and rarely use rafts. in the marriage ceremony the man has to chase the girl round a mound of earth and catch her before she has encircled it a third time. the marriage tie is strictly observed. each village has a petty chief, whose influence is purely personal. individual property does not exist, only family property. cultivation is also communal. the inhabitants of the upper heaven consist of tuhan or peng, the "god" of the sakai and a giantess named "granny long-breasts" who washes sin-blackened human souls in hot water; the good souls ultimately go to a cloud-land. there are numerous demons and whenever the sakai have done wrong tuhan gives the demons leave to attack them, and there is no contending against his decree. he is not prayed to, as his will is unalterable[ ]. the _toala_ of the south-west peninsula of the celebes are at base, according to the sarasins[ ], a pre-dravidian people, though some mixture with other races has taken place. the hair is very wavy and even curly, the skin darkish brown, the head low brachycephalic (index ) and the stature . m. ( ft. in.). the face is somewhat short with very broad nose and thick lips. possibly the _ulu ayar_ of west borneo who are related to the land dayaks may be partly of pre-dravidian origin and other traces of this race will probably be found in the east india archipelago[ ]. australia resembles south africa in the arid conditions characterising the interior, the eastern range of mountains precipitating the warm moisture-laden winds from the pacific. as a result of the restricted rainfall there is no river system of importance except that of the murray and its tributary the darling. in the north and north-east, owing to heavier rainfall, there are numerous water-courses, but they do not open up the interior of the country. the lack of uniformity in the water supply has a far-reaching effect on all living beings. the arid conditions, the irregularity and short duration of the rainfall oblige the natives to be continually migrating, and prevent these unsettled bands from ever attaining any size, indeed they are sometimes hard pressed to obtain enough food to keep alive. it may be assumed that the backwardness of the culture of the australians is due partly to the low state of culture of their ancestors when they arrived in the country, and partly to the peculiar character of the country as well as of its flora and fauna, since australia has never been stocked with wild animals dangerous to human life, or with any suitable for domestication. the relative isolation from other peoples has had a retarding effect and the australian has developed largely along his own lines without the impetus given by competition with other peoples. records of simple migration are rare. there have been no waves of aggression, and intertribal feuds are not very serious affairs. the australians have never influenced any other peoples and they are doomed gradually to disappear. baldwin spencer says "in the matter of personal appearance while conforming generally to what is known as the australian type, there is considerable variation. the man varies from, approximately, a maximum of ft. in. to a minimum of ft. in.... as a general rule, few of them are taller than ft. in. the women vary between ft. in. and ft. in. their average height is not more than ft. in. the brow ridges are strongly marked, especially in the man, and the forehead slopes back. the nose is broad with the root deep set. in colour the native is dark chocolate brown, not black. the hair ... may be almost straight, decidedly wavy--its usual feature--or almost, but never really, frizzly.... the beard also may be well developed or almost absent[ ]." the skull is dolichocephalic with an average cranial index of , prognathous and platyrrhine. there has been much speculation with regard to the origin of the present australian race. according to baldwin spencer "there can be no doubt but that in past times the whole of the continent, including tasmania, was occupied by one race. this original, and probably negritto[ ] population, at an early period; was widely spread over malayasia and australia including tasmania, which at that time was not shut off by bass strait. the tasmanians had no boats capable of crossing the latter and [it is assumed that their ancestors] must have gone over on land[ ]." subsequently when the land sank a remnant of the old ulotrichous population "was thus left stranded in tasmania, where _homo tasmanianus_ survived until he came in contact with europeans and was exterminated." he had frizzly hair. "his weapons and implements were of the most primitive kind; long pointed unbarbed spears, no spear thrower, no boomerang, simple throwing stick and only the crudest form of chipped stone axes, knives and scrapers that were never hafted. unfortunately of his organisation, customs, and beliefs we know but little in detail[ ]." it is now generally held that at a later date an immigration of a people in a somewhat higher stage of culture took place; these are regarded by some as belonging to the dravidian, and by others, and with more probability, to the pre-dravidian race. j. mathew[ ] suggests that "the two races are represented by the two primary classes, or phratries, of australian society, which were generally designated by names indicating a contrast of colour, such as eaglehawk and crow. the crow, black cockatoo, etc., would represent the tasmanian element; the eaglehawk, white cockatoo, etc., the so-called dravidian." baldwin spencer does not think that the moiety names lend any serious support to the theory of the mixture of two races differing in colour. he goes on to say "mr mathew also postulates a comparatively recent slight infusion of malay blood in the northern half of australia. there is, however, practically no evidence of malay infusion. one of the most striking features of the malay is his long, lank hair, and yet it is just in these north parts that the most frizzly hair is met with[ ]." as concerns linguistics s. h. ray says "there is no evidence of an african, andaman, papuan, or malay connection with the australian languages. there are reasons for regarding the australian as in a similar morphological stage to the dravidian, but there is no genealogical relationship proved[ ]." no connection has yet been proved between the australian languages and the austronesian or oceanic branch of the austric family of languages, first systematically described by w. schmidt[ ]. the study of australian languages is particularly difficult owing to the very few serviceable grammars and dictionaries, and the large number of very incomplete vocabularies scattered about in inaccessible works and journals. the main conclusion to which schmidt has arrived[ ] is that the australian languages are not, as had been supposed, a mainly uniform group. though over the greater part of australia languages possess strong common elements, north australia has languages showing no similarities in vocabulary and very few in grammar with that larger group or with each other. the area of the north australian languages is included in a line from south of roebuck bay in the west to cape flattery in the east, with a southward bend to include arunta (aranda), interrupted by a branch of southern languages running up north down flinders and leichhardt rivers[ ]. the area contains two or three linguistic groups, best distinguished by their terminations which consist respectively of vowels and consonants, the oldest group; vowels alone, the latest group; and vowels and liquids, probably representing a transition between the two. in south australia, though differences occur, the languages possess common features both in grammar and vocabulary, having similar personal pronouns, and certain words for parts of the body in common. linguistic differences are associated with differences in social grouping, the area of purely vowel endings coinciding with the area of the -class system and matrilinear descent, while the area of liquid endings is partly coterminous with the -class system and (often) patrilinear succession. schmidt endeavours to trace the connection between the distribution of languages with that of types of social groupings, more particularly in connection with the culture zones which graebner[ ] has traced throughout the pacific area, representing successive waves of migration. the first immigration, corresponding with graebner's _ur-period_, is represented by languages with postposed genitive, the earliest stratum being pure only in tasmania; remnants of the first stratum and a second stratum occur in victoria, and remnants of the second stratum to the north and north-east. according to schmidt this cultural stratum is characterised by absence of group or marriage totemism, and presence of sex patrons ("sex-totemism"). the second immigration is represented by languages with preposition of the genitive, initial _r_ and _l_, vowel and explosive endings, and is found fairly pure only in the extreme north-west and north, and in places in the north-east. the great multiplicity of languages belonging to this stratum may be attributed to the predominance of the strictly local type of totem-groups. these are the languages of graebner's "totem-culture." the third immigration is represented by languages with preposition of the genitive, no initial _r_ and _l_, and purely vowel terminations. these are the languages of the south central group of tribes with a -class system and matrilinear descent. this uniform group has the largest area and has influenced the whole mass of australian languages, only north australia and tasmania remaining immune. their sociological structure with no localisation of totems and classes contributed to their power of expansion. the fourth immigration is represented by languages of an intermediate type, with vowel and liquid endings but no initial _r_ and _l_. these are the tribes with -class and -class systems, universal father-right (proving the strong influence of older totemic ideas), curious fertility rites, conception ideas and migration myths. it will be seen that schmidt's conclusions confute the evolutionary theory developed by frazer, hartland, howitt, spencer and gillen, durkheim and (in part) andrew lang, that australia was essentially homogeneous in fundamental ideas which have developed differently on account of geographic and climatic variation. schmidt's view is that australia was entered successively by a number of entirely different tribes, so that the variation now met with is due to radical diversities and to the numerous intermixtures arising from migrations and stratifications of peoples. the linguistic data dispose of the idea that the oldest tribes with mother-right, -class system, traces of group-marriage, and lack of moral and religious ideas live in the centre, and that from thence advancement radiated towards the coast bringing about father-right, abandonment of class system and totemism, individual marriage, and higher ethical and religious ideas. on the contrary it would appear that the centre of the continent is the great channel in which movements are still taking place; the older peoples are driven out towards the margin and there preserve the old sociological, ethical and religious conditions. in fact, the older the people, judging from their linguistic stratum, the less one finds among them what has been assumed to be the initial stage for central australia[ ]. these are schmidt's views and they confirm the cultural results established by graebner. but as the whole question of the culture layers in the pacific is still under discussion it is inadvisable at this stage of our knowledge to make any definite statements. it is worth noting, however, that[ ] the distribution of simple burial of the dead coincides in the main with schmidt's south australian language area, and the area roughly enclosed on the east by long. ° e. and the north by lat. ° s. appears to form a technological province distinct from the rest of australia[ ]. rarely can the australian depend on regular supplies of food. he feeds on flesh, fish, grubs and insects, and wild vegetable food; probably everything that is edible is eaten. cannibalism is widely spread, but human flesh is nowhere a regular article of food. clothing, apart from ornament, is rarely worn, but in the south, skin cloaks and fur aprons are fairly common. scarification of the body is frequent and conspicuous. the men usually let their hair grow long, and the women keep theirs short. dwellings are of the simplest character, usually merely breakwinds or slight huts, but where there is a large supply of vegetable food, huts are made of boughs covered with bark or grass and are sometimes coated with clay. implements are made of shell, bone, wood and stone. baldwin spencer remarks "it is not too much to say that at the present time we can parallel amongst australian stone weapons all the types known in europe under the names chellean, mousterian, aurignacian etc.... the terms eolithic, palaeolithic, and neolithic do not apply in australia as indicating either time periods or levels of culture[ ]." spears and wooden clubs are universal, and the use of the spear-thrower is generally distributed. the boomerang is found almost throughout australia; the variety that returns when it is thrown is as a rule only a plaything or for throwing at birds. the forms of the various implements vary in different parts of the country and in some districts certain implements may be entirely absent. for example the boomerang is not found in the northern parts of cape york peninsula or of the northern territory, and the spear-thrower is absent from south-east queensland. bows and arrows are unknown and pottery making does not occur. rafts are made of one or more logs, and the commonest form of canoe is that made of a single sheet of bark. dug-outs occur in a few places, and both single and double outriggers are found only on the queensland coast. these sporadic occurrences give additional support to the modern view that the racial and cultural history of australia is by no means so simple as has till lately been assumed[ ]. students of australian sociology have been so much impressed with certain prominent features of social organisation that they have paid insufficient attention to kinship and the family; the former has however recently been investigated by a. r. brown[ ], while information concerning the latter has been carefully sifted by b. malinowski[ ]. the main features of social groupings are the tribe, the local groups, the classes, the totemic clans and the families. a tribe is composed of a number of local groups and these are perpetuated in the same tracts by the sons, who hunt over the grounds of their fathers; this is the "local organisation." the local group is the only political unit, and _intra_-group justice has been extended to _inter_-group justice, where the units of reference are not based on kinship; this may be regarded as the earliest stage of what is known as international law[ ]. in the so-called "social organisation," the tribe as a community is divided into two parts (moieties or phratries), which are quite distinct from the local groups, though rarely they may be coincident. each moiety may be subdivided into two or four exogamous sections which are generally called "classes" and are peculiar to australia. descent in the classes is as a rule indirect matrilineal or indirect patrilineal, that is to say, while the child still belongs to its mother's or father's moiety (as the case may be) it is assigned to the class to which the mother or the father does not belong; but the grandchildren belong to the class of a grandmother or grandfather. in diagram i (below) _a_ and _c_ are classes of one moiety, #b# and _d_ those of the other. thus when _a_ man marries _b_ woman the children are _d_. _b_ man marries _a_ woman and the children are _c_ and so on. when there are four classes in each moiety the diagram works out as follows (ii)[ ]: [illustration] very important in social life are the initiation ceremonies by means of which a youth is admitted to the status of tribal manhood. these ceremonies vary greatly from tribe to tribe but they agree in certain fundamental points. "( ) they begin at the age of puberty. ( ) during the initiation ceremonies the women play an important part. ( ) at the close of the first part of the ceremonies, such as that of tooth knocking out or circumcision, a definite performance is enacted emblematic of the fact that the youths have passed out of the control of the women. ( ) during the essential parts the women are typically absent and the youths are shown the bull-roarer, have the secret beliefs explained to them and are instructed in the moral precepts and customs, including food restrictions, that they must henceforth observe under severe penalties. ( ) the last grade is not passed through until a man is quite mature[ ]." practically universal is the existence of a grouping of individuals under the names of plants, animals or various objects; these are termed totems and the human groups are termed totem clans. the members of a totem clan commonly believe themselves to be actually descended from or related to their totem, and all members of a clan, whatever tribe they may belong to, are regarded as brethren, who have mutual duties, prohibitions and privileges. thus a member of a totem clan must help and never injure any fellow member. "speaking generally it may be said that every totemic group has certain ceremonies associated with it and that these refer to old totemic ancestors. in all tribes they form part of a secret ritual in which only the initiated may take part. in most tribes a certain number are shown to the youths during the early stages of initiation, but at a later period he sees many more[ ]." in several tribes, and probably it was very general, certain magical ceremonies were performed to render the totem abundant or efficacious. the sex patron ("sex totem"), when the women have one animal, such as the owlet night-jar associated with them, and the men another, such as the bat; and the guardian genius (mis-called "individual totem"), acquired by dreaming of some animal, are of rare occurrence. the individual family has been shown by malinowski[ ] to be "a unit playing an important part in the social life of the natives and well defined by a number of moral, customary and legal norms; it is further determined by the sexual division of labour, the aboriginal mode of living, and especially by the intimate relation between the parents and children. the individual relation between husband and wife (marriage) is rooted in the unity of the family ... and in the well-defined, though not always exclusive, sexual right the husband acquires over his wife." all sexual licence is regulated by and subject to strict rules. the _pirrauru_ custom, by which individuals are allocated accessory spouses, "proves that the relationship involved does not possess the character of marriage. for it completely differs from marriage in nearly all the essential points by which marriage in australia is defined. and above all the pirrauru relation does not seem to involve the facts of family life in its true sense" (p. ). a. r. brown[ ] asserts that so far as our information goes, the only method of regulating marriage is by means of the relationship system. in every tribe there is a law to the effect that a man may only marry women who stand to him in a certain relationship, and there is no evidence that there is any other method of regulating marriage. the so-called class rule by which a man of a special division or group is required to marry a woman of another division is merely the law of relationship stated in a less exact form. it is the fact that a man may only marry a relative of a certain kind that necessitates the marrying into a particular relationship division. the rule of totemic exogamy, according to a. r. brown, is equally seen to have no existence apart from the relationship rule. where a totemic group is a clan and consists of relations all of one line of descent, a man is prohibited from marrying a woman of his own group by the ordinary rule of relationship. on the other hand, where the totemic group is not a clan, but is a local group (as in the burduna tribe) or a cult society (as in the arunta tribe) there is no rule prohibiting a man from marrying a woman of the same totemic group as himself. the so-called rule of local exogamy in some tribes (perhaps in all) is merely a result of the fact that the local group is a clan, _i.e._ a group of persons related in one line of descent only. only two methods of regulating marriage are known to exist in the greater part of australia[ ]: type i. a man marries the daughter of one of the men he denotes by the same term as his mother's brother. type ii. a man marries a woman who is the daughter's daughter of some man whom he denotes by the same term as his mother's mother's brother. in either case he may not marry any other kind of relative. the existence of two phratries or moieties or four named divisions ("classes") in a tribe conveys no information whatever as to the marriage rule of the tribe. the term "class" and "sub-class," according to a. r. brown, had better be discarded as writers use them to denote several totally distinct kinds of divisions. the tribe has collecting and hunting rights over an area with recognised limits, smaller communities down to the family unit having similar rights within the tribal boundaries. in some cases a tribe which had no stone suitable for making stone implements within its own boundaries was allowed to send tribal messengers to a quarry to procure what was needed without molestation, though howitt speaks of family ownership of quarries[ ]. implements are personal property. an extensive system of intertribal communication and exchange is carried on, apparently by recognised middlemen, and tribes meet on certain occasions at established trade centres for a regulated barter. beneficent and malevolent magic are universally practised and totemism possesses a religious besides a social aspect. an emotional relation often exists between the members of a totem clan and their totem, and the latter are believed at times to warn or protect their human kinsmen. it may be noted that the widely spread and elaborate ceremonies designed to render the totem prolific or to ensure its abundance, though performed solely by members of the totem clan concerned, are less for their own benefit than for that of the community[ ]. owing perhaps to the difficulty of distinguishing between the purely social and the religious institutions of primitive peoples great diversity of opinion prevails even amongst the best observers regarding the religious views of the australian aborigines. the existence of a "tribal all-father" is perhaps most clearly emphasised by a. w. howitt[ ], who finds this belief widespread in the whole of victoria and new south wales, up to the eastern boundaries of the tribes of the darling river. amongst those of new south wales are the euahlayi, whom k. langloh parker describes[ ] as having a more advanced theology and a more developed worship (including prayers, pp. - ) than any other australian tribe. these now eat their hereditary totem without scruple--a sure sign that the totemic system is dying out, although still outwardly in full force. amongst the arunta, kaitish, and the other central and northern tribes studied by spencer and gillen, totemism still survives, and totems are even assigned to the mysterious _iruntarinia_ entities, vague and invisible incarnations of the ghosts of ancestors who lived in the _alcheringa_ time, the dim remote past at the beginning of everything. these are far more powerful than living men, because their spirit part is associated with the so-called _churinga_, consisting of stones, pieces of wood or any other objects which are deemed sacred as possessing a kind of _mana_ which makes the yams and grass to grow, enables a man to capture game, and so forth. "that the _churinga_ are simply objects endowed with _mana_ is the happy suggestion of sidney hartland[ ] whose explanation has dispelled the dense fog of mystification hitherto enveloping the strange beliefs and observances of these central and northern tribes[ ]." n. w. thomas[ ] reviews the whole question of australian religion, and after describing twanjiraka, malbanga and ulthaana, of the arunta, baiame or byamee, famous in anthropological controversy[ ], daramulun of the yuin, mungan-ngaua (our father) of the kurnai, nurrundere of the narrinyeri, bunjil or pundjel, often called mamingorak (our father) of victoria, and others, he concludes "these are by no means the only gods known to australian tribes; on the contrary it can hardly be definitely asserted that there is or was any tribe which had not some such belief[ ]." footnotes: [ ] e. thurston, _castes and tribes of southern india_, . [ ] p. and f. sarasin, _ergebnisse naturwissenschaftlicher forschungen auf ceylon. die steinzeit auf ceylon_, ; h. parker, _ancient ceylon_, . the most complete account is given by c. g. and b. z. seligman, _the veddas_, . [ ] w. w. skeat and c. o. blagden, _pagan races of the malay peninsula_, ; r. martin, _die inlandstämme der malayischen halbinseln_, . [ ] fritz sarasin, _versuch einer anthropologie der insel celebes_. _zweiter teil: die varietäten des menschen auf celebes_, . [ ] a. c. haddon, appendix to c. hose and w. mcdougall, _the pagan tribes of borneo_, ii. . [ ] _federal handbook, brit. ass. for advancement of science_, , p. . [ ] the tasmanians can scarcely be termed negritoes. the important point to be noted is that this early population was ulotrichous, cf. p. . [ ] _loc. cit._ p. . or the strait may then have been very narrow. [ ] _loc. cit._ p. . [ ] _two representative tribes of queensland_, , p. . [ ] _loc. cit._ p. . [ ] _reports camb. exped. to torres straits_, iii. , p. . [ ] _die mon-khmer völker_, . schmidt has for many years studied the australian languages and has published his results in _anthropos_, vols, vii., viii. , , from which, and also from _man_, no. , , the following summarised extracts are taken. [ ] see _man_, no. , , pp. - . [ ] see the map constructed by p. w. schmidt and p. k. streit, _anthropos_, vii. . [ ] see _globus_, xc. , and "die sozialen systeme d. südsee," _ztschr. f. sozialwissenschaft_, xi. . schmidt's divergence from graebner's views are dealt with in _zeitschr. f. ethnologie_, , pp. - , and _anthropos_, vii. , p. ff. [ ] _anthropos_, vii. , pp. , . [ ] n. w. thomas, "the disposal of the dead in australia," _folklore_, xix. . [ ] a. r. brown, ms. [ ] _federal handbook, british association for the advancement of science_, , p. . [ ] a. c. haddon, "the outrigger canoes of torres straits and north queensland," _essays and studies presented to w. ridgeway_, , p. , and w. h. r. rivers, "the contact of peoples," in the same volume, p. . [ ] _man_, no. , . [ ] _the family among the australian aborigines_, . [ ] g. c. wheeler, _the tribe, and intertribal relations in australia_, , p. . [ ] a. r. brown, "marriage and descent in north australia," _man_, no. , . [ ] w. baldwin spencer, _loc. cit._ p. . [ ] w. baldwin spencer, _loc. cit._ p. . [ ] _the family among the australian aborigines_, , p. . [ ] ms. [ ] a. r. brown, "three tribes of western australia," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xliii. . [ ] a. w. howitt, _the native tribes of south-east australia_, , p. . [ ] w. baldwin spencer and f. j. gillen, _the native tribes of central australia_, , chap. vi., and _the northern tribes of central australia_, , chap. ix. [ ] _the native tribes of south-east australia_, , p. . [ ] _the euahlayi tribe_, . [ ] presidential address (section h) brit. ass. york, . [ ] a. h. keane, art. "australasia," in hastings' _encyclopaedia of religion and ethics_, , p. . [ ] _the natives of australia_, , chap. xiii. religion. [ ] e. b. tylor, _journ. anthr. inst._ xxi. p. ; a. lang, _magic and religion_, p. ; _myth, ritual and religion_, chap. xii.; k. langloh parker, _the euahlayi tribe_, , chap. ii.; m. f. v. leonhardi, _anthropos_, iv. , p. , and many others. [ ] the following should be consulted: original memoirs: c. strehlow, _die aranda- und loritza-stämme in zentral-australien_, ; w. e. roth, _ethnological studies among the north-west-central queensland aborigines_, ; _north queensland ethnography, bulletins_ - , - , and _bulletins_ - ; _records of the australian museum_, vi.-viii. sydney, - . compilations and discussions: e. durkheim, _the elementary forms of the religious life: a study in religious sociology_ (translated by j. w. swain), a very suggestive study based on australian custom and belief; j. g. frazer, _exogamy and totemism_, i. ; _the belief in immortality and the worship of the dead_, i. pp. - , . chapter xiii the caucasic peoples general considerations--constituent elements--past and present range--cradle-land: africa north of sudan--quaternary "sahara"--early european and mauretanian types--the _guanches_, types and affinities--origin of the european brachycephals-- summary of orthodox view--linguistic evidence--the _basques_-- the _iberians_--the _ligurians_ in rhineland and italy. sicilian origins--_sicani_; _siculi_--_sard_ and _corsican_ origins--ethnological relations in italy--sergi's mediterranean domain--range of the mediterraneans--the _pelasgians_-- theory of pre-hellenic pelasgians--pelasgians and mykenean civilisation--aegean culture--other views--range of the hamites in africa--the eastern hamites--the western "moors"--general hamitic type--foreign elements in mauretania--arab and berber contrasts-- the _tibus_--the egyptian hamites--origins--theory of asiatic origins--proto-egyptian type--armenoid type--asiatic influence on egyptian culture--negroid mixture--the _fulah_--other eastern hamites--_bejas_--_somals_--somal genealogies--the _galla_--the _masai_. conspectus. #present range.# _all the extra-tropical habitable lands, except chinese empire, japan, and the arctic zone; intertropical america, arabia, india, and indonesia; sporadically everywhere._ _three main types_:-- . _southern dolichocephals_, #mediterranean#; . _northern dolichocephals_, #nordic#; . _brachycephals_, #alpine#. #hair#: . _very dark brown or black, wiry, curly or ringletty._ . _very light brown, flaxen, or red, rather long, straight or wavy, smooth and glossy._ . _light chestnut or reddish brown, wavy, rather short and dull. all oval in section; beard of all full, bushy, straight, or wavy, often lighter than hair of head, sometimes very long._ #colour#: . _very variable--white, light olive, all shades of brown and even blackish (eastern hamites and others)._ . _florid._ . _pale white, swarthy or very light brown._ #skull#: _ and long ( to ); round ( to and upwards); all orthognathous_. _cheek-bone of all small, never projecting laterally, sometimes rather high (some berbers and scotch)._ #nose#, _mostly large, narrow, straight, arched or hooked, sometimes rather broad, heavy, concave and short_. #eyes#: . _black or deep brown, but also blue._ . _mainly blue. . brown, hazel-grey and black._ #stature#: . _under-sized (mean . m. ft. in.), but variable (some hamites, hindus, and others medium or tall)._ . _tall (mean . m. ft. or in.)._ . _medium (mean ft. in.), but also very tall (indonesians . m. to . m. ft. to ft.)._ #lips#, _mostly rather full and well-shaped, but sometimes thin, or upper lip very long (many irish), and under lip pendulous (many jews)_. #arms#, _rather short as compared with negro_. #legs#, _shapely, with calves usually well developed_. #feet#: _ and small with high instep_; _ rather large_. #temperament#: and . _brilliant, quick-witted, excitable and impulsive; sociable and courteous, but fickle, untrustworthy, and even treacherous (iberian, south italian); often atrociously cruel (many slavs, persians, semites, indonesians and even south europeans); aesthetic sense highly, ethic slightly developed. all brave, imaginative, musical, and richly endowed intellectually._ . _earnest, energetic, and enterprising; steadfast, solid, and stolid; outwardly reserved, thoughtful, and deeply religious; humane, firm, but not normally cruel._ #speech#, _mostly of the inflecting order with strong tendency towards analytical forms_; _very few stock languages (aryan, ibero-hamito-semitic), except in the caucasus, where stock languages of highly agglutinating types are numerous, and in indonesia, where one agglutinating stock language prevails_. #religion#, _mainly monotheistic, with or without priesthood and sacrifice (jewish, christian, muhammadan)_; _polytheistic and animistic in parts of caucasus, india, indonesia, and africa_. _gross superstitions still prevalent in many places._ #culture#, _generally high--all arts, industries, science, philosophy and letters in a flourishing state now almost everywhere except in africa and indonesia, and still progressive_. _in some regions civilisation dates from an early period (egypt, south arabia, babylonia; the minoan, hellenic, hittite, and italic cultures). indonesians and many hamites still rude, with primitive usages, few arts, no science or letters, and cannibalism prevalent in some places (gallaland)._ #mediterranean type#: _most iberians, corsicans, sards, sicilians, italians_; _some greeks_; _berbers and other hamites_; _arabs and other semites_; _some hindus_; _dravidians, todas, ainus, indonesians, some polynesians_. #nordic type#: _scandinavians, north-west germans, dutch, flemings, most english, scotch, some irish, anglo-americans, anglo-australasians, english and dutch of s. africa_; _thrako-hellenes, true kurds, most west persians, afghans, dards and siah-post kafirs_. #alpine type#: _most french, south germans, swiss and tyrolese_; _russians, poles, chekhs, yugo-slavs_; _some albanians and rumanians_; _armenians, tajiks (east persians), galchas_. * * * * * it is a remarkable fact that the caucasic division of the human family, of which nearly all students of the subject are members, with which we are in any case, so to say, on the most intimate terms, and with the constituent elements of which we might consequently be supposed to be best acquainted, is the most debatable field in the whole range of anthropological studies. why this should be so is not at first sight quite apparent, though the phenomenon may perhaps be partly explained by the consideration that the component parts are really of a more complex character, and thus present more intricate problems for solution, than those of any other division. but to some extent this would also seem to be one of those cases in which we fail to see the wood for the trees. to put it plainly, few will venture to deny that the inherent difficulties of the subject have in recent times been rather increased than diminished by the bold and often mutually destructive theories, and, in some instances one might add, the really wild speculations put forward in the earnest desire to remove the endless obscurities in which the more fundamental questions are undoubtedly still involved. controversial matter which seemed thrashed out has been reopened, several fresh factors have been brought into play, and the warfare connected with such burning topics as aryan origins, ibero-pelasgic relations, european round-heads and long-heads, has acquired renewed intensity amid the rival theories of eminent champions of new ideas. the question is not made any simpler by the frequent attacks that have been directed from more than one quarter against the long-established caucasic terminology, and well-supported objections are raised to the use of such time-honoured names as "hamitic," "semitic," and even "caucasic" itself. but no really satisfactory substitute for "caucasic" has yet been suggested, and it is doubtful if any name could be found sufficiently comprehensive to include all the races, long-headed and short-headed, fair and dark, tall and short, that we are at present content to group under this non-committal heading. undoubtedly the term "caucasic" cannot be defended on ethnical grounds. "nowhere else in the world probably is so heterogeneous a lot of people, languages and religions gathered together in one place as along the chain of the caucasus mountains[ ]." but we are no more called upon to believe that the "caucasic" peoples originated in the caucasus, than that the semites are all descendants of shem or hamites of ham. "caucasic" has one claim that can never be disputed, that of priority, and it would be well if innovators in these matters were to take to heart the sober language of ehrenreich, who reminds us that the accepted names are, what they ought to be, "purely conventional," and "historically justified," and "should be held as valid until something better can be found to take their place[ ]." it was considerations such as these, weighing so strongly in favour of current usage, that induced me _stare per vias antiquas_ in the _ethnology_, and consequently also in the present work. hence, here as there, the caucasic division retains its title, together with those of its main subdivisions--hamitic, semitic, keltic, slavic, hellenic, teutonic, iranic, galchic and so on. the chief exception is "aryan," a linguistic expression forced by the philologists into the domain of ethnology, where it has no place or meaning. there was of course a time when a community, or group of communities, existed probably in the steppe region between the carpathians and the hindu-kush[ ], by whom the aryan mother-tongue was evolved, and who still for a time presented a certain uniformity in their physical characters, were, in fact, of aryan speech and type. but while their aryan speech persists in endlessly modified forms, they have themselves long disappeared as a distinct race, merged in the countless other races on whom they, perhaps as conquerors, imposed their aryan language. hence we can and must speak of aryan tongues, and of an aryan linguistic family, which continues to flourish and spread over the globe. but of an aryan race there can be no further question since the absorption of the original stock in a hundred other races in remote prehistoric times. where comprehensive references have to be made, i therefore substitute for aryans and aryan race the expression peoples of aryan speech, at least wherever the unqualified term aryan might lead to misunderstandings. this way of looking at the question, which has now become more thorny than ever, has the signal advantage of being indifferent to any preconceived theories regarding the physical characters of that long vanished proto-aryan race. how great this advantage is may be judged from the mere statement that, while german anthropologists are still almost to a man loyal to the traditional view that the first aryans were best represented by the tall, long-headed, tawny-haired, blue-eyed teutonic barbarians of tacitus--who, virchow tells us, have completely disappeared from sight in the present population--the italian school, or at least its chief exponent, sergi, was equally convinced that the picture was a myth, that such aryans never existed, that "the true primitive aryans were not long, but round-headed, not fair but dark, not tall but short, and are in fact to-day best represented by the round-headed kelts, slavs, and south germans[ ]." the fact is that the aryan prototype has vanished as completely as has the aryan mother-tongue, and can be conjecturally restored only by processes analogous to those by which schleicher and other philologists have endeavoured with dubious success to restore the organic aryan speech as constituted before the dispersion. but here arises the more important question, by what right are so many and such diverse peoples grouped together and ticketed "caucasians"? are they to be really taken as objectively one, or are they merely artificial groupings, arbitrarily arranged abstractions? certainly this caucasic division consists apparently of the most heterogeneous elements, more so than perhaps any other. hence it seems to require a strong mental effort to sweep into a single category, however elastic, so many different peoples--europeans, north africans, west asiatics, iranians and others all the way to the indo-gangetic plains and uplands, whose complexion presents every shade of colour, except yellow, from white to the deepest brown or even black. but they are grouped together in a single division, because of certain common characteristics, and because, as pointed out by ehrenreich, who himself emphasises these objections, their substantial uniformity speaks to the eye that sees below the surface. at the first glance, except perhaps in a few extreme cases for which it would be futile to create independent categories, we recognise a common racial stamp in the facial expression, the structure of the hair, partly also the bodily proportions, in all of which points they agree more with each other than with the other main divisions. even in the case of certain black or very dark races, such as the beja, somali, and a few other eastern hamites, we are reminded instinctively more of europeans or berbers than of negroes, thanks to their more regular features and brighter expression. "those who will accept nothing unless it can be measured, weighed, and numbered, may think perhaps that according to modern notions this appeal to the outward expression is unscientific. nevertheless nobody can deny the evidence of the obvious physical differences between caucasians, african negroes, mongols, australians and so on. after all, physical anthropology itself dates only from the moment when we became conscious of these differences, even before we were able to give them exact expression by measurements. it was precisely the general picture that spoke powerfully and directly to the eye[ ]." the argument need not here be pursued farther, as it will receive abundant illustration in the details to follow. since the discovery of the new and the austral worlds, the caucasic division as represented by the chief european nations has received an enormous expansion. here of course it is necessary to distinguish between political and ethnical conquests, as, for instance, those of india, held by military tenure, and of australia by actual settlement. politically the whole world has become caucasic with the exception of half-a-dozen states such as china, turkey, japan, siam, marocco, still enjoying a real or fictitious autonomy. but, from the ethnical standpoint, those regions in which the caucasic peoples can establish themselves and perpetuate their race as colonists are alone to be regarded as fresh accessions to the original and later (historical) caucasic domains. such fresh accessions are however of vast extent, including the greater part of siberia and adjoining regions, where slav branches of the aryan-speaking peoples are now founding permanent new homes; the whole of australia, tasmania, and new zealand, which have become the inheritance of the caucasic inhabitants of the british isles; large tracts in south africa, already occupied by settlers chiefly from holland and great britain; lastly the new world, where most of the northern continent is settled by full-blood europeans, mainly british, french and german, while in the rest (central and south america) the caucasic immigrants (chiefly from the iberian peninsula) have formed new ethnical groups by fusion with the aborigines. these new accessions, all acquired within the last years, may be roughly estimated at about million square miles, which with some millions held throughout the historic period (africa north of sudan, most of europe, south-west and parts of central and south asia, indonesia) gives an extent of million square miles to the present caucasic domain, either actually occupied or in process of settlement. as the whole of the dry land scarcely exceeds millions, this leaves not more than about millions for the now reduced domains of all the other divisions, and even of this a great part (_e.g._ tibetan table-land, gobi, tundras, greenland) is barely or not at all inhabitable. this, it may be incidentally remarked, is perhaps the best reply to those who have in late years given expression to gloomy forebodings regarding the ultimate fate of the caucasic races. the "yellow scare" may be dismissed with the reflection that the caucasian populations, who have inherited or acquired nearly four-fifths of the earth's surface besides the absolute dominion of the high seas, is not destined to be submerged by any conceivable combination of all the other elements, still less by the mongol alone[ ]. where have we to seek the primeval home of this most vigorous and dominant branch of the human family? since no direct evidence can be cited, the answer necessarily takes the form of a hypothesis, and must rely mainly on the indirect evidence supplied by our vague knowledge of geographical conditions in pleistocene times, on past and present zoological distributions, with here and there, the assistance of a hint gleaned from archaeological discoveries. we may deal first with the arguments brought forward in favour of africa north of sudan. here were found in quaternary times all the physical elements which zoologists demand for great specialisations--ample space, a favourable climate and abundance of food, besides continuous land connection at two or three points across the mediterranean, by which the pliocene and early pleistocene faunas moved freely between the two continents. many of the speculations on the subject failed to convince, largely because the writers took, so to say, the ground from under their own feet, by submerging most of the land under a vast "quaternary sahara sea," which had no existence, and which, moreover, reduced the whole of north africa to a mauretanian island, a mere "appendix of europe," as it is in one place expressly called. then this inconvenient inland basin was got rid of, not by an outflow--being on the same level as the atlantic, of which it was, in fact figured as an inlet--but by "evaporation," which process is however somehow confined to this inlet, and does not affect either the mediterranean or the atlantic itself. nor is it explained how the oceanic waters were prevented from rushing in according "as the sahara sea evaporated to become a desert." the attempt to evolve a "eurafrican race" in such an impossible area necessarily broke down, other endless perplexities being involved in the initial geological misconception. not only was the sahara dry land in pleistocene times, but it stood then at a considerably higher altitude than at present, although its mean elevation is still estimated by chavanne at feet above sea-level. "quaternary deposits cover wide areas, and were at one time supposed to be of marine origin. it was even held that the great sand dunes must have been formed under the sea; but at this date it is scarcely necessary to discuss such a view. the advocates of a quaternary sahara sea argued chiefly from the discovery of marine shells at several points in the middle of the sahara. but tournouër has shown that to call in the aid of a great ocean in order to explain the presence of one or two shells is a needless expenditure of energy[ ]." at an altitude of probably over feet the sahara must have enjoyed an almost ideal climate during late pliocene and pleistocene times, when europe was exposed to more than one glacial invasion, and to a large extent covered at long intervals by a succession of solid ice-caps. we now know that these stony and sandy wastes were traversed in all directions by great rivers, such as the massarawa trending south to the niger, or the igharghar[ ] flowing north to the mediterranean, and that these now dry beds may still be traced for hundreds of miles by chains of pools or lakelets, by long eroded valleys and by other indications of the action of running waters. nor could there be any lack of vegetable or animal life in a favoured region, which was thus abundantly supplied with natural irrigation arteries, while the tropical heats were tempered by great elevation and at times by the refreshing breezes from sub-arctic europe. from these well-watered and fertile lands, some of which continued even in roman times to be the granary of the empire, came that succession of southern animals--hippopotamus, hyaena, rhinoceros, elephant, cave-lion--which made europe seem like a "zoological appendix of africa." in association with this fauna may have come man himself, for although north africa has not yet yielded evidence of a widespread culture comparable to that of the palaeolithic age in europe, yet the negroid characters of the grimaldi skeletons have been held to prove an early connection between the opposite shores of the mediterranean. the hypothesis of african origin is supported by archaeological evidence of the presence of early man all over north africa from the shores of the mediterranean through egypt to somaliland. thus one of j. de morgan's momentous conclusions was that the existence of civilised men in egypt might be reckoned by thousands, and of the aborigines by myriads of years. these aborigines he identified with the men of the old stone age, of whom he believed four stations to have been discovered--dahshur, abydos, tukh, and thebes[ ]. of tunisia arsène dumont declared that "the immense period of time during which man made use of stone implements is nowhere so strikingly shown." here some of the flints were found in abundance under a thick bed of quaternary limestone deposited by the waters of a stream that has disappeared. hence "the origin of man in mauretania must be set back to a remote age which deranges all chronology and confounds the very fables of the mythologies[ ]." the skeleton found in by hans reck at oldoway (then german east africa) was claimed to be of pleistocene age, but according to a. keith "the evidence ... cannot be accepted as having finally proved this degree of antiquity[ ]." the doctrine of the specialisation of the dolichocephalic european types in africa, before their migrations northwards, lies at the base of sergi's views regarding the african origin of those types. arguing against the asiatic origin of the hamites, as held by prichard, virchow, sayce and others, he points out that this race, scarcely if at all represented in asia, has an immense range in africa, where its several sub-varieties must have been evolved before their dispersion over a great part of that continent and of europe. then, regarding hamites and semites as essentially one, he concludes that africa is the cradle whence this primitive stock "spread northwards to europe, where it still persists, especially in the mediterranean and its three principal peninsulas, and eastwards to west asia[ ]." the theory of an african cradle for the dolichocephalic mediterranean type does not lack supporters, but when, relying on the undeniable presence of brachycephals, some writers would derive the alpine type from the same area, the larger aspect of continental migrations appears to be overlooked (see pp. - below). to constitute a distinct race, says zaborowski, a wide geographical area is needed, such as is presented by both shores of the mediterranean "with the whole of north africa including the sahara, which was till lately still thickly peopled[ ]." then to the question by whom has this north african and mediterranean region been inhabited since quaternary times, he answers "by the ancestors of our libyans, egyptians, pelasgians, iberians"; and after rejecting the asiatic theory, he elsewhere arrives at "the grand generalisation that the whole of north africa, connected by land with europe in the quaternary epoch, formed part of the geographical area of the ancient white race, of which the egyptians, so far from being the parent stem, would appear to be merely a branch[ ]." coming to details, bertholon[ ], from the human remains found by carton at bulla-regia, determined for tunisia and surrounding lands two main long-headed types, one like the neandertal (occurring both in khumeria, and in the stations abounding in palaeoliths), the other like the later cro-magnon dolmen-builders, whom de quatrefages had already identified with the tall, long-headed, fair, and even blue-eyed berbers still met in various parts of mauretania, and formerly represented in the canary islands[ ]. bertholon agrees with collignon that the mauretanian megalith-builders are of the same race as those of europe, and besides the two long-headed races describes ( ) a short round-headed type in gerba island and east tunisia[ ] representing the libyans proper, and ( ) a blond type of the sahel, khumeria, and other parts, whom he identifies with the mazices of herodotus, with the "afri," whose name has been extended to the whole continent, and the blond getulians of the aures mountains. it has been objected that, as established by de lapouge and ripley, there are three distinct ethnical zones in europe:--( ) nordic: the tall, fair, long-headed northern type, commonly identified by the germans with the race represented by the osseous remains from the "reihengräber," _i.e._ the "germanic," which the french call kymric or aryan, for which de lapouge reserves linné's _homo europaeus_, and to which ripley applies the term "teutonic," because the whole combination of characters "accords exactly with the descriptions handed down to us by the ancients. such were the goths, ostrogoths, visigoths, vandals, lombards, together with the danes, norsemen, saxons.... history is thus corroborated by natural science." ( ) mediterranean: the southern zone of short, dark, long-heads, _i.e._ the primitive element in iberia, italy, south france, sicily, corsica, sardinia, and greece, called iberians by the english, and identified by many with the ligurians, pelasgians, and allied peoples, grouped together by ripley as mediterraneans[ ]. ( ) alpine: the central zone of short, medium-sized round-heads with light or chestnut hair, and gray or hazel eye, de lapouge's and ripley's _homo alpinus_, the kelts or kelto-slavs of the french, the ligurians or arvernians of beddoe and other english writers. here belong the tall armenoids, the armenians being descendants of the hittites. the question is, can all these have come from north africa? we have seen that this region has yielded the remains of one round-headed and two long-headed prehistoric types. henri malbot pointed out that, as far back as we can go, we meet the two quite distinct long-headed berber types, and he holds that this racial duality is proved by the megalithic tombs (dolmens) of roknia between jemmapes and guelma, possibly some or years old. the remains here found by l. l. c. faidherbe belong to two different races, both dolichocephalic, but one tall, with prominent zygomatic arches and very strong nasal spine (it reads almost like the description of a brawny caledonian), the other short, with well-balanced skull and small nasal spine[ ]. the earliest (egyptian) records refer to brown and blond populations living in north africa some years ago, and it has been claimed that the raw materials, so to say, were here to hand both of the fair northern and dark southern european long-heads. these different races were represented even amongst the extinct guanches of the canary islands, as shown by a study of the heads procured in by h. meyer from caves in the archipelago[ ]. three distinct types are determined: ( ) guanche, akin to the cro-magnon, tall ( ft. in. to ft. in.), robust, dolicho ( ), low, broad face; large eyes, rather short nose; fair, reddish or light chestnut hair; skin and eyes light; ranged throughout the islands, but centred chiefly in tenerife; ( ) "_semitic_," short ( ft. or in.), slim, narrow mesocephalic head ( ), narrow, long face, black hair, light brown skin, dark eyes; range, grand canary, palma, and hierro; ( ) _armenoid_, akin to von luschan's pre-semitic of asia minor; shorter than and ; very short, broad, and high skull (hyperbrachy, ); hair, skin and eyes very probably of the west asiatic brunette type; range, mainly in gomera, but met everywhere. many of the skulls had been trepanned, and these are brought into direct association with the full-blood berbers of the aures mts. in algeria, who still practise trepanning for wounds, headaches, and other reasons. this type is scarcely to be distinguished from lapouge's short brown _homo alpinus_, which dates from the stone ages, and is found in densest masses in the central alpine regions, but the true armenoids are differentiated by their taller stature[ ]. how numerous were the inhabitants of france at that time may be inferred from the long list of no less than neolithic stations given for that region by ph. salmon. of the skulls from those stations measured by him, . per cent. are classed as dolicho, . as brachycephalic, and . as intermediate. this distinguished palethnologist regards the intermediates as the result of crossings between the two others, and of these he thinks the first arrivals were the round-heads, who ranged over a vast area between brittany, the channel, the pyrenees, and the mediterranean, per cent. of the graves hitherto studied containing skulls of this type[ ]. belgium also, where a mixture of long- and round-heads is found amongst the men of furfooz, must be included in this neolithic brachy domain, which can be traced as far westward as the british isles[ ]. attempts have been made, as indicated above, to derive these brachycephals, as well as the dolichocephals, from north africa, in accordance with the view that the latter region was the true centre of evolution and of dispersion for all the main branches of the caucasic family, but this theory has few supporters at the present time. sergi recognised the asiatic origin of the neolithic round-heads and regarded them as "peaceful infiltrations[ ]," forerunners of the great invasions of the later metal ages. verneau points out[ ] that when all the neolithic stations in which brachycephalic skulls have been discovered are plotted out on a map of europe it is easy to recognise a current running almost directly from east to west. moreover towards the west this current divides, being clearly separated by zones of dolichocephaly. evidence of the presence in early times of tall blond peoples in africa, side by side with a short dark population, and of brachycephals together with dolichocephals, proves that even in the stone age ethnic mixtures had already taken place, and racial purity--if indeed it ever existed--must be sought for in still remoter periods. with sergi's view which traces the neolithic inhabitants of the northern shores of the mediterranean (iberians, ligurians, messapians, siculi and other itali, pelasgians), to north africa, most anthropologists agree[ ]. also that all or most of these were primarily of a dark (brown), short, dolicho type, which still persists both in south europe and north africa, and in fact is the race which ripley properly calls "mediterranean," although in the west they almost certainly ranged into brittany and the british isles. but there are some who hold that the migration was in the opposite direction, and derive the north african branch from europe, rather than the european branches from africa. "anthropologists who have specially studied the question of the berbers or kabyles have concluded that they are descendants of prehistoric european invaders who occupied the tracts that suited them best[ ]." in france the neolithic "mediterranean type" has been regarded as lineally descended from palaeolithic predecessors _in situ_[ ]. some would even go further still, and claim europe as the place of origin not only of the mediterranean but also of the alpine and northern branches. "the so-called three races of europe are in the main the result of variation from a common european stock, a variation due to isolation and natural selection[ ]." without making any claim to finality the following perhaps best represents orthodox opinion at the present time. it may be assumed that man evolved somewhere in southern asia in pliocene times, and that the early groups possessed a tendency to variability which was directed to some extent by geographical conditions and became fixed by isolation. the tall fair blue-eyed dolichocephals (northern race) and the short dark dolichocephals (mediterranean race) may be regarded as two varieties of a common stock, the former having their area of characterisation in the steppes north of the plateaus of eur-asia, and migrating eastwards and westwards as the country dried after the last glacial phase. the southern branch, entering east africa from southern asia, spread all over north africa; those in the east were the archaic egyptians; to the west were the libyans whose descendants are the berbers; those who crossed the mediterranean formed the european branches of the mediterranean race. with regard to the third type, while the central plateaus of asia were the centre of dispersal for the true mongols the western plateaus were the area of characterisation of a non-mongolian brachycephalic race, which includes short and tall varieties. this is the alpine race, which extends from the hindu kush to brittany, and formerly spread further westwards into the british isles[ ]. the problem of european origins has often in the past been obscured rather than enlightened by an appeal to linguistics, but linguistic factors cannot altogether be ignored. no doubt the earliest populations of the mediterranean shores during the stone age spoke non-aryan languages, but it is only here and there that traces--mostly indecipherable--can be discovered. on the african side we have the berber language still in its full vigour; and apparently little changed for thousands of years. but in europe the primitive tongues have everywhere been swept away by the aryan (hellenic, italic, keltic) except in the region of the pyrenees. in italy etruscan is the only language which can with safety be called non-aryan[ ], though the place of ligurian is still under dispute[ ]. of pelasgian, nothing survives except the statement of herodotus, a dangerous guide in this matter, that it was a barbaric tongue like the peoples themselves[ ], but ridgeway considers it indo-european[ ]. further east, in asia minor, neither karian inscriptions and glosses nor occasional lydian[ ] and mysian glosses afford any safe basis for establishing relationships[ ]; the fuller evidence of lycian leaves its position indeterminate[ ] and the cretan script is still undeciphered[ ]. but in iberia besides the iberian inscriptions, which, so far, remain indecipherable[ ], there survives the basque of the western pyrenees, which beyond question represents a form of speech which was current in the peninsula in pre-aryan times, and on the assumption of a common origin of the populations on both sides of the strait of gibraltar might be expected to show traces of kinship with berber. in a posthumous work on this subject[ ], the eminent philologist g. von der gabelenz goes much further than mere traces, and claims to establish not only phonetic and verbal resemblances, but structural correspondences, so that his editor graf von der schulenberg was satisfied as to the relationship of the two languages[ ]. this conclusion has not, however, met with general acceptance[ ] and the affinities of basque with finno-ugrian cannot be overlooked[ ]. a study of the physical features of the modern basques adds complexity to the problem. most observers are agreed that a distinct basque type exists, and this physical and linguistic singularity has led to various more or less fanciful theories "connecting the basques with every outlandish language and bankrupt people under the sun[ ]," while g. hervé[ ] would regard them as forming by themselves a separate ethnic group, "a fourth european race." on the other hand feist[ ] has grounds for claiming that the basques are not, in anthropological respects, essentially different from their spanish or french neighbours (p. ) and jullian[ ] denies them more than a superficial unity. these apparently conflicting opinions are reconciled by the conclusions of r. collignon[ ], himself one of the best authorities on the subject. "the physical traits characteristic of the basques attach them unquestionably ('indiscutablement') to the great hamitic branch of the white races, that is to say, to the ancient egyptians and to the various groups commonly comprised under the collective name of berbers. their brachycephaly, slight as it is, cannot outweigh the aggregate of the other characters which they present.... it is therefore in this direction and not amongst finns or esthonians that is to be sought the parent stem of this paradoxical race. it is north african or european, assuredly not asiatic." collignon's explanation of the basque type is that it is a sub-species of the mediterranean stock evolved by long-continued and complete isolation, and in-and-in breeding, primarily engendered by peculiarity of language. the effects of heredity, aided perhaps by artificial selection, have generated local peculiarities and have developed them to an extreme[ ]. "the iberian question," says rice holmes, "is the most complicated and difficult of all the problems of gallic ethnology[ ]." from the testimony of greek and roman authors, he draws the following conclusions. "the name iberian was probably applied, in the first instance, only to the people who dwelt between the ebro and the pyrenees. the iberians once occupied the seaboard of gaul between the rhône and the pyrenees; but ligurians encroached upon this part of their territory. they also probably occupied the whole eastern region of the spanish peninsula. but," he adds, "we must bear in mind that the data are both insufficient and uncertain" (p. ). later (p. ), reviewing the evidence collected by philologists and by craniologists, he continues, "it seems to me probable that the iberians comprised both people who spoke, or whose ancestors had spoken, basque, and people who spoke the language or languages[ ] of the 'iberian' inscriptions; that to observers who had not learned to measure skulls and knew nothing of scientific methods, they appeared to be homogeneous; that the prevailing type was that which is now called iberian and is seen at its purest in sardinia, corsica and sicily; but that a certain proportion of the whole population may have been characterised by physical features more or less closely resembling those which the modern basques--french and spanish--possess in common, and which, as mm. broca and collignon tell us, distinguish them from all other european peoples. finally it seems probable that the true iberians were the people who spoke the languages of the inscriptions, and that basque was spoken by a people who occupied spain and southern gaul before the iberians arrived. but unless and until the key to those appalling inscriptions is found, the problem will never be solved." the ligurian question is still more complex than the iberian. for while no facts can be brought forward in direct contradiction of the assumption that the iberians were a short dark dolichocephalic population occupying the iberian peninsula in the stone age, and speaking a non-indo-european language, no such generalisations with regard to race, physical type, culture, geographical distribution or language are accepted for the ligurians. some, with sergi[ ], consider the ligurians merely as another branch of the mediterranean race. others, with zaborowski[ ], tracing their presence among the modern inhabitants of liguria, regard them as representing the small, dark, brachycephalic race at its purest. while many who recognise the ligurians as belonging to the mediterranean physical type deny their affinity with the iberians. meyer[ ] considers such a relationship "not improbable," but déchelette[ ] shows that it is absolutely untenable on archaeological grounds. the geographical range is equally uncertain. c. jullian[ ] distributes ligurians not only over the whole of gaul, but also throughout western europe, and attributes to them all the glories of neolithic civilisation; a. bertrand[ ] thinks that they played even in gaul merely a secondary rôle; déchelette[ ], on archaeological evidence, proves that the ligurian period was _par excellence_ the age of bronze, and ridgeway[ ] identifies it with the terramare civilisation. finally, if we follow sergi, the ligurians must have spoken a non-indo-european language; but the most eminent authorities are in the main agreed that such traces of ligurian as remain show affinities with indo-european[ ]. with regard to their physical type sergi puts forward the view that the true ligurians were like the iberians, a section of the long-headed mediterranean (afro-european) stock. from prehistoric stations in the valley of the po he collected skulls, all of this type, and all ligurian; history and tradition being of accord that before the arrival of the kelts this region belonged to the ligurian domain. "if it be true that prehistoric italy was occupied by the mediterranean race and by two branches--ligurian and pelasgian--of that race, the ancient inhabitants of the po valley, now exhumed in those skulls, were ligurian[ ]." these ligurians have been traced from their homes on the mediterranean into central europe. from a study of the neolithic finds made in germany, in the district between neustadt and worms, c. mehlis[ ] infers that here the first settlers were ligurians, who had penetrated up the rhone and saône into rhineland. in the kircherian museum in rome he was surprised to find a marked analogy between objects from the riviera and from the rhine; skulls (both dolicho), vases, stone implements, mill-stones, etc., all alike. such ligurian objects, found everywhere in north italy, occur in the rhine lands chiefly along the left bank of the main stream between basel and mainz, and farther north in the rheingau at wiesbaden, and in the lahn valley. the ligurians may of course have reached the riviera round the coast from illiberis and iberia; but the same race is found as the aboriginal element also at the "heel of the boot," and in fact throughout the whole of italy and all the adjacent islands. this point is now firmly established, and not only sergi, but several other leading italian authorities hold that the early inhabitants of the peninsula and islands were ligurians and pelasgians, whom they look upon as of the same stock, all of whom came from north africa, and that, despite subsequent invasions and crossings, this mediterranean stock still persists, especially in the southern provinces and in the islands--sicily, sardinia, and corsica. hence it seems more reasonable to bring this aboriginal element straight from africa by the stepping stones of pantellaria, malta, and gozzo (formerly more extensive than at present, and still strewn with megalithic remains comparable to those of both continents), than by the roundabout route of iberia and southern gaul[ ]. this is a simple solution of the problem, but it is a question if it is justifiable to extend the name ligurian to all that branch of the mediterranean race which undoubtedly forms the substratum of population in italy and parts of gaul, ignoring the presence or absence of "ligurian" culture or traces of ligurian language. déchelette[ ], relying chiefly upon archaeological and cultural evidence, sums up as follows: we must consider the ligurians as indo-european tribes, whose area of domination had its centre, during the bronze age, in north italy, and the left bank of the rhone. they were enterprising and energetic in agriculture and in commerce. together with neighbouring peoples of illyrian stock they engaged in an indirect but nevertheless regular trade with the northern regions where amber was collected. among the ligurians, as among the illyrians and hyperboreans, a form of heliolatry was prevalent, popularising the old solar myths in which the swan appears to have played an important rôle. rice holmes[ ] defines more closely their geographical range. "ligurians undoubtedly lived in south-eastern gaul, where they were found at least as far north as bellegarde in the department of the ain; and, mingled more or less with iberians, in the departments of the gard, hérault, aude and pyrénées-orientales. most probably they had once occupied the whole eastern region as far north as the marne, but had been submerged by celts: and perhaps they had also pushed westward as far as aquitania." he continues, "were it possible to regard the theory of mm. d'arbois de jubainville and jullian as more than an interesting hypothesis, we should have to conclude that the ligurians were simply the long-headed and short-headed peoples who, reinforced perhaps from time to time by hordes of immigrants, had inhabited the whole of gaul since the neolithic age, and of whom the former, or many of them, were descended from palaeolithic hunters; in other words that they were the same people who, after they had been conquered by, or had coalesced with, the celtic invaders, called themselves _celtae_: but to say which of them were first known as ligurians or introduced the ligurian language would be utterly hopeless. finally the little evidence we possess tends to show that the people called ligurians, when they became known to the greek writers who described them, were a medley of different races." for sicily, with which may practically be included the south of italy, we have the conclusions of g. patroni based on years of intelligent and patient labours[ ]. to africa this archaeologist traces the palaeolithic men of the west coast of sicily and of the caves near syracuse explored by von adrian[ ]. "we are forced to conclude that man arrived in sicily from africa at a time when the isthmus connecting the island with that continent still stood above sea-level. he made his appearance about the same time as the elephant, whose remains are associated with human bones especially in the west. he followed the sea coasts, the shells of which offered him sufficient food[ ]." he was followed by the neolithic man, whose presence has been revealed by the researches of paolo orsi at the station of stentinello on the coast north of syracuse. to orsi is also due the discovery of what he calls the "aeneolithic epoch[ ]," represented by the bronzes of the girgenti district. orsi assigns this culture to the _siculi_, and divides it into three periods, while regarding the neolithic men of stentinello as _pre-siculi_. but patroni holds that the aeneolithic peoples have a right to the historic name of _sicani_, and that the true siculi were those that arrived from italy in orsi's second period. it seems no longer possible to determine the true relations of these two peoples, who stand out as distinct throughout early historic times. they are by many[ ] regarded as of one race, although both ([greek: sikanos, sikelos]) are already mentioned in the odyssey. but the evidence tends to show that the sicani represent the oldest element which came direct from africa in the stone age, while the siculi were a branch of the ligurians driven in the metal age from italy to the island, which was already occupied by the sicani, as related by dionysius halicarnassus[ ]. in fact this migration of the siculi may be regarded as almost an historical event, which according to thucydides took place "about years before the hellenes came to sicily[ ]." the siculi bore this national name on the mainland, so that the modern expression "kingdom of the two sicilies" (the late kingdom of naples) has its justification in the earliest traditions of the people. later, both races were merged in one, and the present sicilian nation was gradually constituted by further accessions of phoenician (carthaginian), greek, roman, vandal, arab, norman, french and spanish elements. very remarkable is the contrast presented by the conditions prevailing in this ethnical microcosm and those of sardinia, inhabited since the stone ages by one of the most homogeneous groups in the world. from the statistics embodied in r. livi's _antropologia militare_[ ] the sards would almost seem to be cast all in one mould, the great bulk of the natives having the shortest stature, the brownest eyes and hair, the longest heads, the swarthiest complexion of all the italian populations. "they consequently form quite a distinct variety amongst the italian races, which is natural enough when we remember the seclusion in which this island has remained for so many ages[ ]." they seem to have been preserved as if in some natural museum to show us what the ligurian branch of the mediterranean stock may have been in neolithic times. yet they were probably preceded by the microcephalous dwarfish race described by sergi as one of the early mediterranean stocks. their presence in sardinia has now been determined by a. niceforo and e. a. onnis, who find that of about skulls from old graves thirty have a capacity of only c.c. or under, while several living persons range in height from ft. in. to ft. in. niceforo agrees with sergi in bringing this dwarfish race also from north africa[ ]. with remarkable cranial uniformity, similar phenomena are presented by the corsicans who show "the same exaggerated length of face and narrowness of the forehead. the cephalic index drops from and above in the alps to about all along the line. coincidently the colour of hair and eyes becomes very dark, almost black. the figure is less amply proportioned, the people become light and rather agile. it is certain that the stature at the same time falls to an exceedingly low level: fully inches below the average for teutonic europe," although "the people of northern africa, pure mediterranean europeans, are of medium size[ ]." in the italian peninsula sergi holds not only that the aborigines were exclusively of ligurian, _i.e._ mediterranean stock, but that this stock still persists in the whole of the region south of the tiber, although here and there mixed with "aryan" elements. north of that river these elements increase gradually up to the italian alps, and at present are dominant in the valley of the po[ ]. in this way he would explain the rising percentage of round-heads in that direction, the ligurians being for him, as stated, long-headed, the "aryans" round-headed. similarly beddoe, commenting on livi's statistics, showing predominance of tall stature, round heads, and fair complexion in north italy, infers "that a type, the one we usually call the mediterranean, does really predominate in the south, and exists in a state of comparative purity in sardinia and calabria; while in the north the broad-headed alpine type is powerful, but is almost everywhere more or less modified by, or interspersed with other types--germanic, slavic, or of doubtful origin--to which the variations of stature and complexion may probably be, at least in part, attributed[ ]." similar relations prevail in the balkan peninsula, where the mediterranean stock is represented by the "pelasgic[ ]" substratum. invented, as has been said, for the purpose of confounding future ethnologists, these pelasgians certainly present an extremely difficult racial problem, the solution of which has hitherto resisted the combined attacks of ancient and modern students. when dionysius tells us bluntly that they were greeks[ ], we fancy the question is settled off-hand, until we find herodotus describing them a few hundred years earlier as aliens, rude in speech and usages, distinctly not greeks, and in his time here and there (thrace, hellespont) still speaking apparently non-hellenic dialects[ ]. then homer several centuries still earlier, with his epithet of [greek: dioi], occurring both in the _iliad_ and the _odyssey_[ ], exalts them almost above the level of the greeks themselves. it would seem, therefore, almost impossible to discover a key to the puzzle, one which will also fit in both with sergi's mediterranean theory, and with the results of recent archaeological researches in the aegean lands. the following hypothesis is supported by a certain amount of evidence. if the pre-mykenaean culture revealed by schliemann and others in the troad, mykenae, argos, tiryns, by evans and others in crete, by cesnola in cyprus, be ascribed to a pre-hellenic rather than to a proto-hellenic people, then the classical references will explain themselves, while this pre-hellenic race will be readily identified with the pelasgians, as this term is understood by sergi. it is, i suppose, universally allowed that greece really was peopled before the arrival of the hellenes, which term is here to be taken as comprising all the invading tribes from the north, of which the achaeans were perhaps the earliest. on their arrival the hellenes therefore found the land not only inhabited, but inhabited by a cultured people more civilised than themselves, who could thus be identified with sergi's pelasgian branch of the mediterranean or afro-european stock, whom the proto-hellenes naturally regarded as their superiors, and whom their first singers also naturally called [greek: dioi pelasgoi][ ]. but in the course of a few centuries[ ] these pelasgians became hellenised, all but a few scattered groups, which lagging behind in the general social progress are now also looked upon as barbarians, speaking barbaric tongues, and are so described by contemporary historians. then these few remnants of a glorious but forgotten past are also merged in the hellenic stream, and can no longer be distinguished from other greeks by contemporary writers. hence for dionysius the pelasgians are simply greeks, which in a sense may be true enough. all the heterogeneous elements have been fused in a single hellenic nationality, built upon a rough pelasgic substratum, and adorned with all the graces of hellenic culture. now to make good this hypothesis, it is necessary to show, first, that the pelasgians were not an obscure tribe, a small people confined to some remote corner of hellas, but a widespread nation diffused over all the land; secondly, that this nation, as far as can now be determined, presented mental and other characters answering to those of sergi's mediterraneans, and also such as might be looked for in a race capable of developing the splendid aegean culture of pre-hellenic times. on the first point it has been claimed that the pelasgians were so widely distributed[ ] that the difficulty rather is to discover a district where their presence was unknown. they fill the background of hellenic origins, and even spread beyond the hellenic horizon, to such an extent that there seems little room for any other people between the adriatic and the hellespont. thus ridgeway[ ] has brought together a good many passages which clearly establish their universal range, as well as their occupation especially of those places where have been found objects of mykenaean and pre-mykenaean culture, such as engraved gems, pottery, implements, buildings, inscriptions in pictographic and syllabic scripts. in crete they had the "great city of knossos" in homer's time[ ]; not only was mykenae theirs, but the whole of peloponnesus took the name of pelasgia; the kings of tiryns were pelasgians, and aeschylus calls argos a pelasgian city; an old wall at athens was attributed to them, and the people of attica had from all time been pelasgians[ ]. orchomenus in boeotia was founded by a colony from pelasgiotis in thessaly; lesbos also was called pelasgia, and homer knew of pelasgians in the troad. their settlements are further traced to egypt, to rhodes, cyprus, epirus--where dodona was their ancient shrine--and lastly to various parts of italy. moreover, the pelasgians were traditionally the civilising element, who taught people to make bread, to yoke the ox to the plough, and to measure land. it would appear from these and other allusions that there were memories of still earlier aborigines, amongst whom the pelasgians appear as a cultured people, introducing perhaps the arts and industries of the pre-mykenaean age. but the assumption, based on no known data, is unnecessary, and it seems more reasonable to look on this culture as locally developed, to some extent under eastern (egyptian, babylonian, hittite?) influences[ ]. here it is important to note that the pelasgians were credited with a knowledge of letters[ ], and all this has been advanced as sufficient confirmation of our second postulate. nevertheless it must be acknowledged that the difficulties are not all overcome by this hypothesis, and the further question of language divides even its stanchest supporters into opposing groups, for while sergi's mediterraneans necessarily speak a non-indo-european language[ ], ridgeway's pelasgians speak aeolic greek[ ]. the range and importance of the pelasgians are most strictly limited by j. l. myres[ ], who thinks that the alpine type may even be primitive in the morea, mediterranean man being an intruder from the south merely fringing the coast and never penetrating inland. the researches of von luschan in lycia support this view[ ], and ripley's map of the present inhabitants of the balkan peninsula shows the "greek contingent closely confined to the sea-coast[ ]." ripley, however, though carefully avoiding any dragging of "pelasgians" into the question, assumes a primitive substratum of mediterranean type all over greece. "the testimony of these ancient greek crania is perfectly harmonious. all authorities agree that the ancient hellenes were decidedly long-headed, betraying in this respect their affinity to the mediterranean race.... whether from attica, from schliemann's successive cities excavated upon the site of troy, or from the coast of asia minor[ ]; at all times from b.c. to the third century of our era, it would seem proved that the greeks were of this dolichocephalic type.... every characteristic of their modern descendants and every analogy with the neighbouring populations, leads us to the conclusion that the classical hellenes were distinctly of the mediterranean racial type, little different from the phoenicians, the romans or the iberians[ ]." nevertheless dörpfeld[ ] claims that there were, from the first, two races in greece, a southern, or aegean, and a northern, who were the aryan achaeans of history, and recent archaeological discoveries certainly support this view. another attempt to solve the pelasgian problem is that of e. meyer[ ]. after enumerating the various areas said to have been occupied by the pelasgians "_ein grosses urvolk_" who ranged from asia minor to italy, he pricks the bubble by saying that in reality there were no pelasgians save in thessaly, in the fruitful plain of peneus, hence called "pelasgic argos[ ]," and later pelasgiotis. they, like the dorians, invaded crete from thessaly and at the beginning of the first millennium were defeated and enslaved by the incoming thessalians. these are the only true pelasgians. the other so-called pelasgians are the descendants of an eponymous pelasgos who in genealogical poetry becomes the ancestor of mankind. since the arcadians were regarded as the earliest of the indigenous peoples, pelasgos was made the ancestor of the arcadians. the name "pelasgic argos" was transferred from thessaly to the peloponnesian city. attic pelasgians were derived from a mistake of hecataeus[ ]. so the legend grew. the only real pelasgian problem, concludes meyer, is whether the thessalian pelasgians were a greek or pre-greek people, and he is inclined to favour the latter view. the identity of "the most mysterious people of antiquity" is further obscured by philology, for, as p. giles points out, their name appears merely to mean "the people of the sea," so that "they do not seem to be in all cases the same stock[ ]." whether we call them pelasgians or no, there would seem to be little doubt that the splendours of aegean civilisation which have been and still are being gradually revealed by the researches of british, italian, american and german archaeologists are to be attributed to an indigenous people of mediterranean type, occupying an area of which crete was the centre, from the stone age, right through the bronze age, down to the northern invasions of the second millennium and the introduction of iron. in range this culture included greece with its islands, cyprus, and western anatolia, and its influence extended westwards to sicily, italy, sardinia and spain, and eastwards to syria and egypt. its chief characteristics are ( ) an indigenous script both pictographic and linear, with possible affinities in hittite, cypriote and south-west anatolian scripts, but hitherto indecipherable; ( ) a characteristic art attempting "to express an ideal in forms more and more closely approaching to realities[ ]," exhibited in frescoes, pottery, reliefs, sculptures, jewelry etc.; ( ) a distinctive architectural style, and ( ) type of tomb, which have no parallels elsewhere. excavations at cnossos go far towards establishing a chronology for the aegean area. at the base is an immensely thick neolithic deposit, above which come pottery and other objects of minoan period i. , which are correlated by petrie with objects found at abydos, referred by him to the st dynasty ( b.c.). minoan period ii. corresponds with the egyptian xii dynasty ( b.c.), characteristic cretan pottery of this period being found in the fayum. minoan period iii. and synchronises with dynasty xviii ( to b.c.). iron begins to be used for weapons after period iii. , and is commonly attributed to incursions from the north, the dorian invasion of the greek authors, about b.c. which led to the destruction of the palace of cnossos and the substitution of "geometric" for "mykenaean" art. turning to the african branch of the mediterranean type, we find it forming not merely the substratum, but the great bulk of the inhabitants throughout all recorded time from the atlantic to the red sea, and from the mediterranean to sudan, although since muhammadan times largely intermingled with the kindred semitic stock (mainly arabs) in the north and west, and in the east (abyssinia) with the same stock since prehistoric times. all are comprised by sergi[ ] in two main divisions:-- . eastern hamites, answering to the _ethiopic branch_ of some writers, of somewhat variable type, comprising the _old_ and _modern egyptians_ now mixed with semitic (arab) elements; the _nubians_, the _bejas_, the _abyssinians_, collective name of all the peoples between khor barka and shoa (with, in some places, a considerable infusion of himyaritic or early semitic blood from south arabia); the _gallas_ (gallas proper, somals, and afars or danákils); the _masai_ and _ba-hima_. . northern hamites, the _libyan race_ or _berber (western) branch_ of some writers, comprising the _mediterranean berbers_ of algeria, tunis, and tripoli; the _atlantic berbers_ (_shluhs_ and others) of morocco; the _west saharan berbers_ commonly called _tuaregs_; the _tibus_ of the east sahara; the _fulahs_, dispersed amongst the sudanese negroes; the _guanches_ of the canary islands. of the eastern hamites he remarks generally that they do not form a homogeneous division, but rather a number of different peoples either crowded together in separate areas, or dispersed in the territories of other peoples. they agree more in their inner than in their outer characters, without constituting a single ethnical type. the cranial forms are variable, though converging, and evidently to be regarded as very old varieties of an original stock. the features are also variable, converging and characteristic, with straight or arched (aquiloid) nose quite different from the negro; lips rather thick, but never everted as in the negro; hair usually frizzled, not wavy; beard thin; skin very variable, brown, red-brown, black-brown, ruddy black, chocolate and coffee-brown, reddish or yellowish, these variations being due to crossings and the outward physical conditions. in this assumption sergi is supported by the analogous case of the western berbers between the senegal and morocco, to whom collignon and deniker[ ] restrict the term "moor," as an ethnical name. the chief groups, which range from the atlantic coast east to the camping grounds of the true tuaregs[ ], are the trarsas and braknas of the senegal river, and farther north the dwaïsh (idoesh), uled-bella, uled-embark, and uled-en-nasúr. from a study of four of these moors, who visited paris in , it appears that they are not an arabo-berber cross, as commonly supposed, but true hamites, with a distinct negro strain, shown especially in their frizzly hair, bronze colour, short broad nose, and thickish lips, their general appearance showing an astonishing likeness to the bejas, afars, somals, abyssinians, and other eastern hamites. this is not due to direct descent, and it is more reasonable to suppose "that at the two extremities of the continent the same causes have produced the same effects, and that from the infusion of a certain proportion of black blood in the egyptian [eastern] and berber branches of the hamites, there have sprung closely analogous mixed groups[ ]." from the true negro they are also distinguished by their grave and dignified bearing, and still more by their far greater intelligence. both divisions of the hamites, continues sergi, agree substantially in their bony structure, and thus form a single anthropological group with variable skull--pentagonoid, ovoid, ellipsoid, sphenoid, etc., as expressed in his terminology--but constant, that is, each variety recurring in all the branches; face also variable (tetragonal, ellipsoid, etc.), but similarly identical in all the branches; profile non-prognathous; eyes dark, straight, not prominent; nose straight or arched; hair smooth, curly, long, black or chestnut; beard full, also scant; lips thin or slightly tumid, never protruding; skin of various brown shades; stature medium or tall. such is the great anthropological division, which was diffused continuously over the greater part of africa, and round the northern shores of the mediterranean. according to stuhlmann[ ] it had its origin in south arabia, if not further east, and entered africa in the region of erythrea. he regards the red sea as offering no obstacle to migrations, but suggests a possible land connection between the opposite shores. nothing is more astonishing than the strange persistence not merely of the berber type, but of the berber temperament and nationality since the stone ages, despite the successive invasions of foreign peoples during the historic period. first came the sidonian phoenicians, founders of carthage and utica probably about b.c. the greek occupation of cyrenaica ( b.c.) was followed by the advent of the romans on the ruins of the carthaginian empire. the romans have certainly left distinct traces of their presence, and some of the aures highlanders still proudly call themselves _rumaníya_. these _shawías_ ("pastors") form a numerous group, all claiming roman descent, and even still keeping certain roman and christian feasts, such as _bu ini_, _i.e._ christmas; _innar_ or _january_ (new year's day); spring (easter), etc. a few latin words also survive such as _urtho_ = hortus; _kerrúsh_ = quercus (evergreen oak); _milli_ = milliarium (milestone). after the temporary vandal occupation came the great arab invasions of the seventh and later centuries, and even these had been preceded by the kindred _ruadites_, who had in pre-moslem times already reached mauretania from arabia. with the jews, some of whom had also reached tripolitana before the new era, a steady infiltration of negroes from sudan, and the recent french, spanish, italian, and maltese settlers, we have all the elements that go to make up the cosmopolitan population of mauretania. but amid them all the berbers and the arabs stand out as the immensely predominant factors, still distinct despite a probably common origin in the far distant past and later interminglings. the arab remains above all a nomad herdsman, dwelling in tents, without house or hamlet, a good stock-breeder, but a bad husbandman, and that only on compulsion. "the ploughshare and shame enter hand in hand into the family," says the national proverb. to find space for his flocks and herds he continues the destructive work of carthaginian and roman, who ages ago cleared vast wooded tracts for their fleets and commercial navies, and thus rendered large areas barren and desolate. the berber on the contrary loves the sheltering woodlands; he is essentially a highlander who carefully tills the forest glades, settles in permanent homes, and often develops flourishing industries. arab society is feudal and theocratic, ruled by a despotic sheikh, while the berber with his _jemaa_, or "witenagemot," and his _kanun_ or unwritten code, feels himself a freeman; and it may well have been this democratic spirit, inherited by his european descendants, that enabled the western nations to take the lead in the onward movement of humanity. the arab again is a fanatic, ever to be feared, because he blindly obeys the will of allah proclaimed by his prophets, marabouts, and mahdis[ ]. but the berber, a born sceptic, looks askance at theological dogmas; an unconscious philosopher, he is far less of a fatalist than his semitic neighbour, who associates with allah countless demons and jins in the government of the world. in their physical characters the two races also present some striking contrasts, the arab having the regular oval brain-cap and face of the true semite, whereas the berber head is more angular, less finely moulded, with more prominent cheekbones, shorter and less aquiline nose, which combined with a slight degree of sub-nasal prognathism, imparts to the features coarser and less harmonious outlines. he is at the same time distinctly taller and more muscular, with less uniformity in the colour of the eye and the hair, as might be expected from the numerous elements entering into the constitution of present berber populations. in the social conflict between the arab and berber races, the curious spectacle is presented of two nearly equal elements (same origin, same religion, same government, same or analogous tribal groupings, at about the same cultural development) refusing to amalgamate to any great extent, although living in the closest proximity for over a thousand years. in this struggle the arab seems so far to have had the advantage. instances of berberised arabs occur, but are extremely rare, whereas the berbers have not only everywhere accepted the koran, but whole tribes have become assimilated in speech, costume, and usages to the semitic intruders. it might therefore seem as if the arab must ultimately prevail. but we are assured by the french observers that in algeria and tunisia appearances are fallacious, however the case may stand in morocco and the sahara. "the arab," writes malbot, to whom i am indebted for some of these details, "an alien in mauretania, transported to a soil which does not always suit him, so far from thriving tends to disappear, whereas the berber, especially under the shield of france, becomes more and more aggressive, and yearly increases in numbers. at present he forms at least three-fifths of the population in algeria, and in morocco the proportion is greater. he is the race of the future as of the past[ ]." this however would seem to apply only to the races, not to their languages, for we are elsewhere told that arabic is encroaching steadily on the somewhat ruder berber dialects[ ]. considering the enormous space over which they are diffused, and the thousands of years that some of the groups have ceased to be in contact, these dialects show remarkably slight divergence from the long extinct speech from which all have sprung. whatever it be called--kabyle, zenatia, shawia, tamashek, shluh--the berber language is still essentially one, and the likeness between the forms current in morocco, algeria, the sahara, and the remote siwah oasis on the confines of egypt, is much closer, for instance, than between norse and english in the sub-aryan teutonic group[ ]. but when we cross the conventional frontier between the contiguous tuareg and tibu domains in the central sahara the divergence is so great that philologists are still doubtful whether the two languages are even remotely or are at all connected. ever since the abandonment of the generalisation of lepsius that hamitic and negro were the sole stock languages, the complexity of african linguistic problems has been growing more and more apparent, and tibu is only one among many puzzles, concerning which there is great discordance of opinion even among the most recent and competent authorities[ ]. the tibu themselves, apparently direct descendants of the ancient garamantes, have their primeval home in the tibesti range, _i.e._ the "rocky mountains," whence they take their name[ ]. there are two distinct sections, the northern _tedas_, a name recalling the _tedamansii_, a branch of the garamantes located by ptolemy somewhere between tripolitana and phazania (fezzan), and the southern _dazas_, through whom the tibu merge gradually in the negroid populations of central sudan. this intermingling with the blacks dates from remote times, whence ptolemy's remark that the garamantes seemed rather more "ethiopians" than libyans[ ]. but there can be no doubt that the full-blood tibu, as represented by the northern section, are mainly mediterranean, and although the type of the men is somewhat coarser than that of their tuareg neighbours, that of the women is almost the finest in africa. "their women are charming while still in the bloom of youth, unrivalled amongst their sisters of north africa for their physical beauty; pliant and graceful figures[ ]." it is interesting to notice amongst these somewhat secluded saharan nomads the slow growth of culture, and the curious survival of usages which have their explanation in primitive social conditions. "the tibu is always distrustful; hence, meeting a fellow-countryman in the desert he is careful not to draw near without due precaution. at sight of each other both generally stop suddenly; then crouching and throwing the litham over the lower part of the face in tuareg fashion, they grasp the inseparable spear in their right and the shanger-mangor, or bill-hook, in their left. after these preliminaries they begin to interchange compliments, inquiring after each other's health and family connections, receiving every answer with expressions of thanksgiving to allah. these formalities usually last some minutes[ ]." obviously all this means nothing more than a doffing of the hat or a shake-hands amongst more advanced peoples; but it points to times when every stranger was a _hostis_, who later became the _hospes_ (host, guest). it will be noticed that the tibu domain, with the now absolutely impassable libyan desert[ ], almost completely separates the mediterranean branch from the hamites proper. continuity, however, is accorded, both on the north along the shores of the mediterranean to the nile delta (lower egypt), and on the south through darfur and kordofan to the white nile, and thence down the main stream to upper egypt, and through abyssinia, galla and somali lands to the indian ocean. between the nile and the east coast the domain of the hamites stretches from the equator northwards to egypt and the mediterranean. it appears therefore that egypt, occupied for many thousands of years by an admittedly hamitic people, might have been reached either from the west by the mediterranean route, or down the nile, or, lastly, it maybe suggested that the hamites were specialised in the nile valley itself. the point is not easy to decide, because, when appeal is made to the evidence of the stone ages, we find nothing to choose between such widely separated regions as somaliland, upper egypt, and mauretania, all of which have yielded superabundant proofs of the presence of man for incalculable ages, estimated by some palethnologists at several hundred thousand years. in egypt the palaeoliths indicate not only extreme antiquity, but also that the course of civilisation was uninterrupted by any such crises as have afforded means of chronological classification in western europe. the differences in technique are local and geographical, not historic. the neolithic period tells the same tale, and the use of copper at the beginning of the historic period only slowly replaced the flint industry, which continued during the earlier dynasties down to the period of the middle empire and attained a degree of perfection nowhere surpassed. prehistoric pottery strengthens the evidence of a slow, gradual development, the newer forms nowhere jostling out the old, but co-existing side by side[ ]. it might seem therefore that the question of egyptian origins was settled by the mere statement of the case, and that there could be no hesitation in saying that the egyptian hamites were evolved on egyptian soil, consequently are the true autochthones in the nile valley. yet there is no ethnological question more hotly discussed than this of egyptian origins and culture, for the two seem inseparable. there are broadly speaking two schools: the african, whose fundamental views are thus briefly set forth, and the asiatic, which brings the egyptians with all their works from the neighbouring continent. but, seeing that the egyptians are now admitted to be hamites, that there are no hamites to speak of (let it be frankly said, none at all) in asia, and that they have for untold ages occupied large tracts of africa, there are several members of the asiatic school who allow that, not the people themselves, but their culture only came from western asia (mesopotamia). if so, this culture would presumably have its roots in the delta, which is first reached by the isthmus of suez from asia, and spread thence, say, from memphis up the nile to thebes and upper egypt, and here arises a difficulty. for at that time there was no delta[ ], or at least it was only in process of formation, a kind of debatable region between land and water, inhabitable mainly by crocodiles, and utterly unsuited to become the seat of a culture whose characteristic features are huge stone monuments, amongst the largest ever erected by man, and consequently needing solid foundations on _terra firma_. it further appears that although memphis is very old, thebes is much older, in other words, that egyptian culture began in upper egypt, and spread not up but down the nile. on the other hand the egyptians themselves looked upon the delta as the cradle of their civilisation, although no traces of material culture have survived, or could be expected to survive, in such a soil[ ]. moreover it is not necessary to introduce asiatic invaders by way of lower egypt. f. stuhlmann postulates a land connection between africa and arabia, but even without this assumption he regards the red sea as affording no hindrance to early infiltrations[ ]. flinders petrie, while rejecting any considerable water transport for the uncultured prehistoric egyptians (whom he derives from libya), detects a succession of subsequent invasions from asia, the dynastic race crossing the red sea to the neighbourhood of koptos, and syrian invasions leading to the civilisation of the twelfth dynasty, besides the later hyksos invasions of semito-babylonian stock[ ]. the theory of asiatic origins is clearly summed up by h. h. johnston[ ]. he regards the earliest inhabitants of egypt as a dwarfish negro-like race, not unlike the congo pygmies of to-day (p. ), with possibly some trace of bushman (p. ), but this population was displaced more than , years ago by mediterranean man, who may have penetrated as far as abyssinia, and may have been linguistically parent of the fulah[ ]. the fulah type was displaced by the invasions of the hamites and the libyans or berbers. "the hamites were no doubt of common origin, linguistically and racially, with the semites, and perhaps originated in that great breeding ground of conquering peoples, south-west asia. they preceded the semites, and (we may suppose) after a long stay and concentration in mesopotamia invaded and colonised arabia, southern palestine, egypt, abyssinia, somaliland and north africa to its atlantic shores. the dynastic egyptians were also hamites in a sense, both linguistically and physically; but they seem to have attained to a high civilisation in western arabia, to have crossed the red sea in vessels, and to have made their first base on the egyptian coast near berenice in the natural harbour formed by ras benas. from here a long, broad wadi or valley--then no doubt fertile--led them to the nile in the thebaid, the first seat of their kingly power[ ]. the ancestors of the dynastic egyptians may have originated the great dams and irrigation works in western arabia; and such long struggles with increasing drought may have first broken them in to the arts of quarrying stone blocks and building with stone. over population and increasing drought may have caused them to migrate across the red sea in search of another home; or their migration may have been partly impelled by the semitic hordes from the north, whom we can imagine at this period--some to , years ago--pressing southwards into arabia and conquering or fusing with the preceding hamites; just as these latter, no doubt, at an earlier day, had wrested arabia from the domain of the negroid and dravidian" (p. ). that the founding of the first dynasty was coincident with a physical change in the population, is proved by the thousands of skeletons and mummies examined by elliot smith[ ], who regards the pre-dynastic egyptians as "probably the nearest approximation to that anthropological abstraction, a pure race, that we know of (p. )." he describes the type as follows (chap. iv.). the proto-egyptian (_i.e._ pre-dynastic) was a man of small stature, his mean height, estimated at a little under ft. in., in the flesh for men, and almost ft. in the case of women, being just about the average for mankind in general, whereas the modern egyptian _fellah_ averages about ft. in. he was of very slender build with indications of poor muscular development. in fact there is a suggestion of effeminate grace and frailty about his bones, which is lacking in the more rugged outlines of the skeletons of his more virile successors. the hair of the proto-egyptian was precisely similar to that of the brunet south european or iberian people of the present day. it was a very dark brown or black colour, wavy or almost straight and sometimes curly, never "woolly." there can be no doubt whatever that this dark hair was associated with dark eyes and a bronzed complexion. elliot smith emphatically endorses sergi's identification of the ancient egyptian as belonging to his mediterranean race. "so striking is the family likeness between the early neolithic peoples of the british isles and the mediterranean and the bulk of the population, both ancient and modern, of egypt and east africa, that a description of the bones of an early briton might apply in all essential details to an inhabitant of somaliland." but he points out also that there is an equally close relationship linking the proto-egyptians with the populations to the east, from the red sea as far as india, including semites as well as hamites. rejecting the terms "mediterranean" or "hamite" as inadequate he would classify his mediterranean-hamite-semite group as the "brown race[ ]." a most fortunate combination of circumstances afforded elliot smith an opportunity for determining the ethnic affinities of the egyptian people. the hearst expedition of the university of california, under the direction of g. a. reisner, was occupied from onwards with excavations at naga-ed-dêr in the thebaid, where a cemetery, excavated by a. m. lythgoe, contained well-preserved bodies and skeletons of the earliest known pre-dynastic period. close by was a series of graves of the first and second dynasties; a few hundred yards away tombs of the second to the fifth dynasties (examined by a. c. mace), with a large number of tombs ranging from the time of the sixth dynasty to the twelfth. "thus there was provided a chronologically unbroken series of human remains representing every epoch in the history of upper egypt from prehistoric times, roughly estimated at b.c., up till the close of the middle empire, more than two thousand years later." to complete the story coptic (christian egyptian) graves of the fifth and sixth centuries were discovered on the same site. "the study of this extraordinarily complete series of human remains, providing in a manner such as no other site has ever done the materials for the reconstruction of the racial history of one spot during more than forty-five centuries, made it abundantly clear that the people whose remains were buried just before the introduction of islâm into egypt were of the same flesh and blood as their forerunners in the same locality before the dawn of history. and nine years' experience in the anatomical department of the school of medicine in cairo," continues elliot smith, "has left me in no doubt that the bulk of the present population in egypt conforms to precisely the same racial type, which has thus been dominant in the northern portion of the valley of the nile for sixty centuries[ ]." as early as the second dynasty certain alien traits began to appear, which became comparatively common in the sixth to twelfth series. the non-egyptian characters are observable in remains from numerous sites excavated by flinders petrie in lower and middle egypt, and are particularly marked in the cemetery round the giza pyramids (excavated by the hearst expedition, ), containing remains of more than five hundred individuals, who had lived at the time of the pyramid-builders; they are therefore referred to by elliot smith as "giza traits," and attributed to armenoid influence. soon after the amalgamation of the egyptian kingdoms of upper and lower egypt by menes (mena), consequent perhaps upon the discovery of copper and the invention of metal implements[ ], expeditions were sent beyond the frontiers of the united kingdom to obtain copper ore, wood and other objects. even in the times of the first dynasty the egyptians began the exploitation of the mines in the sinai peninsula for copper ore. it is claimed by meyer[ ] that palestine and the phoenician coast were egyptian dependencies, and there is ample evidence that there was intimate intercourse between egypt and palestine as far north as the lebanons before the end of the third dynasty. from this time forward the physical characters of the people of lower egypt show the results of foreign admixture, and present marked features of contrast to the pure type of upper egypt. the curious blending of characters suggests that the process of racial admixture took place in syria rather than in egypt itself[ ]. the alien type is best shown in the giza necropolis, and its representatives may be regarded as the builders and guardians of the pyramids. the stature is about the same as that of the proto-egyptians, possibly rather lower, but they were built on far sturdier lines, their bones being more massive, with well-developed muscular ridges and impressions, and none of the effeminacy or infantilism of the prehistoric skeletons. the brain-case has greater capacity with no trace of the meagre ill-filled character exhibited by the latter. characteristic peculiarities were the "grecian profile" and a jaw closely resembling those of the round-headed alpine races. these "giza traits" were not a local development, for they have been noted in all parts of palestine and asia minor, and abundantly in persia and afghanistan. they occur in the punjab but are absent from india, having an area of greatest concentration in the neighbourhood of the pamirs; while in a westerly direction, besides being sporadically scattered over north africa, they are recognised again in the extinct guanches of the canary islands. from these considerations elliot smith shapes the following "working hypothesis." "the egyptians, arabs and sumerians may have been kinsmen of the brown race, each diversely specialized by long residence in its own domain; and in pre-dynastic times, before the wider usefulness of copper as a military instrument of tremendous power was realized, the middle pre-dynastic phase of culture became diffused far and wide throughout arabia and sumer. then came the awakening to the knowledge of the supremacy which the possession of metal weapons conferred upon those who wielded them in combat against those not so armed. upper egypt vanquished lower egypt in virtue of this knowledge and the possession of such weapons. the united kingdom pushed its way into syria to obtain wood and ore, and incidentally taught the arabs the value of metal weapons. the arabs thereby obtained the supremacy over the armenoids of northern syria, and the hybrid race of semites formed from this blend were able to descend the euphrates and vanquish the more cultured sumerians, because the latter were without metal implements of war. the non-semitic armenoids of asia minor carried the new knowledge into europe[ ]." this hypothesis might explain some of the difficult problems connecting egypt and babylonia[ ]. the non-asiatic origin of the egyptian people appears to be indicated by recent excavations, but, as mentioned above, there are still many who hold that egyptian culture and civilisation were derived mainly, if not wholly, from asiatic (probably sumerian) sources. the semitic elements existing in the ancient egyptian language, certain resemblances between names of sumerian and egyptian gods, and the similarity of hieroglyphic characters to the sumerian system of writing have been cited as proofs of the dependence of the one culture upon the other; while the introduction of the knowledge of metals, metal-working and the crafts of brick-making and tomb construction have, together with the bulbous mace-head, cylinder-seal and domesticated animals and plants[ ], been traced to babylonia. but the excavations of reisner at naga-ed-dêr and those of naville at abydos ( - ) appear to place the indigenous development of egyptian culture beyond question. reisner's conclusions[ ] are that there was no sudden break of continuity between the neolithic and early dynastic cultures of egypt. no essential change took place in the egyptian conception of life after death, or in the rites and practices accompanying interment. the most noticeable changes, in the character of the pottery and household vessels, in the materials for tools and weapons and the introduction of writing, were all gradually introduced, and one period fades into another without any strongly marked line of division between them. egypt no doubt had trading relations with surrounding countries. egyptians and babylonians must have met in the markets of syria, and in the tents of bedouin chiefs. still, as meyer points out, far from egypt taking over a ready-made civilisation from babylonia, egypt, as regards cultural influence, was the giver not the receiver[ ]. one more alien element in egypt remains to be discussed. most writers on egyptian ethnology detect a negro or at least negroid element in the caucasoid population, and although usually assigning priority to the negro, assume the co-existence of the two races from time immemorial to the present day. measurements on more than individuals were made by c. s. myers, and these are his conclusions. "there is no anthropometric (despite the historic) evidence that the population of egypt, past or present, is composed of several different races. our new anthropometric data favour the view which regards the egyptians always as a homogeneous people, who have varied now towards caucasian, now towards negroid characters (according to environment), showing such close anthropometric affinity to libyan, arabian and like neighbouring peoples, showing such variability and possibly such power of absorption, that from the anthropometric standpoint no evidence is obtainable that the modern egyptians have been appreciably affected by other than sporadic sudanese admixture[ ]." it was seen above (chap. iii.) that non-negro elements are found throughout the sudan from senegal nearly to darfur, nowhere forming the whole of the population, but nearly always the dominant native race. these are the fulah (fula, fulbe or fulani), whose ethnic affinities have given rise to an enormous amount of speculation. their linguistic peculiarity had led many ethnologists to regard them as the descendants of the first white colonists of north africa, "caucasoid invaders," , years ago, prior to hamitic intrusions from the east[ ]. thus would be explained the fact that their language betrays absolutely no structural affinity with semitic or libyo-hamitic groups, or with any other speech families outside africa, though offering faint resemblances in structure with the lesghian[ ] speech of the caucasus and the dravidian tongues of baluchistan and india. physically there seems to be nothing to differentiate them from other blends[ ] of hamite-negro. the physical type of the pure-bred fulah h. h. johnston describes as follows: "tall of stature (but not gigantic, like the nilote and south-east sudanese), olive-skinned or even a pale yellow; well-proportioned, with delicate hands and feet, without steatopygy, with long, oval face, big nose (in men), straight nose in women (nose finely cut, like that of the caucasian), eyes large and "melting," with an egyptian look about them, head-hair long, black, kinky or ringlety, never quite straight[ ]." they were at first a quiet people, herdsmen and shepherds with a high and intricate type of pagan religion which still survives in parts of nigeria. but large numbers of them became converted to islam from the twelfth century onwards and gained some knowledge of the world outside africa by their pilgrimages to mecca. at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth centuries an uprise of muhammadan fanaticism and a proud consciousness of their racial superiority to the mere negro armed them as an aristocracy to wrest political control of all nigeria from the hands of negro rulers or the decaying power of tuareg and songhai. this race was all unconsciously carrying on the caucasian invasion and penetration of africa. a less controversial problem is presented by the eastern hamites, who form a continuous chain of dark caucasic peoples from the mediterranean to the equator, and whose ethnical unity is now established by sergi on anatomical grounds[ ]. bordering on upper egypt, and extending thence to the foot of the abyssinian plateau, is the beja section, whose chief divisions--ababdeh, hadendoa, bisharin, beni amer--have from the earliest times occupied the whole region between the nile and the red sea. c. g. seligman has analysed the physical and cultural characters of the beja tribes (_bisharin_, _hadendoa_ and _beni amer_), the _barabra_, nomad arabs (such as the _kababish_ and _kawahla_), nilotes (_shilluk, dinka, nuer_) and half-hamites (_ba-hima, masai_), in an attempt by eliminating the negro and semitic elements to deduce the main features which may be held to indicate hamitic influence. he regards the _beni amer_ as approximating most closely to the original _beja_ type which he thus describes. "summarizing their physical characteristics it may be said that they are moderately short, slightly built men, with reddish-brown or brown skins in which a greater or less tinge of black is present, while in some cases the skin is definitely darker and presents some shade of brown-black. the hair is usually curly, in some instances it certainly might be described as wavy, but the method of hair dressing adopted tends to make difficult an exact description of its condition. often, as is everywhere common amongst wearers of turbans, the head is shaved.... the face is usually long and oval, or approaching the oval in shape, the jaw is often lightly built, which with the presence of a rather pointed chin may tend to make the upper part of the face appear disproportionately broad. the nose is well shaped and thoroughly caucasian in type and form[ ]." among the hadendoa the "armenoid" or so-called "jewish" nose is not uncommon. seligman draws attention to the close resemblance between the _beja_ type and that of the ancient egyptians. through the afars (danákil) of the arid coastlands between abyssinia and the sea, the bejas are connected with the numerous hamitic populations of the somali and galla lands. for the term "somal," which is quite recent and of course unknown to the natives, h. m. abud[ ] suggests an interesting and plausible explanation. being a hospitable people, and milk their staple food, "the first word a stranger would hear on visiting their kraals would be 'só mál,' _i.e._ 'go and bring milk.'" strangers may have named them from this circumstance, and other tribal names may certainly be traced to more improbable sources. the natives hold that two races inhabit the land: ( ) asha, true somals, of whom there are two great divisions, _dáród_ and _ishák_, both claiming descent from certain noble arab families, though no longer of arab speech; ( ) hÁwÍya, who are not counted by the others as true somals, but only "pagans," and also comprise two main branches, _aysa_ and _gadabursi_. in the national genealogies collected by abud and cox, many of the mythical heroes are buried at or near meit, which may thus be termed the cradle of the somal race. from this point they spread in all directions, the dáróds pushing south and driving the galla beyond the webbe shebel, and till lately raiding them as far as the tana river. it should be noticed that these genealogical tables are far from complete, for they exclude most of the southern sections, notably the _rahanwín_ who have a very wide range on both sides of the jub. in the statements made by the natives about true somals and "pagans," race and religion are confused, and the distinction between asha and háwíya is merely one between moslem and infidel. the latter are probably of much purer stock than the former, whose very genealogies testify to interminglings of the moslem arab intruders with the heathen aborigines. despite their dark colour c. keller[ ] has no difficulty in regarding the somali as members of the "caucasic race." the semitic type crops out decidedly in several groups, and they are generally speaking of fine physique, well grown, with proud bearing and often with classic profile, though the type is very variable owing to arab and negro grafts on the hamitic stock. the hair is never woolly, but, like that of the beja, ringlety and less thick than the abyssinian and galla, sometimes even quite straight. the forehead is finely rounded and prominent, eye moderately large and rather deep-set, nose straight, but also snub and aquiline, mouth regular, lips not too thick, head sub-dolichocephalic. great attention has been paid to all these eastern hamitic peoples by ph. paulitschke[ ], who regards the galla as both intellectually and morally superior to the somals and afars, the chief reason being that the baneful influences exercised by the arabs and abyssinians affect to a far greater extent the two latter than the former group. the galla appear to have reached the african coast before the danákil and somali, but were driven south-east by pressure from the latter, leaving galla remnants as serfs among the southern somali, while the presence of servile negroid tribes among the galla gives proof of an earlier population which they partially displaced. subsequent pressure from the masai on the south forced the galla into contact with the danákil, and a branch penetrating inland established themselves on the north and east of victoria nyanza, where they are known to-day as the ba-hima, wa-tusi, wa-ruanda and kindred tribes, which have been described on p. . the masai, the terror of their neighbours, are a mixture of galla and nilotic negro, producing what has been described as the finest type in africa. the build is slender and the height often over six feet, the face is well formed, with straight nose and finely cut nostrils, the hair is usually frizzly, and the skin dark or reddish brown. they are purely pastoral, possessing enormous herds of cattle in which they take great pride, but they are chiefly remarkable for their military organisation which was hardly surpassed by that of the zulu. they have everywhere found in the agricultural peoples an easy prey, and until the reduction of their wealth by rinderpest (since ) and the restraining influence of the white man, the masai were regarded as an ever-dreaded scourge by all the less warlike inhabitants of eastern africa[ ]. amongst the abyssinian hamites we find the strangest interminglings of primitive and more advanced religious ideas. on a seething mass of african heathendom, already in pre-historic times affected by early semitic ideas introduced by the himyarites from south arabia, was somewhat suddenly imposed an undeveloped form of christianity by the preaching of frumentius in the fourth century, with results that cannot be called satisfactory. while the heterogeneous ethnical elements have been merged in a composite abyssinian nationality, the discordant religious ideas have never yet been fused in a consistent uniform system. hence "abyssinian christianity" is a sort of by-word even amongst the eastern churches, while the social institutions are marked by elementary notions of justice and paradoxical "shamanistic" practices, interspersed with a few sublime moral precepts. many things came as a surprise to the members of the rennell rodd mission[ ], who could not understand such a strange mixture of savagery and lofty notions in a christian community which, for instance, accounted accidental death as wilful murder. the case is mentioned of a man falling from a tree on a friend below and killing him. "he was adjudged to perish at the hands of the bereaved family, in the same manner as the corpse. but the family refused to sacrifice a second member, so the culprit escaped." dreams also are resorted to, as in the days of the pharaohs, for detecting crime. a priest is sent for, and if his prayers and curses fail, a small boy is drugged and told to dream. "whatever person he dreams of is fixed on as the criminal; no further proof is needed.... if the boy does not dream of the person whom the priest has determined on as the criminal, he is kept under drugs until he does what is required of him." to outsiders society seems to be a strange jumble of an iron despotism, which forbids the selling of a horse for over £ under severe penalties, and a personal freedom or licence, which allows the labourer to claim his wages after a week's work and forthwith decamp to spend them, returning next day or next month as the humour takes him. yet somehow things hold together, and a few semitic immigrants from south arabia have for over years contrived to maintain some kind of control over the hamitic aborigines who have always formed the bulk of the population in abyssinia[ ]. footnotes: [ ] _the races of europe: a sociological study_, w. z. ripley, , p. . [ ] "diese namen sind natürlich rein conventionell. sie sind historisch berechtigt ... und mögen geltung behalten, so lange wir keine zutrefferenden an ihre stelle setzen können" (_anthropologische studien_, etc., p. ). [ ] e. meyer, _geschichte des altertums_, , l. , discussing the original home of the indo-europeans (§ , _das problem der heimat und ausbreitung der indogermanen_) remarks (p. ) that the discovery of tocharish (sieg und siegling, "tocharish, die sprache der indo-skythen," _sitz. d. berl. ak._ , p. ff.), a language belonging apparently to the _centum_ (western and european) group, overthrows all earlier conceptions as to the distribution of the indogermans and gives weight to the hypothesis of their asiatic origin. [ ] "io non dubito di denominare _aria_ questa stirpe etc." (_umbri_, _italici_, _arii_, bologna, , p. , and elsewhere). [ ] _anthrop. studien_, p. , "diese gemeinsamkeit der charakteren beweist uns die blutverwandtschaft" (_ib._). [ ] sir w. crooke's anticipation of a possible future failure of the wheat supply as affecting the destinies of the caucasic peoples (_presidential address at meeting br. assoc._ bristol, ) is an economic question which cannot here be discussed. [ ] ph. lake, "the geology of the sahara," in _science progress_, july, . [ ] this name, meaning in berber "running water," has been handed down from a time when the igharghar was still a mighty stream with a northerly course of some miles, draining an area of many thousand square miles, in which there is not at present a single perennial brooklet. it would appear that even crocodiles still survive from those remote times in the so-called lake miharo of the tassili district, where von bary detected very distinct traces of their presence in . a. e. pease also refers to a frenchman "who had satisfied himself of the existence of crocodiles cut off in ages long ago from watercourses that have disappeared" (_contemp. review_, july, ). [ ] _recherches sur les origines de l'egypte: l'age de la pierre et des métaux_, . [ ] _bul. soc. d'anthrop._ , p. . this indefatigable explorer remarks, in reference to the continuity of human culture in tunisia throughout the old and new stone ages, that "ces populations fortement mélangées d'éléments néanderthaloïdes de la kromirie fabriquent encore des vases de tous points analogues à la poterie néolithique" (_ib._). [ ] _the antiquity of man_, , p. . [ ] _africa, antropologia della stirpe camitica_, turin, , p. sq. [ ] "le nord de l'afrique entière, y compris le sahara naguère encore fort peuplé," _i.e._ of course relatively speaking, "du dniester à la caspienne," in _bul. soc. d'anthrop._ , p. sq. [ ] _ibid._ p. sq. [ ] _résumé de l'anthropologie de la tunisie_, , p. sq. [ ] this identity is confirmed by the characters of three skulls from the dolmens of madracen near batna, algeria, now in the constantine museum, found by letourneau and papillaut to present striking affinities with the long-headed cro-magnon race (ceph. index , , ); leptoprosope with prominent glabella, notable alveolar prognathism, and sub-occipital bone projecting chignon-fashion at the back (_bul. soc. d'anthrop._ , p. ). [ ] he shows ("exploration anthropologique de l'ile de gerba," in _l'anthropologie_, , p. sq.) that the north african brown brachycephalics, forming the substratum in mauretania, and very pure in gerba, resemble the european populations the more they have avoided contact with foreign races. he quotes h. martin: "le type brun qui domine dans la grande kabylie du jurjura ressemble singulièrement en majorité au type français brun. si l'on habillait ces hommes de vêtements européens, vous ne les distingueriez pas de paysans ou de soldats français." he compares them especially to the bretons, and agrees with martin that "il y a parmi les berbères bruns des brachycéphales; je croirais volontiers que les brachycéphales bruns sont des ligures. libyens et ligures paraissent avoir été originairement de la même race." he thinks the very names are the same: "[greek: libyes] est exactement le même mot que [greek: ligyes]; rien n'était plus fréquent dans les dialectes primitifs que la mutation du _b_ en _g_." [ ] _the races of europe_, , _passim._ [ ] "les chaouias," etc., in _l'anthropologie_, , p. sq. [ ] _ueber eine schädelsammlung von den kanarischen inseln_, with f. von luschan's appendix; also "ueber die urbewohner der kanarischen inseln," in _bastian-festschrift_, , p. . the inferences here drawn are in substantial agreement with those of henry wallack, in his paper on "the guanches," in _journ. anthr. inst._ june, , p. sq.; and also with j. c. shrubsall, who, however, distinguishes four pre-spanish types from a study of numerous skulls and other remains from tenerife in _proc. cambridge phil. soc._ ix. - . the cave skulls measured by von detloff von behr, _metrische studien an guanchenschädeln_, , agree in the main with earlier results. [ ] for an interpretation of the significance of armenoid skulls in the canary is. see g. elliot smith, _the ancient egyptians_, , pp. - . [ ] "dénombrement et types des crânes néolithiques de la gaule," in _rev. mens. de l'École d'anthrop._ . [ ] t. rice holmes, _ancient britain_, , p. . [ ] "infiltrazioni pacifiche." (_arii e italici_, p. .) [ ] _l'anthr._ xii. , pp. - . [ ] cf. g. elliot smith, _the ancient egyptians_, , p. ff. [ ] t. rice holmes, _caesar's conquest of gaul_, , p. , with list of authorities. see also sigmund feist, _kultur_, _ausbreitung und herkunft der indogermanen_, , p. , and h. h. johnston, "a survey of the ethnography of africa," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xliii. , pp. and . [ ] t. rice holmes, _loc. cit._ p. . [ ] w. wright, _middlesex hospital journal_, xii. , p. . [ ] see a. c. haddon, _the wanderings of peoples_, , pp. , , . [ ] r. s. conway, _the italic dialects_, , and art. "etruria: language," _ency. brit._ . [ ] cf. t. rice holmes, _caesar's conquest of gaul_, , p. . "the truth is that linguistic data are insufficient." [ ] i. . [ ] see p. . [ ] for lydian see e. littmann, _sardis_, "lydian inscriptions," , briefly summarised by p. giles, "some notes on the new lydian inscriptions," _camb. univ. rep._ , p. . [ ] s. feist, _kultur, ausbreitung und herkunft der indogermanen_, , p. . [ ] "the attempts to connect the language with the indo-european family have been unsuccessful," a. h. sayce, art. "lycia," _ency. brit._ . but cf. also s. feist, _loc. cit._ pp. - ; and th. kluge, _die lykier, ihre geschichte und ihre inschriften_, . [ ] a. j. evans, _scripta minoa_, . [ ] t. rice holmes, _caesar's conquest of gaul_, , p. _n._ . [ ] _die verwandtschaft des baskischen mit den berbersprachen nord-afrikas nachgewiesen_, . [ ] "die sprachen waren mit einander verwandt, das stand ausser zweifel." (pref. iv.) [ ] j. vinson (_rev. de linguistique_, xxxviii. , p. ) says, "no more absurd book on basque has appeared of late years." see t. rice holmes, _caesar's conquest of gaul_, , p. _n._ . [ ] "in the general series of organised linguistic families it [basque] would take an intermediate place between the american on the one side and the ugro-altaic or ugrian on the other." wentworth webster and julien vinson, _ency. brit._ , "basques." [ ] see w. z. ripley, _the races of europe_, , chap. viii. "the basques," pp. - . [ ] _rev. mensuelle de l'École d'anthr._ x. , pp. - . [ ] s. feist, _kultur, ausbreitung und herkunft der indogermanen_, . [ ] _hist. de la gaule_, i. , p. . [ ] "la race basque," _l'anthrop._ . [ ] w. z. ripley, _loc. cit._ p. . [ ] _caesar's conquest of gaul_, , p. . cf. j. déchelette (_manuel d'archéologie préhistorique_, ii. , p. ), "as a rule it is wise to attach to this expression (iberian) merely a geographical value." reviewing the problems of iberian origins (which he considers remain unsolved), he quotes as an example of their range, the opinion of c. jullian (_revue des Études anciennes_, , p. ), "there is no iberian race. the iberians were a state constituted at latest towards the th century, in the valley of the ebro, which received, either from strangers or from the indigenous peoples, the name of the river as _nom de guerre_." [ ] j. vinson (_rev. de linguistique_, xl. , pp. , ) divides the iberian inscriptions into three groups, each of which, he believes, represents a different language. [ ] _the mediterranean race_, . [ ] _dict. des sc. anthr._ p. , and _rev. de l'École d'anthr._ xvii. , p. . [ ] _geschichte des altertums_, i. , , p. . [ ] _manuel d'archéologie préhistorique_, ii. , p. _n._, see also p. for archaeological proofs of "ethnographic distinctions." [ ] _hist. de la gaule_, i. chap. iv. the author makes it clear, however, that his "ligurians" are not necessarily an ethnic unit, "de l'unité de nom, ne concluons pas à l'unité de race" ( ), and later (p. ), "ne considérons donc pas les ligures comme les représentants uniformes d'une race déterminée. ils sont la population qui habitait l'europe occidentale avant les invasions connues des celtes ou des Étrusques, avant la naissance des peuples latin ou ibère. ils ne sont pas autre chose." [ ] _gaule av. gaulois_, p. . [ ] _loc. cit._ p. _n._ i. [ ] _early age of greece_, , p. ff., and "who were the romans?" _proc. brit. acad._ iii. , , p. . [ ] see r. s. conway, art. "liguria," _ency. brit._ . it may be noted, however, as feist points out (_ausbreitung und herkunft des indogermanen_, , p. ), this hypothesis rests on slight foundations ("ruht auf schwachen füßen"). [ ] _arii e italici_, p. . [ ] _corresbl. d. d. ges. f. anthrop._, feb. , p. . [ ] yet ligurians are actually planted on the north atlantic coast of spain by s. sempere y miguel (_revista de ciencias historicas_, i. v. ). [ ] _manuel d'archéologie préhistorique_, ii. , p. . [ ] _caesar's conquest of gaul_, , p. . [ ] "la civilisation primitive dans la sicilie orientale," in _l'anthropologie_, , p. sq.; and p. sq. [ ] _præhistorische studien aus sicilien_, quoted by patroni. [ ] p. . [ ] see p. . [ ] it may be mentioned that while penka makes the siculi illyrians from upper italy ("zur paläoethnologie mittel-u. südeuropas," in _wiener anthrop. ges._ , p. ), e. a. freeman holds that they were not only aryans, but closely akin to the romans, speaking "an undeveloped latin," or "something which did not differ more widely from latin than one dialect of greek differed from another" (_the history of sicily_, etc., i. p. ). on the siculi and sicani, see e. meyer, _geschichte des altertums_, , i. , p. , also art. "sicily, history," _ency. brit._ . déchelette (_manuel d'archéologie préhistorique_, ii. , p. ) suggests that sikelos or siculus, the eponymous hero of sicily, may have been merely the personification of the typical ligurian implement, the bronze _sickle_ (lat. secula, sicula). [ ] i. . [ ] vi. . [ ] _parte i. dati antropologici ed etnologici_, rome, . [ ] p. . [ ] _atti soc. rom. d' antrop._ , pp. and . [ ] cf. w. z. ripley, "racial geography of europe," _pop. sci. monthly_, new york, - , and _the races of europe_, , pp. , . [ ] _arii e italici_, p. . hence for these italian ligurians he claims the name of "italici," which he refuses to extend to the aryan intruders in the peninsula. "a questi primi abitatori spetta legittimamente il nome di italici, non a popolazioni successive [aryan umbrians], che avrebbero sloggiato i primi abitanti" (p. ). the result is a little confusing, "italic" being now the accepted name of the italian branch of the aryan linguistic family, and also commonly applied to the aryans of this italic speech, although the word _italia_ itself may have been indigenous (ligurian) and not introduced by the aryans. it would perhaps be better to regard "italia" as a "geographical expression" applicable to all its inhabitants, whatever their origin or speech. [ ] _science progress_, july, . it will be noticed that the facts, accepted by all, are differently interpreted by beddoe and sergi, the latter taking the long-headed element in north italy as the aboriginal (ligurian), modified by the later intrusion of round-headed aryan slavs, teutons, and especially kelts, while beddoe seems to regard the broad-headed alpine as the original, afterwards modified by intrusive long-headed types "germanic, slavic, or of doubtful origin." either view would no doubt account for the present relations; but sergi's study of the prehistoric remains (see above) seems to compel acceptance of his explanation. from the statistics an average height of not more than ft. in. results for the whole of italy. [ ] for the identification of the mediterranean race in greece with the pelasgians, see w. ridgeway, _early age of greece_, i. , though ripley contends (_the races of europe_, , p. ), "positively no anthropological data on the matter exist." [ ] [greek: to tôn pelasgôn genos hellênikon.] [ ] i. . [ ] _il._ x. ; _od._ xix. . [ ] "we recognize in the pelasgi an ancient and honourable race, ante-hellenic, it is true, but distinguished from the hellenes only in the political and social development of their age.... herodotus and others take a prejudiced view when, reasoning back from the subsequent tyrrhenian pelasgi, they call the ancient pelasgians a rude and worthless race, their language barbarous, and their deities nameless. numerous traditionary accounts, of undoubted authenticity, describe them as a brave, moral, and honourable people, which was less a distinct stock and tribe, than a race united by a resemblance in manners and the forms of life" (w. wachsmuth, _the historical antiquities of the greeks_, etc., engl. ed. , i. p. ). remarkable words to have been written before the recent revelations of archaeology in hellas. [ ] that the two cultures went on for a long time side by side is evident from the different social institutions and religious ideas prevailing in different parts of hellas during the strictly historic period. [ ] [greek: kata tên hellada pasan epepolase] (strabo, v. ). this might almost be translated, "they flooded the whole of greece." [ ] _early age of greece_, , chaps. i. and ii. [ ] _od._ xix. [ ] thuc. i. . [ ] this idea of an independent evolution of western (european) culture is steadily gaining ground, and is strenuously advocated, amongst others, by m. salomon reinach, who has made a vigorous attack on what he calls the "oriental mirage," _i.e._ the delusion which sees nothing but asiatic or egyptian influences everywhere. sergi of course goes further, regarding the mediterranean (iberian, ligurian, pelasgian) cultures not only as local growths, but as independent both of asiatics and of the rude aryan hordes, who came rather as destroyers than civilisers. this is one of the fundamental ideas pervading the whole of his _arii e italici_, and some earlier writings. [ ] pausanias, iii. . . [ ] g. sergi, _the mediterranean race_, . in the main he is supported by philologists. "the languages of the indigenous peoples throughout asia minor and the aegean area are commonly believed to have been non-indo-european." h. m. chadwick, _the heroic age_, , p. n. [ ] w. ridgeway, _the early age of greece_, , p. ff. [ ] _the dawn of history_, , p. . for his views on pelasgians, see _journ. hell. st._ , p. , and the art. "pelasgians" in _ency. brit._ . [ ] e. petersen and f. von luschan, _reisen in lykien_, . [ ] w. z. ripley, _the races of europe_, p. ff. the map (facing p. ) does not include greece, and the grouping is based on language, not race. [ ] the mykenaean skull found by bent at antiparos is described as "abnormally dolichocephalic." w. ridgeway, _early age of greece_, i. , p. . [ ] but in ridgeway's view the "classical hellenes" were descendants of tall fair-haired invaders from the north, and in this he has the concurrence of j. l. myres, _the dawn of history_, , p. . [ ] _mitt. d. k. d. inst. athen._ xxx. see h. r. hall, _ancient history of the near east_, , pp. - . [ ] _geschichte des altertums_, i. , , § . [ ] for a discussion of the meaning of "pelasgic argos" see h. m. chadwick, _the heroic age_, , pp. ff. and - , and for his criticism of meyer, p. . [ ] but see w. ridgeway, _early age of greece_, i. , p. ff. [ ] art. "indo-european languages," _ency. brit._ . [ ] r. s. conway, art. "aegean civilisation," in _ency. brit._ , whence this summary is derived, including the chronology, which is not in all respects universally adopted (see p. ). for a full discussion of the chronology see j. déchelette, _manuel d'archéologie préhistorique_, vol. ii. , _archéologie celtique ou protohistorique_, ch. ii. § v. chronologie égéenne, p. ff. [ ] in his valuable and comprehensive work, _africa: antropologia della stirpe camitica_, turin, . it must not be supposed that this classification is unchallenged. t. a. joyce, "hamitic races and languages," _ency. brit._ , points out that it is impossible to prove the connection between the eastern and northern hamites. the former have a brown skin, with frizzy hair, and are nomadic or semi-nomadic pastors; the latter, whom he would call not hamites at all, but the libyan variety of the mediterranean race, are a white people, with curly hair, and their purest representatives, the berbers, are agriculturalists. for the fullest and most recent treatment of the subject see the monumental work of oric bates, _the eastern libyans: an essay_, , with bibliography. [ ] "les maures du sénégal," _l'anthropologie_, , p. sq. [ ] that is, the _sanhaja-an litham_, those who wear the _litham_ or veil, which is needed to protect them from the sand, but has now acquired religious significance, and is never worn by the "moors." [ ] p. . [ ] see f. stuhlmann's invaluable work on african culture and race distribution, _handwerk und industrie in ostafrika_, , especially the map showing the distribution of the hamites, pl. ii. b. [ ] the kababish and baggara tribes, chief mainstays of former sudanese revolts, claim to be of unsullied arab descent with long fictitious pedigrees going back to early muhammadan times (see p. ). [ ] "les chaouias," _l'anthropologie_, , p. . [ ] p. . [ ] the words collected by sir h. h. johnston at dwirat in tunis show a great resemblance with the language of the saharan tuaregs, and the sheikh of that place "admitted that his people could understand and make themselves understood by those fierce nomads, who range between the southern frontier of algeria and tunis and the sudan" (_geogr. jour._, june, , p. ). [ ] cf. meinhof, _die moderne sprachforschung in africa_, . [ ] _ti-bu_ = "rock people"; cf. _kanem-bu_ = "kanem people," southernmost branch of the family on north side of lake chad. [ ] [greek: ontôn de kai autôn êdê mallon aithiopôn] (i. ). i take [greek: êdê], which has caused some trouble to commentators, here to mean that, as you advance southwards from the mediterranean seaboard, you find yourself on entering garamantian territory already rather amongst ethiopians than libyans. [ ] reclus, eng. ed. vol. xi. p. . for the complicated ancestral mixture producing the tibu see sir h. h. johnston, "a survey of the ethnography of africa," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xliii. , p. . [ ] reclus, eng. ed. vol. xi. p. . [ ] from the enormous sheets of tuffs near the kharga oasis zettel, geologist of g. rohlf's expedition in , considered that even this sandy waste might have supported a rich vegetation in quaternary times. [ ] see _histoire de la civilisation Égyptienne_, g. jéquier, , p. ff. also, concerning pottery, e. naville, "the origin of egyptian civilisation," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xxxvii. , p. . [ ] the egyptians themselves had a tradition that when menes moved north he found the delta still under water. the sea reached almost as far as the fayum, and the whole valley, except the thebais, was a malarious swamp (herod. ii. ). thus late into historic times memories still survived that the delta was of relatively recent formation, and that the _retu_ (_romitu_ of the pyramid texts, later _rotu_, _romi_, etc.) had already developed their social system before the lower nile valley was inhabitable. hence whether the nile took , years (schweinfurth) or over , , as others hold, to fill in its estuary, the beginning of the egyptian prehistoric period must still be set back many millenniums before the new era. "ce que nous savons du sahara, lui-même alors sillonné de rivières, atteste qu'il [the delta] ne devait pas être habitable, pas être constitué à l'époque quaternaire" (m. zaborowski, _bul. soc. d'anthrop._ , p. ). [ ] g. jéquier, _histoire de la civilisation Égyptienne_, , p. , but see e. naville, "the origin of egyptian civilisation," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xxxvii. , p. . [ ] _handwerk und industrie in ostafrika_, , p. . [ ] "migrations," _journ. anthr. inst._ xxxvi. . [ ] "a survey of the ethnography of africa," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xliii. . [ ] see p. below. [ ] for an alternative route see e. naville, "the origin of egyptian civilisation," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xxxvii. , p. ; j. l. myres, _the dawn of history_, , pp. - , also p. , and the criticism of elliot smith, _the ancient egyptians_, , pp. - . [ ] _the ancient egyptians_, . [ ] _the ancient egyptians_, , pp. , , . [ ] _the ancient egyptians_, , pp. - . [ ] g. elliot smith, _loc. cit._ pp. and . [ ] e. meyer, _geschichte des altertums_, i. , , §§ , , . [ ] g. elliot smith, _the ancient egyptians_, , p. , but for a different interpretation see j. l. myres, _the dawn of history_, pp. and . [ ] _loc. cit._ p. . [ ] h. r. hall (_the ancient history of the near east_, , p. _n._ ) sees "no resemblance whatever between the facial traits of the memphite grandees of the old kingdom and those of hittites, syrians, or modern anatolians, armenians or kurds. they were much more like south europeans, like modern italians or cretans." [ ] cf. h. h. johnston, "a survey of the ethnography of africa," _journ. roy. anthr. soc._ xliii. , p. , and also e. naville, "the origin of egyptian civilisation," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xxxvii. , p. . [ ] g. a. reisner, "the early dynastic cemeteries of naga-ed-dêr," part . vol. ii. of _university of california publications_, , summarised by l. w. king, _history of sumer and akkad_, , pp. , . [ ] _geschichte des altertums_, i. , , p. . [ ] _journ. anthr. inst._ xxxiii. , xxxv. , xxxvi. , and _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xxxviii. . [ ] cf. h. h. johnston, "a survey of the ethnography of africa," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xliii. , p. . [ ] no physical affinity is suggested. the lesghian tribes "betray an accentuated brachycephaly, equal to that of the pure mongols about the caspians." w. z. ripley, _the races of europe_, p. . [ ] j. deniker, _the races of man_, , p. , places the fulahs in a separate group, the fulah-zandeh group. cf. also a. c. haddon, _the wanderings of peoples_, , p. . [ ] _loc. cit._ p. _n._ [ ] _africa_, , _passim_. [ ] "some aspects of the hamitic problem in the anglo-egyptian sudan," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xliii. , p. . see also c. crossland, _desert and water gardens of the red sea_, . [ ] _genealogies of the somal_, . [ ] "reisestudien in den somaliländern," _globus_, lxx. p. sq. [ ] _ethnographie nord-ost-afrikas: die geistige kultur der danákil, galla u. somâl_, , vols. [ ] m. merker, _die masai_, ; a. c. hollis, _the masai, their language and folklore_, . c. dundas, "the organization and laws of some bantu tribes in east africa," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xlv. , pp. - , thinks that the power of the masai was over-rated, and that the galla were really a fiercer race. he quotes krapf, "give me the galla and i have central africa." the _nandi_ (an allied tribe) are described by a. c. hollis, , and _the suk_ by m. w. h. beech, . [ ] a. e. w. gleichen, _rennell rodd's mission to menelik_, . [ ] among recent works on abyssinia may be mentioned a. b. wylde, _modern abyssinia_, ; h. weld blundell, "a journey through abyssinia," _geog. journ._ xv. , and "exploration in the abai basin," _ib._ xxvii. ; the _anthropological survey of abyssinia_ published by the french government in ; and various publications of the princeton university expedition to abyssinia, edited by e. littmann. chapter xiv the caucasic peoples (_continued_) the semites--cradle, origins, and migrations--divisions: semitic migrations--babylonia, people and civilisation--assyria, people and civilisation--syria and palestine--_canaanites_: _amorites_: _phoenicians_--_the jews_--origins--early and later dispersions-- diverse physical types--present range and population-- the hittites--conflicting theories--_the arabs_--spread of the arab race and language--semitic monotheism--its evolution. the himyaritic immigrants, who still hold sway in a foreign land, have long ceased to exist as a distinct nationality in their own country, where they had nevertheless ages ago founded flourishing empires, centres of one of the very oldest civilisations of which there is any record. should future research confirm the now generally received view that hamites and semites are fundamentally of one stock, a view based both on physical and linguistic data[ ], the cradle of the semitic branch will also probably be traced to south arabia, and more particularly to that south-western region known to the ancients as arabia felix, _i.e._ the yemen of the arabs. while asia and africa were still partly separated in the north by a broad marine inlet before the formation of the nile delta, easy communication was afforded between the two continents farther south at the head of the gulf of aden, where they are still almost contiguous. by this route the primitive hamito-semitic populations may have moved either westwards into africa, or, as has also been suggested, eastwards into asia, where in the course of ages the semitic type became specialised. on this assumption south arabia would necessarily be the first home of the semites, who in later times spread thence north and east. they appear as _babylonians_ and _assyrians_ in mesopotamia; as _phoenicians_ on the syrian coast; as _arabs_ on the nejd steppe; as _canaanites_, _moabites_ and others in and about palestine; as _amorites_ (_aramaeans, syrians_) in syria and asia minor. this is the common view of semitic origins and early migrations, but as practically no systematic excavations have been possible in arabia, owing to political conditions and the attitude of the inhabitants, definite archaeological or anthropological proofs are still lacking. the hypothesis would, however, seem to harmonise well with all the known conditions. in the first place is to be considered the very narrow area occupied by the semites, both absolutely and relatively to the domains of the other fundamental ethnical groups. while the mongols are found in possession of the greater part of asia, and the hamites with the mediterraneans are diffused over the whole of north africa, south and west europe since the stone ages, the semites, excluding later expansions--himyarites to abyssinia, phoenicians to the shores of the mediterranean, moslem arabs to africa, irania, and transoxiana--have always been confined to the south-west corner of asia, comprising very little more than the arabian peninsula, mesopotamia, syria, and (doubtfully) parts of asia minor. moreover the whole mental outlook of the semites, their mode of thought, their religion and organisation, indicate their derivation from a desert people; while in arabia are found at the present time the purest examples not only of semitic type, but also of semitic speech[ ]. their early history, however, as pointed out above, still awaits the spade of the archaeologist, and the earliest migrations that can be definitely traced are in the form of invasions of already established states[ ]. the first great wave of semitic migration from arabia is placed in the fourth millennium b.c., to or earlier; it affected babylonia and probably syria and palestine, judging from the palestinian place-names belonging to this "babylonian-semitic" period, and the close connection between palestine and babylonia in culture and in religious ideas, indicating prehistoric relationship[ ]. a second wave, winckler's canaanitic or amoritic migration, followed in the third millennium, covering babylonia, laying the foundations of the assyrian empire, invading syria and palestine (phoenicians, amorites) and possibly later egypt (_hyksos_). a third wave, the aramaean, which spread over babylonia, mesopotamia and syria in the second millennium, was preceded by the swarming into syria from the desert of the khabiri (habiru) or hebrews (edomites, moabites, ammonites and israelites among others). from the same area the suti pressed into babylonia about , followed by another branch, the chaldeans from eastern arabia. these are but a few of the earlier waves of migration from the south of which traces can be detected in western asia. of all invasions from the north, that of the hittites is the most important and the most confusing. the hittites appear to have moved south from cappadocia about b.c., and they are found warring against babylonia in the eighteenth century. a hittite dynasty flourished at mittanni - and in the fourteenth and thirteenth centuries they conquered and largely occupied syria[ ]. invasions of phrygians and philistines from the west followed the breaking up of the hittite empire. the last great semitic migration was the most widespread of all. "it issued, like its predecessors, along the whole margin of the desert, and in the course of a century had flooded not only syria and egypt, but all north africa and spain; it had occupied sicily, raided constance, and in france was only checked at poitiers in . eastward it flooded persia, founded an empire in india, and carried war and commerce by sea past singapore[ ]." "thus western asia has been swept times and again, almost without number, by conquering hordes and the no less severe ethnical disturbances of peaceful infiltrations converging from every point of the compass in turn.... how, then, is it possible to learn anything today from the contents of this cauldron, filled with such an assortment of ingredients and still seething from the effects of the disturbance incidental to the harsh mixing of such incompatible elements[ ]?" some of the problems must for the present be regarded as insoluble, but with the evidence provided by archaeologists and anthropologists an attempt may be made to read the ethnological history in these obscure regions. the earliest semitic wave was traceable in babylonia, but, as seen above, opinions differ as to its origin and date. "at what period the semites first invaded babylonia, when and where they first attained supremacy, are not yet matters of history. we find semites in the land and in possession of considerable power almost as early as we can go back[ ]." the characteristic semitic features are clearly marked, and the language is closely connected with canaanitic and assyrian[ ]. from the monuments we learn that the babylonian semites had full beards and wore their hair long, contrasting sharply with the shaven sumerians, and thus gaining the epithet "the black-headed ones." in nose and lips, as in dress, they are clearly distinct from the sumerian type[ ]. when history commences, the inhabitants of babylonia were already highly civilised. they lived in towns, containing great temples, and were organised in distinct classes or occupations, and possessed much wealth in sheep and cattle, manufactured goods, gold, silver and copper. engraving on metals and precious stones, statuary, architecture, pottery, weaving and embroidery, all show a high level of workmanship. they possessed an elaborate and efficient system of writing, extensively used and widely understood, consisting of a number of signs, obviously descended from a form of picture writing, but conventionalised to an extent that usually precludes the recognition of the original pictures. this writing was made by the impression of a stylus on blocks or cakes of fine clay while still quite soft. these "tablets" were sun-dried, but occasionally baked hard. this cuneiform writing was adopted by, or was common to, many neighbouring nations, being freely used in elam, armenia and northern mesopotamia as far as cappadocia. assyrian culture was founded upon that of babylonia, but the assyrians appear to have differed from the babylonians in character, though not in physical type[ ], while they were closely related in speech. "the assyrians differed markedly from the babylonians in national character. they were more robust, warlike, fierce, than the mild industrial people of the south. it is doubtful if they were much devoted to agriculture or distinguished for manufactures, arts and crafts. they were essentially a military folk. the king was a despot at home, but the general of the army abroad. the whole organisation of the state was for war. the agriculture was left to serfs or slaves. the manufactures, weaving at any rate, were done by women. the guilds of workmen were probably foreigners, as the merchants mostly were. the great temples and palaces, walls and moats, were constructed by captives.... for the greater part of its existence assyria was the scourge of the nations and sucked the blood of other races. it lived on the tribute of subject states, and conquest ever meant added tribute in all necessaries and luxuries of life, beside an annual demand for men and horses, cattle and sheep, grain and wool to supply the needs of the army and the city[ ]." the early history of syria and palestine is by no means clear, although much light has been shed in recent years by the excavations of r. a. s. macalister at gezer[ ], where remains were found of a pre-semitic race, of ernst sellin at tell ta'anek and jericho[ ], and the labours of the _deutscher palästina-verein_ and especially g. schumacher at megiddo[ ]. caves apparently occupied by man in the neolithic period were discovered at gezer, and are dated at about to b.c. from their position below layers in which egyptian scarabs appear. fragments of bones give indications of the physical type. none of the individuals exceeded ft. inches ( . m.) in height, and most were under ft. inches ( . m.). they were muscular, with elongated crania and thick heavy skull-bones. from their physical characters it could be clearly seen that they did not belong to the semitic race. they burned their dead, a non-semitic custom, a cave being fitted up as a crematorium, with a chimney cut up through the solid rock to secure a good draught[ ]. the first great influx of semitic nomads is conjectured to have reached babylonia, not from the south, but from the north-west, after traversing the syrian coast lands. they left colonists behind them in this region, who afterwards as the amurru (amorites) pressed on in their turn into babylonia and established the earliest independent dynasty in babylon[ ]. the second great wave of semitic migration appears to have included the phoenicians[ ], so called by the greeks, though they called themselves canaanites and their land canaan[ ], and are referred to in the old testament, as in inscriptions at tyre, as "sidonians." they themselves had a tradition that their early home was on the persian gulf, a view held by theodore bent and others[ ], and recent discoveries emphasise the close cultural (not necessarily racial) connection between palestine and babylonia[ ]. the weakening of egyptian hold upon palestine about the fourteenth century b.c. encouraged incursions of restless habiru (habiri) from the syrian deserts, commonly identified with the hebrews, and invasions of hittites from the north. in the thirteenth century egypt recovered palestine, leaving the hittites in possession of syria. about this time the coast was invaded by levantines, including the purasati, in whom may perhaps be recognised the philistines, who gave their name to palestine[ ]. with the hebrew or israelitish inhabitants of south syria (canaan, palestine, "land of promise") we are here concerned only in so far as they form a distinct branch of the semitic family. the term "jews[ ]," properly indicating the children of judah, fourth son of jacob, has long been applied generally to the whole people, who since the disappearance of the ten northern tribes have been mainly represented by the tribe of judah, a remnant of benjamin and a few levites, _i.e._ the section of the nation which to the number of some , returned to south palestine (kingdom of judaea) after the babylonian captivity. these were doubtless later joined by some of the dispersed northern tribes, who from jacob's alternative name were commonly called the "ten tribes of israel." but all such israelites had lost their separate nationality, and were consequently absorbed in the royal tribe of judah. since the suppression of the various revolts under the empire, the judaei themselves have been a dispersed nationality, and even before those events numerous settlements had been made in different parts of the greek and roman worlds, as far west as tripolitana, and also in arabia and abyssinia. but most of the present communities probably descend from those of the great dispersion after the fall of jerusalem ( a.d.), increased by considerable accessions of converted "gentiles," for the assumption that they have made few or no converts is no longer tenable. in exile they have been far more a religious body than a broken nation, and as such they could not fail under favourable conditions to spread their teachings, not only amongst their christian slaves, but also amongst peoples, such as the abyssinian falashas, of lower culture than themselves. in pre-muhammadan times many arabs of yemen and other districts had conformed, and some of their jewish kings (asad abu-karib, dhu nowas, and others) are still remembered. about the seventh century all the khazars--a renowned turki people of the volga, the crimea, and the caspian--accepted judaism, though they later conformed to russian orthodoxy. the visigoth persecution of the spanish jews (fifth and sixth centuries) was largely due to their proselytising zeal, against which, as well as against jewish and christian mixed marriages, numerous papal decrees were issued in medieval times. to this process of miscegenation is attributed the great variety of physical features observed amongst the jews of different countries[ ], while the distinctly red type cropping out almost everywhere has been traced by sayce and others to primordial interminglings with the amorites ("red people"). "uniformity only exists in the books and not in reality. there are jews with light and with dark eyes, jews with straight and with curly hair, jews with high and narrow and jews with short and broad, noses; their cephalic index oscillates between and --as far as this index ever oscillates in the _genus homo_[ ]!" nevertheless certain marked characteristics--large hooked nose, prominent watery eyes, thick pendulous and almost everted under lip, rough frizzly lustreless hair--are sufficiently general to be regarded as racial traits. the race is richly endowed with the most varied qualities, as shown by the whole tenour of their history. originally pure nomads, they became excellent agriculturists after the settlement in canaan, and since then they have given proof of the highest capacity for science, letters, erudition of all kinds, finance, music, and diplomacy. the reputation of the medieval arabs as restorers of learning is largely due to their wise tolerance of the enlightened jewish communities in their midst, and on the other hand spain and portugal have never recovered from the national loss sustained by the expulsion of the jews in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. in late years the persecutions, especially in russia, have caused a fresh exodus from the east of europe, and by the aid of philanthropic capitalists flourishing agricultural settlements have been founded in palestine and argentina. from statistics taken in various places up to the jewish communities are at present estimated at about , , , of whom three-fourths are in europe, , in africa, , in asia, the rest in america and australia[ ]. intimately associated with all these aramaic canaanitic semites were a mysterious people who have been identified with the _hittites_[ ] of scripture, and to whom this name has been extended by common consent. they are also identified with the _kheta_ of the egyptian monuments[ ], as well as with the _khatti_ of the assyrian cuneiform texts. indeed all these are, without any clear proof, assumed to be the same people, and to them are ascribed a considerable number of stones, cylinders, and gems from time to time picked up at various points between the middle euphrates and the mediterranean, engraved in a kind of hieroglyphic or rather pictorial script, which has been variously deciphered according to the bias or fancy of epigraphists. this simply means that the "hittite texts" have not yet been interpreted, and are likely to remain unexplained, until a clue is found in some bilingual document, such as the rosetta stone, which surrendered the secret of the egyptian hieroglyphs. l. messerschmidt, editor of a number of hittite texts[ ], declared (in ) that only one sign in two hundred had been interpreted with any certainty[ ], and although the system of a. h. sayce[ ] is based on a scientific plan, his decipherments must for the present remain uncertain. the important tablets found by h. winckler in [ ] at boghaz keui in cappadocia, identified with khatti, the hittite capital, have thrown much light on hittite history, and support many of sayce's conjectures. the records show that the hittites were one of the great nations of antiquity, with a power extending at its prime from the asiatic coast of the aegean to mesopotamia, and from the black sea to kadesh on the orontes, a power which neither egypt nor assyria could withstand. "it is still not certain to which of the great families of nations they belonged. the suggestion has been made that their language has certain indo-european characteristics; but for the present it is safer to regard them as an indigenous race of asia minor. their strongly-marked facial type, with long, straight nose and receding forehead and chin, is strikingly reproduced on all their monuments, and suggests no comparison with aryan or semitic stocks[ ]." f. von luschan, however, is able to throw some light on the ethnological history of the hittites. when investigating the early inhabitants of western asia he was constantly struck by the appearance of a markedly non-semitic type, which he called "armenoid." the most typical were the tahtadji or woodcutters of western lycia living up in the mountains and totally distinct in every way from their mohammedan neighbours. "their somatic characters are remarkably homogeneous; they have a tawny white skin, much hair on the face, straight hair, dark brown eyes, a narrow, generally aquiline nose, and a very short and high head. the cephalic index varies only from to , with a maximum frequency of [ ]." similar types were found in the bektash, who are town-dwellers in lycia, and in the ansariyeh in northern syria. in upper mesopotamia these features occur again among the kyzylbash, and in western kurdistan among the yezidi. "we find a small minority of groups possessing a similarity of creed and a remarkable uniformity of type, scattered over a vast part of western asia. i see no other way to account for this fact than to assume that the members of all these sects are the remains of an old homogeneous population, which have preserved their religion and have therefore refrained from intermarriage with strangers and so preserved their old physical characteristics[ ]." they all speak the languages of their orthodox neighbours, turkish, arabic and kurdish, but are absolutely homogeneous as to their somatic characters. two other groups with the same physical type are the druses of the lebanon and antilebanos country, who speak arabic and pass officially as mohammedans, though their secret creed contains many christian, jewish and pantheistic elements. to the north of the druses are the christian maronites, said to be the descendants of a monophysite sect, separated from the common christian church after the council of chalcedon in a.d. "partly through their isolation in the mountains, partly through their not intermarrying with their mahometan or druse neighbours, the maronites of today have preserved an old type in almost marvellous purity. in no other oriental group is there a greater number of men with extreme height of the skull and excessive flattening of the occipital region than among the maronites.... very often their occiput is so steep that one is again and again inclined to think of artificial deformation." but "no such possibility is found[ ]." these hypsibrachycephalic groups with high narrow noses, found also in persia, among turks, greeks, and still more commonly among armenians, were first ( ) called by von luschan "armenoid," but "there can be no doubt that they are all descended from tribes belonging to the great hittite empire. so it is the type of the hittites that has been preserved in all these groups for more than years[ ]." as to their primordial home von luschan connects them with the "alpine race" of central europe, but leaves it an open question whether the hittites came from central europe, or the alpine race from western asia, though inclining to the latter view. the high narrow nose (the essential somatic difference between the hittites and the other brachycephalic arabs) "originated as a merely accidental mutation and was then locally fixed, either by a certain tendency of taste and fashion or by long, perhaps millennial in-breeding. the 'hittite nose' has finally become a dominant characteristic in the mendelian sense, and we see it, not only in the actual geographical province of the alpine race, but often enough also here in england[ ]." in arabia itself inscriptions point to the early existence of civilised kingdoms, among which those of the sabaeans[ ] and the minaeans[ ] stand out most clearly, though their dates and even their chronological order are much disputed. possibly both lasted until the rise of the himyarites at the beginning of the christian era. all are agreed however that arabian civilisation reached a very high level in the centuries preceding the birth of the prophet, before the increase in shipping led to the abandonment of the caravan trade. the modern inhabitants are divided into the southern arabians, mainly settled agriculturalists of yemen, hadramaut and oman, who trace their descent from shem, and the northern arabians (bedouin[ ]), pastoral tribes, who trace their descent from ishmael. the two groups have even been considered ethnologically distinct, but, as von luschan points out, "peninsular arabia is the least-known land in the world, and large regions of it are even now absolutely _terrae incognitae_, so great caution is necessary in forming conclusions, from the measurements of a few dozens of men, concerning the anthropology of a land more than five times as great as france[ ]." his measurements of "the only real semites, the bedawy," gave a cephalic index ranging from to , while the nose was short and fairly broad, very seldom of a "jewish type." recently seligman[ ] has shown that whereas the semites of northern arabia conform more or less to the type just mentioned those of southern arabia are of low or median stature ( . - . m., - / - in.), and are predominantly brachycephalic, the cephalic index ranging from to , with an average of about . elsewhere--iberia, sicily, malta[ ], irania, central asia, malaysia--the arab invaders have failed to preserve either their speech or their racial individuality. in some places (spain, portugal, sicily) they have disappeared altogether, leaving nothing behind them beyond some slight linguistic traces, and the monuments of their wonderful architecture, crumbling alhambras or stupendous mosques re-consecrated as christian temples. but in the eastern lands their influence is still felt by multitudes, who profess islám and use the arabic script in writing their persian, turki, or malay languages, because some centuries ago those regions were swept by a tornado of rude bedouin fanatics, or else visited by peaceful traders and missionaries from the arabian peninsula. the monotheism proclaimed by these zealous preachers is often spoken of as a special inheritance of the semitic peoples, or at least already possessed by them at such an early period in their life-history as to seem inseparable from their very being. but it was not so. before the time of allah or of jahveh every hill-top had its tutelar deity; the caves and rocks and the very atmosphere swarmed with "jins"; assyrian and phoenician pantheons, with their baals, and molochs, and astartes and adonais, were as thickly peopled as those of the hellenes and hindus, and in this, as in all other natural systems of belief, the monotheistic concept was gradually evolved by a slow process of elimination. nor was the process perfected by all the semitic peoples--canaanites, assyrians, amorites, phoenicians, and others having always remained at the polytheistic stage--but only by the hebrews and the arabs, the two more richly endowed members of the semitic family. even here a reservation has to be made, for we now know that there was really but one evolution, that of jahveh, the adoption of the idea embodied in allah being historically traceable to the jewish and christian systems. as jastrow points out, the higher religious and ethical movement began with moses, who invested the national jahveh with ethical traits, thus paving the way for the wider conceptions of the prophets. "the point of departure in the hebrew religion from that of the semitic in general did not come until the rise of a body of men who set up a new ideal of divine government of the universe, and with it as a necessary corollary a new standard of religious conduct. throwing aside the barriers of tribal limitations to the jurisdiction of a deity, it was the hebrew prophets who first prominently and emphatically brought forth the view of a divine power conceived in spiritual terms, who, in presiding over the universe and in controlling the fates of nations and individuals, acts from self-imposed laws of righteousness tempered with mercy[ ]." footnotes: [ ] the divergent views of orientalists concerning semitic (linguistic) origins are summarised by w. z. ripley, _the races of europe_, , p. . [ ] e. meyer, _geschichte des altertums_, i. , , § . o. procksch, however, while regarding the origin of the semites as an unsolved problem, considers arabia as their centre of dispersal rather than their original home. as far as early semitic migrations can be traced he thinks they indicate a north to south direction, and he sees no cause for disputing the biblical account (_gen._ ii. ff.) deriving the descendants of shem "from the neighbourhood of ararat, i.e. armenia, across the taurus to the north syrian plain." "die völker altpalästinas," _das land der bibel_, i. , , p. . cf. also j. l. myres, _the dawn of history_, , p. . [ ] for the discussion as to whether semites or sumerians were the earlier occupants of babylonia see p. above. [ ] hugo winckler, "die völker vorderasiens," _der alte orient_, i. , pp. - and _auszug aus der vorderasiatische geschichte_, , p. . [ ] cf. a. c. haddon, _wanderings of peoples_, , p. . [ ] j. l. myres, _the dawn of history_, , pp. - . for an admirable description of the semitic migrations see pp. - , and for the geographical aspect, see e. c. semple, _influences of geographic environment: on the basis of ratzel's system of anthropo-geography_, , pp. - and under "nomads" in the index. [ ] g. elliot smith, _the ancient egyptians_, , p. . [ ] c. h. w. johns, _ancient babylonia_, , pp. - . for culture see pp. - . [ ] o. procksch, "die völker altpalästinas," _das land der bibel_, i. , . [ ] cf. e. meyer, "sumerier und semiten in babylonien," _abh. der königl. preuss. akad. der wissenschaft_. ; l. w. king, _history of sumer and akkad_, , p. ff. [ ] in the assyrians von luschan detects traces of the hyperbrachycephalic people of asia minor and armenia, for they appear to differ from the pure semites especially in the shape of the nose. meyer regards this variation as possibly due to a prehistoric population, but, he adds, studies of physical types both historically and anthropologically are in their infancy. e. meyer, _geschichte des altertums_, i. , , § a. [ ] c. h. w. johns, _ancient assyria_, , p. . [ ] _palestine exploration fund quarterly statements_, onwards. see also l. b. paton, art. "canaanites," in hastings' _encyclopaedia of religion and ethics_. [ ] tell ta'anek, , _denkschriften_, vienna academy, and "the german excavations at jericho," _pal. expl. fund quart. st._ . [ ] _tell el-mutesellim_, . [ ] _palestine exploration fund quarterly statements_, , p. ff. [ ] l. w. king, _history of sumer and akkad_, , p. ; c. h. w. johns, _ancient babylonia_, , pp. - ; l. b. paton, art. "canaanites," hastings' _ency. of religion and ethics_, ; e. meyer, _geschichte des altertums_, i. , , §§ , ; o. procksch, "die völker altpalästinas," _das land der bibel_, i. , , p. ff.; g. maspero, _the struggle of the nations, egypt, syria, and assyria_, . [ ] [greek: phoinikes], probably meaning red, either on account of their sun-burnt skin, or from the dye for which they were famous. for the phoenician physical type cf. w. z. ripley, _races of europe_, , pp. , . [ ] in the old testament "canaanite" and "amorite" are usually synonymous. [ ] a. c. haddon, _wanderings of peoples_, , p. . for a general account of phoenician history see j. p. mahaffy, in hutchinson's _history of the nations_, , p. ff. [ ] cf. morris jastrow, _hebrew and babylonian traditions_ (haskell lectures), . [ ] see s. a. cook, art. "jews," _ency. brit._ ; o. procksch, "die völker altpalästinas," _das land der bibel_, i. , , p. ff. [ ] from old french _juis_, lat. _judaei_, _i.e._ sons of jehúdah (judah). see my article, "jews," in cassell's _storehouse of general information_, , from which i take many of the following particulars. [ ] w. m. flinders petrie attributes the variation to environment, not miscegenation. "history and common observation lead us to the equally legitimate conclusion that the country and not the race determines the cranium." "migrations," _journ. anthr. inst._ xxxvi. , p. . he is here criticising the excellent discussion of the whole question in w. z. ripley's _the races of europe_, , chap. xiv. "the jews and semites," pp. - , with bibliography. cf. also r. n. salaman, "heredity and the jews," _journ. of genetics_, i. p. . [ ] f. von luschan, "the early inhabitants of western asia," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xli. , p. . [ ] m. fishberg, _the jews_, , p. . [ ] as heth, settled in hebron (_gen._ xxiii. ) and the central uplands (_num._ xiii. ) but also as a confederacy of tribes to the north ( _kings_ x. , _kings_ vii. ). [ ] this identification is based on "the casts of hittite profiles made by petrie from the egyptian monuments. the profiles are peculiar, unlike those of any other people represented by the egyptian artists, but they are identical with the profiles which occur among the hittite hieroglyphs" (a. h. sayce, _acad._, sept. , p. ). [ ] "corpus insc. hetticarum," _zeitschr. d. d. morgenländ. gesellsch._ , , , etc. [ ] "die hettiter," _der alte orient_, i. , , p. n. the sign in question, a bisected oval, is interpreted "god." [ ] "decipherment of the hittite inscriptions," _soc. of bibl. archaeology_, , and "hittite inscriptions," _ib._ , . [ ] _orient. literaturzeitung_, , and _orient-gesellsch._ . see d. g. hogarth, "recent hittite research," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xxxvi. , p. . [ ] l. w. king, "the hittites," hutchinson's _history of the nations_, , p. . for this type see the illustration of hittite divinities, pl. xxxi. of f. von luschan's paper referred to below. for language see now c. j. s. marstrander, "caractère indo-européen de la langue hittite," _videnskapsselskapets skrifter ii hist. filos. klasse_, , no. . [ ] "the early inhabitants of western asia," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xli. , p. . for this region see d. g. hogarth, _the nearer east_, , with ethnological map. [ ] _loc. cit._ p. . [ ] f. von luschan, _loc. cit._ p. . [ ] _loc. cit._ pp. - . [ ] saba', sheba of the old testament, where there are various allusions to its wealth and trading importance from the time of solomon to that of cyrus. [ ] ma'[=i]n of the inscriptions. [ ] arabic _badaw[=i]y_, a dweller in the desert. [ ] _loc. cit._ p. . [ ] c. g. seligman, "the physical characters of the arabs," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xlvii. , p. ff. [ ] the rude semitic dialect still current in this island appears to be fundamentally phoenician (carthaginian), later affected by arabic and italian influences. (m. mizzi, _a voice from malta_, , _passim_.) [ ] m. jastrow, _hebrew and babylonian traditions_, . chapter xv the caucasic peoples (_continued_) the peoples of aryan speech--european trade routes--"aryan" migrations--indo-european cradle--indo-european type--date of indo-european expansion--origin of nordic peoples--the _cimbri_ and _teutoni_--_the bastarnae_--_the moeso-goths_--scandinavia-- modification of the nordic type--the celto-slavs: their ethnical position defined--aberrant _tyrolese_ type--_rhaetians_ and _etruscans_--etruscan origins--the celts--definitions--celts in britain--the picts--brachycephals in britain--round barrow type--alpine type--ethnic relations--formation of the english nation--ethnic relations in ireland--scotland--and in wales--present constitution of the british peoples--the english language--_the french nation_--constituent elements--mental traits--_the spaniards and portuguese_--ethnic relations in italy--_ligurian_, _illyrian_, and _aryan elements_--the present _italians_--art and ethics--_the rumanians_--ethnic relations in greece--_the hellenes_--origins and migrations--the _lithuanian_ factor--_aeolians_; _dorians_; _ionians_--the hellenic legend--the greek language--the slavs-- origins and migrations--_sarmatians_ and _budini_--_wends_, _chekhs_, and _poles_--the southern slavs--migrations--_serbs_, _croats_, _bosnians_--_the albanians_--_the russians_-- panslavism--russian origins--_alans_ and _ossets_--aborigines of the caucasus--the iranians--ethnic and linguistic relations-- _persians_, _tajiks_ and _galcha_--_afghans_--lowland and hill tajiks--the galchic linguistic family--galcha and tajik types-- _homo europaeus_ and _h. alpinus_ in central asia--the hindus-- ethnic relations in india--classification of types--_the kóls_-- _the dravidians_--dravidian and aryan languages--the hindu castes--oceania--_indonesians_--_micronesians_--_eastern polynesians_--origins, types, and divisions--migrations-- polynesian culture. as the result of recent researches there is an end of the theory that bronze came in with the "aryans," and it is from this standpoint that the revelation of an independent aegean culture in touch with babylonia and egypt some four millenniums before the new era is of such momentous import in determining the ethnical relations of the historical, _i.e._ the present european populations. some idea of cultured relations in prehistoric times may be obtained from a review of the trade communications as indicated by archaeology during the bronze age which lasted through the whole of the third millennium down to the middle of the second. as we have seen, in the nile valley, in mesopotamia and in the aegean area, remains characteristic of bronze age culture rest on a neolithic substratum, and a transitional stage, when gold and copper were the only metals known, often connects the two. from the time of this dawning of the age of metals, the inhabitants of the nile valley, of crete, of cyprus and of the mainland of greece freely exchanged their products. navigation was already flourishing, and the sea united rather than divided the insular and coastal populations. gradually egeo-mykenaean civilisation extended from crete and the greek lands to the west, influencing sicily directly, and leaving distinct traces in southern italy, sardinia and the iberian peninsula, while iberia in its turn contributed to the development of western gaul and the british isles. the knowledge of copper, and, soon after, that of bronze, spread by the atlantic route to ireland, while central europe was reached directly from the south. thanks to the trade in amber, always in demand by the mediterranean populations, there was a continuous trade route to scandinavia, which thus had direct communication with southern europe. as civilisation developed, the lands of the north and west became exporters as well as importers, each developing a distinct industry not always inferior to the more precocious culture of the south[ ]. with trade communications thus stretching across europe from south to north, and from east to extreme west, it would seem not improbable that movements of peoples were equally unrestricted, and this would account for the appearance on the threshold of history of various peoples formerly grouped together on account of their language, as "aryan." j. l. myres, however, is inclined to attribute "the coming of the north" to the same type of climatic impulse which induced the semitic swarms described above (p. ). after referring to the earliest occurrence of indo-european names[ ], he continues "before the time of the eighteenth dynasty of egypt there had been a very extensive raid of indo-european-speaking folk by way of the persian plateau, as far as the syrian coastland and the interior of asia minor." these raids coincide with a new cultural feature of great significance. "it is of the first importance to find that it is in the dark period which immediately precedes the eighteenth dynasty revival--when egypt was prostrate under mysterious 'shepherd kings,' and babylon under kassite invaders equally mysterious--that the civilized world first became acquainted with one of the greatest blessings of civilisation, the domesticated horse. the period of arabian drought, which drove forth the 'canaanite' emigrants, may have had its counterpart on the northern steppe, to provoke the migration of these horsemen." he adds, however, "our knowledge both of the extent of these droughts and of the chronology of both these migrations, is too vague for this to be taken as more than a provisional basis for more exact enquiry[ ]." the attempt has often been made to locate the original home of the indo-european people by an appeal to philology, and idyllic pictures have been drawn up of the "aryan family" consisting of the father the protector, the mother the producer, and the children "whose name implied that they kept everything clean and neat[ ]." they were regarded as originally pastoral and later agricultural, ranging over a wide area with bactria for its centre. with advancing knowledge of what is primitive in indo-european this circumstantial picture crumbled to pieces, and feist[ ] reduces all inferences deducible from linguistic palaeontology to the sole "argumentum ex silencio" (which he regards as distinctly untrustworthy in itself), that the "urheimat" was a country in which in the middle of the third millennium b.c. such southern animals as lion, elephant, and tiger, were unknown. it was commonly assumed that the "aryan cradle" was in asia, and the suggestion of r. g. latham in that the original home was in europe was scouted by one of the most eminent writers on the subject--victor hehn--as lunacy possible only to one who lived in a country of cranks[ ]. but since this date, there has been a shifting of the "urheimat" further and further west. o. schrader[ ] places it in south russia, g. kossinna[ ] and h. hirt[ ] support the claims of germany, while k. penka and many others go still further north, deriving both language and tall fair dolichocephalic speakers (proto-teutons) from scandinavia[ ]. f. kauffmann[ ], noting the contrast between the cultures associated with pre-neolithic and with neolithic kitchen-middens, is prepared to attribute the former to aboriginal inhabitants, ligurians, and, further north, kvaens (finns, lapps), and the neolithic civilisation of europe to indo-europeans. "thus the neolithic indo-europeans would already have advanced as far as south sweden in the litorina period of the baltic, during the oak-period." on the other hand the discovery of tocharish has inclined e. meyer[ ] to reconsider an asiatic origin, but the information as to this language is too fragmentary to be conclusive on this point. after reviewing the various theories giles[ ] concludes "in the great plain which extends across europe north of the alps and carpathians and across asia north of the hindu kush there are few geographical obstacles to prevent the rapid spread of peoples from any part of its area to any other, and, as we have seen, the celts and the hungarians etc. have in the historical period demonstrated the rapidity with which such migrations could be made. such migrations may possibly account for the appearance of a people using a _centum_ language so far east as turkestan[ ]." more acrimonious than the discussion of the original home is the dispute as to the original physical type of the indo-european-speaking people. it was almost a matter of faith with germans that the language was introduced by tall fair dolichocephals of nordic type. on the other hand the gallic school sought to identify the alpine race as the only and original aryans. the futility of the whole discussion is ably demonstrated by w. z. ripley in his protest against the confusion of language and race[ ]. feist[ ] summarises our information as follows. all that we can say about the physical type of the "urvolk" is that since the indo-europeans came from a northerly region[ ] (not yet identified) it is surmised that they belonged to the light-skinned people. the observation that mountain folk of indo-germanic speech in southern areas, such as the ossets of the caucasus, the kurds of the uplands of armenia and irania, and the tajiks of the western pamirs not infrequently exhibit fair hair or blue eyes supports this view. nevertheless, as he points out, brachycephals are not hereby excluded. his own conclusion, which naturally results from a review of the whole evidence, is that the "urvolk" was not a pure race, but a mixture of different types. already in neolithic times races in europe were no longer pure, and in france "formed an almost inextricable medley" and feist assumes with e. de michelis[ ] that the indo-europeans were a conglomerate of peoples of different origins who in prehistoric times were welded together into an ethnic unity, as the present english have been formed from pre-indo-european caledonians (picts and scots), celts, roman traders and soldiers and later teutonic settlers[ ]. the evidence that indo-europeans were already in existence in mesopotamia, syria and irania about the middle of the second millennium b.c. has already been mentioned. about the same time the vedic hymns bear witness to the appearance of the aryans of western india. the formation of an aryan group with a common language, religion and culture is a process necessarily requiring considerable length of time, so that their swarming off from the indo-european parent group must be pushed back to far into the third millennium. at this period there are indications of the settling of the greeks in the southern promontories of the balkan peninsula at latest about b.c., while thracian and illyrian peoples may have filled the mainland, though the dorians occupied epirus, macedonia, and perhaps southern illyria. indo-european stocks were already in occupation of central italy. it would appear therefore that the period of the indo-european community, before the migrations, must be placed at the end of the stone ages, at the time when copper was first introduced. thus it seems legitimate to infer that the expansion of the indo-europeans began about b.c. and the furthest advanced branches entered into the regions of the older populations and cultures at latest after the beginning of the second millennium[ ]. about b.c. we find three areas occupied by indo-european-speaking peoples, all widely separated from each other and apparently independent. these are ( ) the aryan groups in asia; ( ) the balkan peninsula together with central and lower italy, and the mysians and phrygians of asia minor (possibly the thracians had already advanced across the danube); and ( ) teutons, celts and letto-slavs over the greater part of germany and scandinavia, perhaps also already in eastern france and in poland. the following centuries saw the advance of iranians to south russia and further west, the pressing of the phrygians into armenia, and lastly the celtic migrations in western europe. from the linguistic and botanical evidence brought forward by the polish botanist rostafínski[ ] the ancestors of the celts, germans and balto-slavs must have occupied a region north of the carpathians, and west of a line between königsberg and odessa (the beech and yew zone). the balto-slavs subsequently lost the word for beech and transferred the word for yew to the sallow and black alder (both with red wood) but their possession of a word for hornbeam locates their original home in polesie--the marshland traversed by the pripet but not south or east of kiev. although, owing to the absence of teutonic inscriptions before the third or fourth century a.d. it is difficult to trace the nordic peoples with any certainty during the bronze or early iron ages, yet the fairly well-defined group of bronze age antiquities, covering the basin of the elbe, mecklenburg, holstein, jutland, southern sweden and the islands of the belt have been conjectured with much probability to represent early teutonic civilisation. "whether we are justified in speaking of a teutonic race in the anthropological sense is at least doubtful, for the most striking characteristics of these peoples [as deduced from prehistoric skeletons, descriptions of ancient writers and present day statistics] occur also to a considerable extent among their eastern and western neighbours, where they can hardly be ascribed altogether to teutonic admixture. the only result of anthropological investigation which so far can be regarded as definitely established is that the old teutonic lands in northern germany, denmark and southern sweden have been inhabited by people of the same type since the neolithic age if not earlier[ ]." this type is characterised by tall stature, long narrow skull, light complexion with light hair and eyes[ ]. during the age of national migrations, from the fourth to the sixth century, the territories of the nordic peoples were vastly extended, partly by conquest, and partly by arrangement with the romans. but these movements had begun before the new era, for we hear of the _cimbri_ invading illyricum, gaul and italy in the second century b.c. probably from jutland[ ], where they were apparently associated with the _teutoni_. still earlier, in the third century b.c., the _bastarnae_, said by many ancient writers to have been teutonic in origin, invaded and settled between the carpathians and the black sea. already mentioned doubtfully by strabo as separating the germani from the scythians (tyragetes) about the dniester and dnieper, their movements may now be followed by authentic documents from the baltic to the euxine. furtwängler[ ] shows that the earliest known german figures are those of the adamklissi monument, in the dobruja, commemorating the victory of crassus over the bastarnae, getae, and thracians in b.c. the bastarnae migrated before the cimbri and teutons through the vistula valley to the lower danube about b.c. they had relations with the macedonians, and the successes of mithridates over the romans were due to their aid. the account of their overthrow by crassus in dio cassius is in striking accord with the scenes on the adamklissi monument. here they appear dressed only in a kind of trowsers, with long pointed beards, and defiant but noble features. the same type recurs both on the column of trajan, who engaged them as auxiliaries in his dacian wars, and on the arch of marcus aurelius, here however wearing a tunic, a sign perhaps of later roman influences. and thus after years are answered strabo's doubts by modern archaeology. much later there followed along the same beaten track between the baltic and black sea a section of the goths, whom we find first settled in the baltic lands in proximity to the finns. the exodus from this region can scarcely have taken place before the second century of the new era, for they are still unknown to strabo, while tacitus locates them on the baltic between the elbe and the vistula. later cassiodorus and others bring them from scandinavia to the vistula, and up that river to the euxine and lower danube. although often regarded as legendary[ ], this migration is supported by archaeological evidence. in a gold torque with a gothic inscription was found at petroassa in wallachia, and in an iron spear-head with a gothic name in the same script, which dates from the first iron age, turned up near kovel in volhynia. the spear-head is identical with one found in at münchenberg in brandenburg, on which wimmer remarks that "of runic inscriptions in germany the two earliest occur on iron pikes. there is no doubt that the runes of the kovel spear-head and of the ring came from gothic tribes[ ]." these southern goths, later called moeso-goths, because they settled in moesia (bulgaria and servia), had certain physical and even moral characters of the old teutons, as seen in the emperor maximinus, born in thrace of a goth by an alan woman--very tall, strong, handsome, with light hair and milk-white skin[ ], temperate in all things and of great mental energy. before their absorption in the surrounding bulgar and slav populations the moeso-goths were evangelised in the fourth century by their bishop ulfilas ("wolf"), whose fragmentary translation of scripture, preserved in the _codex argenteus_ of upsala, is the most precious monument of early teutonic speech extant. to find the pure nordic type at the present day we must seek for it in scandinavia, which possesses one of the most highly individualised populations in europe. the osterdal, and the neighbourhood of vaage in upper gudbrandsdal in norway, and the dalarna district in sweden contain perhaps the purest teutonic type in all europe, the cephalic index falling well below . but along the norwegian coasts there is a strong tendency to brachycephaly (the index rising to - ), combined with a darkening of the hair and eye colour (the type occurs also in denmark), indicating an outlying lodgement of the alpine race from central europe. the anthropological history of scandinavia, according to ripley, is as follows: "norway has ... probably been peopled from two directions, one element coming from sweden and another from the south by way of denmark. the latter type, now found on the sea coast and especially along the least attractive portion of it, has been closely hemmed in by the teutonic immigration from sweden[ ]." brachycephalic people already occupied parts of denmark in the stone age[ ], and, according to the scanty information available, the present population is extremely mixed. one-third of the children have light hair and light eyes, and tall stature coincides in the main with fair colouring, but in bornholm where the cephalic index is there is a taller dark type and a shorter light type, the latter perhaps akin to the eastern variety of the alpine race[ ]. the original nordic type is by no means universally represented among the present germanic peoples. from the examination made some years ago of , , school children[ ], it would appear that about per cent. of living germans may be classed as blonds, as brunettes, and as mixed; and further that of the blonds about per cent. are centred in north, in central and in south germany. the brunettes increase, generally speaking, southwards, south bavaria showing only about per cent. of blonds, and the same law holds good of the long-heads and the round-heads respectively. to what cause is to be attributed this profound modification of this branch of the nordic type in the direction of the south? that the teutons ranged in considerable numbers far beyond their northern seats is proved by the spread of the german language to the central highlands, and beyond them down the southern slopes, where a rude high german dialect lingered on in the so-called "seven communes" of the veronese district far into the nineteenth century. but after passing the main, which appears to have long formed the ethnical divide for central europe, they entered the zone of the brown alpine round-heads[ ], to whom they communicated their speech, but by whom they were largely modified in physical appearance. the process has for long ages been much the same everywhere--perennial streams of teutonism setting steadily from the north, all successively submerged in the great ocean of dark round-headed humanity, which under many names has occupied the central uplands and eastern plains since the neolithic age, overflowing also in later times into the balkan peninsula. this absorption of what is assumed to be the superior in the inferior type, may be due to the conditions of the general movement--warlike bands, accompanied by few women, appearing as conquerors in the midst of the alpines and merging with them in the great mass of brachycephalic peoples. or is the transformation to be explained by de lapouge's doctrine, that cranial forms are not so much a question of race as of social conditions, and that, owing to the increasingly unfavourable nature of these conditions, there is a general tendency for the superior long-heads to be absorbed in the inferior round-heads[ ]. the fact that dolichocephaly is more prevalent in cities and brachycephaly in rural areas has been interpreted in various ways. de lapouge[ ] contended that in france the restless and more enterprising long-heads migrated from the rural districts in disproportionate numbers to the towns, where they died out. for the department of aveyron he gives a table showing a steady rise of the cephalic index from . in prehistoric times to . in , and attributes this to the dolichos gravitating chiefly to the large towns, as o. ammon has also shown for baden. l. laloy summed up the results thus: france is being depopulated, and, what is worse, it is precisely the best section of the inhabitants that disappears, the section most productive in eminent men in all departments of learning, while the ignorant and rude _pecus_ alone increase. these views have met with favour even across the atlantic, but are by no means universally accepted. the ground seems cut from the whole theory by a. macalister, who read a paper at the toronto meeting of the british association, , on "the causes of brachycephaly," showing that the infantile and primitive skull is relatively long, and that there is a gradual change, phylogenetic (racial) as well as ontogenetic (individual) toward brachycephaly, which is certainly correlated with, and is apparently produced by, cerebral activity and growth; in the process of development in the individual and the race the frontal lobes of the brain grow the more rapidly and tend to fill out and broaden the skull[ ]. the tendency would thus have nothing to do with rustic and urban life, nor would the round be necessarily, if at all, inferior to the long head. some of de lapouge's generalisations are also traversed by livi[ ], deniker[ ], sergi[ ] and others, and the whole question is admirably summarised by w. z. ripley[ ]. but whatever be the cause, the fact must be accepted that _homo europaeus_ (the nordics) becomes merged southwards in _homo alpinus_ whose names, as stated, are many. broca and many continental writers use the name _kelt_ or _slavo-kelt_, which has led to much confusion. but it merely means for them the great mass of brachycephalic peoples in central europe, where, at various times, celtic and slavonic languages have prevailed. it is remarkable that in the alpine region, especially tyrol, where the brachy element comes to a focus, there is a peculiar form of round-head which has greatly puzzled de lapouge, but may perhaps be accounted for on the hypothesis of two brachy types here fused in one. to explain the exceedingly round tyrolese head, which shows affinities on the one hand with the swiss, on the other with the illyrian and albanian, that is, with the normal alpine, a mongol strain has been suggested, but is rightly rejected by franz tappeiner as inadmissible on many grounds[ ]. de ujfalvy[ ], a follower of de lapouge, looks on the hyperbrachy tyrolese as descendants of the ancient rhaetians or rasenes, whom so many regard as the parent stock of the etruscans. but montelius (with most other modern ethnologists) rejects the land route from the north, and brings the etruscans by the sea route direct from the aegean and lydia (asia minor). they are the thessalian pelasgians whom hellanikos of lesbos brings to campania, or the tyrrhenian pelasgians transported by antiklides from asia minor to etruria, and he is "quite sure that the archaeological facts in central and north italy ... prove the truth of this tradition[ ]." of course, until the affinities of the etruscan language are determined, from which we are still as far off as ever[ ], etruscan origins must remain chiefly an archaeological question. even the help afforded by the crania from the etruscan tombs is but slight, both long and round heads being here found in the closest association. sergi, who also brings the etruscans from the east, explains this by supposing that, being pelasgians, they were of the same dolicho mediterranean stock as the italians (ligurians) themselves, and differed only from the brachy umbrians of aryan speech. hence the skulls from the tombs are of two types, the intruding aryan, and the mediterranean, the latter, whether representing native ligurians or intruding etruscans, being indistinguishable. "i can show," he says, "etruscan crania, which differ in no respect from the italian [ligurian], from the oldest graves, as i can also show heads from the etruscan graves which do not differ from those still found in aryan lands, whether slav, keltic, or germanic[ ]." perhaps the difficulty is best explained by feist's suggestion that the etruscans were merely a highly civilised warlike aristocracy, spreading thinly over the conquered population by which they were ultimately absorbed[ ]. the migrations of the celts preceded those of the teutonic peoples to whom they were probably closely related in race as in language[ ]. at the beginning of the historical period celts are found in the west of germany in the region of the rhine and the weser. possibly about b.c. they occupied gaul and parts of the iberian peninsula, subsequently crossing over into the british isles. in italy they came into conflict with the rising power of rome, and, after the battle of the allia ( b.c.) occupied rome itself. descents were also made into the danube valley and the balkans, and later ( b.c.) into thessaly. at the height of their power they extended from the north of scotland to the southern shores of spain and portugal, and from the northern coasts of germany to a little south of senegaglia. to the west their boundary was the atlantic, to the east, the black sea[ ]. unfortunately the indiscriminate use of the term celt has led to much confusion. for historians and geographers the celts are the people in the centre and west of europe referred to by writers of antiquity under the names of _keltoi_, _celtae_, _galli_ and _galatae_. but many anthropologists, especially on the continent, regard celts and gauls as representing two well-determined physical types, the former brachycephalic, with short sturdy build and chestnut coloured hair (alpine type), and the latter dolichocephalic with tall stature, fair complexion and light hair (nordic type). linguists, ignoring physical characters, class as celts those people who speak an indo-european language characterised in particular by the loss of p and by the modifications undergone by mutation of initial consonants, while for many archaeologists the celts were the people responsible for the spread of the civilisation of the hallstatt and la tène periods, that is of the earlier and later iron age[ ]. it is not surprising therefore that it has been proposed to drop the word celt out of anthropological nomenclature, as having no ethnical significance. but this, says rice holmes[ ], "is because writers on ethnology have not kept their heads clear." and in particular one point has been overlooked. "just as the french are called after one conquering people, the franks; just as the english are called after one conquering people, the angles; so the heterogeneous celtae of transalpine gaul were called after one conquering people; and that people were the celts, or rather a branch of the celts in the true sense of the word. the celts, in short, were the people who introduced the celtic language into gaul, into asia minor, and into britain; the people who included the victors of the allia, the conquerors of gallia celtica, and the conquerors of gallia bel['g]ica; the people whom polybius called indifferently gauls and celts; the people who, as pausanius said, were originally called celts and afterwards called gauls. if certain ancient writers confounded the tall fair celts who spoke celtic with the tall fair germans who spoke german the ancient writers who were better informed avoided such a mistake.... let us therefore restore to the word 'celt' the ethnical significance which of right belongs to it." it is not certain at what date the celtic tribes effected settlements in great britain, but it is held by many that the earliest invasions were not prior to the sixth or possibly even the fifth century. at the time of the roman conquest the celts were divided into two linguistic groups, _goidelic_, represented at the present day by irish, manx and scotch gaelic, and _brythonic_, including welsh, cornish and breton. these groups must have been virtually identical save in two particulars. in brythonic the labial velar q became p (a change which apparently took place before the time of pytheas), whilst in goidelic the sound remained unaltered. q is retained in the earlier ogham inscriptions, but by the end of the seventh century it had lost the labial element, appearing in old irish as c. thus o. irish _cenn_, head, as in kenmare, kintyre, kinsale, equates with brythonic _pen_, as in penryn (cornwall), penrhyn (wales), penkridge (staffordshire), penruddock, penrith and many others. the two groups are therefore distinguished as the q celts and the p celts[ ]. from the fact that goidelic retained the q it has been commonly assumed that the goidels were separated from the main celtic stock at a time before the labialisation had taken place, but many scholars maintain that the parent goidelic was evolved in ireland, and was carried from that island to man and scotland in the early centuries of our era[ ]. from an anthropological point of view, the picts are if possible more difficult to identify than the celts. but the question is not between tall fair long-heads and short dark round-heads, but between short dark long-heads (neolithic aborigines) and celts. the pictish question is summed up by rice holmes[ ] and the various theories have been more recently reviewed by windisch[ ] giving a valuable summary of earlier writings. on the one hand it is maintained as "the most tenable hypothesis that the picts were non-aryans, whom the first celtic migrations found already settled here ... descendants of the aborigines[ ]." windisch[ ] at the other extreme, regards them as late comers into north britain, when scotland was already occupied by brythonic tribes. but the geographical distribution of the picts in historical times suggests rather a people driven into mountainous regions by successive conquerors, than the settlements of successful invaders. also it is not improbable that the language of the bronze age lingered in these wilder districts, and this would account for the fact that st columba had to employ an interpreter in his relations with the picts; though this is explained by others on the assumption that pictish was brythonic. the linguistic evidence is however extremely slight, only a few words presumably pictish having survived and these through celtic writers. "the one absolutely certain conclusion to which the student of ethnology can come is that the name of the picts has not been proved to be of pre-aryan origin[ ]." "for me," continues rice holmes (p. ), "the picts were a mixed people comprising descendants of the neolithic aborigines, of the round barrow race, and of the celtic invaders--a mixed people who [or at least whose aristocracy] spoke a celtic dialect." before attempting a survey of the ethnology of britain it is necessary to ascertain what ethnic elements the area contained before the arrival of the celts. the neolithic inhabitants, the short, dark dolichocephals of mediterranean type have already been described (ch. xiii.). their remains are associated with the characteristic forms of sepulchral monuments the dolmens and the long barrows. but towards the end of the stone age a brachycephalic race was already penetrating into the islands. this appears to have been a peaceful infiltration, at any rate in certain districts, where remains of the two types are found side by side and there is evidence of racial intermixture. the brachycephals introduced a new form of sepulture, making their burial mounds circular instead of elongated, whence thurnam's convenient formula, "long barrow, long skull; round barrow, round skull." but the earlier view that there was a definite transition from long heads, neolithic culture and long barrows, to round heads, bronze culture and round barrows can no longer be maintained. "it is often taken for granted that no round barrows were erected in britain before the close of the neolithic age, and that the earliest of the brachycephalic invaders whose remains have been found in them landed with bronze weapons in their hands[ ]." but there is abundant evidence that the brachycephalic element preceded the knowledge of metals, and a number of round barrows in yorkshire and further north show no trace of bronze. nevertheless the majority of the round barrows belong to the bronze age, and the physical type of their builders is sufficiently well marked. the stature is remarkably tall, attaining a height of . m. or over ft. ins. the skull is brachycephalic with an average index of about . it is also characterised by great strength and ruggedness of outline, with (often) a sloping forehead, prominent supraciliary ridges, and a certain degree of prognathism. according to rolleston's description "the eyebrows must have given a beetling and probably even formidable appearance to the upper part of the face, whilst the boldly outstanding and heavy cheekbones must have produced an impression of raw and rough strength. overhung at its root, the nose must have projected boldly forward." and thurnam adds "the prominence of the large incisor and canine teeth is so great as to give an almost bestial expression to the skull[ ]." although this type is conveniently called the round barrow type, or even the round barrow race, the round barrows also contain remains of a different racial character. the skull form shows a more extreme brachycephaly, with an index of or , and exhibits none of the rugged features associated with the true round barrow type. on the contrary, of the two typical groups, one from round barrows in glamorganshire, and the other from short cists in aberdeenshire not one of the skulls is prognathous, the supraciliary ridges are but slightly developed, the cheek bones are not prominent, the face is both broad and short and the lower jaw is small. but the greatest contrast is in the height, which averages in the two groups, . m. and . m. respectively, _i.e._ ft. - / ins. and ft. ins. all these characters connect this type closely with the alpine type on the continent. these round-headed peoples have been the subject of much discussion ably summarised and criticised by rice holmes, whose conclusion perhaps best represents the view now taken of their affinities and origins. "the great mistake that has been made in discussing the question is the not uncommon assumption that the brachycephalic immigrants who buried their dead in round barrows arrived in britain at one time, and came from one place. some of them certainly appeared before the end of the neolithic age: others may have introduced bronze implements or ornaments; others doubtless came, in successive hordes, during the course of the bronze age. some of those who belonged to the grenelle race [alpine type], who certainly came from eastern europe and possibly from asia, and whose centre of dispersion was the alpine region, may have started from gaul; others could have traced their origin to some rhenish tribe; and i am inclined to believe that those who belonged to the characteristic rugged round barrow type crossed over, for the most part, from denmark or the out-lying islands[ ]." after the passage of the romans, who mingled little with the aborigines and made, perhaps, but slight impression on the speech or type of the british populations, a great transformation was effected in these respects by the arrival of the historical teutonic tribes. hand in hand with the teutonic invasions went a lust for expansion on the part of the peoples in ireland. settlements were effected by them in south wales and anglesey, the isle of man and argyll, probably also in north devon and cornwall. for many generations the south and east of england were the scenes of fierce struggles, during which the romano-british civilisation perished. only in more inaccessible districts, such as the fen country, may a british population have survived, though celtic languages are not yet dislodged from their mountain strongholds in wales and scotland, and lingered for many centuries in strathclyde and cornwall. after the strengthening of the teutonic element by the arrival of the scandinavians and normans, all very much of the same physical type, no serious accessions were made to this composite ethnical group, which on the east side ranged uninterruptedly from the channel to the grampians. later the expansion was continued northwards beyond the grampians, and westwards through strathclyde to ireland, while now the spread of education and the development of the industries are already threatening to absorb the last strongholds of celtic speech in wales, the highlands, and ireland. thanks to its isolation in the extreme west, ireland had been left untouched by some of the above described ethnical movements. it is doubtful whether palaeolithic man ever reached this region, and but few even of the round-heads ranged so far west during the bronze age[ ]. the land oscillations during post-glacial times appear to have been practically identical over an area including northern ireland, the southern half of scotland, and northern england. there was a period of depression followed by one of elevation. the larne beach-deposits prove that neolithic man was in existence from almost the beginning of the deposition of that series until after its conclusion. the estuarine clays of belfast lough correspond to the depression, and the neolithic period extended from at least near the top of the lower estuarine clay to the beach-deposit of yellow sand which overlies it, or possibly till later. it is to this period of elevation that the neolithic sites among the sand dunes of north ireland belong; those of whitepark bay and portstewart, for example, extend to the maximum elevation. a slight movement of subsidence of about five feet in recent times has left the surface as we now find it. the implements found in the larne gravels correspond to some extent with those of danish kitchen-middens; this was not a dwelling site but a quarry-shop or roughing-out place, the serviceable flakes being taken away for further manipulation; it thus belongs to the earliest phase of neolithic times. the sandhill sites were occupied, continuously and occasionally, during neolithic times, through the bronze age, and into the iron and christian periods[ ]. nina f. layard has recently studied the larne raised beach and exposed a new section. she states that "taken as a whole the flints certainly do not correspond at all closely either to the palæoliths or neoliths so far found in england.... some are strongly reminiscent of well-known drift type.... again, there are shapes that bear a closer resemblance to some of the earliest neolithic types[ ]." she believes that, from their rolled condition, they were derived from another source. f. j. bigger[ ] described some kitchen-middens at portnafeadog, near roundstone, connemara, which yielded stone hammers but no worked flints, pottery or metal-ware. the chief interest of this paper is due to the fact that it is the first record of the occurrence of vast quantities of the shells of _purpura lapillus_, all of which were broken in such a manner that the animal could easily be extracted. there can be no doubt that the purple dye was manufactured here in prehistoric times[ ]. w. j. knowles[ ] suggests from the close resemblance--in fact identity--of a great number of neolithic objects in ireland with palaeolithic forms in france (saint-acheul, moustier, solutré, la madeleine types), that the irish objects bridge over the gap between the two ages, and were worked by tribes from the continent following the migration of the reindeer northwards. these peoples may have continued to make tools of palaeolithic types, while at the same time coming under the influence of the neolithic culture gradually arriving from some southern region. the astonishing development of this neolithic culture in the remote island on the confines of the west, as illustrated in w. c. borlase's sumptuous volumes[ ], is a perpetual wonder, but is rendered less inexplicable if we assume an immense duration of the new stone age in the british isles. the irish dolmen-builders were presumably of the same long-headed stock as those of britain[ ], and they were followed by celtic-speaking goidels who may have come directly from the continent[ ], and there is evidence in ptolemy and elsewhere of the presence of brythonic tribes from gaul in the east. since these early historic times the intruders have been almost exclusively of teutonic race, and viking invaders from norway and denmark founded the earliest towns such as dublin, waterford and limerick. now all alike, save for an almost insignificant and rapidly dwindling minority, have assumed the speech of the english and lowland scotch intruders, who began to arrive late in the th century, and are now chiefly massed in ulster, leinster, and all the large towns. the rich and highly poetic irish language has a copious medieval literature of the utmost importance to students of european origins. in scotland few ethnical changes or displacements have occurred since the colonisation of portions of the west by gaelic-speaking scottic tribes from ireland, and the english (angle) occupation of the lothians. the grampians have during historic times formed the main ethnical divide between the two elements, and brooklets which can be taken at a leap are shown where the opposite banks have for hundreds of years been respectively held by formerly hostile, but now friendly communities of gaelic and broad scotch speech. here the chief intruders have been scandinavians, whose descendants may still be recognised in caithness, the hebrides, and the orkney and shetland groups. faint echoes of the old norrena tongue are said still to linger amongst the sturdy shetlanders, whose assimilation to the dominant race began only after their transfer from norway to the crown of scotland. since the researches of gray and tocher[ ] on the pigmentation of some , school children of scotland have increased our information as to racial distribution. the average percentage of boys with fair hair is nearly for the whole of the country, and when this is compared with in schleswig holstein "we are driven to the conclusion that the pure norse or anglo-saxon element in our population is by no means predominant. there is evidently also a dark or brunette element which is at least equal in amount and probably greater than that of the norse element" (p. ). pure blue eyes for the whole of scotland average . per cent., which may be compared with . in prussia. the greatest density for fair hair and eyes is to be found in the great river valleys opening on to the german ocean, and also in the western isles. the tweed, forth, tay and don all show indications of settlements of a blonde race "probably due to anglo-saxon invasions," but the maximum is to be found at the mouth of the spey. the high percentage here and in the hebrides and opposite coasts, the authors trace to viking invasions. the percentage of dark hair for boys and girls is . as compared with . in prussian school children, the maximum density as we should expect being in the west. jet black hair ( . %) has its maximum density in the central highlands and wild west coast. beddoe[ ] commenting on gray and tocher's results calculates an even higher percentage of black hair (over %) "either within or astride of the highland frontier. except paisley, there is not a single instance south of the forth, nor one between the spey and the firth of tay. surely there is something 'racial' here." beddoe's map, constructed from gray and tocher's statistics, clearly indicates the distribution of racial types. the work carried on in wales for a number of years by h. j. fleure and t. c. james[ ] has produced some extremely interesting results. the chief types (based on measurements and observations of head, face, nose, skin, hair and eye colour, stature, etc.) fall into the following groups. . "the fundamental type is certainly the long-headed brunet of the moorlands and their inland valleys. he is universally recognised as belonging to the mediterranean race of sergi and as dating back in this country to early neolithic times." the cephalic index is about , with high colouring, dark hair and eyes, and stature rather below the average. a possible mixture of earlier stocks is shown in a longer-headed type (c.i. about ), with well-marked occiput, very dark hair and eyes, swarthy complexion, and average stature (about mm. = ft. - / ins.). occasionally in north wales the occurrence of lank black hair, a sallow complexion and prominent cheekbones suggests a "mongoloid" type; and a type with small stature, black, closely curled hair and a rather broad nose has negroid reminiscences. the plynlymon moorlands contain a "nest" of extreme dolichocephaly and an unusually high percentage of red hair. . nordic-alpine type, with cephalic index mainly between and . this group includes (_a_) a "local version of the nordic type" occurring at newcastle emlyn and in south and south-west pembrokeshire with fair hair and eyes, usually tall stature and great strength of brow, jaw and chin; (_b_) a heavier variant on the welsh border, often with cephalic index above , and extremely tall stature; (_c_) the borreby or beaker-maker type, broad-headed and short-faced with darker pigmentation, probably a cross between alpine and nordic, characteristic of the long cleft from corwen _via_ bala to tabyllyn and towyn. . dark bullet-headed short thick-set men of the general type denoted by the term alpine or more exactly perhaps by the term cevenole are found, though not commonly, in north montgomeryshire valleys. . powerfully built, often intensely dark, broad-headed, broad-faced, strong and square jawed men are characteristic of the ardudwy coast, the south glamorgan coast, newquay district (cardiganshire) and elsewhere. the authors observe that type with its variations contributes "considerable numbers to the ministries of the various churches, possibly in part from inherent and racial leanings, but partly also because these are the people of the moorlands. the idealism of such people usually expresses itself in music, poetry, literature and religion rather than in architecture, painting and plastic arts generally. they rarely have a sufficiency of material resources for the latter activities. these types also contribute a number of men to the medical profession.... the successful commercial men, who have given the welsh their extraordinarily prominent place in british trade (shipping firms for example) usually belong to types or , rather than to , as also do the majority of welsh members of parliament, though there are exceptions of the first importance. the nordic type is marked by ingenuity and enterprise in striking out new lines. type (_c_) in wales is remarkable for governmental ability of the administrative kind as well as for independence of thought and critical power" (p. ). we have now all the elements needed to unravel the ethnical tangle of the present inhabitants of the british isles. the astonishing prevalence everywhere of the moderately dolicho heads is at once explained by the absence of brachy immigrants except in the bronze period, and these could do no more than raise the cephalic index from about or to the present mean of about . with the other perhaps less stable characters the case is not always quite so simple. the brunettes, representing the mediterranean type, certainly increase, as we should expect, from north-east to south-west, though even here there is a considerable dark patch, due to local causes, in the home shires about london[ ]. but the stature, almost everywhere a troublesome factor, seems to wander somewhat lawlessly over the land. although a short stature more or less coincides with brunetteness in england and wales, and the observations in ireland are too few to be relied on, no such parallelism can be traced in scotland. the west (inverness and argyllshire), though as dark as south wales, shows an average stature of . m. to . m. ( ft. ins. to ft. - / ins.), which is higher than the average for the whole of britain. and south-west scotland, where the type is fairly dark, contains the tallest population in europe, if not in the world. ripley suggests either that "some ethnic element of which no pure trace remains, served to increase the stature of the western highlanders without at the same time conducing to blondness; or else some local influences of natural selection or environment are responsible for it[ ]"; and he hints also that the linguistic distinction between gaels and brythons may have been associated with physical variation. the english tongue need not detain us long. its qualities, illustrated in the noblest of all literatures, are patent to the world[ ], indeed have earned for it from jacob grimm the title of _welt-sprache_, the "world speech." it belongs, as might be anticipated from the northern origin of the teutonic element in britain, to the low german division of the teutonic branch of the aryan family. despite extreme pressure from norman french, continued for over years ( - ), it has remained faithful to this connection in its inner structure, which reveals not a trace of neo-latin influences. the phonetic system has undergone profound changes, which can be only indirectly and to a small extent due to french action. what english owes to french and latin is a very large number, many thousands, of words, some superadded to, some superseding their saxon equivalents, but altogether immensely increasing its wealth of expression, while giving it a transitional position between the somewhat sharply contrasted germanic and romance worlds. amongst the romance peoples, that is, the french, spaniards, portuguese, italians, rumanians, many swiss and belgians, who were entirely assimilated in speech and largely in their civil institutions to their roman masters, the paramount position, a sort of international hegemony, has been taken by the french nation since the decadence of spain under the feeble successors of philip ii. the constituent elements of these gallo-romans, as they may be called, are much the same as those of the british peoples, but differ in their distribution and relative proportions. thus the iberians (aquitani, pictones, and later vascones), who may perhaps be identified with the neolithic long-heads[ ], do not appear ever to have ranged much farther north than brittany, and were aryanised in pre-roman times by the p-speaking celts everywhere north of the garonne. the prehistoric teutons again, who had advanced beyond the rhine at an early period (caesar says _antiquitus_) into the present belgium, were mainly confined to the northern provinces. even the historic teutons (chiefly franks and burgundians) penetrated little beyond the seine in the north and the present burgundy in the east, while the vandals, visigoths and a few others passed rapidly through to iberia beyond the pyrenees. thus the greater part of the land, say from the seine-marne basin to the mediterranean, continued to be held by the romanised mass of alpine type throughout all the central and most of the southern provinces, and elsewhere in the south by the romanised long-headed mediterranean type. this great preponderance of the romanised alpine masses explains the rapid absorption of the teutonic intruders, who were all, except the fleming section of the belgae, completely assimilated to the gallo-romans before the close of the tenth century. it also explains the perhaps still more remarkable fact that the norsemen who settled ( ) under rollo in normandy were all practically frenchmen when a few generations later they followed their duke william to the conquest of saxon england. thus the only intractable groups have proved to be the basques[ ] and the bretons, both of whom to this day retain their speech in isolated corners of the country. with these exceptions the whole of france, save the debateable area of alsace-lorraine, presents in its speech a certain homogeneous character, the standard language (_langue d'oil_[ ]) being current throughout all the northern and central provinces, while it is steadily gaining upon the southern form (_langue d'oc_[ ]) still surviving in the rural districts of limousin and provence. but pending a more thorough fusion of such tenacious elements as basques, bretons, auvergnats, and savoyards, we can scarcely yet speak of a common french type, but only of a common nationality. tall stature, long skulls, fair or light brown colour, grey or blue eyes, still prevail, as might be expected, in the north, these being traits common alike to the prehistoric belgae, the franks of the merovingian and carlovingian empires, and rollo's norsemen. with these contrast the southern peoples of short stature, olive-brown skin, round heads, dark brown or black eyes and hair. the tendency towards uniformity has proceeded far more rapidly in the urban than in the rural districts. hence the citizens of paris, lyons, bordeaux, marseilles and other large towns, present fewer and less striking contrasts than the natives of the old historical provinces, where are still distinguished the loquacious and mendacious gascon, the pliant and versatile basque, the slow and wary norman, the dreamy and fanatical breton, the quick and enterprising burgundian, and the bright, intelligent, more even-tempered native of touraine, a typical frenchman occupying the heart of the land, and holding, as it were, the balance between all the surrounding elements. in spain and portugal we have again the same ethnological elements, but also again in different proportions and differently distributed, with others superadded--proto-phoenicians and later phoenicians (carthaginians), romans, visigoths, vandals, and still later berbers and arabs. here the celtic-speaking mixed peoples mingled in prehistoric times with the long-headed mediterraneans, an ethnical fusion known to the ancients, who labelled it "keltiberian[ ]." but, as in britain, the other intruders were mostly long-heads, with the striking result that the peninsula presents to-day exactly the same uniform cranial type as the british isles. even the range ( to ) and the mean ( ) of the cephalic index are the same, rising in spain to only in the basque corner. as ripley states, "the average cephalic index of occurs nowhere else so uniformly distributed in europe" except in norway, and this uniformity "is the concomitant and index of two relatively pure, albeit widely different, ethnic types--mediterranean in spain, teutonic in norway[ ]." in other respects the social, one might almost say the national, groups are both more numerous and perhaps even more sharply discriminated in the peninsula than in france. besides the basques and portuguese, the latter with a considerable strain of negro blood[ ], we have such very distinct populations as the haughty and punctilious castilians, who under an outward show of pride and honour, are capable of much meanness; the sprightly and vainglorious andalusians, who have been called the gascons of spain, yet of graceful address and seductive manners; the morose and impassive murcians, indolent because fatalists; the gay valencians given to much dancing and revelry, but also to sudden fits of murderous rage, holding life so cheap that they will hire themselves out as assassins, and cut their bread with the blood-stained knife of their last victim; the dull and superstitious aragonese, also given to bloodshed, and so obdurate that they are said to "drive nails in with their heads"; lastly the catalans, noisy and quarrelsome, but brave, industrious, and enterprising, on the whole the best element in this motley aggregate of unbalanced temperaments. the various aspects of spanish temperament are regarded by havelock ellis[ ] as manifestations of an aboriginally primitive race, which, under the stress of a peculiarly stimulating and yet hardening environment, has retained through every stage of development an unusual degree of the endowment of fresh youth, of elemental savagery, with which it started. this explains the fine qualities of spain and her defects, the splendid initiative, and lack of sustained ability to carry it out, the importance of the point of honour and the glorification of the primitive virtue of valour. in italy the past and present relations, as elucidated especially by livi and sergi, may be thus briefly stated. after the first stone age, of which there are fewer indications than might be expected[ ], the whole land was thickly settled by dark long-headed mediterranean peoples in neolithic times. these were later joined by pelasgians of like type from greece, and by illyrians of doubtful affinity from the balkan peninsula. indeed c. penka[ ], who has so many paradoxical theories, makes the illyrians the first inhabitants of italy, as shown by the striking resemblance of the _terramara_ culture of aemilia with that of the venetian and laibach pile-dwellings. the recent finds in bosnia also[ ], besides the historically proved (?) migration of the siculi from upper italy to sicily, and their illyrian origin, all point in the same direction. but the facts are differently interpreted by sergi[ ], who holds that the whole land was occupied by the mediterraneans, because we find even in switzerland pile-dwellers of the same type[ ]. then came the peoples of aryan speech, celtic-speaking alpines from the north-west and slavs from the north-east, who raised the cephalic index in the north, where the brachy element, as already seen, still greatly predominates but diminishes steadily southwards[ ]. they occupied the whole of umbria, which at first stretched across the peninsula from the adriatic to the mediterranean, but was later encroached upon by the intruding etruscans on the west side. then also some of these umbrians, migrating southwards to latium beyond the tiber, intermingled, says sergi, with the italic (ligurian) aborigines, and became the founders of the roman state[ ]. with the spread of the roman arms the latin language, which sergi claims to be a kind of aryanised ligurian, but must be regarded as a true member of the aryan family, was diffused throughout the whole of the peninsula and islands, sweeping away all traces not only of the original ligurian and other mediterranean tongues, but also of etruscan and its own sister languages, such as umbrian, oscan, and sabellian. at the fall of the empire the land was overrun by ostrogoths, heruli, and other teutons, none of whom formed permanent settlements except the longobards, who gave their name to the present lombardy, but were themselves rapidly assimilated in speech and general culture to the surrounding populations, whom we may now call italians in the modern sense of the term. when it is remembered that the aegean culture had spread to italy at an early date, that it was continued under hellenic influences by etruscans and umbrians, that greek arts and letters were planted on italian soil (_magna graecia_) before the foundation of rome, that all these civilisations converged in rome itself and were thence diffused throughout the west, that the traditions of previous cultural epochs never died out, acquired new life with the renascence and were thus perpetuated to the present day, it may be claimed for the gifted italian people that they have been for a longer period than any others under the unbroken sway of general humanising influences. these "latin peoples," as they are called because they all speak languages of the latin stock, are not confined to the west. to the italian, french, spanish, portuguese, with the less known and ruder walloon of belgium and romansch of switzerland, tyrol, and friuli, must be associated the _rumanian_ current amongst some nine millions of so-called "daco-rumanians" in moldavia and wallachia, _i.e._ the modern kingdom of rumania. the same neo-latin tongue is also spoken by the _tsintsars_ or _kutzo-vlacks_[ ] of the mount pindus districts in the balkan peninsula, and by numerous rumanians who have in later times migrated into hungary. they form a compact and vigorous nationality, who claim direct descent from the roman military colonists settled north of the lower danube by trajan after his conquest of the dacians ( a.d.). but great difficulties attach to this theory, which is rejected by many ethnologists, especially on the ground that, after trajan's time, dacia was repeatedly swept clean by the huns, the finns, the avars, magyars and other rude mongolo-turki hordes, besides many almost ruder slavic peoples during the many centuries when the eastern populations were in a state of continual flux after the withdrawal of the roman legionaries from the lower danube. besides, it is shown by roesler[ ] and others that under aurelian ( a.d.) trajan's colonists withdrew bodily southwards to and beyond the hemus to the territory of the old bessi (thracians), _i.e._ the district still occupied by the macedo-rumanians. but in the th century, during the break-up of the byzantine empire, most of these fugitives were again driven north to their former seats beyond the danube, where they have ever since held their ground, and constituted themselves a distinct and far from feeble branch of the neo-latin community. the pindus, therefore, rather than the carpathians, is to be taken as the last area of dispersion of these valiant and intelligent descendants of the daco-romans. this seems the most rational solution of what a. d. xenopol calls "an historic enigma," although he himself rejects roesler's conclusions in favour of the old view so dear to the national pride of the present rumanian people[ ]. the composite character of the rumanian language--fundamentally neo-latin or rather early italian, with strong illyrian (albanian) and slav affinities--would almost imply that dacia had never been romanised under the empire, and that in fact this region was _for the first time_ occupied by its present romance speaking inhabitants in the th century[ ]. the nomadic life of the rumanians is in itself, as peisker points out[ ], a refutation of their descent from settled roman colonists, and indicates a central asiatic origin. the mounted nomads grazed during the summer "on most of the mountains of the balkan peninsula, and took up their winter quarters on the sea-coasts among a peasant population speaking a different language. thence they gradually spread, unnoticed by the chroniclers, along all the mountain ranges, over all the carpathians of transylvania, north hungary, and south galicia, to moravia; towards the north-west from montenegro onwards over herzegovina, bosnia, istria, as far as south styria; towards the south over albania far into greece.... and like the peasantry among which they wintered (and winter) long enough, they became (and become) after a transitory bilingualism, greeks, albanians, servians, bulgarians, ruthenians, poles, slovaks, chekhs, slovenes, croatians ... a mobile nomad stratum among a strange-tongued and more numerous peasant element, and not till later did they gradually take to agriculture and themselves become settled." the pelasgians and minoan civilisation have been briefly discussed above (ch. xiii.). later problems in greek ethnology are still under dispute. sergi, who regards the proto-aryans as round-headed barbarians of celtic, slav, and teutonic speech, makes no exception in favour of the hellenes. these also enter greece not as civilisers, but rather as destroyers of the flourishing mykenaean culture developed here, as in italy, by the mediterranean aborigines. but in course of time the intruders become absorbed in the pelasgic or eastern branch of the mediterraneans, and what we call hellenism is really pelasgianism revived, and to some extent modified by the aryan (hellenic) element. if it may be allowed that at their advent the hellenes were less civilised than the native aegeans on whom they imposed their aryan speech, whence and when came they? by penka[ ], for whom the baltic lands would be the original home not merely of the germanic branch but of all the aryans, the hellenic cradle is located in the oder basin between the elbe and the vistula. as the doric, doubtless the last greek irruption into hellas, is chronologically fixed at b.c., the beginning of the hellenic migrations may be dated back to the th century. when the hellenes migrated from central europe to greece, the period of the general ethnic dispersion was already closed, and the migratory period which next followed began with the hellenes, and was continued by the itali, gauls, germans, etc. the difficulties created by this view are insurmountable. thus we should have to suppose that from this relatively contracted aryan cradle countless tribes swarmed over europe since the th century b.c., speaking profoundly different languages (greek, celtic, latin, etc.), all differentiated since that time on the shores of the baltic. the proto-aryans with their already specialised tongues had reached the shores of the mediterranean long before that time and, according to maspero[ ], were known to the egyptians of the th dynasty ( - b.c.) if not earlier. allowing that these may have rather been pre-hellenes (pelasgians), we still know that the achaeans had traditionally arrived about b.c. and they were already speaking the language of homer. "the indications of archaeology and of legend agree marvellously well with those of the egyptian records," says h. r. hall[ ], "in making the third late minoan period one of incessant disturbance.... the whole basin of the eastern mediterranean seems to have been a seething turmoil of migrations, expulsions, wars and piracies, started first by the mycenaean (achaian) conquest of crete, and then intensified by the constant impulse of the northern iron-users into greece." herodotus speaks of the great invasion of the thesprotian tribes from beyond pindus, which took place probably in the th century b.c.[ ] as a result "an overwhelming aryan and iron-using population was first brought into greece. the earlier achaian (?) tribes of aryans in thessaly, who had perhaps lived there from time immemorial, and had probably already infiltrated southwards to form the mixed ionian population about the isthmus, were scattered, only a small portion of the nation remaining in its original home, while of the rest part conquered the south and another part emigrated across the sea to the phrygian coast. of this emigration to asia the first event must have been the war of troy.... the boeotian and achaian invasion of the south scattered the minyae, pelasgians, and ionians. the remnant of the minyae emigrated to lemnos, the pelasgi and ionians were concentrated in attica and another body of ionians in the later achaia, while the southern achaeans pressed forward into the peloponnese[ ]." it is evident from the national traditions that the proto-greeks did not arrive _en bloc_, but rather at intervals in separate and often hostile bands bearing different names. but all these groups--achaeans, danai, argians, dolopes, myrmidons, leleges and many others, some of which were also found in asia minor--retained a strong sense of their common origin. the sentiment, which may be called racial rather than national, received ultimate expression when to all of them was extended the collective name of hellenes (sellenes originally), that is, descendants of deucalion's son hellen, whose two sons aeolus and dorus, and grandson ion, were supposed to be the progenitors of the aeolians, dorians, and ionians. but such traditions are merely reminiscences of times when the tribal groupings still prevailed, and it may be taken for granted that the three main branches of the hellenic stock did not spring from a particular family that rose to power in comparatively recent times in the thessalian district of phthiotis. whatever truth may lie behind the hellenic legend, it is highly probable that, at the time when hellen is said to have flourished (about b.c.), the aeolic-speaking communities of thessaly, arcadia, boeotia, the closely-allied dorians[ ] of phocaea, argos, and laconia, and the ionians of attica, had already been clearly specialised, had in fact formed special groups before entering greece. later their dialects, after acquiring a certain polish and leaving some imperishable records of the many-sided greek genius, were gradually merged in the literary neo-ionic or attic, which thus became the [greek: koinê dialektos], or current speech of the greek world. admirable alike for its manifold aptitudes and surprising vitality, the language of aeschylus, thucydides, and the other great athenians outlived all the vicissitudes of the byzantine empire, during which it was for a time banished from southern greece, and even still survives, although in a somewhat degraded form, in the romaic or neo-hellenic tongue of modern hellas. romaic, a name which recalls a time when the byzantines were known as "romans" throughout the east, differs far less from the classical standard than do any of the romance tongues from latin. since the restoration of greek independence great efforts have been made to revive the old language in all its purity, and some modern writers now compose in a style differing little from that of the classic period. yet the hellenic race itself has almost perished on the mainland. traces of the old greek type have been detected by lenormant and others, especially amongst the women of patras and missolonghi. but within living memory attica was still an albanian land, and fallmerayer has conclusively shown that the peloponnesus and adjacent districts had become thoroughly slavonised during the th and th centuries[ ]. "for many centuries," writes the careful roesler, "the greek peninsula served as a colonial domain for the slavs, receiving the overflow of their population from the sarmatian lowlands[ ]." their presence is betrayed in numerous geographical terms, such as _varsova_ in arcadia, _glogova_, _tsilikhova_, etc. nevertheless, since the revival of the hellenic sentiment there has been a steady flow of greek immigration from the archipelago and anatolia; and the albanian, slav, italian, turkish, rumanian, and norman elements have in modern greece already become almost completely hellenised, at least in speech. of the old dialects doric alone appears to have survived in the tsaconic of the laconian hills. the greek language has, however, disappeared from southern italy, sicily, syria, and the greater part of egypt and asia minor, where it was long dominant. to understand the appearance of slavs in the peloponnesus we must go back to the eurasian steppe, the probable cradle of these multitudinous populations. here they have often been confused with the ancient sarmatae, who already before the dawn of history were in possession of the south russian plains between the scythians towards the east and the proto-germanic tribes before their migration to the baltic lands. but even at that time, before the close of the neolithic age, there must have been interminglings, if not with the western teutons, almost certainly with the eastern scythians, which helps to explain the generally vague character of the references made by classical writers both to the sarmatians and the scythians, who sometimes seem to be indistinguishable from savage mongol hordes, and at others are represented as semi-cultured peoples, such as the aryans of the bronze period might have been round about the district of olbia and the other early miletian settlements on the northern shores of the euxine. owing to these early crossings andré lefèvre goes so far as to say that "there is no slav race[ ]," but only nations of divers more or less pure types, more or less crossed, speaking dialects of the same language, who later received the name of slavs, borne by a prehistoric tribe of _sarmatians_, and meaning "renowned," "illustrious[ ]." both their language and mythologies, continues lefèvre, point to the vast region near irania as the primeval home of the slav, as of the celtic and germanic populations. the sauromatae or sarmatae of herodotus[ ], who had given their name to the mass of slav or slavonised peoples, still dwelt north of the caucasus and south of the _budini_ between the caspian, the don and sea of azov; "after crossing the tanais (don) we are no longer in scythia; we begin to enter the lands of the sauromatae, who, starting from the angle of the palus moeotis (sea of azov), occupy a space of days' march, where are neither trees, fruit-trees, nor savages. above the tract fallen to them the budini occupy another district, which is overgrown with all kinds of trees[ ]." then herodotus seems to identify these sarmatians with the scythians, whence all the subsequent doubts and confusion. both spoke the same language, of which seven distinct dialects are mentioned, yet a number of personal names preserved by the greeks have a certain iranic look, so that these scythian tongues seem to have been really aryan, forming a transition between the asiatic and the european branches of the family. the probable explanation is that the scythians[ ] were a horde which came down from upper asia, conquered an iranian-speaking people, and in time adopted the speech of its subjects. e. h. minns[ ] suggests that the settled scythians represent the remains of the iranian population, and the nomads the conquering peoples. these were displaced later by the sarmatians, and scythia becomes merely a geographical term. skulls dug up in scythic graves throw no light on racial affinities, some being long, and some short, but in customs there is a close analogy with the mongols, though, as minns points out, "the natural conditions of steppe-ranging dictated the greater part of them." both slav and germanic tribes had probably in remote times penetrated up the danube and the volga, while some of the former under the name of _wends_ (venedi[ ]), appear to have reached the carpathians and the baltic shores down the vistula. the movement was continued far into medieval times, when great overlappings took place, and when numerous slav tribes, some still known as wends, others as _sorbs_, _croats_, or _chekhs_, ranged over central europe to pomerania and beyond the upper elbe to suabia. most of these have long been teutonised, but a few of the _polabs_[ ] survive as wends in prussian and saxon lausatz, while the chekhs and _slovaks_ still hold their ground in bohemia and moravia, as the _poles_ do in posen and the vistula valley, and the _rusniaks_ or _ruthenes_ with the closely allied "little russians," in the carpathians, galicia, and ukrania. it was from the carpathian[ ] lands that came those _yugo-slavs_ ("southern slavs") who, under the collective name of sorbs (serbs, servians), moved southwards beyond the danube, and overran a great part of the balkan peninsula and nearly the whole of greece in the th and th centuries. they were the khorvats[ ] or khrobats[ ] from the upland valleys of the oder and vistula, whom, after his persian wars, heraclius invited to settle in the wasted provinces south of the danube, hoping, as nadir shah did later with the kurds in khorasan, to make them a northern bulwark of the empire against the incursions of the avars and other mongolo-turki hordes. thus was formed the first permanent settlement of the yugo-slavs in croatia, istria, dalmatia, bosnia, and the nerenta valley in , under the five brothers klukas, lobol, kosentses, múkl, and khrobat, with their sisters tuga and buga. these were followed by the kindred srp (sorb) tribes from the elbe, who left their homes in misnia and lusatia, and received as their patrimony the whole region between macedonia and epirus, dardania, upper moesia, the dacia of aurelian, and illyria, _i.e._ bosnia and servia. the lower danube was at the same time occupied by the _severenses_, "seven nations," also slavs, who reached to the foot of the hemus beyond the present varna. nothing could stem this great slav inundation, which soon overflowed into macedonia (rumelia), thessaly, and peloponnesus, so that for a time nearly the whole of the balkan lands, from the danube to the mediterranean, became a slav domain--parts of illyria and epirus (albania) with the greek districts about constantinople alone excepted. hellas, as above seen, has recovered itself, and the _albanians_[ ], direct descendants of the ancient illyrians, still hold their ground and keep alive the last echoes of the old illyrian language, which was almost certainly a proto-aryan form of speech probably intermediate, as above-mentioned, between the italic and hellenic branches. they even retain the old tribal system, so that there are not only two main sections, the northern _ghegs_ and the southern _toshks_, but each section is divided into a number of minor groups[ ], such as the malliesors (klementi, pulati, hoti, etc.) and mirdites (dibri, fandi, matia, etc.) in the north, and the toxides (whence toshk) and the yapides (lapides) in the south. the southerners are mainly orthodox greeks, and in other respects half-hellenised epirotes, the northerners partly moslem and partly roman catholics of the latin rite. from this section came chiefly those albanians who, after the death ( ) of their valiant champion, george castriota (_scanderbeg_, "alexander the great"), fled from turkish oppression and formed numerous settlements, especially in calabria and sicily, and still retain their national traditions. in their original homes, located by some between the bug and the dnieper, the slavs have not only recovered from the fierce mongolo-turki and finn tornadoes, by which the eastern steppes were repeatedly swept for over years after the building of the great wall, but have in recent historic times displayed a prodigious power of expansion second only to that of the british peoples. the _russians_ (great, little, and white russians), whose political empire now stretches continuously from the baltic to the pacific, have already absorbed nearly all the mongol elements in east europe, have founded compact settlements in caucasia and west siberia, and have thrown off numerous pioneer groups of colonists along all the highways of trade and migration, and down the great fluvial arteries between the ob and the amur estuary. they number collectively over millions, with a domain of some nine million square miles. the majority belong to deniker's eastern race[ ] (a variety of the alpine type), being blond, sub-brachycephalic and short, . m. ( ft. - / ins.). the little russians in the south on the black mould belt are more brachycephalic and have darker colouring and taller stature. the white russians in the west between poland and lithuania are the fairest of all. we need not be detained by the controversy carried on between sergi and zaborowski regarding a prehistoric spread of the mediterranean race to russia[ ]. the skulls from several of the old kurgans, identified by sergi with his mediterranean type, have not been sufficiently determined as to date or cultural periods to decide the question, while their dolicho shape is common both to the mediterraneans and to the proto-aryans of the north european type[ ]. to this stock the proto-slavs are affiliated by zaborowski and many others[ ], although the present slavs are all distinctly round-headed. ripley asks, almost in despair, what is to be done with the present slav element, and decides to apply "the term _homo alpinus_ to this broad-headed group wherever it occurs, whether on mountains or plains, in the west or in the east[ ]." we are beset by the same difficulties as we pass with the _ossets_ of the caucasus into the iranian and indian domains of the proto-aryan peoples. these ossets, who are the only aborigines of aryan speech in caucasia, are by zaborowski[ ] identified with the alans, who are already mentioned in the st century a.d. and were scythians of iranian speech, blonds, mixed with medes, and perhaps descendants of the massagetae. we know from history that the goths and alans became closely united, and it may be from the goths that the osset descendants of the alans (some still call themselves alans) learned to brew beer. elsewhere[ ] zaborowski represents the ossets as of european origin, till lately for the most part blonds, though now showing many scythian traits. but they are not physically iranians "despite the iranian and asiatic origin of their language," as shown by max kowalewsky[ ]. on the whole, therefore, the ossets may be taken as originally blond europeans, closely blended with scythians, and later with the other modern caucasus peoples, who are mostly brown brachys. but ernest chantre[ ] allies these groups to their brown and brachy tatar neighbours, and denies that the ossets are the last remnants of germanic immigrants into caucasia. we have therefore in the caucasus a very curious and puzzling phenomenon--several somewhat distinct groups of aborigines, mainly of de lapouge's alpine type, but all except the ossets speaking an amazing number of non-aryan stock languages. philologists have been for some time hard at work in this linguistic wilderness, the "mountain of languages" of the early arabo-persian writers, without greatly reducing the number of independent groups, while many idioms traceable to a single stem still differ so profoundly from each other that they are practically so many stocks. of the really distinct families the more important are:--the _kartweli_ of the southern slopes, comprising the historical georgian, cultivated since the th century, the mingrelian, imeritian, laz of lazistan, and many others; the _cherkess_ (circassian), the _abkhasian_ and _kabard_ of the western and central caucasus; the _chechenz_ and _lesghian_, the _andi_, the _ude_, the _kubachi_ and _duodez_ of daghestan, _i.e._ the eastern caucasus. where did this babel of tongues come from? we know that years ago the relations were much the same as at present, because the greeks speak of scores of languages current in the port of dioscurias in their time. if therefore the aborigines are the "sweepings of the plains," they must have been swept up long before the historic period. did they bring their different languages with them, or were these specialised in their new upland homes? the consideration that an open environment makes for uniformity, secluded upland valleys for diversity, seems greatly to favour the latter assumption, which is further strengthened by the now established fact that, although there are few traces of the palaeolithic epoch, the caucasus was somewhat thickly inhabited in the new stone age. crossing into irania we are at once confronted with totally different conditions. for the ethnologist this region comprises, besides the tableland between the tigris and indus, both slopes of the hindu-kush, and the pamir, with the uplands bounded south and north by the upper courses of the oxus and the sir-darya. overlooking later mongolo-turki encroachments, a general survey will, i think, show that from the earliest times the whole of this region has formed part of the caucasic domain; that the bulk of the indigenous populations must have belonged to the dark, round-headed alpine type; that these, still found in compact masses in many places, were apparently conquered, but certainly aryanised in speech, in very remote prehistoric times by long-headed blond aryans of the iranic and galchic branches, who arrived in large numbers from the contiguous eurasian steppe, mingled generally with the brachy aborigines, but also kept aloof in several districts, where they still survive with more or less modified proto-aryan features. thus we are at once struck by the remarkable fact that absolute uniformity of speech, always apart from late mongol intrusions, has prevailed during the historic period throughout irania, which has been in this respect as completely aryanised as europe itself; and further, that all current aryan tongues, with perhaps one trifling exception[ ], are members either of the iranic or the galchic branch of the family. both iranic and galchic are thus rather linguistic than ethnic terms, and so true is this that a philologist always knows what is meant by an iranic language, while the anthropologist is unable to define or form any clear conception of an iranian, who may be either of long-headed nordic or round-headed alpine type. here confusion may be avoided by reserving the historic name of persian[ ] for the former, and comprising all the alpines under the also time-honoured though less known name of tajiks. khanikoff has shown that these tajiks constitute the primitive element in ancient iran. to the true persians of the west, as well as to the kindred afghans in the east, both of dolicho type, the term is rarely applied. but almost everywhere the sedentary and agricultural aborigines are called tajiks, and are spoken of as _parsiván_, that is, _parsizabán_[ ], "of persian speech," or else _dihkán_[ ], that is, "peasants," all being mainly husbandmen "of persian race and tongue[ ]." they form endless tribal, or at least social, groups, who keep somewhat aloof from their proto-aryan conquerors, so that, in the east especially, the ethnic fusion is far from complete, the various sections of the community being still rather juxtaposed than fused in a single nationality. when to these primeval differences is added the tribal system still surviving in full vigour amongst the intruding afghans themselves, we see how impossible it is yet to speak of an afghan nation, but only of heterogeneous masses loosely held together by the paramount tribe--at present the _durani_ of kabul. the tajiks are first mentioned by herodotus, whose _dadikes_[ ] are identified by hammer and khanikoff with them[ ]. they are now commonly divided into lowland, and highland or hill tajiks, of whom the former were always parsiván, whereas the hill tajiks did not originally speak persian at all, but, as many still do, an independent sister language called galchic, current in the pamir, zerafshan and sir-darya uplands, and holding a somewhat intermediate position between the iranic and indic branches. this term galcha, although new to science, has long been applied to the aryans of the pamir valleys, being identified with the _calcienses populi_ of the lay jesuit benedict goez, who crossed the pamir in , and describes them as "of light hair and beard like the belgians." meyendorff also calls those of zerafshan "eastern persians, galchi, galchas." the word has been explained to mean "the hungry raven who has withdrawn to the mountains," probably in reference to those lowland tajiks who took refuge in the uplands from the predatory turki hordes. but it is no doubt the persian _galcha_, a peasant or clown, then a vagabond, etc., whence _galchagi_, rudeness. as shown by j. biddulph[ ], the tribes of galchic speech range over both slopes of the hindu-kush, comprising the natives of sarakol, wakhan, shignan, munjan (with the yidoks of the upper lud-kho or chitral river), sanglich, and ishkashim. to these he is inclined to add the pakhpus and the shakshus of the upper yarkand-darya, as well as those of the kocha valley, with whom must now be included the zerafshan galchas (maghians, kshtuts, falghars, machas and fans), but not the yagnobis. all these form also one ethnic group of alpine type, with whom on linguistic grounds biddulph also includes two other groups, the khos of chitral with the siah posh of kafiristan, and the shíns (dards), górs, chilási and other small tribes of the upper indus and side valleys, all these apparently being long-heads of the blond aryan type. keeping this distinction in view, biddulph's valuable treatise on the hindu-kush populations may be followed with safety. he traces the galcha idioms generally to the old baktrian (east persia, so-called "zend avesta"), the shín however leaning closely to sanskrit, while khowar, the speech of the chitrali (khos), is intermediate between baktrian and sanskrit. but differences prevail on these details, which will give occupation to philologists for some time to come. speaking generally, all the galchas of the northern slopes (most of biddulph's first group) are physically connected with all the other lowland and hill tajiks, with whom should also probably be included elphinstone's[ ] southern tajiks dwelling south of the hindu-kush (kohistani, berraki, purmuli or fermuli, sirdehi, sistani, and others scattered over afghanistan and northern baluchistan). their type is pronouncedly alpine, so much so that they have been spoken of by french anthropologists as "those belated savoyards of kohistan[ ]." de ujfalvy, who has studied them carefully, describes them as tall, brown or bronzed and even white, with ruddy cheeks recalling the englishman, black or chestnut hair, sometimes red and even light, smooth, wavy or curly, full beard, brown, ruddy or blond (he met two brothers near penjakend with hair "blanc comme du lin"); brown, blue, or grey eyes, never oblique, long, shapely nose slightly curved, thin, straight lips, oval face, stout, vigorous frame, and round heads with cephalic index as high as . . this description, which is confirmed by bonvalot and other recent observers, applies to the darwazi, wakhi, badakhshi, and in fact all the groups, so that we have beyond all doubt an eastern extension of the alpine brachycephalic zone through armenia and the bakhtiari uplands to the central asiatic highlands, a conclusion confirmed by the explorations of m. a. stein in chinese turkestan and the pamirs ( - )[ ]. indeed this asiatic extension of the alpine type inclines v. luschan[ ] to regard the european branch as one offshoot, and the high and narrow ("hittite") nosed type as another, or rather as a specialised group, of which the armenians, persians, druses, and other sectarian groups of syria and asia minor represent the purest examples. according to his summary of this complicated region "all western asia was originally inhabited by a homogeneous melanochroic race, with extreme hypsi-brachycephaly and with a 'hittite' nose. about b.c. began a semitic invasion from the south-east, probably from arabia, by people looking like the modern bedawy. two thousand years later commenced a second invasion, this time from the north-west, by xanthrochroous and long-headed tribes like the modern kurds, half savage, and in some way or other, perhaps, connected with the historic harri, amorites, tamehu and galatians[ ]." but the eventful drama is not yet closed. arrested perhaps for a time by the barrier of the hindu-kush and sulimán ranges, proto-aryan conquerors burst at last, probably through the kabul river gorges, on to the plains of india, and thereby added another world to the caucasic domain. here they were brought face to face with new conditions, which gave rise to fresh changes and adaptations resulting in the present ethnical relations in the peninsula. there is good reason to think that in this region the leavening aryan element never was numerous, while even on their first arrival the aryan invaders found the land already somewhat thickly peopled by the aborigines[ ]. the marked linguistic and ethnical differences between eastern and western hindustan have given rise to the theory of two separate streams of immigration, perhaps continued over many centuries[ ]. the earlier entered from the north-west, bringing their herds and families with them, whose descendants are the homogeneous and handsome populations of the punjab and rajputana. later swarms entered by way of the difficult passes of gilgit and chitral, a route which made it impossible for their women to accompany them. "here they came in contact with the dravidians; here by the stress of that contact caste was evolved; here the vedas were composed and the whole fantastic structure of orthodox ritual and usage was built up.... the men of the stronger race took to themselves women of the weaker, and from these unions was evolved the mixed type which we find in hindustan and bihar[ ]." an attempt to analyse the complicated ethnic elements contained in the vast area of india was made by h. h. risley[ ], who recognised seven types, his classification being based on theories of origin. . the turko-iranian type, including the _baloch_, _brahui_, and _afghans_ of baluchistan and the north-west frontier provinces, all muhammadans, with broad head, long prominent nose, abundant hair, fair complexion and tall stature. . indo-aryan type in the punjab, rajputana and kashmir, with its most conspicuous members the _rájputs_, _khatri_ and _játs_ in all but colour closely resembling the european type and showing little difference between upper and lower social strata. their characteristics are tall stature, fair complexion, plentiful hair on face, long head, and narrow prominent nose. . aryo-dravidian or hindustani type in the united provinces, parts of rajputana, bihar, and ceylon, with lower stature, variable complexion, longish head, and a nose index exactly corresponding to social station. . scytho-dravidian of western india, including the _maratha brahmans_, _kunbi_, and _coorgs_, of medium stature, fair complexion, broad head with scanty hair on the face, and a fine nose. . dravidian, generally regarded as representing the indigenous element. the characteristics are fairly uniform from ceylon to the ganges valley throughout madras, hyderabad, the central provinces, central india and chota nagpur, and the name is now used to include the mass of the population unaffected by foreign (aryan, scythian, mongoloid) immigration. the _nairs_ of malabar and the _santal_ of chota nagpur are typical representatives. the stature is short, complexion very dark, almost black, hair plentiful with a tendency to curl, head long and nose very broad[ ]. . mongolo-dravidian or bengali type of bengal and orissa, showing fusion with tibeto-burman elements. the stature is medium, complexion dark, and head conspicuously broad, nose variable. . mongoloid of the himalayas, nepal, assam, and burma, represented by the _kanet_ of lahoul and kulu, the _lepcha_ of darjiling, the _limbu_, _murmi_ and _gurung_ of nepal, the _bodo_ of assam and the _burmese_. the stature is short, the complexion dark with a yellowish tinge, the hair on the face scanty. the head is broad with characteristic flat face and frequently oblique eyes. this classification while more or less generally adopted in outline is not allowed to pass unchallenged, especially with regard to the theories of origin implied. concerning the brachycephalic element of western india risley's belief that it was the result of so-called "scythian" invasions is not supported by sufficient evidence. "the foreign element is certainly alpine, not mongolian, and it may be due to a migration of which the history has not been written[ ]." ramaprasad chanda[ ] goes further and traces the broad-headed elements in both "scytho-dravidians" (gujaratis, marathas and coorgs) and "mongolo-dravidians" (bengalis and oriyas) to one common source, "the _homo alpinus_ of the pamirs and chinese turkestan," and attempts to reconstruct the history of the migration of the alpine invaders from central asia over gujarat, deccan, bihar and bengal. his conclusions are supported by the reports of sir aurel stein of the _homo alpinus_ type discovered in the region of lob nor, dating from the first centuries a.d. this type "still supplies the prevalent element in the racial constitution of the indigenous population of chinese turkestan, and is seen in its purest form in the iranian-speaking tribes near the pamirs[ ]." but any scheme of classification must be merely tentative, subject to modification as statistics of the vast area are gradually collected. and w. crooke[ ], while acknowledging the value of risley's scheme[ ] points out the need of caution in accepting measurements of skull and nose forms applied to the mixed races and half-breeds which form the majority of the people. "the race migrations are all prehistoric, and the amalgamation of the races has continued for ages among a people to whom moral restraints are irksome and unfamiliar. the existing castes are quite a modern creation, dating only from the later buddhist age." "the present population thus represents the flotsam and jetsam collected from many streams of ethnical movement, and any attempt to sort out the existing races into a set of pigeon-holes, each representing a defined type of race, is, in the present state of our knowledge, impossible[ ]." in features, says dalton, the kols[ ] show "much variety, and i think in a great many families there is a considerable admixture of aryan blood. many have high noses and oval faces, and young girls are at times met with who have delicate and regular features, finely-chiselled straight noses, and perfectly formed mouths and chins. the eyes, however, are seldom so large, so bright, and gazelle-like as those of pure hindu maidens, and i have met strongly marked mongolian features. in colour they vary greatly, the copper tints being about the most common [though the mirzapur kols are very dark]. eyes dark brown, hair black, straight or wavy [as all over india]. both men and women are noticeable for their fine, erect carriage and long, free stride[ ]." the same variations are found among the dravidians, where, as should be expected, there are many aberrant groups showing divergences in all directions, as amongst the _kurumba_ and _toda_ of the nilgiris, the former approximating to the mongol, the latter to the aryan standard. w. sikemeier, who lived amongst them for years, notes that "many of the kurumbas have decided mongoloid face and stature, and appear to be the aborigines of that region[ ]." the same correspondent adds that much nonsense has been written about the todas, who have become the trump card of popular ethnographists. "being ransacked by european visitors they invent all kinds of traditions, which they found out their questioners liked to get, and for which they were paid." still the type is remarkable and strikingly european, "well proportioned and stalwart, with straight nose, regular features and perfect teeth," the chief characteristic being the development of the hairy system, less however than amongst the ainu, whom they so closely resemble[ ]. from the illustrations given in thurston's valuable series one might be tempted to infer that a group of proto-aryans had reached this extreme limit of their asiatic domain, and although w. h. r. rivers has cleared away the mystery and established links between the todas and tribes of malabar and travancore, the problem of their origin is not yet entirely solved[ ]. the dravidians occupy the greater part of the deccan, where they are constituted in a few great nations--telugus (telingas), tamils (numbers of whom have crossed into ceylon and occupied the northern and central parts of that island, working in the coffee districts), kanarese, and the malayalim of the west coast. these with some others were brought at an early date under aryan (hindu) influences, but have preserved their highly agglutinating dravidian speech, which has no known affinities elsewhere, unless perhaps with the language of the brahuis, who are regarded by many as belated dravidians left behind in east baluchistan. but for this very old, but highly cultivated dravidian language, which is still spoken by about millions between the ganges and ceylon, it would no longer be possible to distinguish these southern hindus from those of aryan speech who occupy all the rest of the peninsula together with the southern slopes of the hindu-kush and parts of the western himalayas. their main divisions are the kashmiri, many of whom might be called typical aryans; the punjabis with several sub-groups, amongst which are the sikhs, religious sectaries half moslem half hindu, also of magnificent physique; the gujaratis, mahratis, hindis, bengalis, assamis, and oraons of orissa, all speaking neo-sanskritic idioms, which collectively constitute the indic branch of the aryan family. hindustani or urdu, a simplified form of hindi current especially in the doab, or "two waters," the region between the ganges and jumna above allahabad, has become a sort of _lingua franca_, the chief medium of intercourse throughout the peninsula, and is understood by certainly over millions, while all the population of neo-sanskritic speech numbered in considerably over millions. classification derives little help from the consideration of caste, whatever view be taken of the origin of this institution. the rather obvious theory that it was introduced by the handful of aryan conquerors to prevent the submergence of the race in the great ocean of black or dark aborigines, is now rejected by many investigators, who hold that its origin is occupational, a question rather of social or industrial pursuits becoming hereditary in family groups than of race distinctions sanctioned by religion. they point out that the commentator's interpretation of the _pancha ksitaya_, "five classes," as _bráhmans_ (priests), _kshatriyas_ (fighters), _vaisya_ (traders), _sudra_ (peasants and craftsmen of all kinds), and _nisháda_ (savages or outcasts) is recent, and conveys only the current sentiment of the age. it never had any substantial base, and even in the comparatively late institutes of manu "the rules of food, connubium and intercourse between the various castes are very different from what we find at present"; also that, far from being eternal and changeless, caste has been subject to endless modifications throughout the whole range of hindu myth and history. nor is it an institution peculiar to india, while even here the stereotyped four or five divisions neither accord with existing facts, nor correspond to so many distinct ethnical groups. all this is perfectly true, and it is also true that for generations the recognised castes, say, social pursuits, have been in a state of constant flux, incessantly undergoing processes of segmentation, so that their number is at present past counting. nevertheless, the system may have been, and probably was, first inspired by racial motives, an instinctive sense of self-preservation, which expressed itself in an informal way by local class distinctions which were afterwards sanctioned by religion, but eventually broke down or degenerated into the present relations under the outward pressure of imperious social necessities[ ]. * * * * * beyond the mainland and ceylon no caucasic peoples of aryan speech are known to have ranged in neolithic or prehistoric times. but we have already followed the migrations of a kindred[ ], though mixed race, here called indonesians, into malaysia, the philippines, formosa, and the japanese archipelago, which they must have occupied in the new stone age. here there occurs a great break, for they are not again met till we reach micronesia and the still more remote insular groups beyond melanesia. in micronesia the relations are extremely confused, because, as it seems, this group had already been occupied by the papuans from new guinea before the arrival of the indonesians, while after their arrival they were followed at intervals by malays perhaps from the philippines and formosa, and still later by japanese, if not also by chinese from the mainland. hence the types are here as varied as the colour, which appears, going eastwards, to shade off from the dark brown of the pelew and caroline islanders to the light brown of the marshall and gilbert groups, where we already touch upon the skirts of the true indonesian domain[ ]. a line drawn athwart the pacific from new zealand through fiji to hawaii will roughly cut off this domain from the rest of the oceanic world, where all to the west is melanesian, papuan or mixed, while all to the right--_maori_, some of the eastern _fijians_, _tongans_, _samoans_, _tahitians_, _marquesans_, _hawaiians_ and _easter islanders_--is grouped under the name polynesian, a type produced by a mixture of proto-malayan and indonesian. dolichocephaly and mesaticephaly prevail throughout the region, but there are brachycephalic centres in tonga, the marquesas and hawaiian islands. the hair is mostly black and straight, but also wavy, though never frizzly or even kinky. the colour also is of a light brown compared to cinnamon or café-au-lait, and sometimes approaching an almost white shade, while the tall stature averages . m. ( ft. - / ins.). migrating at an unknown date eastwards from the east indian archipelago[ ], the first permanent settlements appear to have been formed in samoa, and more particularly in the island of _savaii_, originally _savaiki_, which name under divers forms and still more divers meanings accompanied all their subsequent migrations over the pacific waters. thus we have in tahiti _havaii_[ ], the "universe," and the old capital of raiatea; in rarotonga _avaiki_, "the land under the wind"; in new zealand _hawaiki_, "the land whence came the maori"; in the marquesas _havaiki_, "the lower regions of the dead," as in _to fenua havaiki_, "return to the land of thy forefathers," the words with which the victims in human sacrifices were speeded to the other world; lastly in _hawaii_, the name of the chief island of the sandwich group. the polynesians are cheerful, dignified, polite, imaginative and intelligent, varying in temperament between the wild and energetic and politically capable maori to his indolent and politically sterile kinsmen to the north, who have been unnerved by the unvarying uniformity of temperature. wherever possible, they are agriculturalists, growing yams, sweet potatoes and taro. coconuts, bread-fruit and bananas form the staple food in many islands. scantily endowed with fertile soil and edible plants the polynesians have gained command over the sea which everywhere surrounds them, and have developed into the best seamen among primitive races. large sailing double canoes were formerly in use, and single canoes with an outrigger are still made. native costume for men is made of bark cloth, and for women ample petticoats of split and plaited leaves. ornaments, with the exception of flowers, are sparingly worn. the bow and arrow are unknown, short spears, clubs and slings are used, but no shields. the arts of writing, pottery making, loom-weaving and the use of metals were, with few exceptions, unknown, but mat-making, basketry and the making of _tapa_ were carried to a high pitch, and polynesian bark-cloth is the finest in the world. throughout polynesia the community is divided into nobles or chiefs, freemen and slaves, which divisions are, by reason of _tabu_, as sharp as those of caste. they fall into those which participate in the divine, and those which are wholly excluded from it. women have a high position, and men do their fair share of work. polygyny is universal, being limited only by the wealth of the husband, or the numerical preponderance of the men. priests have considerable influence, there are numerous gods, sometimes worshipped in the outward form of idols, and ancestors are deified. polynesian culture has been analysed by w. h. r. rivers[ ], and the following briefly summarises his results. at first sight the culture appears very simple, especially as regards language and social structure, while there is a considerable degree of uniformity in religious belief. everywhere we find the same kind of higher being or god and the resemblance extends even to the name, usually some form of the word _atua_. in material culture also there are striking similarities, though here the variations are more definite and obvious, and the apparent uniformity is probably due to the attention given to the customs of chiefs, overlooking the culture of the ordinary people where more diversity is discoverable. there is much that points to the twofold nature of polynesian culture. the evidence from the study of the ritual indicates the presence of two peoples, an earlier who interred their dead in a sitting posture like the dual people of melanesia[ ], and a later, who became chiefs and believed in the need for the preservation of the dead among the living. all the evidence available, physical and cultural, points to the conjecture that the early stratum of the population of polynesia was formed by an immigrant people who also found their way to melanesia. the later stream of settlers can be identified with the kava-people[ ]. kava was drunk especially by the chiefs, and the accompanying ceremonial shows its connection with the higher ranks of the people. the close association of the _areoi_ (secret society) of eastern polynesia with the chiefs is further proof. thus both in melanesia and in polynesia the chiefs who preserved their dead are identified with the founders of secret societies--organisations which came into being through the desire of an immigrant people to practise their religious rites in secret. burial in the extended position occurs in tikopia, tonga and samoa--perhaps it may have been the custom of some special group of the kava-people. chiefs were placed in vaults constructed of large stones--a feature unknown elsewhere in oceania. it is safe also to ascribe the human design which has undergone conventionalisation in polynesia to the kava-people. the geometric art through which the conventionalisation was produced belonged to the earlier inhabitants who interred their dead in the sitting position. money, if it exists at all, occupies a very unimportant place in the culture of the people. there is no evidence of the use of any object in polynesia with the definite scale of values which is possessed by several kinds of money in melanesia. the polynesians are largely communistic, probably more so than the melanesians, and afford one of the best examples of communism in property with which we are acquainted. this feature may be ascribed to the earlier settlers. the suggestion that the kava-people never formed independent communities in polynesia, but were accepted at once as chiefs of those among whom they settled would account for the absence of money (for which there was no need), and the failure to disturb in any great measure the communism of the earlier inhabitants. communism in property was associated with sexual communism. there is evidence that polynesian chiefs rarely had more than one wife, while the licentiousness which probably stood in a definite relation to the communism of the people is said to have been more pronounced among the lower strata of the community. both communism and licentiousness appear to have been much less marked in the samoan and tongan islands, and here there is no evidence of interment in the sitting position. these and other facts support the view that the influence of the kava-people was greater here than in the more eastern islands: probably it was greatest in tikopia, which in many respects differs from other parts of polynesia. magic is altogether absent from the culture of tikopia and it probably took a relatively unimportant place throughout polynesia. in tikopia the ghosts of dead ancestors and relatives as well as animals are _atua_ and this connotation of the word appears to be general in other parts of polynesia. these may be regarded as the representatives of the ghosts and spirits of melanesia. the _vui_ of melanesia may be represented by the _tii_ of tahiti, beings not greatly respected, who had to some extent a local character. this comparison suggests that the ancestral ghosts belong to the culture of the kava-people, and that the local spirits are derived from the culture of the people who interred their dead in the sitting position, from which people the dual people of melanesia derived their beliefs and practices. to sum up. polynesian culture is made up of at least two elements, an earlier, associated with the practice of interring the dead in a sitting position, communism, geometric art, local spirits and magical rites, and a later, which practised preservation of the dead. these latter may be identified with the kava-people while the earlier polynesian stratum is that which entered into the composition of the dual-people of melanesia at a still earlier date, and introduced the austronesian language into oceania[ ]. footnotes: [ ] cf. j. déchelette, _manuel d'archéologie préhistorique_, vol. ii. , p. , and for neolithic trade routes, _ib._ vol. i. p. . [ ] the tell-el-amarna correspondence contains names of chieftains in syria and palestine about b.c., including the name of tushratta, king of mitanni; the boghaz keui document with iranian divine names, and babylonian records of iranian names from the persian highlands, are a little later in date. [ ] j. l. myres, _the dawn of history_, , p. . [ ] cf. p. giles, art. "indo-european languages" in _ency. brit._ . [ ] s. feist, _kultur, ausbreitung und herkunft der indogermanen_, , pp. and - . [ ] o. schrader, _sprachvergleichung und urgeschichte_, rd ed. - . [ ] g. kossinna, _die herkunft der germanen_, . [ ] h. hirt, _die indogermanen, ihre verbreitung, ihre urheimat und ihre kultur_, - . [ ] s. feist, _kultur, ausbreitung und herkunft der indogermanen_, , pp. and - . [ ] _deutsche altertumskunde_, i. , p. . [ ] see note , p. above. [ ] art. "indo-european languages," _ency. brit._ , p. . [ ] centum (hard guttural) group is the name applied to the western and entirely european branches of the indo-european family, as opposed to the satem (sibilant) group, situated mainly in asia. [ ] _the races of europe_, , p. and chap. xvii. european origins: race and language: the aryan question. [ ] s. feist, _kultur, ausbreitung und herkunft der indogermanen_, , pp. , ff. [ ] cf. t. rice holmes, _caesar's conquest of gaul_, , p. . [ ] e. de michelis, _l'origine degli indo-europei_, . [ ] even sweden, regarded as the home of the purest nordic type, already had a brachycephalic mixture in the stone age. see g. retzius, "the so-called north european race of mankind," _journ. roy. anthrop. inst._ xxxix. , p. . [ ] cf. e. meyer, _geschichte des altertums_, , l. , § . [ ] for the working out of this hypothesis see t. peisker, "the expansion of the slavs," _cambridge medieval history_, vol. ii. . [ ] h. m. chadwick, art. "teutonic peoples" in _ency. brit._ . cf. s. feist, _kultur, ausbreitung und herkunft der indogermanen_, , p. . [ ] see r. much, art. "germanen," j. hoops' _reallexikon d. germ. altertumskunde_, . [ ] h. m. chadwick, _the origin of the english nation_, , pp. - . for a full account of the affinities of the _cimbri_ and _teutoni_ see t. rice holmes, _caesar's conquest of gaul_, , pp. - . [ ] paper read at the meeting of the ger. anthrop. soc., spiers, . figures of bastarnae from the adamklissi monument and elsewhere are reproduced in h. hahne's _das vorgeschichtliche europa: kulturen und völker_, , figs. , . cf. t. peisker, "the expansion of the slavs," _camb. med. hist._ vol. ii. , p. . [ ] cf. h. m. chadwick, _the origin of the english nation_, , pp. and . [ ] _monuments runiques_ in _mém. soc. r. ant. du nord_, . [ ] "lactea cutis" (sidonius apollinaris). [ ] w. z. ripley, _the races of europe_, , p. ff. see also o. montelius, _kulturgeschichte schwedens_, ; g. retzius and c. m. fürst, _anthropologica suecica_, . [ ] commonly called the borreby type from skulls found at borreby in the island of falster, which resemble round barrow skulls in britain. [ ] for denmark consult _meddelelser om danmarks antropologi_ udgivne af den antropologiske komité, with english summaries, bd. i. - , bd. ii. . [ ] the results were tabulated by virchow and may be seen, without going to german sources, in w. z. ripley's map, p. , of _the races of europe_, , where the whole question is fully dealt with. [ ] see ripley's craniological chart in "une carte de l'indice céphalique en europe," _l'anthropologie_, vii. , p. . [ ] the case is stated in uncompromising language by alfred fouillée: "une autre loi, plus généralement admise, c'est que depuis les temps préhistoriques, les brachycéphales tendent à éliminer les dolichocéphales par l'invasion progressive des couches inférieures et l'absorption des aristocraties dans les démocraties, où elles viennent se noyer" (_rev. des deux mondes_, march , ). [ ] _recherches anthrop. sur le problème de la dépopulation_, in _rev. d'Économie politique_, ix. p. ; x. p. ( - ). [ ] _nature_, , p. . cf. also a. thomson, "consideration of ... factors concerned in production of man's cranial form," _journ. anthr. inst._ xxxiii. , and a. keith, "the bronze age invaders of britain," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xlv. . [ ] livi's results for italy (_antropometria militare_) differ in some respects from those of de lapouge and ammon for france and baden. thus he finds that in the brachy districts the urban population is less brachy than the rural, while in the dolicho districts the towns are more brachy than the plains. [ ] dealing with some studies of the lithuanian race, deniker writes: "ainsi donc, contrairement aux idées de mm. de lapouge et ammon, en pologne, comme d'ailleurs en italie, les classes les plus instruites, dirigeantes, urbaines, sont plus brachy que les paysans" (_l'anthropologie_, , p. ). similar contradictions occur in connection with light and dark hair, eyes, etc. [ ] "e qui non posso tralasciare di avvertire un errore assai diffuso fra gli antropologi ... i quali vorrebbero ammettere una trasformazione del cranio da dolicocefalo in brachicefalo" (_arii e italici_, p. ). [ ] w. z. ripley's _the races of europe_, , p. ff. [ ] this specialist insists "dass von einer mongolischen einwanderung in europa keine rede mehr sein könne" (_der europäische mensch. u. die tiroler_, ). he is of course speaking of prehistoric times, not of the late (historical) mongol irruptions. cf. t. peisker, "the expansion of the slavs," _camb. med. hist._ vol. ii. , p. , with reference to mongoloid traits in bavaria. [ ] "malgré les nombreuses invasions des populations germaniques, le tyrolien est resté, quant à sa conformation cranienne, le rasène ou rhætien des temps antiques--hyperbrachycéphale" (_les aryens_, p. ). the mean index of the so-called disentis type of rhaetian skulls is about (his and rütimeyer, _crania helvetica_, p. and plate e. ). [ ] "the tyrrhenians in greece and italy," in _journ. anthrop. inst._ , p. . in this splendidly illustrated paper the date of the immigration is referred to the th century b.c. on the ground that the first etruscan saeculum was considered as beginning about b.c., presumably the date of their arrival in italy (p. ). but sergi thinks they did not arrive till about the end of the th century (_arii e italici_, p. ). [ ] see r. s. conway, art. etruria: language, _ency. brit._ . [ ] _op. cit._ p. . by german he means the round-headed south german. [ ] s. feist, _kultur, ausbreitung und herkunft der indogermanen_, , p. . [ ] s. feist, _loc. cit._ p. . for cultural and linguistic influence of celts on germans see pp. ff. evidence of celtic names in germany is discussed by h. m. chadwick "some german river names," _essays and studies presented to william ridgeway_, . [ ] h. d'arbois de jubainville, _les celtes depuis les temps les plus anciens jusqu'en l'an avant notre ère_, , p. . [ ] g. dottin, _manuel pour servir à l'étude de l'antiquité celtique_, , p. . [ ] t. rice holmes, caesar's _conquest of gaul_, , p. . w. z. ripley, _the races of europe_, , reviewing the "_celtic question_, than which no greater stumbling-block in the way of our clear thinking exists" (p. ) comes to a different conclusion. he states that "the term _celt_, if used at all, belongs to the ... brachycephalic, darkish population of the alpine highlands," and he claims for this view "complete unanimity of opinion among physical anthropologists" (p. ). his own view however is that "the linguists are best entitled to the name _celt_" while the broad-headed type commonly called celtic by continental writers "we shall ... everywhere ... call ... alpine" (p. ). [ ] cf. the similar dual treatment in italic. [ ] "no gael [_i.e._ q celt] ever set his foot on british soil save on a vessel that had put out from ireland." kuno meyer, _trans. hon. soc. cymmrodorion_, - , p. . [ ] _ancient britain_, , pp. - . [ ] _das keltische britannien_, , pp. - . [ ] j. rhys, _the welsh people_, , pp. - . [ ] _das keltische britannien_, , pp. - . [ ] _ancient britain_, , p. . the name of the picts is apparently indo-european in form, and if the celts were late comers into britain (see above) they may well have been preceded by invaders of indo-european speech. [ ] t. rice holmes, _ancient britain_, , p. . cf. a. keith, "the bronze age invaders of britain," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xlv. . [ ] quoted in t. rice holmes, _ancient britain_, , pp. - . [ ] t. rice holmes, _ancient britain_, , p. . see also john abercromby, _a study of the bronze age pottery of great britain and ireland and its associated grave goods_, , tracing the distribution and migration of pottery forms: and the following papers of h. j. fleure, "archaeological problems of the west coast of britain," _archaeologia cambrensis_, oct. ; "the early distribution of population in south britain," _ib._ april, ; "the geographical distribution of anthropological types in wales," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xlvi. , and "a proposal for local surveys of the british people," _arch. camb._ jan. . [ ] w. z. ripley, _the races of europe_, , p. ; t. rice holmes, _ancient britain_, , p. . [ ] g. coffey and r. lloyd praeger, "the antrim raised beach: a contribution to the neolithic history of the north of ireland," _proc. roy. irish acad._ xxv. (c.) . see also the valuable series of "reports on prehistoric remains from the sandhills of the coast of ireland," _p. r. i. a._ xvi. [ ] _man_, ix. , no. . [ ] _proc. roy. irish acad._ ( ), iii. , p. . [ ] cf. also j. wilfred jackson, "the geographical distribution of the shell-purple industry," _mem. and proc. manchester lit. and phil. soc._ lx. no. , . [ ] _survivals from the palaeolithic age among irish neolithic implements_, . [ ] _the dolmens of ireland_, . [ ] they need not, however, have come from britain, and the allusions in irish literature to direct immigration from spain, probable enough in itself, are too numerous to be disregarded. thus, geoffrey of monmouth:--"hibernia basclensibus [to the basques] incolenda datur" (_hist. reg. brit._ iii. § ); and giraldus cambrensis:--"de gurguntio brytonum rege, qui rasclenses [read basclenses] in hiberniam transmisit et eandem ipsis habitandam concessit." i am indebted to wentworth webster for these references (_academy_, oct. , ). [ ] h. zimmer, "auf welchen wege kamen die goidelen vom kontinent nach irland?" _abh. d. k. preuss. akad. d. wiss._ . [ ] j. gray, "memoir on the pigmentation survey of scotland," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xxxvii. . [ ] "a last contribution to scottish ethnology," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xxxviii. . [ ] "the geographical distribution of anthropological types in wales," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xlvi. . [ ] for the explanation see w. z. ripley, _the races of europe_, , p. ff. [ ] w. z. ripley, _loc. cit._ p. . [ ] "the frenchman, the german, the italian, the englishman, to each of whom his own literature and the great traditions of his national life are most dear and familiar, cannot help but feel that the vernacular in which these are embodied and expressed is, and must be, superior to the alien and awkward languages of his neighbours." l. pearsall smith, _the english language_, p. . [ ] see above p. . t. rice holmes points out that the aquitani were already mixed in type. _caesar's conquest of gaul_, , p. . [ ] see above p. . [ ] that is, the languages whose affirmatives were the latin pronouns _hoc illud_ (_oil_) and _hoc_ (_oc_), the former being more contracted, the latter more expanded, as we see in the very names of the respective northern and southern bards: _trouvères_ and _troubadours_. it was customary in medieval times to name languages in this way, dante, for instance, calling italian _la lingua del si_, "the language of _yes_"; and, strange to say, the same usage prevails largely amongst the australian aborigines, who, however, use both the affirmative and the negative particles, so that we have here _no_- as well as _yes_-tribes. [ ] s. feist points out that two physical types were recognised in antiquity, one dark and one fair, and reference to red hair and fair skin suggests celtic infusion. _kultur, ausbreitung und herkunft der indogermanen_, , p. . [ ] _science progress_, p. . [ ] "the portuguese are much mixed with negroes more particularly in the south and along the coast. the slave trade existed long before the negroes of guinea were exported to the plantations of america. damião de goes estimated the number of blacks imported into lisbon alone during the th century at , or , per annum. if contemporary eye-witnesses can be trusted, the number of blacks met with in the streets of lisbon equalled that of the whites. not a house but had its negro servants, and the wealthy owned entire gangs of them" (reclus, i. p. ). [ ] "the spanish people," _cont. rev._ may, , and _the soul of spain_, . [ ] t. e. peet, _stone and bronze ages in italy and sicily_, , gives a full account of the archaeology. [ ] "zur paläoethnologie mittel- u. südeuropas" in _mitt. wiener anthrop. ges._ , p. . it should here be noted that in his _history of the greek language_ ( ) kretschmer connects the inscriptions of the veneti in north italy and of the messapians in the south with the illyrian linguistic family, which he regards as aryan intermediate between the greek and the italic branches, the present albanian being a surviving member of it. in the same illyrian family w. m. lindsay would also include the "old sabellian" of picenum, "believed to be the oldest inscriptions on italian soil. the manifest identity of the name _aodatos_ and the word _meitimon_ with the illyrian names [greek: audata] and _meitima_ is almost sufficient of itself to prove these inscriptions to be illyrian. further the whole character of their language, with its greek and its italic features, corresponds with what we know and what we can safely infer about the illyrian family of languages" (_academy_, oct. , ). cf. r. s. conway, _the italic dialects_, . [ ] r. munro, _bosnia, herzegovina and dalmatia_, . see also w. ridgeway, _the early age of greece_, , ch. v., showing that remains of the iron age in bosnia are closely connected with hallstatt and la tène cultures. [ ] _arii e italici_, p. sq. [ ] "liguri e pelasgi furono i primi abitatori d'italia; e liguri sembra siano stati quelli che occupavano la valle del po e costrussero le palafitte, e liguri forse anche i costruttori delle palafitte svizzere: mediterranei tutti" (_ib._ p. ). [ ] ripley's chart shows a range of from in piedmont to and in calabria, puglia, and sardinia, and and under in corsica. _the races of europe_, , p. . [ ] but cf. w. ridgeway, _who were the romans?_ . [ ] the true name of these southern or macedo-rumanians, as pointed out by gustav weigland (_globus_, lxxi. p. ), is _aramáni_ or _armáni_, _i.e._ "romans." _tsintsar_, _kutzo-vlack_, etc. are mere nicknames, by which they are known to their macedonian (bulgar and greek) neighbours. see also w. r. morfill in _academy_, july , . the vlachs of macedonia are described by e. pears, _turkey and its people_, , and a full account of the balkan vlachs is given by a. j. b. wace and m. s. thompson, _the nomads of the balkans_, . [ ] _romänische studien_, leipzig, . [ ] _les roumains au moyen age, passim._ hunfalvy, quoted by a. j. patterson (_academy_, sept. , ), also shows that "for a thousand years there is no authentic mention of a latin or romance speaking population north of the danube." [ ] this view is held by l. réthy, also quoted by patterson, and the term _vlack_ (_welsch_, whence wallachia) applied to the rumanians by all their slav and greek neighbours points in the same direction. [ ] t. peisker, "the asiatic background," _camb. med. hist._ vol. i. , p. , and "the expansion of the slavs," _ib._ vol. ii. , p. . [ ] _mitt. wiener anthrop. ges._ , p. . [ ] _dawn of civilization_, p. . [ ] _the ancient history of the near east_, , p. . [ ] hall notes (p. ) that "it is to the thesprotian invasion, which displaced the achaians, that, in all probability, the general introduction of iron into greece is to be assigned. the invaders came ultimately from the danube region, where iron was probably first used in europe, whereas their kindred, the achaians, had possibly already lived in thessaly in the stone age, and derived the knowledge of metal from the aegeans. the speedy victory of the new-comers over the older aryan inhabitants of northern greece may be ascribed to their possession of iron weapons." ridgeway, however, has little difficulty in proving that the achaeans themselves were tall fair celts from central europe. _the early age of greece_, , especially chap. iv., "whence came the acheans?" the question is dealt with from a different point of view by j. l. myres, in _the dawn of history_, , chap. ix., "the coming of the north," tracing the invasion from the eurasian steppes. [ ] h. r. hall, _loc. cit._ p. ; cf. h. peake, _journ. roy. anth. inst._ , p. . [ ] c. h. hawes, "some dorian descendants," _ann. brit. school ath._ no. xvi. - , proves that the dorian or illyrian (alpine) type still persists in south greece and crete. [ ] _geschichte der halbinsel morea, stuttgart_, . see also g. finlay's _mediaeval greece_, and the _anthrop. rev._ , vi. p. . [ ] _romänische studien_, . [ ] _bul. soc. d'anthrop._ , p. sq. [ ] by a sort of grim irony the word has come to mean "slave" in the west, owing to the multitudes of slavs captured and enslaved during the medieval border warfare. but the term is by many referred to the root _slovo_, word, speech, implying a people of intelligible utterance, and this is supported by the form _slovene_ occurring in nestor and still borne by a southern slav group. see t. peisker, "the expansion of the slavs," _camb. med. hist._ vol. ii. , p. _n._ . [ ] iv. . [ ] these budini are described as a large nation with "remarkably blue eyes and red hair," on which account zaborowski thinks they may have been ancestors of the present finns. but they may also very well have been belated proto-germani left behind by the body of the nation _en route_ for their new baltic homes. [ ] cf. p. . [ ] _scythians and greeks_, . [ ] the meaning of wend is uncertain. it has led to confusion with the armorican _veneti_, the paphlagonian _enetae_, and the adriatic _enetae-venetae_, all non-slav peoples. shakhmatov regards it as a name inherited by slavs from their conquerors, the celtic venedi, who occupied the vistula region in the rd or nd centuries b.c. see t. peisker, "the expansion of the slavs," _camb. med. hist._ vol. ii. , p. _n._ . [ ] that is, the elbe slaves, from _po_=by, near, and _labe_=elbe; cf. _pomor_ (pomeranians), "by the sea"; borussia, porussia, prussia, originally peopled by the _pruczi_, a branch of the lithuanians germanised in the th century. [ ] _carpath_, _khrobat_, _khorvat_ are all the same word, meaning highlands, mountains, hence not strictly an ethnic term, although at present so used by the _crovats_ or _croatians_, a considerable section of the yugo-slavs south of the danube. [ ] see note , p. . [ ] that is, "highlanders" (root _alb_, _alp_, height, hill). from _albanites_ through the byzantine _arvanites_ comes the turkish _arnaut_, while the national name _skipetar_ has precisely the same meaning (root _skip_, _scop_, as in [greek: skopelos], scopulus, cliff, crag). [ ] there are about twenty of these _phis_ or _phar_ (phratries) amongst the ghegs, and the practice of exogamous marriage still survives amongst the mirdites south of the drin, who, although catholics, seek their wives amongst the surrounding hostile turkish and muhammadan gheg populations. [ ] j. deniker, "les six races composant la population actuelle de l'europe," _journ. anthr. inst._ xxxiv. , pp. , . [ ] _bul. soc. d'anthrop._ vii. . [ ] hence virchow (meeting ger. anthrop. soc. ) declared that the extent and duration of the slav encroachments in german territory could not be determined by the old skulls, because it is impossible to say whether a given skull is slav or not. [ ] especially lubor niederle, for whom the proto-slavs are unquestionably long-headed blonds like the teutons, although he admits that round skulls occur even of old date, and practically gives up the attempt to account for the transition to the modern slav. [ ] "the racial geography of europe," in _popular science monthly_, june, . [ ] _bul. soc. d'anthrop._ , p. sq. [ ] _bul. soc. d'anthrop._ , p. . [ ] _droit coutumier osséthien_, . [ ] quoted by ujfalvy, _les aryens_ etc. p. . [ ] the _yagnobi_ of the river of like name, an affluent of the zerafshan; yet even this shows lexical affinities with iranic, while its structure seems to connect it with leitner's kajuna and biddulph's burish, a non-aryan tongue current in ghilghit, yasin, hunza and nagar, whose inhabitants are regarded by biddulph as descendants of the yué-chi. the yagnobi themselves, however, are distinctly alpines, somewhat short, very hirsute and brown, with broad face, large head, and a savoyard expression. they have the curious custom of never cutting but always breaking their bread, the use of the knife being sure to raise the price of flour. [ ] f. v. luschan points out that very little is known of the anthropology of persia. "in a land inhabited by about ten millions not more than twenty or thirty men have been regularly measured and not one skull has been studied." the old type preserved in the parsi is short-headed and dark. "the early inhabitants of western asia," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xli. , p. . [ ] _dih, deh_, village. _zabán_, tongue, language. [ ] h. walter, _from indus to tigris_, p. . of course this traveller refers only to the tajiks of the plateau (persia, afghanistan). of the galchic tajiks he knew nothing; nor indeed is the distinction even yet quite understood by european ethnologists. [ ] iii. . [ ] even ptolemy's [greek: pasichai] appear to be the same people, [greek: p] being an error for [greek: t], so that [greek: tasikai] would be the nearest possible greek transcription of _tajik_. [ ] _tribes of the hindoo-koosh_, , _passim._ [ ] _an account of the kingdom of caubul_, . [ ] "ces savoyards attardés du kohistan" (ujfalvy, _les aryens_ etc.). [ ] the anthropological data are dealt with by t. a. joyce, "notes on the physical anthropology of chinese turkestan and the pamirs," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xlii. . "the original inhabitant ... is that type of man described by lapouge as _homo alpinus_," p. . [ ] f. v. luschan, "the early inhabitants of asia," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xli. , p. . [ ] for the evidence of the extension of this element in east central asia see ch. ix. [ ] r. b. foote, _madras government museum_. _the foote collection of indian prehistoric and protohistoric antiquities. notes on their ages and distribution_, , is the most recent contribution to the prehistoric period, but the conclusions are not universally accepted. [ ] a. f. r. hoernle, _a grammar of eastern hindi compared with the other gaudian languages_, , first suggested (p. xxxi. ff.) the distinction between the languages of the midland and the outer band, which has been corroborated by g. a. grierson, _languages of india_, , p. ; _imperial gazetteer of india_, - , vol. i. pp. - . [ ] h. h. risley, _the people of india_, , p. . see also j. d. anderson, _the peoples of india_, , p. . [ ] _tribes and castes of bengal_ etc. , _indian census report_, , and _imperial gazetteer_, vol. i. ch. vi. [ ] the jungle tribes of this group, such as the _paniyan_, _kurumba_ and _irula_ are classed as pre-dravidian. see chap. xii. [ ] a. c. haddon, _wanderings of peoples_, , p. . [ ] _the indo-aryan races_, , pp. - and - . [ ] "a third journey of exploration in central asia - ," _geog. journ._ . [ ] _natives of northern india_, , pp. , . see also his article "r[=a]jputs and mar[=a]thas," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xl. . [ ] "his report, compiled during the inevitable distractions incident to the enumeration of a population of some millions, was a notable performance, and will remain one of the classics of indian anthropology." "the stability of caste and tribal groups in india," _journ. roy. anthr. inst._ xliv. , p. . [ ] a vast amount of material has been collected in recent years besides _ethnographical surveys_ of the various provinces, the _imperial gazetteer_ of , and the magnificent _census reports_ of and . some of the more important works are as follows:--h. h. risley, _ethnography of india_, , _the people of india_, ; e. thurston, _ethnographical notes on southern india_, , _castes and tribes of southern india_, ; h. a. rose, _glossary of the tribes and castes of the punjab and n.w. frontier province_, ; e. a. de brett, _gazetteer, chhatisgarh feudatory states_, ; c. e. luard, _ethnographic survey, central india_, ; l. k. anantha krishna iyer, _the cochin tribes and castes_, , _tribes and castes of cochin_, ; m. longworth dames, _the baloch race_, ; w. h. r. rivers, _the todas_, ; p. r. t. gurdon, _the khasis_, ; t. c. hodson, _the meitheis_, , _the naga tribes of manipur_, ; e. stack and c. j. lyall, _the mikirs_, ; a. playfair, _the garos_, ; s. endle, _the kacharis_, ; c. g. and b. z. seligman, _the veddas_, ; j. shakespear, _the lushei kuki clans_, ; s. chandra roy, _the mundas and their country_, , _the oraons_, ; and r. v. russell, _tribes and castes of the n.w. central provinces_, . [ ] the term _kol_, which occurs as an element in a great many tribal names, and was first introduced by campbell in a collective sense ( ), is of unknown origin, but probably connected with a root meaning "man" (w. crooke, _tribes and castes_, iii. p. ). [ ] _descriptive ethnology of bengal_, p. . [ ] in a letter to the author, june , . [ ] edgar thurston, _anthropology_ etc., bul. , madras, , pp. - . for fuller details see his _castes and tribes of s. india_, . [ ] _the todas_, . see chap. xxx. "the origin and history of the todas." [ ] for the discussion of caste see e. a. gait's article in _ency. of religion and ethics_, , with bibliography; also v. a. smith, _caste in india, east and west_, . [ ] see ch. vii. [ ] see a. krämer, _hawaii, ostmikronesien und samoa_, . [ ] for polynesian wanderings see s. percy smith, _hawaiki: the original home of the maori_, ; j. m. brown, _maori and polynesian; their origin, history and culture_, ; w. churchill, _the polynesian wanderings_, . [ ] _h_ everywhere takes the place of _s_, which is preserved only in the samoan mother-tongue; cf. gr. [greek: hepta] with lat. _septem_, eng. _seven_. [ ] _the history of melanesian society_, . [ ] cf. p. ff. [ ] among recent works on polynesia see h. mager, _le monde polynésien_, ; b. h. thomson, _savage island_, ; a. krämer, _die samoa-inseln_, ; j. m. brown, _maori and polynesian_, ; g. brown, _melanesians and polynesians_, ; f. w. christian, _eastern pacific islands_, . appendix a. (p. ) since the first few pages of this book were in print an important memoir on the "phylogeny of recent and extinct anthropoids with special reference to the origin of man" has been published by w. k. gregory (_bull. am. mus. nat. hist._ vol. xxxv., article xix, pp. ff., new york, ). as gregory's lucid statement of the problems involved is based on a prolonged examination of very varied and abundant material we have considered it advisable to present his summary. the chief conclusions, which appear to be of a conservative character, are as follows (p. ). _the origin of man._ . comparative anatomical (including embryological) evidence alone has shown that man and the anthropoids have been derived from a primitive anthropoid stock and that man's existing relatives are the chimpanzee and the gorilla. . the chimpanzee and gorilla have retained, with only minor changes, the ancestral habits and habitus in brain, dentition, skull and limbs, while the forerunners of the hominidæ, through a profound change in function, lost the primitive anthropoid habitus, gave up arboreal frugivorous adaptations and early became terrestrial, bipedal and predatory, using crude flints to cut up and smash the varied food. . the ancestral chimpanzee-gorilla-man stock appears to be represented by the upper miocene genera _sivapithecus_ and _dryopithecus_, the former more closely allied to, or directly ancestral to, the hominidæ, the latter to the chimpanzee and gorilla. . many of the differences that separate man from anthropoids of the _sivapithecus_ type are retrogressive changes, following the profound change in food habits above noted. here belong the retraction of the face and dental arch, the reduction in size of the canines, the reduction of the jaw muscles, the loss of the prehensile character of the hallux. many other differences are secondary adjustments in relative proportions, connected with the change from semi-arboreal, semi-erect and semi-quadrupedal progression to fully terrestrial bipedal progression. the earliest anthropoids being of small size doubtless had slender limbs; later semi-terrestrial semi-erect forms were probably not unlike a very young gorilla, with fairly short legs and not excessively elongate arms. the long legs and short arms of man are due, i believe, to a secondary readjustment of proportions. the very short legs and very long arms of old male gorillas may well be a specialization. . at present i know no good evidence for believing that the separation of the hominidæ from the simiidæ took place any earlier than the miocene, and probably the upper miocene. the change in structure during this vast interval (two or more million years) is much greater in the hominidæ than in the conservative anthropoids, but it is not unlikely that during a profound change of life habits evolution sometimes proceeds more rapidly than in the more familiar cases where uninterrupted adaptations proceed in a single direction. . _homo heidelbergensis_ appears to be directly ancestral to all the later hominidæ. _on the evolution of human food habits._ while all the great apes are prevailingly frugivorous, and even their forerunners in the lower oligocene have the teeth well adapted for piercing the tough rinds of fruits and for chewing vegetable food, yet they also appear to have at least a latent capacity for a mixed diet. the digestive tract, especially of the chimpanzee and gorilla, is essentially similar to that of man and at least some captive chimpanzees thrive upon a mixed diet including large quantities of fruits, vegetables and bread and small quantities of meat[ ]. mr r. l. garner, who has spent many years in studying the african anthropoids in their wild state, states[ ] that "their foods are mainly vegetable, but that flesh is an essential part of their diet." other observers state[ ] that the gorilla and chimpanzee greedily devour young birds as well as eggs, vermin and small rodents. even the existing anthropoids, although highly conservative both in brain development and general habits, show the beginning of the use of the hands, and trained anthropoids can perform quite elaborate acts. at a time when tough-rined tubers and fruits were still the main element of the diet the nascent hominidæ may have sought out the lairs and nesting places of many animals for the purpose of stealing the young and thus they may have learned to fight with and kill the enraged parents. they had also learned to fight in protecting their own nesting places and young. and possibly they killed both by biting, as in carnivores, and by strangling, or, in the case of a small animal, by dashing it violently down. we may conceive that the upper tertiary ape-men, in the course of their dispersal from a south central asiatic centre[ ], entered regions where flint-bearing formations were abundant. in some way they learned perhaps that these "eolith" flints could be used to smash open the head of a small strangled animal, to crack open tough vegetables, or to mash substances into an edible condition. much later, after the mental association of hand and flint had been well established, they may have struck at intruders with the flints with which they were preparing their food and in this way they may have learned to use the heavier flints as hand axes and daggers. at a very early date they learned to throw down heavy stones upon an object to smash it, and this led finally to the hurling of flints at men and small game. very early also they had learned to swing a heavy piece of wood or a heavy bone as a weapon. for all such purposes shorter and stockier arms are more advantageous than the long slender arms of a semi-quadrupedal ancestral stage and i have argued above (p. ) that a secondary shortening and thickening of the arms ensued. one of the first medium-sized animals that the nascent hominidæ would be successful in killing was the wild boar, which in the pleistocene had a wide palæarctic distribution. from the very first the ape-men were more or less social in habits and learned to hunt in packs. whether the art of hunting began in south central asia or in europe, perhaps one of the first large animals that men learned to kill after they had invaded the open country was the horse, because, when a pack of men had surrounded a horse, a single good stroke with a coup-de-poing upon the brain-case might be sufficient to kill it. i have argued above (p. ) that the retraction of the dental arch and the reduction of the canines is not consistent with the use of meat as food, because men learned to use rough flints, in place of their teeth, to tear the flesh and to puncture the bones, and because the erect incisors, short canines and bicuspids were highly effective in securing a powerful hold upon the tough hide and connective tissue. it must be remembered that with a given muscular power small teeth are more easily forced into meat than large teeth. after every feast there would be a residuum of hide and bones which would gradually assume economic value. the hides of animals were at first rudely stripped off simply to get at the meat. small sharp-edged natural flints could be used for this purpose as well as to cut the sinews and flesh. after a time it was found that the furry sides of these hides were useful to cover the body at night or during a storm. thus the initial stage in the making of clothes may have been a byproduct of the hunting habit. dr matthew (_loc. cit._ pp. , ) has well suggested that man may have learned to cover the body with the skins of animals in a cool temperate climate (such as that on the northern slopes of the himalayas) and that afterward they were able to invade colder regions. the use of rough skins to cover the body must have caused exposure to new sources of annoyance and infection, but we cannot affirm that natural selection was the cause of the reduction of hair on the body and of the many correlated modifications of glandular activity. we can only affirm that a naked race of mammals must surely have had hairy ancestors and that the loss of hair on the body was probably subsequent to the adoption of predatory habits. the food habits of the early hominidæ, and thus indirectly the jaws and teeth, were later modified through the use of fire for softening the food. men had early learned to huddle round the dying embers of forest fires that had been started by lightning, to feed the fire-monster with branches, and to carry about firebrands. they learned eventually that frozen meat could be softened by exposing it to the fire. thus the broiling and roasting of meat and vegetables might be learned even before the ways of kindling fire through percussion and friction had been discovered. but the full art of cooking and the subsequent stages in the reduction of the jaws and teeth in the higher races probably had to await the development of vessels for holding hot water, perhaps in neolithic times. this account of the evolution of the food habits of the hominidæ will probably be condemned by experimentalists, who have adduced strong evidence for the doctrine that "acquired characters" cannot be inherited. but, whatever the explanation may be, it is a fact that progressive changes in food-habits and correlated changes in structure have occurred in thousands of phyla, the history of which is more or less fully known. nobody with a practical knowledge of the mechanical interactions of the upper and lower teeth of mammals, or of the progressive changes in the evolution of shearing and grinding teeth, can doubt that the dentition has evolved _pari passu_ with changes in food habits. whether, as commonly supposed, the food habits changed before the dentition, or _vice versa_, the evidence appears to show that the hominidæ passed through the following stages of evolution: . a chiefly frugivorous stage, with large canines and parallel rows of cheek teeth (cf. _sivapithecus_). . a predatory, omnivorous stage, with reduced canines and convergent tooth rows (cf. _homo heidelbergensis_). . a stage in which the food is softened by cooking and the dentition is more or less reduced in size and retrograde in character, as in modernized types of _h. sapiens_. the following is an abbreviation of gregory's arrangement of the primates (pp. , ). order primates suborder lemuroidea suborder anthropoidea series platyrrhinæ [new world monkeys] fam. cebidæ fam. hapalidæ [marmosets] series catarrhinæ [old world monkeys] fam. parapithecidæ [extinct] fam. cercopithecidæ fam. simiidæ sub-fam. hylobatinæ [gibbons] sub-fam. simiinæ [simians or anthropoid apes] by the courtesy of the author we are permitted to reproduce his provisional diagram of the phylogeny of the hominidæ and simiidæ (p. ). [illustration] the following explanation is offered for the convenience of those who may not be familiar with the technical terms here employed. _simia_, the genus containing the orang-utan. _pan_, a name occasionally employed for the genus containing the chimpanzee. most authorities place the chimpanzee and the gorilla in the genus anthropopithecus. _hylobatinæ_, the sub-family containing the gibbons. _palæopithecus_, _dryopithecus_, _palæosimia_, and _sivapithecus_ are extinct simians. _pan vetus_ is the name suggested by miller[ ] for the supposed chimpanzee whose jaw was found associated with the piltdown cranium. he says "the piltdown remains include parts of a brain-case showing fundamental characters not hitherto known except in members of the genus _homo_, and a mandible, two molars, and an upper canine showing equally diagnostic features hitherto unknown, except in members of the genus _pan_ [_anthropopithecus_]. on the evidence furnished by these characters the fossils must be supposed to represent either a single individual belonging to an otherwise unknown extinct genus (_eoanthropus_) or to two individuals belonging to two now-existing families (_hominidæ_ and _pongidæ_)." he argues that the jaw was actually that of a chimpanzee and that the cranium was that of a true man, whom he terms _homo dawsoni_. gregory accepts this hypothesis. w. p. pycraft[ ] has submitted miller's data and conclusions to searching criticism and bases his deductions on far more ample material than that at the disposal of miller. he says "that the piltdown jaw does present many points of striking resemblance to that of the chimpanzee is beyond dispute. dr smith woodward pointed out these resemblances long ago, in his original description of the jaw. but mr miller contends that because of these resemblances therefore it _is_ the jaw of a chimpanzee" (_loc. cit._ p. ). pycraft points out that there is more variability in the jaws of chimpanzees than miller was aware of, and that most of the features of the piltdown jaw are well within the limits of human variation; in discussing the conformation of the inner surface of the body of the jaw he says "between the two extremes seen in the jaws of chimpanzees every gradation will be found, but in no case would there be any possibility of confusing the piltdown fragment, or any similar fragment of a modern human jaw, with similar fragments of chimpanzee jaws" (p. ). footnotes: [ ] a. keith, "on the chimpanzees and their relationship to the gorilla," _proc. zool. soc. london_, , i. p. . [ ] _science_, vol. xlii. dec. , , p. . [ ] a. h. keane, _ethnology_, , p. . [ ] w. d. matthew, "climate and evolution," _ann. new york acad. sci._ xxiv. , pp. , . [ ] gerrit s. miller, "the jaw of piltdown man," _smithsonian misc. coll._ vol. , no. , . [ ] "the jaw of the piltdown man, a reply to mr gerrit s. miller," _science progress_, no. , , p. . index thanks are due to hilary and patrick quiggin for help in the preparation, and to miss l. whitehouse for help in the revision, of the index. ababdeh, the, abaka, the, abbadie, a. d', abbot, w. j. l., abipone, the, abkhasian language, the, abnaki, the, , , and map, pp. - abo, the, abor, the, _n._ abud, h. m., sq. abydos, excavations at, abyssinians, the, sq. achaeans, the, , , sq. acheulean culture, , achinese, the, , sq. acolhuas, the, , acoma, the, _n._ adam, l., , _n._ adelung, j. c., _n._ aderbaijani, the, aegean, the, culture of, sq., sqq., sq., sq.; prehistoric chronology of, ; race, aeneolithic period, , aeta, the, , , sqq., and pl. ii fig. afars, the, sq., sqq. afghans, the, sq., ahoms, the, ahtena, the, , and map, pp. - aimaks, the, aimores. _see_ botocudos ainu, the, , sq., and pl. vii figs. , akkadians, the, sqq., akua. _see_ cherentes alakalufs, the, ; language of, alans, the, , albanians, the, , sq. algonquian linguistic stock, the, , , sq., sqq., algonquin, the, _n._ and map, pp. - alldridge, t. j., _n._ alpine race, the, , sq., pl. xi figs. , , , and pl. xiv figs. - ; in the morea, ; in western asia, , ; in scandinavia, ; in germany, sq.; in france, , sqq.; in the tyrol, ; and the celts, sq.; in britain, sqq.; in italy, ; in russia, sq.; in irania, sqq.; in central asia, sq.; in india, sq. altamira cave art, alur, the, ama-fingu, the, ama-tembu, the, ama-xosa, the, ama-zulu, the, amias, the, ammon, o., ammonites, the, amorites, the, sq., , anau, exploration of, sq. andaman islanders, the, , sqq., , , and pl. ii fig. anderson, j. d., _n._ anderson, john, _n._ andi language, the, andrae, w., _n._ angami naga, the, ; language, a-ngoni, the, annamese, the, , sqq. annandale, n., , _n._ anorohoro, the, ansariyeh, the, antankarana, the, antimerina. _see_ hova anu, the, anuchin, a., apaches, the, , , aquitani, the, arabs, the, , sqq., , , , sqq. arakanese, the, aramaeans, the, sq. aramka, the, arapaho, the, , , , , and map, pp. - araucanians, the, sqq.; language, arawakan linguistic stock, sq. arawaks, the, , , arbois de jubainville, m. h. d', , _n._ arcadians, the, argentina, fossil man in, arikara, the, , , and map, pp. - aristov, n. a., _n._ arldt, t., armenians, the, , , , and pl. xiv figs. , armenoids, the, , sq., , , sq. aruan, the, arunta, the, , sqq. arvernians. _see_ alpine race aryan languages. _see_ indo-european languages "aryans," the, sq., , sqq.; "cradle" of, sq. aryans, the, in india, sq., sq., and pl. xv figs. - aryo-dravidian type, risley's, asha, the, ashango, the, ashanti, the, sq. ashe, r. p., _n._ ashluslays, the, aspelin, j. r., _n._, assami, the, , assiniboin, the, , , , and map, pp. - assyrians, the, sq., atacameños, the, atarais, the, athapascan linguistic stock, the, , , , , atharaka, the, _n._ aucaes. _see_ araucanians auetö, the, , aurignacian man, , , ; culture, , australians, the, , - , and pl. x figs. , ; languages of, sqq. austronesian languages, , , autenrieth, h. von, _n._ avars, the, , , sq., ayamats, the, aymara, the, , aysa, the, azandeh, the, azilian culture, sqq. aztecs, the, , - , babine, the, , and map, pp. - babir, the, babylonia, copper age in, ; bronze age in, ; chronology, , sq.; writing, sqq.; influence of, on china, sq.; inhabitants, sqq., sq., sqq.; religion, ; social system, ; culture, sq., ; connection with egypt, badakhshi, the, baele, the, baelz, e., , _n._ ba-fiot. _see_ eshi-kongo ba-ganda, the, , sqq., ba-gesu, the, _n._ baggara, the, , _n._ baghirmi, the, , bagobo, the, bahau, the, ba-hima, the, , , , , ba-huana, the, baining, the, bajau, the, ba-kalai, the, bakaïri, the, , ba-kene, the, ba-kish, the, ba-kundu, the, ba-kwiri, the, balagnini, the, balbi, a., _n._ balinese, the, balkashin, m., _n._ ball, c. j., _n._ ball, j., dyer, _n._, _n._ baloch, the, ba-lolo, the, , ba-long, the, balti, the, balto-slavs, the, ba-luba, the, ba-mangwato, the, ba-mba, the, bambara, the, , bancroft, h. h., bandelier, a. f., _n._ bandziri, the, banjars, the, bantu, the, compared with sudanese negro, sqq.; chap. iv. _passim_; in madagascar, sq. ba-nyai, the, ba-nyoro, the, banyuns, the, ba-puti, the, bara, the, sq. barabra, the, sqq., barawan, the, barea, the, bari, the, , ba-rolong, the, ba-rotse, the, sqq. barrett, w. e. h., _n._ barth, h., , _n._, sq., sq., _n._ bary, e. von, _n._ ba-sa, the, ba-sange, the, basé, the, ba-senga, the, ba-shilange, the, , bashkirs, the, , sq., _n._ ba-soga, the, _n._ ba-songe, the, basques, the, sqq., sq. bastarnae, the, , ba-suto, the, , batak, the, ba-tanga, the, ba-tau, the, batchelor, j., _n._ ba-teke, the, bateman, c. s. l., bates, o., ba-teso, the, _n._ ba-thonga, the, ba-tlapin, the, batta, the, sq. ba-twa, the, , bavaria, blond type in, ; mongoloid traits in, _n._ baya, the, ba-yanzi, the, ba-yong, the, bayots, the, bean, r. b., beaver, the, , and map, pp. - beccari, o., _n._ be-chuana, the, , , , , sq. beddoe, j., , , bede, the, bedouin, the, sq., , and pl. xii fig. beech, m. w. h., _n._ behr, v. d. v., _n._ beja, the, sq., , sq., sq. bektash, the, belck, w., _n._ belgae, the, sq. belgium, neolithic inhabitants of, bellacoola, the, , and map, pp. - bengali, the, , beni amer, the, sq. bent, j. t., , , , _n._, bentley, w. h., , berbers, the, , _n._, sqq., , - , ; language of, sqq., sq. bernard, a., berrakis, the, bertholon, l., bertin, g., bertrand, a., bertrand-bocandé, m., _n._ betoya, linguistic stock, betsileo, the, sqq. betsimisaraka, the, sq. beuchat, h., _n._, , _n._, _n._, , _n._, _n._ bhotiya, the, sq. bicol, the, _n._, biddulph, j., _n._, sq. bigandet, p., , bigger, f. j., billet, a., sq. binger, l. g., _n._, , bingham, h., _n._ bini, the, sq. bird, g. w., _n._ bisayas, the, bisharin, the, sq., and pl. xiii figs. , bishop, i. (bird), _n._, _n._, _n._ blackfoot. _see_ siksika blagden, c. o., _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._ bleek, e. d., _n._ bleek, w. h. i., , sq. blood indians. _see_ kainah blumentritt, f., _n._ blundell, h. weld, _n._ boas, f., , _n._, sq., sqq., _n._ bock, carl, _n._, bodo, the, bod-pa, the, sq., bogoras, w., , boghaz keui, , _n._ bollaert, w., _n._ bongo, the, sq. bonjo, the, bonvalot, p. g., booth, a. j., _n._ borgu, the, bori, the, _n._ borlase, w. c., borneo, natives of, sqq. boro, the, bororo, the, sq., borreby type, the, _n._ botocudo, the, sqq. bòttego, v., _n._ boule, m., sq. bove, g., bowditch, c. p., _n._ brahui, the, , braknas, the, bretons, the, _n._, sq. brett, e. a. de, _n._ breuil, h., _n._ bridges, t., _n._, brinton, d. g., britain, neolithic inhabitants of, sqq.; and prehistoric trade routes, ; races of, sqq., broca, p., , brocklehurst, t. u., _n._, _n._ brøgger, w. c., brooks, w. k., brown, a. r., , _n._, sqq. brown, g., _n._, _n._ brown, j. m., , _n._, _n._ brown, r., _n._ brown, r. grant, brückner, e., sqq. brünn, skeleton, the, brüx skull, the, brythons, the, budini, the, buduma, the, bugis, the, , sqq., bukidnon, the, bulala, the, bulams, the, bulgarians, the, bulgars, the, , sqq., burduna, the, burish dialect, _n._ burmese, the, , sqq., ; language, _n._ burton, sir r., bury, j. b., _n._ buryats, the, , buschmann, k. e., bushmen, the, , , sqq., and pl. i figs. , ; traces of, in egypt, bwais, the, byrne, j., , _n._ byron-gordon g., caddo, the, caddoan linguistic stock, the, , cagayans, the, california, indians of, sqq. _see_ map, pp. - callilehet, the, cambeba, the, _n._ cambojans, the, canaanites, the, sq., , canary islands, natives of the, , , capitan, l., _n._ carabuyanas, the, carapaches, the, carey, s., cariban linguistic stock, caribs, the, , sq., and pl. ix fig. carpin, j. du p., _n._ carrier, the, sq., and map, pp. - carruthers, d., cartailhac, e., _n._ cashibos, the, castrèn, m. a., , catios, the, sq. "caucasic," definition of, sq.; peoples, chaps. xiii, xiv, xv; type in central asia, sq.; in finno-turki mongols, sqq. caucasus, racial elements in the, sq. cayuga, the, , cebunys, the, celts, the, , , , _n._, , sqq., ; language of, , , cesnola, l. p. di, chadwick, h. m., _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._ chaldeans, the, chalmers, j., _n._ chamberlain, a. f., , _n._ chamberlain, b. h., sq. champas, the, , , champion, a. m., _n._ chanda, ramaprasad, chandra das, s., _n._, _n._ chanler, w. a., chantre, e., chao, the, chatelperron industry, the, chavanne, j., chavero, a., _n._ chechenz language, chekhs, the, , , chellean culture, , , sq. cheremisses, the, cherentes, the, cherokee, the, _n._, , , , and map, pp. - chervin, a., cheyenne, the, , , , , , and map, pp. - chibcha, the, sqq., _n._ chichimecs, the, , _n._, chickasaw, the, , , and map, pp. - chilási, the, chiliks, the, chimakuan, the, chimmesayan, the, chimu, the, sq. china, prehistoric age in, sq. chinese, the, sqq., sqq. chingpaws. _see_ singpho chinhwans, the, chinook, the, , , and map, pp. - chins, the, sqq. chipewyan, the, , and map, pp. - chiquito, the, , chiriqui, the, , _n._ chiru, the, chitimachan, the, chocos, the, sq. choctaw, the, , , and map, pp. - choglengs, the, chontals, the, choroti, the, christian, f. w., _n._ chudes, the, , , , sq. chukchi, the, sq., , sqq., church, g. e., churchill, w., _n._ cimbri, the, circassians, the, clark, c. u., _n._ clifford, h., sqq., _n._, clozel, f. j., , coahuila, the, cochiti, the, _n._ cockburn, j., _n._ cocks, a. h., cocoma, the, cocopa, the, , and pl. viii fig. coconuco, the, codrington, r., _n._ codrington, r. h., _n._, _n._ coffey, g., _n._, , _n._ cole, fay-cooper, _n._ collas, the, sq. collignon, r., , sq., colquhoun, a. r., _n._, colvile, z., _n._, comanche, the, , , , and map, pp. - combe capelle skeleton, the, , conestoga, the, conibos, the, conway, r. s., _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._, congo pygmies, the, , ; in egypt, , , cook, s. a., _n._ cool, w., cooper, j. m., _n._ coorgs, the, sq. corequajes, the, _n._ coroados. _see_ kamés corsicans, the, cowan, w. d., _n._ coyaima, the, crawfurd, j., sq. cree, the, ; plains-cree, ; wood-cree, , and map, pp. - creek, the, , sq., and map, pp. - crete, bronze in, ; iron in, ; exploration in, , ; pelasgians in, , ; language, ; and prehistoric trade routes, crevaux, j., _n._ croatians, the, , sq. cro-magnon skeletons, the, , , crook, dr w., _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._, crossland, c., _n._ crow, the, , , , and map, pp. - cummins, s. l., _n._ cunas, the, cunningham, a., cunningham, j. f., _n._ curzon, g. n., lord, cushing, f. h., , _n._, _n._ cyprus, ; pelasgians in, , ; and prehistoric trade routes, czaplicka, m. a., , _n._, dadikes. _see_ tajiks daflas, the, dahae, the, sq. dahle, l., , dahomi, the, sq. dakota, the, , sqq., and pl. viii figs. , dalton, e. t., _n._, _n._, _n._, dalton, o. m., damant, g. h., _n._ damara. see ova-herero dames, m. longworth, _n._ danákil. see afars danes, the, , and pl. xi figs. - dards, the, dáród, the, darwazi, the, darwin, c., _n._, dauri, the, dawson, c., _n._, _n._ daza, the, déchelette, j., on the prehistoric period, _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._, , _n._, _n._, ; iberians, _n._; ligurians, sqq.; siculi, _n._; Ægean chronology, _n._; trade routes, _n._ dècle, l., deggaras, the, dehiya. _see_ dahae dehwar. _see_ tajik delaware (leni lenapé), language, déné (tinneh), the, , sqq., and map, pp. - deniker, j., _n._, _n._, , , _n._, , _n._, , denmark, alpine type in, dennett, r. e., _n._, _n._ deodhaings, the, desgodins, p., _n._, _n._, , , _n._ dewey, h., _n._ dhé. _see_ dahae diaramocks, the, diasu, the, dieseldorff, e. p., , dinka, the, , sqq., dittmar, c. von, diula, the, _n._ dixon, r. b., , sq. dog rib, the, , and map, pp. - doko, the, dongolawi, the, dorians, the, , , , dörpfeld, w., dorsey, g. a., _n._ sqq., _n._ dottin, g., _n._ dravidians, the, , sq., sqq., and pl. xv figs. , ; language, dris, rajah, drouin, m., dru-pa, the, druses, the, , du bois, c. g., dubois, e., _n._ dubois, f., duckworth, w. l. h., _n._, _n._, _n._, , , _n._ dume, the, sq. dumont, a., dundas, c., _n._ dungan, the, duodez language, durani, the, durkheim, e., dusun, the, sq. dwaïsh, the, dwala (duala), the, _n._, dybowski, m., sq. dzo, the, ebisu, the, edkins, j., _n._ edomites, the, efiks, the, egypt, copper age in, sq.; bronze age in, sq.; iron age in, ; prehistoric chronology, ; writing, sq.; pelasgian influence in, ; racial elements in, - ; and babylonia, , ; and palestine, egyptians, the, , , , , - ehrenreich, p., , , sq., sq., , , , , elam, copper age in, ; bronze age in, elamites, the, eliot, c., _n._ eliri, the, ellis, a. b., _n._, _n._, sqq., ellis, havelock, elphinstone, mountstuart, emerillons, the, emmons, g. t., _n._ endle, s., _n._ enoch, c. r., _eoanthropus dawsoni._ _see_ piltdown eolithic period, ephthalites. _see_ yé-tha ercilla, a. de, _n._ erie, the, , and map, pp. - eshi-kongo, the, , , eskimauan linguistic stock, the, eskimo, the, alaskan, , sq., ; labrador, , sq.; asiatic, ; "blonde," ; _see also_ map, pp. - , and pl. viii fig. esthonians, the, ethiopians. _see_ eastern hamites etruscan language, etruscans, the, sq. euahlayi, the, europaeus, d. e. d., _n._ evans, sir a. j., _n._, evans, sir j., ewe, the, , faidherbe, l. l. c., falghars, the, fallmerayer, j. p., fans, the (west africa), _n._, fans, the (zerafshan), fanti, the, sq. farrand, l., , _n._ featherman, a., _n._ feist, s., , , _n._, _n._, sq., _n._, , _n._ felups, the, sq. fenner, c. n., fermuli. _see_ purmuli fewkes, j. w., , sqq., _n._ finlay, g., _n._ finno-turki mongols, the, chap. ix. _passim_ finno-ugrians, the, sq.; language, finns, the, sqq., , , , _n._; danubian, ; volga, , ; baltic, sq.; tavastian, , ; karelian, _ib._ finsch, o., _n._ fishberg, m., _n._ fitzgerald, w. w. a., fitz-roy, r., five nations, the, , , flat-heads (columbia river). _see_ chinook flat-heads (inland salish), the, , fleischer, h. l., fletcher, a. c., _n._ sq. fleure, h. j., flower, sir w., förstemann, e., , sq., , folkmar, d., _n._ foote, r. b., _n._ forbes, c. j. f. s., , _n._ foreman, j., , _n._, sq. formosa, aborigines of, sqq. fouillée, a., _n._ foy, w., _n._ fraipont, j., _n._ france, neolithic inhabitants of, sq.; racial elements in, sq., sqq. frazer, sir j. g., , freeman, e. a., _n._ friederici, g., sq. friis, j. a., fritsch, g., frobenius, l., _n._ fuegians, the, , , fulah, the, , , , sq., , , , , , sq. fulani. _see_ fulah fulbe. _see_ fulah fuluns, the, funj, the, fur, the, furfooz brachycephals, the, furlong, c. w., _n._ furness, w. h., _n._ furtwängler, a., ga, the, sq. gabelenz, g. v. d., gadabursi, the, gaddanes, the, gadow, h., _n._ gagelin, abbé, gaillard, r., _n._ gait, e. a., _n._, _n._ galatians, the, galcha, the, , sq. galchic language, sqq. galibi, the, galla, the, sqq., , , sq. galley hill skeleton, the, sq. gallinas, the, gamergu, the, gannett, h., _n._ garamantes, the, garhwali, the, garner, r. l., gatschet, a. s., _n._ gauchos, the, gautier, j. e., geer, baron g. de, sq. geikie, j., , _n._, _n._ gentil, e., georgians, the, gepidae, the, germanic race. _see_ nordic race germans, the, , germany, racial elements in, sq. gesan linguistic stock, sq. getae, the, ghegs, the, ghuz. _see_ oghuz giao-shi, the, gibbons, a. st h., _n._ gibraltar skull, the, gidley, j. w., giles, h. a., _n._, _n._, _n._ giles, p., _n._, _n._, , _n._, gill, w., _n._ gillen, f. j., , _n._ gilyaks, the, sq., , , sq., , and pl. vi fig. gladstone, j. h., , gleichen, a. e. w., _n._ goddard, p. e., _n._ godden, g. m., _n._ goez, b., goidels, the, gola, the, golds, the, sq., , , and pl. vi fig. goliki, the, golo, the, sq. gomes, e. h., _n._ gonaqua, the, gorjanovi[vc]-kramberger, _n._ górs, the, goths, the, , , gowland, w., graebner, f., , , sqq. grasserie, r. de la, _n._ gravette industry, the, gray, j., greece, prehistoric chronology of, greeks, the, sqq., , sqq. gregory, w. k., , sqq. grenard, f., _n._ grey, sir g., grierson, g. a., _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._ grimaldi skeletons, the, grinnell, g. b., _n._, _n._ griqua, the, gros ventre, the, , and map, pp. - guacanabibes, the, guanches, the, , , guarani, the, . _see also_ tupi-guarani guatusos, the, , and pl. ix fig. guillemard, f. h. h., _n._, , sq. guinness, h. g. (mrs), gujarati, the, , guppy, h. b., gura'an, the, gurdon, p. r. t., _n._ gurkhas, the, gurungs, the, _n._, habiru. _see_ khabiri hackman, a., , _n._ hacquard, père, _n._ haddon, a. c., on negrilloes, _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._; melanesia, _n._, _n._, _n._; indonesians, _n._; borneo, sqq., _n._; america, _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._; australia, _n._; racial migrations, _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._ hadendoa, the, sq. haebler, k., _n._ hagar, s., hagen, b., hahne, h., _n._ haida, the, , and map, pp. - hakas (ki-li-kissé), the, hakas, (burma), the, , hakkas, the, , hale, h., halévy, j., hall, h. fielding, _n._ hall, h. r. h., on prehistoric periods, _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._; greece, _n._, , _n._ hall, r. n., _n._, _n._ hallett, h. s., sq., _n._, _n._, _n._ hallstatt, iron age, culture of, sq. hamada, k., hamilton, a., _n._ hamites, the, , , - , , and pl. xiii; abyssinian, sq.; eastern, sqq., sqq., - ; egyptian, , sqq.; northern, sqq. hammer, g., hampel, j., , _n._ hamy, e. t., _n._, , _n._, , , hano, the, _n._ hans (san-san), the, harding, sir a., hares, the, , and map, pp. - harri, the, harrison, h. s., _n._ harrison lake. _see_ lillooet hartland, e. s., _n._, _n._, , hausa, the, , sqq., and pl. i fig. i havasupai, the, hawes, c. h., _n._, _n._ hawes, h. b., _n._ háwíya, the, hazaras, the, hebrews. _see_ khabiri hedin, sven, , heikel, a. o., hellenes, the, sq., , helm, o., _n._ hermann, k. a., hervé, g., hewitt, j. n. b., _n._ hickson, s. j., _n._, _n._ hidatsa, the, , and map, pp. - hill-tout, c., _n._, hilprecht, h. v., _n._ hilton-simpson, m. w., _n._ himyarites, the, sq., hirt, h., _n._ hirth, f., _n._ hittites, the, , , , , sqq. hiung-nu, the, sq., hobley, c. w., _n._ hodge, h., _n._ hodgson, b. h., hodson, t. c., , , _n._, _n._ hoeï, the, hoernle, a. f. r., _n._ hoffman, w. j., _n._ hogarth, d. g., _n._, _n._, _n._ hok-los, the, , hollis, a. c., _n._ holmes, t. rice, _n._, _n._, _n._; on the mediterranean race, - , ; indo-europeans, _n._, _n._; celts, ; picts, ; british round-heads, _n._, ; _n._ holmes, w. h., , , , _n._, _n._ hommel, f., _n._, _homo alpinus_, sq. _see also_ alpine race ---- _europaeus_, . _see also_ nordic race ---- _heidelbergensis_, , . _see also_ mauer jaw ---- _primigenius_, , . _see also_ neandertal man ---- _recens_, sqq. hooper, w. h., hoops, j., _n._ hopi, the, , , , , and map, pp. - hor-pa, the, horsoks, the, hose, c., hottentots, the, sqq., and pl. i figs. , hough, w., , _n._, _n._ houghton, b., hova, the, , , sqq., sq. howitt, a. w., , _n._, howorth, sir h. h., _n._, , hrasso, the, hrdli[vc]ka, a., sqq. huaxtecans, the, , sqq., huaxtecs (totonacs), the, , sq., huc, e. r. (abbé), huichols, the, _n._ huilli-che, the, hungarians, the, _n._, sqq. hungary, copper age in, huns, the, , sqq., huntington, e., _n._, , _n._, _n._ hurgronje, c. s., _n._ huron, the, , , , and map, pp. - hyades, p. d. j., _n._, hyksos, the, , "hyperboreans," the, iban, the, , sqq. ibara, the, ibea, the, iberians, the, , , sq., , ; language of, ibis, p., idoesh. _see_ dwaïsh igorots (igorrotes), the, , ihring, h. v., illanuns, the, _n._ illinois, the, , and map, pp. - illinois dialect, the, illyrians, the, _n._, _n._, ilocano, the, imeritian language, inca, the, - , _n._ indo-aryan type, risley's, indo-european languages, sq., , sq., sqq.; type, sq.; migrations, sqq. indo-germanic. _see_ indo-european indonesians, the, , , , sq., sq. ingham, e. g., _n._, ingrians, the, iowa, the, , and map, pp. - ipurina, the, , iranians, the, , sqq., and pl. xii fig. ireland, copper age in, ; bronze age in, sq., ; racial elements in, sqq. ireland, a., _n._ iroquoian linguistic stock, the, sq., sqq., iroquois, the, , sq., sqq., and map, pp. - irula, the, , and pl. x fig. ishák, the, ishogo, the, isleta, the, _n._ israelites, the, , italic language, _n._ "italici" of sergi, _n._ italy, racial elements in, sqq. itaves, the, itelmes. _see_ kamchadales iungs (njungs), the, ivanovski, a., _n._ iyer, l. k. a. k., _n._ jaalin, the, jackson, f. g., jackson, j. wilfred, , _n._ jallonké the, , jaluo, the, james, a. w., _n._ james, g. c., jansens, the, japan, stone age in, sq. japanese, the, , sqq.; language, ; religion, sqq., and pl. vii figs. , jastrow, m., _n._, játs, the, sqq., java, fossil man in, javanese, the, , jazyges, the, jemez, the, _n._ jenks, a. e., sq., _n._ jéquier, g., _n._ jette, j., jews, the, sqq. jicarilla, the, , and map, pp. - jigúshes, the, joats, the, jochelson, w. i., _n._ johns, c. h. w., _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._ johnston, sir h. h., on the sudanese, _n._, , _n._, , _n._, ; bantu, sq., _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._, , _n._; bushman, _n._, , _n._, _n._; berbers, _n._, _n._; egypt, sq., _n._; fulah, johnson, j. p., _n._, jola, the, jolof, the, jones, w., _n._ joyce, t. a., on africa, _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._; madagascar, , sq.; central asia, , _n._; mexico, , _n._, _n._; central america, ; south america, _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._ jullian, c., , , junker, w., sq., sq., , junod, h. a., _n._, _n._ juris, the, kababish, the, , _n._, , and pl. xii figs. , kabard language, the, kabinda, the, , sq. kabuis, the, kabyles, the, kachins. _see_ kakhyens kadayans, the, kadir, the, kai-colo, the, _n._, kainah, the, , and map, pp. - kaingangs. _see_ kamés kaitish, the, , and, pl. x fig. kajuna dialect, the, _n._ kakhyens, the, , , kalabit, the, sq. kalapooian, the, , and map, pp. - kalina, the, kalmuks, the, , sq., , and pl. vi fig. kamassintzi, the, kamayura, the, , kamchadales, the, sq., sqq., kamés, the, kamjangs, the, "kanakas," the, kanarese, the, , and pl. xv fig. kanembu, the, , sq. kanet, the, kansa, the, kanuri, the, , kara, the, karagasses, the, kara-kalpaks, the, kara-kirghiz, the, , kara-tangutans, the, karaya, the, karenni, the, karens, the, , sq., kargo, the, karian inscriptions, karigina, the, _n._ karipuna, the, karons, the, karsten, r., _n._ kartweli, the, kasak, the, kashgarians, the, , _n._ kashmiri, the, kassonké, the, kattea. _see_ vaalpens kauffmann, f., kavirondo, the, _n._ kawahla, the, kayan, the, _n._, sqq. kayapos, the, keith, a., _n._, _n._, _n._, , _n._, , , _n._, _n._, _n._ keller, c., kelt (celt), use of term, , , "keltiberians," the, kelto-slavs, the, kennan, g., _n._ kennan, r., kennelly, m., _n._, _n._ kenyah, the, sqq. keresans, the, _n._ keribina, the, kerrikerri, the, khabiri (hebrews), the, , sq.; religion of the, khamti, the, khanikoff, n. v., sq. khanungs. _see_ kiu-tse khas (gurkha), the, khas (of siam), the, _n._ khatri, the, khatti, the, khazars, the, , khemis, the, kheongs, the, kheta, the, khitans, the, khmers, the, khorvats. _see_ croatians khos, the, khotana, the, , and map, pp. - khyengs, the, khyungthas, the, kiao-shi. _see_ giao-shi kichai, the, kickapoo, the, , and map, pp. - kidd, d., _n._ kimmerians, the, _n._ kimos, the, king, l. w., _n._, _n._, _n._ sqq., _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._ king, p. p., kingsley, m. h., , kiowa, the, , , and map, pp. - kiowa-apache, the, kipchaks, the, , kirghiz, the, , , , sq., sqq. kitars, the, kiu-tse, the, klaatsch, h., , _n._, _n._ klangklangs, the, klaproth, h. j., , _n._ kleinschmidt, s., _n._ klemantan, the, sqq. klements, d. a., kloss, c. b., _n._ kobito, the, knowles, w. j., koch-grünberg, t., koeze, c. a., _n._ koganei, y., _n._ kohistani, the, kohlbrugge, j. h., _n._ koibals, the, kolaji, the, koldewey, k., _n._ kollmann, j., kols, the, sq. kolya, the, komans, the, kono, the, konow-sten, _n._, _n._, _n._ koraqua, the, koreans, the, , sqq., and pl. vii fig. ; korean script, korinchi, the, koro-pok-guru, the, , koryak, the, sq., , sqq., kossacks. _see_ kasak kossinna, g., _n._ kowalewsky, m., krämer, a., _n._, _n._ krapina skeletons, the, , krause, f., _n._, kreitner, g., krej, the, kretschmer, p., _n._ kroeber, a. l., , sqq., _n._ kropotkin, p. a., prince, _n._ kru, the, , sq. kshtuts, the, kubachi language, the, kuki, the, sq., , kuki-lushai, the, _n._, sqq., ; language, kulfan, the, kumi, the, kumuks, the, kunbi, the, kurankos, the, kurds, the, _n._, , , and pl. xiv figs. , kuri, the, kurlanders, the, kurnai, the, kurugli, the, kurumba, the, , _n._, kussas, the, kustenaus, the, kutchin, the, kutigurs, the, kwæns, the, kwakiutl, the, , sqq., _see_ map, pp. - , and pl. viii fig. kwana, the, kymric race. _see_ nordic race kyzylbash, the, la chapelle-aux-saints skull, the, , , lacouperie, t. de, _n._, _n._, , sq., sqq., _n._, _n._, _n._ ladakhi, the, sq. la ferassie skeleton, the, , lafofa, the, lagden, g., _n._ lagoa santa race, the, sq., laguna, the, _n._ lai, the, laï, the, laing, s., _n._ lake, p., _n._ laloy, l., , la micoque industry, the, lampongs, the, sq. lampre, g., lamut, the, sq. land dayak, the, sq., lang, andrew, , , _n._ lansdell, h., , _n._, _n._, laos, the, , sq., lapicque, l., sq., lapouge, g. v. de, , , , lapps, the, sqq., , and pl. vii fig. ; physical characters of, lartet, l., _n._ last, j. t., la tène, later iron age culture of, latham, r. e., _n._ lawas, the, layana, the, layard, n. f., laz language, leder, h., sqq. lefèvre, a., legendre, a. f., _n._ leitner, g. w., , _n._ le moustier, culture, , , ; skeleton, , lenormant, f., lenz, o., _n._ lenz, r., léon, n., _n._ leonard, a. g., _n._, _n._ leonhardi, m. f. v., _n._ lepcha, the, ; language, lepsius, k. r., sq., lesghians, the, ; language of, letourneau, c., , letto-slavs, the, letts, the, levallois industry, the, levchine, a. de, _n._ lewis, a. b., _n._ leyden, j., _n._ lho-pa, the, liberians, the, , sq. libyan race. _see_ northern hamites libyans, the, sq., , lichtenstein, m. h. k., ligurians, the, , - , sq., , , ; language of, lillooet, the, , , and map, pp. - limba, the, limbu, the, lindsay, w. m., _n._ lin-tin-yu. _see_ yayo lippert, j., _n._ lithuanians, the, littmann, e., _n._, _n._ liu-kiu (lu-chu), the, , sq. livi, r., , , , livingstone, d., livonians, the, logon, the, lohest, m., _n._ lokko, the, lolos, the, , sq., lombards, the, loucheux, the, , and map, pp. - low, brook, lowie, r. h., _n._ luard, c. e., _n._ lubbers, a., lucayans, the, sq. luchuans. _see_ liu-kiu lugard, f. d., lugard, f. s. (lady), _n._ luiseño, the, , lukach, h. c., _n._ lumholtz, c, _n._, _n._ lupacas, the, luschan, f. v., _n._, , , _n._, _n._, sqq., _n._, lushai, the, lu-tse, the, lyall, c. j., _n._ lycia, inhabitants of, ; language, lydian dialect, the, lythgoe, a. m., maba, the, sq. macalister, a., macalister, r. a. s., maccurdy, g. g., _n._, macdonald, j., _n._, mace, a. c., machas, the, mackintosh, c. w., _n._ macmichael, h. a., , _n._ macusi, the, madagascar, sqq. madi, the, madurese, the, mafflian industry, the, , mafulu, the, magars, the, _n._ magdalenian culture, sqq. mager, h., _n._ maghians, the, magyars, the, , , , sqq., ; language of, mahaffy, j. p., _n._ mahai, the, mahamid, the, mahrati, the, mainwaring, g. b., _n._ ma-kalaka, the, sq. makaraka, the, sq. makari, the, sq. makirifares, the, ma-kololo, the, sqq. makowsky, a., _n._ maku, linguistic stock, malagasy, the, sqq.; language, ; mental qualities, mala-vadan, the, malayalim, the, malayans, the, sqq., ; folklore of, sq. malayo-polynesian. _see_ austronesian malays, the, sqq., ; in borneo, , sqq.; in madagascar, ; in australia, , malbot, h., , malinowski, b., , malliesors, the, malta, inhabitants of, man, e. h., _n._, , sqq. man, the, sq., manaos, the, manchu, the, sq., sqq. manda, the, _n._ mandan, the, , sq., and map, pp. - mandara, the, sq. mandaya, the, mandingans, the, , , sqq., mangbattu, the, , , , sqq. mangkassaras, the, , , manguianes, the, manipuri, the, sqq., manobo, the, máns-coc, the, máns-meo, the, , máns-tien, the, mansuy, m., _n._ man-tse. _see_ man mao nagas, the, sq. maori, the, , and pl. xvi figs. , mapoches, the, maram nagas, the, sq. maratha brahmans, the, sq. margi, the, maricopa, the, markham, sir c. r., sq., _n._, , , _n._, _n._ maronites, the, marre, a., _n._ marrings, the, sq. marstrander, c. j. s., _n._ martin, h., _n._ martin, r., _n._, , , _n._ martius, v., _n._, , sq. masai, the, , , , mas-d'azil, ; pebbles, sqq. ma-shona, the, maspero, g., , _n._, massagetae, the, sq. ma-tabili, the, mataco, the, sq. mathew, j., _n._, matlaltzincas, the, matokki, the, matores, the, matthew, w. d., _n._ mauer jaw, the, sqq., , ma-vambu, the, maya, the, - mayang khong, the, maya-quiché the, , , sq. mayorunas, the, maypures, the, mbenga, the, mccabe, r. b., mcdougall, w., _n._ mcgee, w. j., means, p. a., _n._ mecklenberg, a. f., duke of, _n._ medes, the, _n._ mediterranean race, the, sq., ; in europe, - ; in africa, - ; language of, sq. mehinaku, the, , mehlis, c., meinhof, c., _n._ meithis, the, ; language of, _n._ melam, the, melanesians, the, sqq.; analysis of, sq.; culture of, - mendi, the, menominee, the, , , and map, pp. - mentawi, the, natives of, mentone, grottes de grimaldi, the, mercer, h., merker, m., _n._ mescalero, the, , and map, pp. - messapians, the, , _n._ messerschmidt, l., mesvinian industry, the, , meyer, a. b., meyer, e., _n._, sqq.; on indo-europeans, _n._, , , _n._, _n._; pelasgians, sqq.; egyptians, , ; semites, _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._ meyer, h., meyer, kuno, _n._ miami, the, , , and map, pp. - miao-tse. _see_ máns-meo michelis, e. de, micmac, the, , and map, pp. - micronesians, the, , and pl. xvi figs. , mikhailovskii, v. m., _n._, _n._ miklukho-maclay, n. v., _n._ milanau, the, , miller, gerrit s., _n._, milliet. _see_ saint adolphe milligan, j., milne, j., minaeans, the, minahasans, the, mindeleff, c., _n._ mingrelian language, the, minnetari, the, minns, e. h., minoan culture, sqq., , minyong, the, mirdites, the, _n._, miri, the, mishmi, the, mishongnovi, the, _n._ missouri, the, , and map, pp. - mittu, the, miwok, the, pp. - miztecs, the, , mizzi, m., _n._ moabites, the, sq. mochicas, the, moeso-goths, the, mohave, the, , and map, pp. - mohawk, the, , moi, the, molu-che. _see_ araucanians mongolia, prehistoric remains in, sq. mongoloid type, risley's, mongolo-dravidian type, risley's, mongolo-tatar. _see_ mongolo-turki mongolo-turki, the, sq., , sqq. mongols, northern, chap. viii mongols, oceanic, chap. vii ---- southern, chap. vi mono, the, mons, the, montagnais, the, , , and map, pp. - montano, j., montelius, o., , _n._, _n._, mooney, j., _n._ moorehead, w. k., "moors," the, moravians, the, mordvinians, the, morel, e. d., _n._ morgan, j. de, , _n._, , _n._, morgan, e. delmar, _n._ morfill, w. r., morice, a. g., sq. morley, s. g., _n._, _n._, _n._ mosgu, the, , mossi, the, mossos, the, , sq. mostitz, a. p., moszkowski, max, mousterian man. _see_ le moustier moxos, the, , , mpangwe. _see_ fans mpongwe, the, mros, the, sq. mrungs, the, much, m., much, r., _n._ müller, f., _n._ mugs, the, sq. mundu, the, mundurucu, the, munro, n. g., _n._ munro, r., _n._ muong, the, murmi, the, murut, the, sq. muskhogean linguistic stock, the, , musquakie. _see_ sauk and fox mussian, explorations at, muyscans, the, , myers, c. s., _n._, _n._, mycenaean (mykenaean). _see_ minoan myong, the, myres, j. l., , _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._, , _n._ mysians, the, ; language of, nachtigal, g., sqq., _n._ nadaillac, marquis de, j. f. a., , _n._, _n._, _n._ naga, the, sq.; language, naga-ed-dêr, excavations at, , nahane the, , and map, pp. - nahua, the, sq., _n._, sqq., , , _n._ nahuatlans, the, , , sqq., nahuqua, the, , nairs, the, najera, nambe, the, _n._ narrinyeri, the, nashi (nashri). _see_ mossos naskapi, the, , and map, pp. - nassau, r. h., _n._ natagaima, the, natchez, the, , and map, pp. - navaho, the, , , _see_ map, pp. - , and pl. viii fig. . naville, e., _n._, _n._, neandertal man, , sqq., , negrilloes, the, sqq., and pl. ii fig. negritoes, the, sqq., and pl. ii figs. , , , - ; culture of, - , neumann, o., nez-percés. _see_ shahapts ngao, the, ngiou. _see_ burmese ngisem, the, nias, the, niblack, a. p., _n._ niceforo, a., nickas, the, nicobarese, the, sqq. niederle, l., _n._ nieuwenhuis, a. w., _n._ nilotes, the, , and pl. xiii niquirans, the, niu-chi (yu-chi, nu-chin), the, njungs. _see_ iungs nogai, the, nong, the, sq. nootka, the, , _n._, and map, pp. - nordenskiöld, a. e. von, nordenskiöld, e., nordenskiöld, g., _n._ nordic race, the, , sq., , sqq., pl. xi figs. , , , and pl. xiv figs. , ; in scandinavia, norsemen, the, , sq. northcote, g. a. s., _n._ norway, racial elements in, nossu (nesu). _see_ lolos nu-aruak, the, nuba, the, sqq. nubians, the, sqq., nuer, the, sq., nüesch, j., , nutria, the, _n._ nuttall, z., , _n._ nwengals, the, obermaier, h., _n._, , _n._, _n._ oghuz, the, sqq. ojibway, the, , , sqq., and map, pp. - ojo caliente, the, _n._ okanda, the, oldoway skeleton, the, _n._, omagua (flat-heads), the, omaha, the, , , and map, pp. - onas, the, ; language of, oneida, the, , onnis, e. a., onondaga, the, , ons, the, oraibi, the, _n._ orang-baruh, the, ---- -benua, the, ---- -maláyu. _see_ malays ---- -selat, the, ---- -tunong, the, oraons, the, orbigny, a. d. d', oriyas, the, orléans, h., prince d', _n._, _n._, sq., sqq. oroch, the, orochon, the, sq., oroke, the, orsi, p., osage, the, , , , and map, pp. - oshyeba. _see_ fans ossets, the, , o'sullivan, h., _n._ ostrogoths, the, ostyaks, the, , , , , and pl. vi fig. otomi, the, ottawa, the, , and map, pp. - ; language, oto, the, , and map, pp. - ova-herero, the, , sqq., sq. ---- -mpo, the, ---- -zorotu, the, oyampi, the, padam, the, _n._, padao, the, paes, the, pahuins. _see_ fans (west africa) paiwans, the, paï, the, (laos) of assam, pa-ï, the, of s.w. china, pakhpu, the, pakpaks, the, _n._ palaeasiatics, deniker's, palaeo-siberians, the, , palawans, the, palembang, the sq. paleo-asiatics. _see_ palaeo-siberians palmer, h. r., _n._ pames, the, _n._ pampangan, the, pampeans, the, ; language of, panches, the, pangasinan, the, paniyan, the, , and pl. x fig. pano, the, , pan-y, the, pan-yao, the, papuans, the, sq., , sqq., , and pl. iii figs. , papuasians, the, chap. v. _passim_ papuo-melanesians, the, sq., and pl. iii figs. , parker, a. c., _n._ parker, e. h., _n._, _n._, _n._, parker, h., _n._ parker, k. langloh, , _n._ parkinson, j., _n._ parkinson, r., parthians, the, sq. partridge, c., _n._ passumahs, the, patagonians, the, sq., and pl. ix figs. , ; language of, sq. paton, l. b., _n._, _n._ patroni, g., sq. patterson, a. j., _n._ paulitschke, p., paumari, the, , pawnee, the, , sqq., , and map, pp. - peal, s. e., _n._ pears, e., _n._ pease, a. e., _n._ pechenegs, the, pecos, the, _n._ peet, t. e., _n._ peisker, t., , _n._, sq., , _n._, _n._, _n._, , _n._, _n._ peixoto, j. r., pelasgians, the, , , , - , sq.; in italy, ; in greece, sq.; language of, , penck, a., sqq. penek, the, penka, c., _n._, , peoria, the, , and map, pp. - pepohwans, the, peringuey, l., permians, (beormas, permian finns), the, _n._, , , persians, the, , pescado, the, _n._ perry, w. j., peschel, o., _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._ p[)e]s[)e]g[)e]m, the, petersen, e., _n._ petrie, w. m. flinders, _n._, , , , , _n._ peyrony, m., _n._ philippines, the, sqq. philistines, the, , phoenicians, the, , sq., , phrygians, the, , piankashaw, the, pickett, a. j., _n._ pictones, the, picts, the, sq. picun-che, the, picuris, the, _n._ piegan, the, , and map, pp. - piette, e., , , pilma, the, piltdown skull, the, sqq., , sq. pima, the, sq., and map, pp. - pinches, t. g., , , pintos, the, _n._ pipils, the, sqq. _pithecanthropus erectus_, sqq., plains indians, the, , - , and map, pp. - planert, w., _n._ playfair, a., _n._ pojoaque, the, _n._ polabs, the, polak, j. e. r., _n._ poles, the, , polynesians, the, , sqq., and pl. xvi figs. - pomo, the, pp. - ponca, the, , sq., and map, pp. - portugal, racial elements in, sq. potanin, g. n., , _n._ potawatomi, the, , and map, pp. - poutrin, l., _n._ powell, j. w., , , , , _n._ powhatan, the, , and map, pp. - praeger, r. lloyd, _n._ pre-dravidians, the, , , chap. xii, , and pl. x figs. - prichard, j. c., , , , prince, j. d., prjevalsky, n. m., , procksch, o., _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._ proto-malays, the, proto-polynesians, the, pryer, w. b., _n._ pueblo indians, the, , - , ; and map, pp. - puelche, the, , puenche, the, pumpelly, r., punan, the, sq., punjabi, the, pun-ti, the, purasati, the, purmuli, the, pwos, the, pycraft, w. p., quapaw, the, quatrefages, a. de, quoirengs, the, quichuas, the, sq., radloff, w., raffles, sir t. s., rahanwín, the, rájputs, the, sqq., rakhaingtha, the, randall-maciver, d., _n._, _n._ rangkhols, the, ranqualches, the, rat, j. numa, _n._ rattray, r. s., _n._ rawling, c. g., _n._ rawlinson, g., _n._, ray, s. h., _n._, _n._, read, c. h., reade, w. winwood, reck, hans, _n._, reclus, e., _n._, _n._ reed, w. a., _n._ regnault, m. f., rein, j. j., _n._ reinach, l. de, _n._ reinach, s., _n._, _n._ reinecke, p., reinisch, l., reisner, g. a., , , , rejang, the, , sq. retu, the, _n._ retzius, g., _n._ reutelian culture, rhaetians (rasenes), the, rhoxolani, the, rhys, sir j., _n._ rialle, g. de, _n._ richthofen, f. von, , ridgeway, sir w., _n._, ; on pelasgians, , _n._, sq., _n._, _n._; ligurians, ; romans, _n._; achaeans, _n._ rink, h. j., , rink, s., ripley, w. z., _n._, _n._, ; on the mediterranean race, , _n._; basques, _n._, _n._; greeks, _n._, , _n._; phoenicians, _n._; jews and semites, _n._, ; scandinavia, ; central europe, _n._, _n._; celts, _n._; britain, , ; italy, _n._ risley, h. h., _n._, , sqq. rivers, w. h. r., sqq., _n._, _n._, , rivet, p., sq. robinson, c. h., _n._ robinson, h. c., , _n._ rockhill, w. w., sqq., , roesler, r., , roeys, the, rol, the, rolleston, j., romans in north africa, the, romilly, h. h., _n._ rong, the, , roscoe, j., sq., _n._ rose, h. a., _n._ rosenberg, h. von, _n._, _n._, _n._ rostafínski, j., roth, h. ling, _n._, _n._, _n._ routledge, w. s. and k., _n._ roy, s. c., _n._ ruadites, the, rumanians, the, , , sqq. rumaníya, the, russell, f., _n._ russell, r. v., _n._ russians, the, , sq. ruthenians, the, , rutot, m., , sabaeans, the, sacæ, the, sq. saint-adolphe, milliet de, , _n._ saint-denys, d'h. de, saint-martin, v. de, _n._, _n._, _n._ sakai, the, , , sq., sq., and pl. x fig. sakalava, the, sq., sakhersi, the, _n._ salaman, r. n., _n._ salars, the, salish, the coast, , sq., and map, pp. - salish, the inland, , sqq., and map, pp. - salmon, p., sambaqui (shell-mound) race, the, samoyeds, the, , , , , sq., and pl. vi fig. ; religion of, sq., sandberg, g., _n._ sande, g. a. j. van der, sandia, the, _n._ san felipe (indians), the, _n._ san ildefonso (indians), the, _n._ san juan (indians), the, _n._ santa ana (indians), the, _n._ santa barbara (indians), the, sq. santa clara (indians), the, santo domingo (indians), the, _n._ santal, the, santee-dakota, the, , and map, pp. - sapper, k., sarasin, f., _n._, _n._, sarasin, p., _n._, _n._, sards, the, sq. sarmatians (sarmatae), the, , sq. sarsi, the, , , and map, pp. - "sartes," the, sassaks, the, sq. sauk and fox, the, , , , and map, pp. - saulteaux, the, , and map, pp. - saxons, the, sayce, a. h., _n._, _n._, , , sq. scandinavia and amber trade, ; "aryan cradle" in, ; population of, schafarik, p. j., _n._ scharff, r. f., schetelig, a., schiefner, a., schleicher, a., , schliemann, h., schlenker, c. f., _n._ schmid, t. p., schmidt, h., schmidt, w., _n._, _n._, _n._, , sqq. schoetensack, o., _n._ schoolcraft, h. r., schott, h., _n._ schrader, o., _n._ schultz, j. w., _n._ schumacher, g., schwalbe, g., _n._ schweinfurth, g., _n._ scotland, racial elements in, sqq. scott, j. g., _n._, _n._, scythians, the, _n._, , , sqq.; in india, scytho-dravidian type, risley's, sea dayak. _see_ iban sebop, the, seger, h., _n._ seguas, the, _n._ sekani, the, sq., and map, pp. - sekhwans, the, seki-manzi, the, seler, e., seligman, b. z., _n._, _n._ seligman, c. g., _n._, , _n._, _n._, , , _n._, , , _n._ seljuks, the, sellin, e., semang, the, , , sqq., , , and pl. ii fig. seminole, the, , , , and map, pp. - semites, the, in babylonia, sqq., , , ; arabs, sqq., sqq.; in africa, , ; chap, xiv semple, e. c., _n._ seneca, the, , senoi. _see_ sakai serbians, the, , serer, the, sqq. sergi, g., , , ; on the mediterranean race, sq., sqq., sqq., ; in italy, _n._, , sq.; in greece, ; in russia, ; hamites, sq., seri indians, the, , setebos, the, sgaws, the, shahapts, the, sq., and map, pp. - shakespear, j., _n._, _n._ shakshu, the, shans, the, , , sqq.; alphabets of, , sq. shargorodsky, s., sharra, the, shaw, g. a., shawías, the, shawnee, the, , , , and map, pp. - shendu, the, sheyanté, the, shilluk, the, sqq., shinomura, m., shíns, the, shipaulovi, the, _n._ shipibos. _see_ sipivios shluhs, the, shom pen, the, sqq. shoshoni, the, , , sq., and map, pp, - shoshonian linguistic stock, the, , shrubsall, f. c., , , _n._ shu, the, shunopovi, the, _n._ shushwap, the, , , and map, pp. - sia, the, _n._ siah posh, the, siamese, the, , sq.; writing system, sibree, j., _n._ sicani, the, sichumovi, the, _n._ siculi, the, , , sidonians. _see_ phoenicians siebold, h. v., sien-pi, the, sqq. sierochevsky, v. a., sierra-leonese, the, sqq. sifans, the, sihanakas, the, sikemeier, w., sikhs, the, siksika, the, , , sqq., and map, pp. - singpho, the, siouan linguistic stock, the, , , , sqq., ; eastern, sioux. _see_ dakota sipivios, the, sirdehi, the, sistani, the, siyirs, the, skeat, w. w., _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._ skidi, the, skinner, a., _n._ slavey, the, , and map, pp. - slavo-kelt, use of term, slavs, the, , , sqq., , , , , sqq. slovaks, the, , , slovenes, the, , _n._ smeaton, d. m., smith, a. h., _n._ smith, donaldson, smith, g. elliot, sq., , , _n._, sqq., _n._, _n._, sqq., , _n._ smith, r., _n._ smith, s. percy, _n._ smith, v. a., _n._ smyth, r. brough, _n._ smyth-warington, h., , _n._ snellman, a. h., _n._, so, the, sok-pa, the, _n._, sokté, the, sollas, w. j., , _n._, sqq., _n._, , , sols, the, solutrian culture, , somali, the, , sq., sqq. songhai, the, sqq. soninké the, , sonorans, the, soppitt, c. a., soyotes, the, spain, racial elements in, sq. spartman, p. s., _n._ speck, f. g., speiser, f., _n._ speke, j. h., spence, l., _n._ spencer, h., _n._ spencer, sir w. baldwin, sq., sq., , _n._, spinden, h. j., _n._, _n._ spy skeletons, the, squier, e. g., stack, e., _n._ stanley, h. e. j., _n._ stanley, h. m., _n._ starr, f., _n._ steensby, h. p., stefánsson, v., stein, sir m. a., sq., sq., , steinen, k. v. d., _n._, , sqq. steinmetz, r. s., _n._, n sternberg, l., _n._ stevenson, m. c., _n._ stow, g. w., _n._, _n._ strandloopers, the, strepyan culture, stuhlmann, f., _n._, _n._, , , sturge, allen, subano, the, sudanese negro, chap. iii sumerians, the, sqq., sq., ; _see also_ babylonia sumu, the, sundanese, the, susa, explorations at, , susquehanna, the, , , and map, pp. - suti, the, suyas. _see_ kayapos swahili. _see_ wa-swaheli swanton, j. r., , _n._ swazi, the, sweden, alpine type in, _n._, ; nordic type in, swettenham, sir f. a., _n._, swiss pile-dwellers, the, sykes, sir m., _n._ syrians, the, sq. szinnyei, j., tagalogs, the, , , , sq. tagbanua, the, ta-hia, the, tahltan indians, the, _n._ tahtadji, the, tai (t'hai). _see_ shans tai-shan language, the, sq. tajiks, the, , , sqq., and pl. xiv figs. , talaings, the, talamanca, the, _n._ talbot, p. a., _n._ talko-hryncewicz, j. d., talodi, the, tamai, k., tamehu, the, tamils, the, tanala, the, tangkhuls, the, tanguts, the, , tanoans, the, _n._ taos, the, _n._ tapiro, the, , and pl. ii figs. - tappeiner, f., tapuya, the, tarahumare, the, _n._ taranchi, the, tarascan language, the, tarascos, the, tardenoisian industry, the, "tartars," the, _n._, ; kazan, ; nogai, _ib._; siberian, ; volga, tarté industry, the, tashons, the, sq. tasmanians, the, sqq., sqq., and pl. iii figs. , taubach tooth, the, tauté the, tavoyers, the, tawangs, the, tawyans, the, taylor, e. j., taylor, g., _n._ taylor, w. e., , teda, the, tehuelche. _see_ patagonians teilhard, p., teit, j., _n._ tekestas, the, telinga (telugu, tling), the, , temple, sir r. c., sq., , _n._, _n._ ten kate, h. f. c., tepanecs, the, , terrage, m. de v. du, tesuque, the, _n._ teton-dakota, the, , and map, pp. - teutoni, the, teutonic race. _see_ nordic race teutons, the, historic and prehistoric, , sq., theal, g. m., _n._, _n._, _n._, _n._ thessalians, the, tho, the, sq., thomas, cyrus, , _n._ thomas, n. w., _n._, _n._, _n._, thompson, basil, _n._ thompson, e. h., thompson, j. p., _n._ thompson, m. s., _n._ thompson, p. a., _n._ thompson, the, , and map, pp. - thomsen, wilhelm, , , , _n._, thomson, a., _n._ thomson, b. h., thracians, the, sq., thurn, sir e. f. im, _n._ thurnam, j., thurston, e., , _n._, tibetans, the, sqq.; language of, tibeto-indo-chinese branch, tibu, the, , sq. ticuna, the, tilho, m., _n._, _n._ timni, the, sq. timotes, the, timuquanans, the, tipperahs, the, tipuns, the, tling. _see_ telinga tlingit, the, , , sq., and map, pp. - toala, the, toba, the, sq. tocaima, the, tocharish, _n._, tocher, j. f., toda, the, toghuz, the, sq. toltecs, the, , sq., , _n._ tongue, m. h., _n._ tooke, w. h., topinard, p., torday, e., _n._, _n._ toshks, the, sq. tosti, g., totonacs. _see_ huaxtecs toung-gnu, the, toxides, the, trarsas, the, tremearne, a. j. n., _n._, _n._ tremlett, c. f., _n._ tshi, the, , tsiampa. _see_ champa tsimshian, the, , , _n._ tsintsars, the, tsoneca. _see_ tehuelche tuaregs, the, sq., tuck, h. n., tucker, a. w., _n._, _n._ tumali, the, tungthas, the, tungus, the, sqq., and pl. vi figs. , tunican, the, , , and map, pp. - tunisia, natives of, sq. tupi, the, , ; language, tupi-guarani, the, ; language, ; linguistic stock, , , turki, the, , , sqq.; physical features, ; in india, ; in central asia, sqq.; in asia minor, sq.; in siberia, sqq. turko-iranian type, risley's, turkomans, the, , sq. turks, osmanli, , , sq. turner, s., turner, sir william, , _n._ tusayans, the, sq. tuscarora, the, , sq., and map, pp. - tylor, sir e. b., , _n._ tynjur, the, tyrol, the, brachycephaly in, uaupés, the, ude language, ugrian finns, the, sqq., sq. uigurs, the, , sqq., _n._ uinta, the, ujfalvy, c. de, sq., sq., , _n._, , _n._, , ukit, the, sq. uled-bella, the, uled-embark, the, uled-en-nasúr, the, ulu ayar, the, , umbrians, the, , ural-altaic peoples. _see_ northern mongols ---- languages, sqq. usuns (wusun), the, , , ute, the, , sq. utigurs, the, uzbegs, the, , , vaalpens, the, sq. vacas, the, valentini, p. j. j., , vambéry, a., , _n._ vandals, the, , vandeleur, s., _n._ vansittart, e., _n._ vapisianas, the, vascones, the, vasilofsky, n. e., _n._ vater, j. s., vauru, the, vazimba, the, , sq. vedda, the, , , , and pl. x fig. vei, the, _n._, _n._, venedi, the, veneti, the, _n._, _n._ vepses, the, , verneau, r., _n._, , _n._, , vierkandt, a., _n._ vinson, j., _n._, _n._ virchow, r., , , , , , _n._ visayas, the, , visigoths, the, vlachs, the, voguls, the, , volkov, t., _n._, _n._ volz, w., _n._ votes, the, , voth, h. r., _n._ votyaks, the, vouchereau, a., wa-boni, the, wace, a. j. b., _n._ wa-chaga, the, wachsmuth, w., _n._ waddell, l. a., _n._ wa-duruma, the, wa-giryama, the, sqq. wa-gweno, the, wa-hha, the, wahuma. _see_ ba-hima waiilatpuan, the, wainwright, g. a., _n._ wa-kamba, the, wa-kedi, the, _n._, wakhi, the, wa-kikuyu, the, _n._ wakoré, the, _n._ walapai, the, wales, racial elements in, sqq. walkhoff, e., _n._ wallace, a. r., , _n._, sqq. wallack, h., walpi, the, _n._ walter, h., _n._ wandorobbo, the, wangara, the, _n._ wa-nyika, the, wa-pokomo, the, wa-ruanda, the, , wa-sandawi, the, , wa-swahili, the, , wa-taveita, the, wa-teita, the, watt, g., , _n._ wa-tusi, the, , webster, w., _n._, _n._ weeks, j. h., _n._ weigland, g., _n._ weiss, m., _n._ wends, the, werner, a., _n._, _n._, _n._ weule, k., _n._ wheeler, g. c., _n._ whenohs, the, whiffen, t., _n._ wibling, carl, wichita, the, , , and map, pp. - williamson, r. w., willis, b., wilson, thomas, winchell, n. h., winckler, h., , windisch, e., windt, h. de, winnebago, the, , wintun, the, pp. - wissler, c., - _passim_ wissmann, h. von, witoto, the, , _n._ wochua, the, wolf, l., wollaston, a. f. r., _n._, _n._, _n._ wolof, the, , sqq. woodford, c. m., _n._, _n._ woodthorpe, r. g., _n._ woodward, a. smith, _n._, _n._, _n._ worcester, d. c., _n._ wray, l., _n._ wright, f. e., wright, w., _n._, _n._ wuri, the, wyandot, the, , and map, pp. - wylde, a. b., _n._ xenopol, a. d., yacana, the, yadrintseff, n. m., _n._ yagi, s., yagnobi, the, _n._ yahgans, the, , ; language of, yakut, the, , sq.; language, _n._, , sq. yamamadi, the, yankton-dakota, the, , and map, pp. - yavapai, the, yavorsky, j. l., yayo (yao), the, yedina, the, yegrai, the, yegurs, the, _n._ yellow knives, the, , and map, pp. - yemanieh, the, yé-tha, the, sq. yezidi, the, yidoks, the, y-jen, the, yo, the, yokut, the, pp. - yoma, the, yoruba, the, , sq. yotkan, explorations at, younghusband, sir f., sq. yuan-yuans, the, , yuchi, the, sqq., and map, pp. - yué-chi, the, , sqq., _n._ yugo-slavs, the, , yuin, the, yukaghir, the, sq.; writing system, sq., yuma, the, yuman linguistic stock, the, , yumanas, the, yungas, the, zaborowski, s., , , _n._, sq. zandeh, the, , sq., sq. zapotecs, the, , zimbabwe monuments, the, , sq., , _n._ zimmer, h., _n._ zimmern, h., _n._ ziryanians, the, zoghawa, the, zulu-xosa, the, , sqq., , and pl. i fig. zuñi, the, , and map, pp. - cambridge: printed by j. b. peace, m.a., at the university press plate i [illustration: . hausa, western sudanese negro] [illustration: . zulu, bantu negroid] [illustration: . koranna hottentot] [illustration: . koranna hottentot] [illustration: . bushman] [illustration: . bushman] plate ii [illustration: . andamanese, negrito] [illustration: . semang, negrito] [illustration: . aeta, negrito] [illustration: . central african, negrillo] [illustration: - . tapiro, negrito] plate iii [illustration: . tasmanian] [illustration: . tasmanian] [illustration: . kiwai, papuan] [illustration: . kiwai, papuan] [illustration: . hula, papuo-melanesian] [illustration: . hula, papuo-melanesian] plate iv [illustration: . chinese] [illustration: . chinese] [illustration: . kara-kirghiz, mongolo-turki] [illustration: . kara-kirghiz, mongolo-turki] [illustration: . kara-kirghiz] [illustration: . manchu-tungus] plate v [illustration: . iban, mixed proto-malay] [illustration: . buginese, malayan] [illustration: . bontoc igorot, malayan] [illustration: . bagobo, malayan] [illustration: , . kenyah, mixed proto-malay] plate vi [illustration: . samoyed] [illustration: . tungus] [illustration: . yenesei ostiak, palaeo-siberian] [illustration: . kalmuk, western mongol] [illustration: . gold of amur river, tungus] [illustration: . gilyak, n. e. mongol] plate vii [illustration: . ainu, palaeo-siberian] [illustration: . ainu, palaeo-siberian] [illustration: , . japanese, mixed manchu-korean and southern mongol] [illustration: . korean] [illustration: . lapp] plate viii [illustration: . eskimo] [illustration: . indian, north-west coast of north america] [illustration: . cocopa, yuman] [illustration: . navaho, athapascan] [illustration: . dakota, siouan] [illustration: . dakota, siouan] plate ix [illustration: . carib] [illustration: . guatuso, costa rica] [illustration: . native of otovalo, ecuador] [illustration: . native of zambisa, ecuador] [illustration: . tehuel-che, patagonia] [illustration: . tehuel-che, patagonia] plate x [illustration: . vedda, pre-dravidian] [illustration: . sakai, pre-dravidian] [illustration: . irula, pre-dravidian] [illustration: . paniyan, pre-dravidian] [illustration: . kaitish, australian] [illustration: . australian] plate xi [illustration: . dane, nordic] [illustration: . dane, nordic] [illustration: . dane, mixed alpine] [illustration: . breton, mixed alpine] [illustration: . swiss, nordic] [illustration: . swiss, alpine] plate xii [illustration: . catalan, iberian] [illustration: . irishman, mediterranean] [illustration: . kababish, mixed semite] [illustration: . kababish, mixed semite] [illustration: . egyptian bedouin, mixed semite] [illustration: . afghán, iranian] plate xiii [illustration: . bisharin, hamite] [illustration: . bisharin, hamite] [illustration: . ben amer, hamite] [illustration: . masai, mixed nilotic hamite] [illustration: . shilluk, hamitic nilote] [illustration: . shilluk, nilote] plate xiv [illustration: . kurd, nordic] [illustration: . kurd, nordic] [illustration: . armenian, armenoid alpine] [illustration: . armenian, armenoid alpine] [illustration: . tajik, alpine] [illustration: . tajik, mixed alpine and turki] plate xv [illustration: . sinhalese, mixed "aryan"] [illustration: . sinhalese, mixed "aryan"] [illustration: . hindu, mixed "aryan"] [illustration: . kling, dravidian] [illustration: . linga, dravidian] [illustration: . vakkaliga, mixed alpine] plate xvi [illustration: , . raiatea, polynesian] [illustration: . maori, polynesian] [illustration: . maori, polynesian] [illustration: , . caroline islands, micronesian] transcriber's notes: . passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_. . passages in bold are indicated by #bold#. . images have been moved from the middle of a paragraph to the closest paragraph break. . footnotes have been renumbered and moved to the end of the chapter in which they are referenced. . obvious punctuation errors have been corrected. . this text contains certain characters with diacritical marks, which are marked within square brackets. for example, [)e] represents small letter "e" with breve. . the original text includes greek characters. for this text version, these letters have been replaced with transliterations. . the following misprints have been corrected: "identity" corrected to "identify" (page ) "archeological" corrected to "archaeological" (page ) "momenclature" corrected to "nomenclature" (page ) . sidenotes have been removed from this text version. . other than the corrections listed above, printer's inconsistencies in spelling, hyphenation, and ligature usage have been retained. images of public domain material from the google print project.) pedagogical anthropology [illustration: maria montessori] pedagogical anthropology by maria montessori author of "the montessori method" translated from the italian by frederic taber cooper _with illustrations and diagrams_ [illustration] new york frederick a. stokes company mcmxiii _copyright_, , by frederick a. stokes company _all rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign_ _languages, including the scandinavian_ _july, _ the·maple·press·york·pa· to my mother renilde stoppani and my father alessandro montessori on the occasion of the forty-fifth anniversary of their unclouded union, i dedicate this book, fruit of the spirit of love and contentment with which they have inspired me preface for some time past much has been said in italy regarding pedagogical anthropology; but i do not think that until now any attempt has been made to define a science corresponding to such a title; that is to say, a method that systematises the positive study of the pupil for pedagogic purposes and with a view to establishing philosophic principles of education. as soon as anthropology annexes the adjective, "pedagogical," it should base its scope upon the fundamental conception of a possible amelioration of man, founded upon the positive knowledge of the laws of human life. in contrast to general anthropology which, starting from a basis of positive data founded on observation, mounts toward philosophic problems regarding the _origin of man_, pedagogic anthropology, starting from an analogous basis of observation and research, must rise to philosophic conceptions regarding the _future destiny_ of man from the biological point of view. the study of congenital anomalies and of their biological and social origin, must undoubtedly form a part of pedagogical anthropology, in order to afford a positive basis for a universal human hygiene, whose sole field of action must be the school; but an even greater importance is assumed by the study of _defects of growth_ in the normal man; because the battle against these evidently constitutes the practical avenue for a wide regeneration of mankind. if in the future a scientific pedagogy is destined to rise, it will devote itself to the education of men already rendered physically better through the agency of the allied positive sciences, among which pedagogic anthropology holds first place. the present-day importance assumed by all the sciences calculated to regenerate education and its environment, the school, has profound social roots and is forced upon us as the necessary path toward further progress; in fact the transformation of the outer environment through the mighty development of experimental sciences during the past century, must result in a correspondingly _transformed man_; or else civilisation must come to a halt before the obstacle offered by a human race lacking in organic strength and character. the present volume comprises the lectures given by me in the university of rome, during a period of four years, all of which were diligently preserved by one of my students, signor franceschetti. my thanks are due to my master, professor giuseppe sergi who, after having urged me to turn my anthropological studies in the direction of the school, recommended me as a specialist in the subject; and my free university course for students in the faculty of natural sciences and medicine was established, in pursuance of his advice, by the pedagogic school of the university of rome. the volume also contains the pictures used in the form of lantern slides to illustrate the lectures, pictures taken in part from various works of research mentioned in this volume. acknowledgment is gratefully made to the scientists and scholars whose work is thus referred to. i have divided my subject into ten chapters, according to a special system: namely, that each chapter is complete in itself--for example, the first chapter, which is very long, contains an outline of general biology, and at the same time biological and social generalisations concerning man considered from our point of view as educators, and thus furnishes a complete organic conception which the remainder of the book proceeds to analyse, one part at a time; the chapter on the pelvis, on the other hand, is exceedingly short, but it completely covers the principles relating to this particular part, because they lend themselves to such condensed treatment. far from assuming that i have written a definitive work, it is only at the request of my students and publisher that i have consented to the publication of these lectures, which represent a modest effort to justify the faith of the master who urged me to devote my services as a teacher to the advancement of the school. maria montessori. contents (_the figures in parenthesis refer to the number of the page_) introduction modern tendencies of anthropology and their relation to pedagogy the old anthropology( )--modern anthropology( )--de giovanni and physiological anthropology( )--sergi and pedagogic anthropology( )--morselli and scientific philosophy( )--importance of method in experimental sciences( )--objective collecting of single facts( )--passage from analysis to synthesis ( )--method to be followed in the present course of lectures( )--limits of pedagogical anthropology( ). the school as a field of research( ). chapter i certain principles of general biology the material substratum of life( )--synthetic concept of the individual in biology( )--formation of multicellular organisms( )--theories of evolution( )--phenomena of heredity( )--phenomena of hybridism( )--mendel's laws( ). the form and types of stature the form( )--fundamental canons regarding the form( )--types of stature, macroscelia and brachyscelia; their physiological significance( )--types of stature in relation to race( ), sex( ), and age( )--pedagogic considerations( )--abnormal types of stature in their relation to moral training( )--macroscelia and brachyscelia in pathological individuals (de giovanni's hyposthenic and hypersthenic types)( )--types of stature in emotional criminals and in parasites( )--extreme types of stature among the extra-social: nanism and gigantism( )--summary of types of stature( ). the stature the stature as a linear index( )--limits of stature according to race( )--stature in relation to sex( )--variations in stature with age, according to sex( )--variations due to mechanical causes( )--variations due to adaptation in connection with various causes, social, physical, psychic, pathological, etc. ( )--effect of light, heat, electricity( )--variations in growth according to the season( )--pathogenesis of infantilism( )--stature affected by syphilis ( ), tuberculosis( ), malaria( ), pellagra( ), rickets( )--moral and pedagogical considerations( )--summary of stature( ). the weight the weight considered as total measure of mass( )--weight of child at birth ( )--loss of weight( )--specific gravity of body( )--index of weight( ). chapter ii craniology the head and cranium( )--the face( )--characteristics of the human cranium( )--evolution of the forehead; inferior skull caps; the pithecanthropus; the neanderthal man( )--morphological evolution of the cranium through different periods of life( )--normal forms of cranium( )--the cephalic index( )--volume of cranium( )--development of brain( )--extreme variations in volume of brain( )--nomenclature of cranial capacity( )--chemistry of the brain( )--human intelligence( )--influence of mental exercise( )--pretended cerebral inferiority of woman( )--limits of the face( )--human character of the face( )--normal visage( )--prognathism( )--evolution of the face( )--facial expression( )--the neck( ). chapter iii the thorax anatomical parts of the thorax( )--physiological and hygienic aspect of thorax ( )--spirometry( )--growth of thorax( )--dimensions of thorax in relation to stature( )--thoracic index( )--shape of thorax( )--anomalies of shape( )--pedagogical considerations: the evil of school benches( ). chapter iv the pelvis anatomical parts of the pelvis( )--growth of pelvis( )--shape of pelvis in relation to childbirth( ). chapter v the limbs anatomy of the limbs( )--growth of limbs( )--malformations: flat-foot, opposable big toe( ), curvature of leg, club-foot( )--the hand( )--chiromancy and physiognomy; the hand in figurative speech; high and low types of hand( )--dimensions of hand( )--proportions of fingers( )--the nails( )--anomalies of the hand( )--lines of the palm( )--papillary lines( ). chapter vi the skin and pigments pigmentation and cutaneous apparatus( )--pigmentation of the hair( )--of the skin( )--of the iris( )--form of the hair( )--anomalies of pigment: icthyosis, birth-marks, freckles, etc.( )--anomalies of hair( ). morphological analysis of certain organs (stigmata) synoptic chart of stigmata( )--anomalies of the eye( )--of the ear( )--of the nose( )--of the teeth( )--importance of the study of morphology( )--significance of the stigmata of degeneration( )--distribution of malformations( )--individual number of malformations( )--origin of malformations( )--humanity's dependence upon woman( )--moral and pedagogical problems within the school( ). chapter vii technical part the form( )--measurement of stature( )--the anthropometer( )--the sitting stature( )--total spread of arms( )--thoracic perimeter( )--weight( )--ponderal index( )--head and cranium( )--cranioscopy ( )--craniometry( )--cephalic index( )--measurements of thorax( )--of abdomen ( ). the personal error need of practical experience in anthropology( )--average personal error( )--susceptibility to suggestion( ). chapter viii statistical methodology mean averages( )--seriation( )--quétélet's binomial curve( ). chapter ix the biographic history of the pupil and his antecedents biographic histories( )--remote antecedents( )--near biopathological antecedents( )--sociological antecedents( )--school records( )--biographic charts( )--psychic tests( )--typical biographic history of an idiot boy( )--proper treatment of defective pupils( )--rational medico-pedagogical method( ). chapter x the application of biometry to anthropology for the purpose of determining the medial man theory of the medial man( )--importance of seriation( )--de helguero's curves( )--viola's medial man( )--human hybridism( )--the medial intellectual and moral man( )--sexual morality( )--sacredness of maternity( )--biological liberty and the new pedagogy( ). table of mean proportions of the body according to age( ). tables for calculating the cephalic index( ). tables for calculating the ponderal index( ). general index: a. index of names( ). b. index of subjects( ). introduction the modern tendencies of anthropology and the relation that they bear to pedagogy human hygiene =the old anthropology.=--_anthropology_ was defined by broca as "the natural history of man," and was intended to be the application of the "zoological method" to the study of the human species. as a matter of fact, as with all positive sciences, the essential characteristic of anthropology is its "method." we could not say, if we wished to speak quite accurately, that "anthropology is the study of man"; because the greater part of acquirable knowledge has for its subject the human race or the individual human being; philosophy studies his origin, his essential nature, his characteristics; linguistics, history and representative art investigate the collective phenomena of physiological and social orders, or determine the morphological characteristics of the idealised human body. accordingly, what characterises anthropology is not its subject: _man_; but rather the method by which it proposes to study him. the selfsame procedure which zoology, a branch of the natural sciences, applies to the study of animals, anthropology must apply to the study of man; and by doing so it enrolls itself as a science in the field of nature. zoology has a well-defined point of departure, that clearly distinguishes it from the other allied sciences: it studies the _living_ _animal_. consequently, it is an eminently synthetic science, because it cannot proceed apart from the _individual_, which represents in itself a sum of complex morphological and psychic characteristics, associated with the species; and which furthermore, during life, exhibits certain special distinguishing traits resulting from instincts, habits, migration and geographical distribution. zoology consequently includes a vast but well-defined field. fundamentally, it is a _descriptive_ science, and when the general character of the individual living creatures has been determined, it proceeds to draw comparisons between them, distinguishing genus and species, and thus working toward a _classification_. down to the time of linnaeus, these were its limits; but since the studies of lamarck and charles darwin, it has gone a step further, and has proceeded to investigate the _origin_ of species, an example that was destined to be followed by botany and biology as a whole, which is the study of _living things_. when anthropology attained, under broca, the dignity of a branch of the natural sciences, the evolutionary theory already held the field, and man had begun to be studied as an animal in his relation to species of the lower orders. but, just as in zoology, the fundamental part of anthropology was _descriptive_; and the description of the morphology of the body was divided, according to the method followed, into _anthropology_, or the method of _inspection_, and _anthropometry_, or the method of measurements. by these means, many problems important to the biological side of the subject were solved--such, for instance, as racial characteristics--and a classification of "the human races" was achieved through the evidences afforded by comparative studies. but the descriptive part of anthropology is not limited to the inspection and measurement of the body; on the contrary, just as in zoology, it is extended to include the _habits_ of the individual living being; that is to say, in the case of man, the language, the manners and customs (data that determine the _level of civilisation_), emigration and the consequent intermixture of races in the original formation of nations, thus constituting a special branch of science properly known by the name of _ethnology_. in this manner, while still adhering rigorously to zoological methods, anthropology found itself compelled to throw out numerous collateral branches into widely different fields, such as those of linguistics and archæology; because man is a _speaking animal_ and a _social animal_. one strictly anthropological problem is that of the origin of man, and its ultimate analogy with that of the other animal species. hence the comparative studies between man and the anthropoid apes; while palæontological discoveries of _pre-human_ forms, such as the pithecanthropus, were just so many arguments calculated to bring the human species within the scheme of a _biological philosophy_, based upon evolution, which held its own, for nearly half a century, on the battle-ground of natural sciences, under the glorious leadership of darwin. yet, notwithstanding that it offered studies and problems of direct interest to man, anthropology failed to achieve popularity. during that half century (the second half of the nineteenth), which beheld the scientific branches of biology multiply throughout the entire field of analytical research, from histology to biochemistry, and succeeded especially in making a practical application of them in medicine, anthropology failed to raise itself from the status of a pure and aristocratic, in other words, a superfluous science, a status that prevented it from ranking among the sciences of primary importance. as a matter of fact, while zoology is a required study in the universities, anthropology still remains an elective study, which in italy is relegated to three or four universities at most. the epoch of materialistic philosophy and analytical investigation could naturally hardly be expected to prove a field of victory for _man_, the intelligent animal, and nature's most splendid achievement in construction. the impressive magnificence of this thought, that bursts like pent-up waters from the results of positive research into _man_ considered as a _living_ individual, was forced to await the patient preparation of material on which to build, such as the gathering of partial and disorganised facts, which were accumulated through rigorous and minute analyses, conducted under the guidance of the experimental sciences. it was in this manner that anthropology slowly evolved a method and, by doing so, raised itself to the rank of a science, without ever once being utilised for practical purposes or recognised as _necessary_ as a supplemental or integral element of other sciences. one branch of learning which might have utilised the important scientific discoveries regarding the antiquity of man, his nature considered as an animal, his first efforts as a labourer and a member of society, is pedagogy. what could be more truly instructive and educative than to describe to children that first heroic robinson crusoe, primitive man, cast away on this vast island, the earth, lost in the midst of the universe? mankind, weak and naked, without iron, because it still remained mysteriously hidden in the bowels of the earth, without fire because they had not yet discovered the means of procuring it; stones were their only weapons of defense against the ferocious and gigantic beasts that roared on all sides of them in the forests. the rude, splintered stone, the first handiwork of intelligent man, his first instrument and his first weapon, could be prepared solely from one kind of mineral, of which the local deposit began to fail--a state of things which, let us suppose, occurred on some ocean island. thereupon the men constructed a small boat from the bark of trees, and sped over the waters, in search of the needed stone, passing from island to island, with scanty nourishment, without lights in the night-time, and without a guide. these marvelous accounts ought to be easily understood by children, and to awaken in them an admiration for their own kinship with humanity, and a profound sense of indebtedness to the mighty power of labour, which to-day is rendered so productive and so easy by our advanced civilisation, in which the environment, thanks to the works of man, has done so much to make our lives enjoyable. but pedagogy, no less than the other branches of learning, has disdained to accept any contribution from anthropology; it has failed to see man as the mighty wrestler, at close grips with environment, man the toiler and transmuter, man the hero of creation. of the history of human evolution, not a single ray sheds light upon the child and adolescent, the coming generation. the schools teach the history of wars--the history of disasters and crimes--which were painful necessities in the successive passages through civilisations created by the labour and slow perfectioning of humanity; but civilisation itself, which abides in the evolution of labour and of thought, remains hidden from our children in the darkness of silence. let us compare the appearance of man upon the earth to the discovery of the motive power of steam and to the subsequent appearance of railways as a factor in our social life. the railway has no limits of space, it overruns the world, unresting and unconscious, and by doing so promotes the brotherhood of men, of nations, of business interests. let us suppose that we should choose to remain silent about the work performed by our railways and their social significance in the world to-day, and should teach our children only about the accidents, after the fashion of the newspapers, and keep their sensitive minds lingering in the presence of shattered and motionless heaps of carriages, amid the cries of anguish and the bleeding limbs of the victims. the children would certainly ask themselves what possible connection there could be between such a disaster and the progress of civilisation. well, this is precisely what we do when, from all the prehistoric and historic ages of humanity, we teach the children nothing but a series of wars, oppressions, tyrannies and betrayals; and, equipped with such knowledge, we push them out, in all their ignorance, into the century of the redemption of labour and the triumph of universal peace, telling them that "history is the teacher of life." modern anthropology: _cesare lombroso and criminal anthropology._ _the anthropological principles of moral hygiene._--the credit rests with italy for having rescued anthropology from a sort of scientific olympus, and led it by new paths to the performance of an eminent and practical service. it was about the year that cesare lombroso applied the anthropological method first to the study of the insane, and then to that of criminals, having perceived a similarity or relationship between these two categories of abnormal individuals. the observation and measurement of clinical subjects, studied especially in regard to the cranium by anthropometric methods, led the young innovator to discover that the mental derangements of the insane were accompanied by morphological and physical abnormalities that bore witness to a profound and congenital alteration of the entire personality. accordingly, for the purposes of _diagnosis_, lombroso came to adopt a _somatic_ basis. and his anthropological studies of criminals led him to analogous results. the method employed was in all respects similar to the naturalistic method which anthropology had taken over from zoology; that is to say, the _description_ of the individual subject considered chiefly in his somatic or corporeal personality, but also in his physiological and mental aspect; the study of his responsiveness to his environment, and of his habits (_manners and customs_); the grouping of subjects under _types_ according to their dominant characteristic (_classification_); and finally, the study of their origin, which, in this case, meant a sociological investigation into the genesis of degenerate and abnormal types. thus, since the principles of the lombrosian doctrine spread with a precocious rapidity, it is a matter of common knowledge that criminals present anomalies of form, or rather morphological deviations associated with degeneration and known under the name of _stigmata_ (now called _malformations_), which, when they occur together in one and the same subject, confer upon him a wellnigh characteristic aspect, notably different from that of the normal individual; in other words, they stamp him as belonging to an inferior type, which, according to lombroso's earlier interpretation, is a reversion toward the lower orders of the human race (negroid and mongoloid types), as evidenced by anomalies of the vital organs, or internal animal-like characteristics (pithecoids); and that such stigmata were often accompanied by a predisposition to maladies tending to shorten life. side by side with his somatic chart, lombroso painstakingly prepared a physio-pathological chart of criminal subjects, based upon a study of their sensibility, their grasp of ideas, their social and ethical standards, their thieves' jargon and tattoo-marks, their handwriting and literary productions. and, by deducing certain common characteristics from these complex charts, he distinguished, in his classic work, _delinquent_ _man_, a variety of types, such as the _morally insane_, the _epileptic_ _delinquent_, the _delinquent from impulse or passion_ (irresistible impulsion), the _insane delinquent_, and the _occasional delinquent_. in this way, he succeeded in classifying a series of types--what we might call _sub-species_--diverging from the somatic and psycho-moral charts of normal men. but the common biopathological foundation of such types (with the exception of the last) was _degeneration_. we may well agree with morselli that, in many parts of his treatise, lombroso completed and amplified morel, whose classic work, _a study of the degeneration of the_ _human species_, was published in france at a time when lombroso had hardly started upon his anthropological researches. both of these great teachers based their doctrine upon a naturalistic concept of man, and then proceeded to consider him, through all his anomalies and perversions, in relation to that extraneous factor, his environment. morel, indeed, considers the _social_ causes of degeneration, that is to say, of progressive organic impoverishment, as more important than the individual phenomena; they act _upon posterity_ and tend to create a human _variety_ deviating from the normal type. such causes may be summed up as including whatever tends to the organic detriment of civilised man: such (in the first rank) as _alcoholism_, poisoning associated with professional industries (metallic poisons), or with lack of nutriment (pellagra), conditions endemic in certain localities (goitre), infective maladies (malaria, tuberculosis), denutrition (surménage). it may be said that whatever produces _prolonged_ _suffering_, or whatever we class under the term _vices_, or even the neglect of our duties, chief among which is that of _working_ (parasitism of the rich), or any of the causes which _exhaust_, or _paralyse_, or _perturb_ our normal functions, are causes of degeneration, of impoverishment of the species. such is the doctrine which underlies the etiological concept of abnormal personality in psychiatry as well as in criminology, or points the way to its bio-social sources. accordingly, just as general anthropology sought to investigate the origins of races or that of the human species in the very roots of life, so criminal anthropology searches the origins of defective personality in its social surroundings. the ethical problems which are raised by such a doctrine cannot fail to be of interest to us. the lombrosian theories, by raising these problems, have not only shaken the foundations of penal law, but have even brought about a moral renovation of conscience. we will leave to the jurists the great civic labor resulting from having brought the _individual_ as well as the _crime_ under consideration, in relation to the social phenomenon of delinquency--in other words, of having substituted an anthropological for a speculative attitude. whether the delinquent should be cured, or simply isolated, or even subjected to punishment; whether the prison should be transformed into an asylum for the criminal insane; whether the penal laws should be reformed on principles of a higher order of civil morality: these are problems which interest us only secondarily. what does interest us directly as educators is the necessity of _laying our course_ in accordance with the standard of social morality which such a doctrine reveals and imposes upon us: since it is our duty to prepare the conscience of the rising generation. and, furthermore, to consider whether the organisation of our schools and of their methods is in conformity with such social progress. if we cast a general glance at social ethics, from the primitive beginnings of human intercourse, we witness the _evolution of the_ _vendetta_. there was, first, the individual vendetta. it was a form of primordial _justice_, with which were associated the sentiments of dignity, honour and solidarity; the injured party avenged himself by slaying; and the family of the slain retaliated by a new vendetta against the family of the slayer; and thus from generation to generation the tragic heritage continued to be handed down. even now, in certain districts of civilised countries there exist survivals of these primitive forms of justice. in such cases, the slayer is held to be, not only _honourable_ but _virtuous_. analogously, in course of time, the individual vendetta, regulated by special formalities, developed into the _duel_ for a point of _honour_. at a more advanced period, in the course of the organisation of society, the task of vengeance was taken away from the individual, and the social administration of justice was established. thereafter, the act of an offender was _punished_ by the people collectively, and the victims of the act had no other recompense from society than that of a sense of satisfied hatred. but throughout all civil progress, from the most primitive forms of society down to our own times, there persisted, as a fundamental principle, the concept of vengeance, coupled with the two great moral principles, individually and collectively, of human society: _honour_ and _justice_. the naturalistic concept introduced by the lombrosian doctrine, namely, _living man_ entering as a concrete reality into the midst of abstract moral principles, shatters this association of ideas, and by so doing prepares the way for a new order of things--which is not a process of evolution, but the beginning of an epoch. vengeance disappears in the new conception of the defense of society and of an active campaign for the progress of humanity; and it ushers in an epoch of redemption and of solidarity, in which all limitations of human brotherhood are swept away. the theories of morel and lombroso have resulted in calling the attention of civilised man to all the types of the _physiologically_ _inferior_; the mentally deficient, epileptics, delinquents; shedding light upon their pathological personality, and transforming into interest and pity the contempt and neglect that were formerly the portion of such creatures. in this way science has accomplished in their behalf a work analogous to that of certain saints on behalf of lepers and sufferers from cancer in the middle ages. at that epoch, and even down to the beginning of modern times, the sick were abandoned to themselves and languished, covered with sores, in the midst of the horrors of infection; lepers were universally shunned, and their bodies decomposed without succor. it was only when these miserable beings began to awaken pity, in the place of loathing and repulsion, and to attract the charity of saints, instead of spreading panic among egoists and cowards, that the _care_ of the sick began upon a vast scale, with the foundation of hospitals, the progress of medicine, and later of hygiene. to-day those purulent plague-spots of the middle ages no longer exist; and infection is being combated with progressive success, in the triumph of physical health. yet, we are standing to-day on the selfsame level as the middle ages, in respect to moral plague-spots and infections; the phenomenon of _criminality_ spreads without check or succor, and up to yesterday it aroused in us nothing but repulsion and loathing. but now that science has laid its finger upon this moral fester, it demands the cooperation of all mankind to combat it. accordingly we find ourselves in the epoch of _hospitals_ for the morally diseased, the century of their treatment and cure; we have initiated a social movement toward the triumph of _morality_. we educators must not forget that we have inaugurated the _epoch_ of _spiritual health_; because i believe that it is we who are destined to be the true _physicians_ and _nurses_ of this new _cure_. from the middle ages until now, the science of medicine has slowly been evolving for us the principles required to guarantee our bodily health; but we know very well that while cleanliness and hygiene are _signs_ of civilisation, it is its moral standard that establishes its level. this moral solidarity is something which it is our duty to understand thoroughly, if we wish to undertake the noble task of educators in the twentieth century, which was prepared in advance by the intensive intellectual activity of the century of science. granting the social phenomenon of _crime_, we ought to ask ourselves: where does the fault lie? if we are to acquit the individual criminal of responsibility, it falls back necessarily upon the social community through which the _causes of degeneration_ and disease have filtered. accordingly, it is we, every one of us, who are at fault: or rather, we are beginning to awaken to a consciousness that it is a sin to _foster_ or to _tolerate_ such social conditions as make possible the suffering, the vices, the errors that lead to physiological pauperism, to pathology, to the degeneration of posterity. the idea is not a new one: all great truths were perceived in every age by the elect few; the fundamental principles of the doctrine of lombroso are to be already found in greek philosophy and in that of christ; aristotle, in his belief that there is some one particular organism corresponding to each separate manifestation of nature, foreshadows the concept of the correspondence between the morphological and psychic personality; and st. john chrisostom expounds the principle of moral solidarity in the collective responsibility of society, when he says: "you will render account, not only of your own salvation, but of that of all mankind; whoever prays ought to feel himself burdened with the interests of the entire human race." now, if it is not yet in our power to achieve a social reform based on the eradication of degenerative causes--since society can be perfected only gradually--it is nevertheless within our power to _prepare the conscience_ for acceptance of the new morality, and by _educational_ means to help along the civil progress which science has revealed to us. the honest man, the worthy man, the man of honour, is not he who avenges himself; but he who works for something outside himself, for the sake of society at large, in order to purify it of its evils and its sins, and advance it on its path of future progress. in this way, even though we fail to prepare the material environment, we shall have prepared _efficient men_. in addition to this momentous principle of social ethics, the lombrosian doctrines confront us squarely with the philosophic question of liberty of action, the controverted question of stuart mill, namely that of "free will." the libertarians admit the freedom of the will as one of the noblest of human prerogatives, on which the responsibility for our acts depends; the determinists recognise that the act of volition obeys certain predetermined _causes_. now the lombrosian theories find these _causes_, not after the fashion of the pythagoreans, in cosmic laws or astrology, but in the _constitution of the organism_, thus serving as a powerful illustration of that _physiological determinism_, under whose guidance modern positive philosophy draws its inspiration.[ ] in the case of criminality, the actions of the degenerate delinquent are dependent upon a multiplicity of internal factors, that are almost necessarily governed by special predispositions. but, also in accordance with the lombrosian doctrine, there are external factors which concur in determining acts of volition, factors relating to the environment, studied in accordance with rather vast conceptions: the actions of the individual are determined in advance by that social intercourse in which the great phenomena of any given civilisation have their necessary origin--phenomena such as crime, prostitution, the grade of culture accessible to the majority, the character of industrial products, the limits of general mortality. now, just as there are necessary fluctuations in the tables of mortality, so also there are fluctuations in the quantity and quality of those individual phenomena that are looked upon as crimes: and in the one case no less than in the other, those who are predisposed are the ones in whom occurs the necessary outbreak of phenomena having their origin in society. this constitutes in criminology, as well as in psychiatry, the resultant of all etiological concepts, pertaining to the interpretation of individual phenomena. it is precisely the same concept as that so exhaustively demonstrated by quétélet, with the aid of european statistics, in his _social physics_, and it has come to represent in modern science that fundamental concept which was to be found in all the great religions, of the dependence of the individual upon a governing force that is superior to him. this interpretation of individual phenomena cannot be ignored in the great problems of education; because the more literally we interpret the doctrine here set forth, just so much the less trust must be placed in the efficacy of education as a modifying influence upon personality, while it will acquire new importance as a co-worker in the interpretation of social epochs and individual activities, over which it should exercise a watchful guidance. but meanwhile it is of interest to us to note how the anthropological movement, introduced with great simplicity of method, without any scientific or philosophical preconceptions, has led the investigations of psychiatry into vast and unsuspected fields of social ethics, bringing into practice fundamental reforms, analogous to those relating to penal law. _achille de giovanni and physiological anthropology; anthropological_ _principles of physical hygiene._--another practical development of anthropology is that instituted by professor de giovanni, who has introduced into his medical clinic at padua the anthropological method in the clinical examination of patients. he applies the well-known naturalistic procedure, namely, the description of individuals, their classification into types, according to common fundamental characteristics, and the etiological study of their personality. but while lombroso took note of malformations solely in relation to other symptoms of degeneration, de giovanni has established a strictly physiological basis for his investigations. accordingly, he considers the human individual in his entirety, as a _functionating organism_, and he regards all inharmonious bodily proportions as signifying a necessary predisposition to certain determined forms of illness. with this end in view, he does not concern himself about single malformations, such for example as prognathism, the frontal angle, etc., but rather with the general relations of development between the bust which contains the organs essential to vegetative life, and the limbs; and from the external morphology of the bust, determined by measurements, he seeks to establish the reciprocal relations in development within the visceral cavities: "the proportions of the human body depend upon the development of its organs; and equally with its proportions, the whole physiological strength of the body depends upon its organs taken collectively." whoever has a defective chest capacity not only possesses a smaller allowance of organs fitted for respiration and circulation of the blood, but as a result of such anomaly of development he is also predisposed to attacks of special maladies, such for example as chronic catarrh of the bronchial tubes or pulmonary tuberculosis. whoever, on the contrary, is overdeveloped in abdominal dimensions, will be subject to disturbances of the digestive system and of the liver. in his classic work, _morphology of the human body_, de giovanni proceeds to elaborate a doctrine of temperaments, and of their several predispositions to disease, the tendency of which is to transfer the basis of medicine from a study of diseases to that of the individual patients, and to revive in modern days the ancient concepts of the greek school of medicine, which from the time of hippocrates and galen drew up admirable charts of the fundamental physical types. in place of the ancient classification of temperaments into _nervous_, _sanguine_, _bilious_ and _lymphatic_, we have to-day as substitutes, according to the school of de giovanni, morphological types that are very nearly equivalent, and in which the predominant disorders are respectively diseases of the heart, the nervous system, the liver and the lungs. in short, the result of this theory has been to establish an internal factor of predisposition to disease, analogous to that established by lombroso as a predisposition to the phenomena of crime. and even here the mesogenic factors, that is, the influence of environment, must be taken into consideration: but environment acts equally upon all individuals: nearly everyone encounters, in his surroundings, that nerve-strain which leads to cardiac disorders and to neurasthenia; almost everyone encounters the bacilli of tuberculosis; the causes of general mortality are dictated by the very conditions of civilisation. but among the vast majority who pass unharmed along the insidious paths of adaptation, only a few fall victims to the particular disease to which some special anomaly of their organism predisposes them. in this way we can understand how it happens that certain ones have reason to dread a cold that will develop into bronchitis, and others on the contrary must guard themselves from errors in diet which will lead to intestinal disorders. the part of de giovanni's theory which is of special interest is that which leads to a consideration of the _ontogenetic development_ _in relation_ to the anomalies of the physio-morphological personality: "at every epoch of life this principle is applicable: namely, that the reason for a special predisposition to disease is to be found in a special organic morphology. the individual is in a ceaseless state of transformation, and consequently at different periods of his life he may show a susceptibility to different diseases." a person who is predisposed to suffer continually from some complaint during his adult years, was usually unwell during the greater part of his childhood, although from some other disease; and with this as a basis, a scientific system of observation could speak prophetically regarding the physio-pathological destiny of a child. it is known, for example, that children subject to scrofula are predisposed to arrive at maturity with an undeveloped chest and a tendency to pulmonary tuberculosis. from our point of view as educators, the doctrine of temperaments, and of their respective predispositions to disease, offers a deep interest, the nature of which is made evident by the author of the theory himself: for he points out that the period of childhood is the one best fitted in which to combat the abnormal predispositions of the organism, wisely guiding its development, to the final end of achieving an ideal of health, which depends upon the harmony of form and consequently of functions, in other words, upon the full attainment of physical beauty. here also, as in the lombrosian doctrines, etiology fulfils the lofty task of throwing light upon the causal links between the biosociologic causes and the congenital anomalies of the physiological personality. the hereditary tendencies to disease, the errors of sexual hygiene, especially those regarding maternity, reveal to us the principal causes of that accumulation of imperfections that oppress and deform the average normal human being. it is because of such errors and such ignorance that hardly any of us attain that harmonic beauty that would render us immune to the treacheries of environment, and enable us to achieve, in the triumphant security of good health, our normal biological development. it is not too much to say, that it is etiology which, applied to the lombrosian doctrines, reveals the _faults of society_, the _sins of the world_, and, applied to the theories of de giovanni, reveals its _errors_; and that from the two together there results a sort of ethical guide leading toward the supreme ideal of the _purification of the world_ and the _perfectionment of the human species_. these are ideals which were in part cherished by the greeks, who made their system of education the basis of their physical development. such physiological doctrines are precisely what we also need to round out our plan for a _moral education_. _giuseppe sergi and pedagogic anthropology: anthropological_ _bases of human hygiene._--it is also an italian to whom we owe that practical extension of anthropology that leads us straight into the field of pedagogy. it was my former teacher, giuseppe sergi, who, as early as , defended with the ardor of a prophet the new scientific principle of studying the pupils in our schools by methods prescribed by anthropology. like the scientists who preceded him, he was thus led to substitute (in the field of pedagogy) the human individual taken from actual life, in place of general principles or abstract philosophical ideas. as a matter of fact, while the doctrines of lombroso and de giovanni are profoundly reformatory, they nevertheless offer us nothing more substantial than certain new ideals of morality and social improvement. but the really practical field in which these ideals might in a large measure be realised is the _school_. what progress would result for humanity if, on the basis of these new ethical principles, we contented ourselves with transforming our prisons into insane asylums? such scanty fruit might well be compared to the mercy of that mediæval lordling who, out of consideration for a gentleman, commuted his sentence from hanging to decapitation. and scanty fruit would also be reaped by the science of medicine if, in its new anthropological development, it should content itself merely with diagnosing the personality of the patient, in addition to the disease; that is to say, for example, if, instead of telling a patient that his attack of bronchitis would be cured within twenty days, it should go on to predict, on the basis of the morphology of his body, that he would infallibly fall ill every year, until such time as pulmonary tuberculosis should put a fatal ending to his days. on the contrary, behind the light of ideality that shimmers through and across these doctrines, we perceive our plain duty to trace out a path that will lead to a regeneration of humanity. if some practical line of action is to result, it will undoubtedly have to be exerted upon _humanity in the course of development_, in other words, at that period of life when the organism, being still in the course of formation, may be effectively directed and consequently corrected in its mode of growth. accordingly, the possible solution of the most momentous social problems, such as those of criminality, predisposition to disease, and degeneration, may be hoped for only within the limits of that space which society sets aside for guiding the new generations in their development. in the school, we have hitherto retained, almost as a principle of justice, a leveling uniformity among the pupils: an abstract equality which seeks to guide all these separate childish individualities toward a single type which cannot be called an idealised type, because it does not represent a standard of perfection, but is on the contrary a non-existent philosophical abstraction: the _child_. educators are prepared for their practical services to childhood, by studies based upon this abstract infantile personality; and they enter upon their active work in school with the preconception that they must discover in every pupil a more or less faithful incarnation of the said type; and thus, year after year, they delude themselves with the idea that they have understood and educated _the child_. now, this supposed uniformity cannot exist in the children of a human race so varied that it can produce, at the selfsame time, a musolino[a] and a luccheni,[ ] a guglielmo marconi and a giosue carducci. all the different social types of men who labor with their hands and with their brains, the transformers of their environment, the producers of wealth, the directors of governments, equally with the undistinguished crowd of parasites, the enemies of society, all lived together in childhood, sitting side by side, upon the same school benches. it was in that the first italian pedagogical congress was held in turin, and was attended by about three thousand educators. under the spur of a new passion, that made me foresee the future mission and transformation of a chosen social class, setting forth upon a glorious task of redemption--the class of educators--i attended the congress. i was at that time an interloper, because the subsequent felicitous union between medicine and pedagogy still remained a thing undreamed of, in the thoughts of that period. we had reached the third day of our sessions, and were all awaiting with interest an address by professor ildebrando bencivenni, who was announced to speak upon the theme of "the school that educates." the discussion of this subject was expected to constitute the substantial work of the congress, which seemed to have been called together chiefly in order to solve the problem of the greatest pedagogic importance: _how to give a moral education_. it was that very morning, just as the session was opening, that the frightful news burst upon us like a thunderbolt, that the empress, elizabeth of austria, had been assassinated, and that once again an italian had struck the blow! the third regicide in europe within a brief time, that was due to an italian hand! the entire public press was unanimously stirred to indignation against the educators of the people; and as a demonstration of hostility, they all absented themselves that day from participating in the congress. there was something approaching a tumult in the ranks of teachers; inasmuch as they felt themselves innocent, they protested against the calumny of the newspapers in thus unjustly holding them responsible. amid the intense silence of the assembly, bencivenni delivered a splendid discourse regarding the reform of educative methods in the school. next in order, i took the platform and, speaking as a physician, i said: it will be all in vain for you to reform the methods of moral education in our schools, if you do not bear in mind that certain individuals exist, who are the very ones capable of committing such unspeakable deeds, and who pass through school without ever once being influenced in any manner by education. there exist various categories of abnormal children, who will fruitlessly go through the same grade over and over again, disturbing the routine and discipline of the class: and in spite of punishments and reprimands, they will end by being expelled without having learned anything at all, without having been modified in any manner. what becomes of these individuals who, even in childhood, reveal themselves as the future rebels and enemies of society? yet we leave such a dangerous class in the most complete abandonment. now, it is useless to reform the school and its methods, if the reformed school and the reformed methods are still going to fail to reach the very children who, for the protection of society, are most in need of being reached! any method whatever suffices to fit a sane and normal child for a useful and moral life. the reform that is demanded in school and in pedagogy is one that will lead to the protection of _all_ children during their years of development, including those who have shown themselves refractory to the environment of social life. thus i laid the first stone toward the education of mentally deficient children and the foundation of special schools for them. the work which followed forms, i think, the first historic page of a great regeneration in the whole class of teachers and of a profound reform in the school; a question so momentous that it spread rapidly throughout all italy and was followed by the establishment of institutes and classes designed expressly for the deficient; and, most important of all, by the universal conviction which it carried, it also constituted the first page of pedagogy reformed upon an anthropological basis. this is precisely the new development of pedagogy that goes under the name of _scientific_: in order to educate, it is essential to know those who are to be educated. "taking measurements of the head, the stature, etc." (in other words, applying the anthropological method), "is, to be sure, not in itself the practice of pedagogy," says sergi, in speaking of what the biological sciences have contributed to this branch of learning during the nineteenth century, "but it does mean that we are following the path that leads to pedagogy, because we cannot educate anyone until we know him thoroughly." here again, in the field of pedagogy, the naturalistic method must lead us to the study of the separate subjects, to a description of them as individuals, and their classification on a basis of characteristics in common; and since the child must be studied not by himself alone, but also in relation to the factors of his origin and his individual evolution--since every one of us represents the effect of multifold causes--it follows that the etiological side of the pedagogical branch of modern anthropology, like all its other branches, necessarily invades the field of biology and at the same time of sociology. among the types which it will be of pedagogic interest to trace in school-children, we must undoubtedly find those that correspond to the childhood of those abnormal individuals already studied in lombroso's _criminal anthropology_, and in de giovanni's _clinical morphology_. nevertheless, it is a new study, because the characteristics of the child are not those of the adult reduced to a diminutive scale, but they constitute _childhood_ characteristics. man changes as he grows; the body itself not only undergoes an increase in volume, but a profound evolution in the harmony of its parts and the composition of its tissues; in the same way, the psychic personality of the man does not grow, but evolves; like the predisposition to disease which varies at different ages in each individual considered pathologically. for all those anomalous types which to-day are included under the popular term of _deficients_, for the pathological weaklings who reveal symptoms of scrofula or rickets, there is no doubt that special schools and methods of education are essential. we teachers would like, through educative means, to counteract the ultimate consequences of degeneration and predisposition to disease: if criminal anthropology has been able to _revolutionise the_ _penalty_ in modern civilisation, it is our duty to undertake, in the school of the future, to _revolutionise the individual_. and by achieving this ideal, pedagogic anthropology will to a large extent have taken the place of criminal anthropology, just as schools for the abnormal and feeble, multiplied and perfected under the protection of an advanced civilisation, will in a large measure have replaced the prisons and the hospitals. we owe to the intuitive genius of giuseppe sergi the conception of a form of pedagogic anthropology far more exact in its methods of investigation than anything which had hitherto been foreshadowed. this master takes the ground that a study of abnormal and weakly children is a task of absolutely secondary importance. what is imperative for us to know, he claims, is _normal humanity_, if we are to guide it intelligently toward that biological and moral perfection, on which the progress of humanity must depend. if general pedagogy is destined to be transformed under a naturalistic impulse, this will be effected only when anthropology turns its investigations to the normal human being. educators are still very far from having a _real knowledge_ of that collective body of school-children, on whom a uniformity of method, of encouragement and punishment is blindly inflicted; if, instead of this, the child could be brought before the teacher's eyes as a _living individuality_, he would be forced to adopt very different standards of judgment, and would be shaken to the very depths of his conscience by the revelation of a responsibility hitherto unsuspected. let us take one or two examples; let us consider, among the pupils, one child who is very poor. studied by the anthropological method, he is revealed, in every personal physiological detail, as an inferior type. the child of poverty, as niceforo has well shown, is an inferior in stature, in cranium, in weight, in muscular and intellectual strength; and the malformations, resulting from defects of growth, condemn him to an æsthetic inferiority; in other words, environment, mode of living, and nutrition may result in modifying even the relative _beauty_ of the individual. the normal man may bear within him a germ of physical beauty inherited from parents who begot him normally, and yet this germ may not be able to develop, because impeded by environment. accordingly, physical beauty constitutes in itself a class privilege. this child, weak in mind and in muscular force, when compared with the child of wealth, grown up in a favorable environment, shows less attractive manners, because he has been reared in an atmosphere of social inferiority, and in school is classed as a pariah. less good looking and less refined, he fails to enlist the sympathy which the teacher so readily concedes to the courteous manners of more fortunate children; less intelligent himself, and unable to look for help from parents who, more than likely, are illiterate, he fails to obtain the encouragement of praise and high credit marks that are lavished upon stronger children, who have no need of being encouraged. thus it happens that the down-trodden of society are also the down-trodden in the school. and we call this justice; and we say that demerit is punished and merit is rewarded; but in this way we make ourselves the sycophants of nature and of social error, and not the administrators of justice in education! on the other hand, let us examine another child, living in an agreeable environment, in the higher social circles; he possesses all the physical attraction and grace that render childhood charming. he is intelligent, smiling, gentle-mannered; at the cost of small effort he gives his teacher ample satisfaction by his progress, and even if the teacher's method of instruction happens to be somewhat faulty, the child's family hasten privately to make up for the deficiency. this child is destined to reap a harvest of praise and rewards; the teacher, egotistically complacent over the abundant fruit gathered with so little effort, and the moral and æsthetic satisfaction derived from the fortunate pupil, gives him unmeasured affection and smooths his whole course through school. but if we study the rich, intelligent, prize-winning child carefully, we find that he, too, is not perfect in his anthropological development; he is too narrow-chested. this is the penalty of the rich and the studious; every privilege brings its own peril; every benefit contains a snare; every one of us to-day, without the light of science, runs the risk of diminishing our physiological equilibrium, by living in an environment that contains so many defects. the child of luxury, living continually indoors, diligently studying in his well-warmed home, under his mother's vigilant eye, is impeding the development of his own chest; and when he has completed his growth and his education, will find himself with insufficient lungs; his physical personality will have been permanently thrown out of equilibrium by a defective environment. this highly cultured man may some day find himself urged on to big endeavour; his intelligence will create vast ideals, but he will not have at his disposal the physical force that is so strictly associated with the power to draw from the surrounding air a sufficient quantity of oxygen by means of respiration. the spirit is ready, but the flesh is weary; and all his ambitious hopes may be shattered in the very flower of life by pulmonary tuberculosis, to which he has himself created an artificial predisposition. it is our duty to understand the individual, in order to avoid these fatal errors; and to arise to higher standards of justice, founded upon the real exigencies of life--guided by that spirit of love which is essential to the teacher, in order to render him truly an educator of humanity. love is the essential spirit of fecundity whose one purpose is to beget life. and in the teacher, love of humanity must find expression through his work, because the very purpose of love is to create something. accordingly, this spirit of fecundity ought to produce the teacher's _mission_, which to-day is the mission of reforming the school and accepting the proud duty of universal motherhood, destined to protect all mankind, the normal and abnormal alike. this is a reform, not only of the school, but of society as a whole, because through the redeeming and protective labours of pedagogy, the lowest human manifestations of degeneration and disease will disappear; and, more important still, it will make it henceforth impossible for normal human beings, conceived from germs that promise strength and beauty, little by little to lose that beauty and strength along the rough paths of life, through which no one has hitherto had the knowledge to guide them. "in the social life of to-day an urgent need has arisen," says our common master, giuseppi sergi, "a renovation of our methods of education and instruction; and whoever enrolls himself under this standard, is fighting for the regeneration of man." _enrico morselli and scientific philosophy._--among the names of italian scientists that must be called to mind, in discussing the modern developments of anthropology, a special lustre attaches to that of enrico morselli, who has earned the right to call himself the critic, or rather, the philosopher of anthropology. notwithstanding that he has made his name famous in the vast field of psychiatry, this distinguished genoese practitioner has found time to assimilate the most diverse branches of science and the most widely separated avenues of thought, qualifying himself as a _critic_, and systematising experimental science on the lines of scientific philosophy. his great work, _general anthropology_, is developed on synthetic lines, embracing in a single scientific system all the acquired knowledge of the past two centuries, and may rightfully be called the first treatise on philosophic anthropology. while the experimental sciences, by collecting and recording separate phenomena, were gradually preparing, throughout the nineteenth century, a great mass of analytical material, chosen blindly and without form, they apparently engendered a new trend of thought positively hostile to philosophy: the _odium antiphilosophicum_, as morselli calls it. and conversely, the speculative positivism of ardigo remained throughout its development a stranger to the immediate sources of experimental research, and adhered strictly to the field of pure philosophy. it remained for morselli to perceive that the scientific material prepared by experimental science was in reality philosophical material, for which it was only necessary to prepare instruments and means in order to systematise it and lead it into the proper channels for the construction of a scientific philosophy. throughout the whole period of his intellectual activity, morselli sought to unite experimental science and philosophy, by taking his content from the former and his form from the latter. to gather and catalogue bare facts could not be the scope of science; such labour could result only in sterilising the mind. "the human mind," says morselli, "does not stop at the objective study of a phenomenon and its laws; it wants also to fathom their nature; the how does not content it, but it must also have the _wherefore_." it must mount from facts to synthesis, constantly achieving a new and fuller understanding. but what determines the content of philosophy is not speculative thought, but facts that have been collected _objectively_. such is the view of enrico morselli, expressed in the introduction to his _review of scientific_ _philosophy_: "we think the moment has come for professional philosophers to allow themselves to be convinced that the progress of physical and biological sciences has profoundly changed the tendencies of philosophy; so that it is no longer an assemblage of speculative systems, but rather the synthesis of partial scientific doctrines, the expression of the highest general truths, derived _solely_ and _immediately_ from the study of facts. on the other hand, we hope also that in every student of the separate sciences, whether pure or applied, the intimate conviction will take root that no science which applies the method of observation and experiment to the particular class of phenomena which form its subject, can call itself fully developed so long as it is limited to the collection and classification of facts. scientific dilettantism of this sort must end by sterilising the human mind, whose natural tendency is to advance from observed phenomena by successive stages to the investigation of their partial laws, and from these to the research of more and more general truths. but philosophy, thus understood, can never confine itself within the dogmatism of a system, but rather will leave the individual mind free to make constant new concessions, in the pursuit of the truth. "the human mind is condemned to search forever, and perhaps never to find, the ultimate solution to the eternal problem which it offers to itself; accordingly, let it keep itself at _liberty_ to accept to-day as probable, a solution which further researches or newly discovered facts will compel it to reject to-morrow in favor of another. we must admit that in philosophic concepts there is a constant evolution, or rather natural selection, thanks to which the strongest concepts, those best constituted, those that are fitted to make use of scientific discoveries with the broadest liberality, are predisposed to prove victorious or at least to hold their own for a long time in the struggle."[ ] it is this _liberty_ that makes it possible for us to pursue experimental investigations, without fear that our brains may become sterile. and by liberty we mean the readiness to accept new concepts whenever experience proves to us that they are better and closer to the truth which we are seeking. even though the absolute truth were never reached, the experimental method is the path most likely to lead us toward it step by step. accordingly, what we should demand of investigators is not a creed, a philosophic system, but "_the objective method in their_ _researches and in the sources of their inductions_." for this is the way to train the workers and philosophers of experimental science. and the same lines must serve us for building up a philosophy capable of shaping a regenerated method of pedagogy. the method the determining factor in anthropology is the same that determines all experimental science: the _method_. a well-defined method in natural science applied to the study of living man offers us the scientific content, which we are in the course of seeking. the content bursts upon us as a surprise, as the result of applying the method, by means of which we make advances in the investigation of truth. whenever a science prescribes for itself, not a content but a method of experimenting, it is for that reason called an _experimental_ science. it is not easy for those who come fresh from the pursuit of philosophic studies to adapt themselves to this order of ideas. the philosopher, the historian, the man of letters prepare themselves by assimilating the _content_ of one particular branch of learning; and thereby they define the boundaries of their individual knowledge and close the circle of their individual thought, however vast that circle may be. indeed, the elaboration of human thought, the series of historic deeds, the accumulated mass of literature, may offer immense fields; but after the student has little by little assimilated them, he cannot do otherwise than contain them within him precisely as they are. their extent is limited by the centuries that cover the history of civilised man, and it is invariable, since it exists as a work accomplished by man. experimental science is of an entirely different sort. we must look upon it as a _means_ of investigation into the field of the infinite and the unknown. if we wish to compare it to some branch of learning that is universally familiar, we may say that an experimental science is similar to _learning to read_. when as children we learn to read, we may, to be sure, estimate the effort that it costs us to master a mechanical device; but such a mechanical device is a means, it is a magic key that will unlock the secrets of wisdom, multiply our power to share the thoughts of our contemporaries, and render us dexterous in despatching the practical affairs of life. thus considered, _reading_ is a branch of learning that has no prescribed limits. it is our duty to learn to read the _truth_, in the book of _nature_; i. by collecting separate facts, according to the objective method; ii. by proceeding methodically from analysis to synthesis. the subject of our research is the individual human being. . _the objective collecting of single facts._--in the gathering of data, our science makes use of two means of investigation, as we have already seen: observation or _anthroposcopy_; and measurement or _anthropometry_. in order to take measurements, we must know the special _anthropometric instruments_ and how to use them; and in making observations, we must treat ourselves as instruments, that is, we must divest ourselves of our own personality, of every preconception, in order to become capable of recording the real facts _objectively_. for since our purpose is to gather our facts from nature and await her revelations, if we allowed ourselves to have scientific preconceptions, we might distort the truth. here is the point which distinguishes experimental science from a speculative science; in the former, we must banish thought, in the latter we must build by means of thought. accordingly _at the moment_ _when we are collecting our data_, we must possess no other capacity than that of knowing how to collect them with extreme exactness and objectivity. accordingly we need a _method_ and a mental preparation, that is, a _training_ which will accustom us to divest ourselves of our own personalities, in order to become simple _instruments of investigation_. for instance, if it were a question of measuring the heads of illiterate children and of other children of the same age, who are attending school, in order to learn whether the heads of educated children show greater development, we need not only to know how to use the _millimetric scale_ and the cranial calipers which are the instruments adapted to this purpose; we need not only to know the _anatomical points_ at which the instruments must be applied in the manner established by the accepted method; but we need in addition to be _unaware_, while taking the measurements, whether the child before us at a given moment is educated or illiterate because the preconception might work upon us by suggestion and thus alter the result. or again, to take what in a certain sense is an opposite case, and nevertheless analogous, we may undertake a research into some absolutely unknown question, as for instance, what are the psychic characteristics of children whose development has kept fairly close to the normal average, and of those whose anthropological measurements diverge notably from the average: in such a case we ought to measure all the children, make the required psychological tests separately, and then compare the results of the two investigations. a woman student in my course, last year, undertook precisely this sort of investigation, namely, to find out what was the standing in school of children who represent the normal average anthropological type, that is to say, those whose physical development had been all that was to be desired: and she found that normal children are _vivacious_ (happy), _very intelligent_, but _negligent_; and consequently their number never includes the _heads of the classes_, the _winners of prizes_. in addition to gathering _anthropological data_, which requires a special _technique_ of research, we need to know how to proceed to interpret them. we are no longer at the outset of our observations. no sooner was the method established, than there were a multitude of students in all parts of the world capable of objective research, that is to say, of anthropological investigations. the sum total of all these researches forms a _scientific patrimony_, which needs to be known to us, in order that our own conclusions may serve to complete those of other investigators, who have preceded us, and thus form a contribution to science. in other words, there have already been certain _principles_ established and certain _laws_ discovered, on an experimental basis; and all this forms a _true_ and fitting content of our science. it will serve to _guide_ us in our researches, and to furnish us with a _standard_ _of comparison_ for our own conclusions. thus, for example, when we have measured the stature of a boy of ten, we have undoubtedly gathered an individual anthropological fact; but in order to interpret it, we must know what is the average stature of boys of ten; and the average will be found established by previous investigators, who have obtained it from actuality, by applying the well-known method of measuring the stature, to a great number of individuals of a specified race, sex, and age, and by obtaining an average on the basis of such research. accordingly, we ought to _profit from_ the researches of others, whenever they have been received, as noteworthy, into the literature of science. nevertheless, the patrimony which science places at our disposition must never be considered as anything more than a _guide_, an expression of universal collaboration, in accordance with a uniform method. we must never _jurare in_ _verba magistri_, never accept any master as infallible: we are always at liberty to _repeat_ any research already made, in order to verify it; and this form of investigation is part of the established method of experimental science. one fundamental principle must be clearly understood; that we can never become anthropologists merely by reading all the existing literature of anthropology, including the voluminous works on kindred studies and the innumerable periodicals; we shall become anthropologists only at the moment when, having mastered the method, we become investigators of _living human individuals_. we must, in short, be _producers_, or nothing at all; assimilation is useless. for example, let us suppose that a certain teacher has studied anthropology in books: if, after that, he is incapable of making practical _observations_ upon his own pupils, to what end does his theoretical knowledge serve him? it is evident that theoretic study can have no other purpose than to guide us in the interpretation of data gathered directly from nature. our only book should be the living individual; all the rest taken together form only the necessary means for reading it. . _the passage from analysis to synthesis._--assuming that we have learned how to gather anthropological data with a rigorously exact technique, and that we possess a theoretic knowledge and tables of comparative data: all this together does not suffice to qualify us as interpreters of nature. the marvellous reading of this amazing book demands on our part still other forms of preparation. in gathering the separate data, it may be said that we have learned how to _spell_, but not yet how to read and interpret the sense. the reading must be accomplished with broad, sweeping glances, and must enable us to penetrate in thought into the very synthesis of life. and it is the simple truth that _life_ manifests itself through the living individual, and in no other way. but through these means it reveals certain general properties, certain laws that will guide us in grouping the living individuals according to their common properties; it is necessary to know them, in order to interpret individual differences dependent upon race, age, and sex, and upon variations due to the effort of adaptation to environment, or to pathological or degenerative causes. that is to say, certain general principles exist, which serve to make us _interpreters_ _of the meaning_, when we read in the book of life. this is the _loftiest_ part of our work, carrying us above and beyond the individual, and bringing us in contact with the very fountain-heads of life, almost as though it were granted us to materialise the unknowable. in this way we may rise from the arid and fatiguing gathering of analytical data, toward conceptions of noble grandeur, toward a _positive philosophy of life_; and unveil certain secrets of existence, that will teach us the moral norms of life. because, unquestionably, we are _immoral_, when we disobey the laws of life; for the triumphant rule of life throughout the universe is what constitutes our conception of beauty and goodness and truth--in short, of divinity. the technical method of proceeding toward synthesis, we may find well defined in biology: the data gathered by measurement can be grouped according to the statistical method, be represented graphically and calculated by the application of mathematics to biology: to-day, indeed, _biometry_ and _biostatistics_ tend to assume so vast a development as to give promise of forming independent sciences. the _method_ in biology, considered as a whole, may be compared to the microscope and telescope, which are instruments, and yet enable us to rise above and beyond our own natural powers and come into contact with the two extremes of infinity; the infinitely little and the infinitely large. _objections and defences._--one of the objections made to pedagogical anthropology is that it has not yet a completely defined content, on which to base an organic system of instruction and reliable general rules. it is the _method_ alone that enables us to be eloquent in defence of pedagogic anthropology, against such an accusation. for the accusation itself is the embodiment of a conception of a method differing widely from our own: it is the accusation made by speculative science, which, resting on the basis of a content, refuses to acknowledge a science that is still lacking and incomplete in its content, because it is unable to conceive that a science may be essentially summed up in its method, which makes it a means of revelation. how could we conceive of the _content_ of pedagogic anthropology otherwise than as something to be derived by the experimental method from the observation of _school-children_? and where could we conceive of a possible laboratory for such a science, if not in the school itself? the _content_ will be determined little by little, by the application of the anthropological study to school-children in the school, and never in any other manner. now, if it were necessary to await the completion of a content before proceeding to any practical application, where could we hope to get this content from--especially since we look for no help either from speculative philosophy or divine revelation? when a _method_ is applied to any positive science, it results in giving that science a new _direction_, that is to say, a new avenue of progress: and it is precisely in the course of advance along that avenue that the content of the science is formed: but if we never made the advance, the science would never take its start. thus, for example, when the microscope revealed to medicine the existence of micro-organisms, and bacteriology arose as the positive study of epidemiology, it altered the whole procedure in the cure and prophylaxis of infective maladies. prior to this epoch people believed that an epidemic was a scourge sent by divine wrath upon sinners; or else they imagined it was a miasma transported by the wind, which groves and eucalyptus trees might check; or they pictured the ground ejecting miasmatic poisons through its pores:--and humanity sought in vain to protect itself with bare-foot processions and religious ceremonies, attended by jostling throngs and cruel flagellation; or else they betook themselves to the shade of eucalyptus trees, in the midst of malarial lowlands. entire cities were destroyed by pestilence, and malarial districts remained uncultured deserts, because entire populations, in the brave effort to perform their work, were destroyed by successive impoverishment of the blood. it is bacteriology that has put to flight this darkness of ignorance that was the herald of death, and has created the modern conditions of environment, which, by a multitude of means, defend the individual and the nation from infective diseases; so that to-day civilised society may be said to be advancing toward a triumph over death. but the microbes have not all of them been discovered; bacteriology and general pathology are still very far from having completed their _content_. if we had been obliged to wait for such completion, we should still be living quite literally in the midst of mediæval epidemics; or, to state the case better, where in the world would the science of medicine ever have attained its new content? for it has been building it up, little by little, _by directing_ _medicine upon a new path_. it was the introduction of this new method of investigating the patient and his environment that experimentally reaped the fruit of new etiological discoveries, and new means of defence: the microscope became perfected because it came into universal use in practice; bacterial cultures owe their perfectionment to the fact that they became the common means of investigation for the purpose of diagnosis; just as tests in clinical chemistry have become perfected through practical use. without which, who would ever have perfected the microscope, or the science of bacteriology? in a word, whence are we to get the content of any positive science, if not from practical application? a direction and an applied method represent a triumph of progress; and in progress, a _content_ cannot have defined limits. we do not know its goal; we know only that at the moment when it finds its goal, it will cease to be _progress_. it is many years since medicine abandoned the speculative course, and we see it to-day hourly enriching itself with new truths; its triumphal march is never checked, and it moves onward toward the invasion of future centuries. in the wake of its progress, that frightful phenomenon which we call _mortality_ tends to fall steadily to a lower level; giving rise to the hope that through future progress it will cease to be the mysterious, menacing fate, ever watchful and ready to sever the invisible threads of human life. these threads are to-day revealing themselves as the resistant fibres of a fabric; because, humanity by engaging collectively in the audacious search after truth, and by thus protecting the interests of each individual through the common interests, has succeeded in offering a powerful resistance to the mysterious sheers. accordingly, we may say that the substitution to-day of an anthropological development of pedagogy, in the place of a purely philosophical and speculative trend, does not offer it merely an _additional content_, an auxiliary to all the other forms of teaching on which it now comfortably reposes; but it opens up new avenues, fruitful in truth and in life; and as it advances along these avenues, regenerated from its very foundations upward, it may be that pedagogy is destined to solve the great problem of human redemption. the method to be followed in these lectures lastly, just one more word regarding the didactic method that i intend to follow, in delivering this course of lectures. from the purpose already stated, it follows that this course in anthropology must be eminently practical. of the three weekly lectures, only one will be theoretical; that is to say, only one in which i shall expound the _content_ of our science; a second lecture will treat of the _technique of the method_; that is to say, i shall devote it to describing the practical way of gathering anthropological data, and how we must study them and re-group them in order to extract their laws; and finally, the third lecture will be _practical_ _and clinical_; i shall devote it to the collection of anthropological data from human subjects, and little by little i shall try to work toward the individual study of pupils, until we reach the compilation of biographic charts. at the lectures of the third type, we shall have present subjects who will be, for the most part, normal, but some of them will be abnormal, and all will be drawn from the elementary schools of rome. finally, in further illustration of our course, we shall make excursions, visiting certain schools that offer some particular interest from our scientific point of view; to the end that we may supply what is lacking and what is needed to complete a university course in scientific pedagogy, namely a "pedagogical clinic," where pupils of the widest variety of types might be educated, and where it might be possible to lay practical foundations of a far-reaching reform in our schools. accordingly, i shall repeat myself three times, in these lectures; first, by setting forth the scientific content, secondly, by expounding the methods of investigation, and thirdly, by applying in practice what i have already taught in theory. the didactic method of repeating the same instruction under different forms, is also a feature of scientific pedagogy, because it represents the method by which positive science must be taught and acquired; and furthermore, it is the method that deserves to be applied wherever instruction of any sort is to be given. hitherto, we have not learned how to study; we know only, or at least the majority of us do, how to absorb the contents of books. the only true student is the scientist, who knows how to _advance slowly_; we educators on the contrary plunge in a dizzy, headlong rush, through all acquirable knowledge. to study is to look steadily, to stand still, to assimilate and to wait. we should study for the sake of creating, since the whole object of taking is to be able to give again; but in this giving and taking we ought not to be mere instruments, like high-pressure suction pumps; in work of this sort we ought to be _creators_, and when we give back, to add that part which has been _born and developed_ within us from what we acquired. it is wise to give our acquired knowledge time not only to be assimilated but also to develop freely in that fertile psychic ground that constitutes our innermost personality. in other words: assimilate by every possible means, and then wait. in order to start from a point of established knowledge, let us consider what is meant by _meditation_: to meditate means to isolate one's thoughts within the limits of some definite subject, and wait to see what that subject of its own accord may reveal to us, in the course of assimilation. the jesuits succeeded in winning souls merely by encouraging the people to meditate; meditation opened up an unsuspected inner world, which fascinated the type of person accustomed to flit lightly in thought across a multitude of diverse matters; and under the spell of such fascination, their consciences could attribute to nothing less than some occult power, what was really the application of a great pedagogic principle. there is a great difference between reading and meditating: we may read a voluminous novel in a single night; we may meditate upon a verse of scripture for an entire hour. anyone who reads a novel in a night undoubtedly squanders his physical powers, like a wind that passes over arid ground; but one who meditates assimilates in a special manner that surprises the meditator himself, because he feels something unforeseen coming to life within him, just as though a seed had been planted in fertile soil and, while remaining motionless, had begun to germinate. accordingly, the act of holding acquired knowledge within ourselves for a period of time results in self-development; superficial learning, on the contrary, means the exhaustion of our personal resources. we become steadily more exhausted and more inefficient, through too much study; and instead, we ought to become all the time more flourishing and more robust, if we studied in the proper way: and this is because we squander our psychic powers, instead of acquiring new energy. the consequence of this mistaken method is that we rapidly forget all that we have learned. everything is acquired at the cost of effort; what we need is to labor patiently, in order to acquire in the real sense. to-day it is the fashion to study in order to enter upon that particular business or profession that is destined to be our life's work; what we ought to do instead, is to devote our energies to the conquest of thought and the elevation of the spirit. the didactic method that i am trying to illustrate is not a new one; it dates back to the first precursors of scientific pedagogy. half a century ago, a marvellous work on pedagogy, based on similar principles, was issued from the press; it was the method elaborated by séguin, based on thirty years of practical experience in the education of idiotic children. such a system cannot be foreign to the interests of schools intended for average, normal children, because it is not a specialised method, like that for deaf-mutes or for the blind. being designed for the mentally deficient, this method applies to any class of undeveloped beings who are striving to grow bigger; we may even apply it to ourselves, and thereby increase our own mental stature. in short, pedagogically considered, it is a rational method. perhaps it is already familiar to a good many of you; but an example or two will serve to illustrate it. let us suppose that we have to impart a lesson in history to a deficient pupil: first of all, a picture is shown him, representing an historic fact; then the same fact will be shown him in as many different ways as possible--through the cinematograph, for example. finally it will be acted on the stage; and in this case, it is the children themselves who prepare the setting and endeavor, to the best of their ability, to impersonate the historic figures. now, it is precisely at the moment when they are reproducing the scene that these children _feel it_, and it is only then that they _learn_. but this is not peculiar to deficient children: the same path is the common path for all; it is necessary for all of us to assimilate mentally and to feel, before we can say: i have learned. if there is a latent tendency in the mind of a normal child to love historic happenings, then he will love them, and thus reveal to his teacher one of his intimate and secret tendencies; in other words, we shall have developed a taste, of which the hidden germs already existed. perhaps it was in some such way that sabatier succeeded in realising the environment and the life of st. francis of assisi. let us suppose, again, that we have to teach a child what is meant, in geography, by a mountain, a lake, or an island. according to séguin's method, we should take the child out into the garden, and make him construct a miniature mountain with earth, a lake with water, etc., than make him trace their geographical outline with chalk, then make him paint them in oils or water-colours, so that in the end he will have, as the result of his handiwork, a little monument, so to speak, of the acquired lesson. it is only after a child has worked that he begins to learn and to be interested. does not everyone know that, as between the one who receives, and the one who confers a favor, it is the latter who cares the more, because he has done something? the next step is to take the pupil to the top of some hill, so that he may see with his own eyes the things that we have taught him in the garden and through the medium of work; and in the silent contemplation of nature, it may happen that a normal child will hear the call of her mysterious voice, and reveal a dormant tendency to become some day, perhaps, a geographer, or an explorer, like the duke of the abruzzi; or perhaps he will feel that lure of nature which, some day or other, when he reaches maturity, will lead him to investigate the secrets of the earth and of meteorological phenomena, even to the point of such heroic sacrifice as was exemplified by professor matteucci, during the eruption of vesuvius. repeating the same things over and over, keeping the mind fixed upon the selfsame lesson, teaching how to reproduce objects by the work of the hands, bringing the pupil into direct contact with the object that he is desired to study, such is the true way to enable him to learn. the man who has been educated according to this method has not fruitlessly expended his energy in fatiguing study; he has preserved his forces unimpaired; indeed, if anything, they are all the sounder and more flourishing. by such a system of education, we launch upon the world a sturdy generation, imbued with that living energy, that constitutes the one and only mainspring that really makes the world move. accordingly this is the method that we shall follow: studying, repeating, working experimentally: the subject of our study is humanity; our purpose is to become teachers. now, what really makes a teacher is love for the human child; for it is love that transforms the social duty of the educator into the higher consciousness of a _mission_. the limits of pedagogical anthropology in concluding this preamble, it may be well to define the form of study and the purposes of pedagogical anthropology; in order to distinguish it clearly from general anthropology and from the allied branches of applied anthropology (criminal and medical anthropology). pedagogical anthropology, like all the other branches of anthropology, studies man from the naturalistic point of view; but, unlike general anthropology, it does not concern itself with the philosophic problems related to it, such, for instance, as the origin of man, the theories of monism or polygenism, of emigration, and classification according to race; problems which, as everyone knows, are difficult of solution, and which constitute the pivot on which biological anthropology revolves. thus, for example, bacteriology has its origin in biology, in so far as it has certain orders of living organisms for the subject of its research; but it well nigh ignores the problems of biological philosophy associated with them, such as the origin of living matter and of the primitive cell; the fixity or variability of monocellular species; the possibility of life in the isolated nucleus (the microbe), or in the isolated protoplasm (the monera), but it devotes itself to the direct study of microscopic organisms, both in themselves alone and in their influence upon their environment; in short, bacteriology has for its purpose the acquirement of that practical knowledge necessary for a successful campaign against the causes of infective maladies, and for rendering infected districts sanitary. in much the same way, pedagogical anthropology, considered as a form of study, departs from general anthropology. it studies man from two different points of view: his _development_ (ontogenesis), and his _variations_. since many causes concur in producing variations in the individual during his development (social causes, pathological causes, etc.), we have to take into consideration, and frequently invoke the aid of subsidiary sciences (sociology, pathology, hygiene). _variations_ constitute the most important subject of inquiry in pedagogic anthropology, just as _fixed characteristics_ constitute the essential matter of research in general anthropology: because the latter endeavours, by the help of fixed characteristics, to trace back to the origin of species, while the former tries, through the help of variable characteristics, to discover a way for the future perfectionment of the human species and the individual: indeed, this is precisely what constitutes the practical purpose of its application to pedagogy. in comparison with criminal and medical anthropology, pedagogic anthropology differs substantially in its declared intentions. these other two kindred branches endeavour to _diagnose_ the personality of the individual; we must admit that both psychiatry and general medical practice profit by the application of anthropology to the extent of securing greater accuracy in diagnosis and prognosis; but whenever the study of a patient's _personality_ sheds light upon decisions of this sort, it generally follows that the personality is fixed and unalterable. for instance, when, in medical practice an individual _constitution_ is shown to be fatally predisposed to certain definite diseases, that is precisely one of the cases where medical _treatment_ is most impotent; and the same may be said when, in the practice of criminal law we find a defendant whose personality is profoundly degenerate. it follows that the application of these new anthropological methods is substantially diagnostic; furthermore, they are limited to special classes of human beings, to those who are physiologically the most impoverished, such as criminals and the diseased. pedagogic anthropology, on the contrary, embraces _all humanity_; but it pays special attention to that part of it which is psychologically superior: the normal human being. its purpose is none the less diagnostic; but it regards diagnosis as constituting a _means_, and not merely indicating an end; because the end projected by pedagogic anthropology is a far-reaching and rational system of _hygiene_. more than that, the proposed system is the one true one, a hygiene that pays more attention to the man himself than to his environment; striving to perfect him in his physiological functions, or to correct any tendency to abnormal and pathological deviations. it follows that, in pedagogic anthropology, the direction taken by the naturalistic study of man is predominantly _physiological_. in the same manner as the other two kindred branches of anthropology, this branch which has joined forces with pedagogy has severed connection with the original parent stock of general anthropology, and abandoned its dogmatisms and to a large extent its phraseology. criminal anthropology, for example, shows great daring and scant accuracy in its affirmations and its researches; and to a large extent it has acquired a nomenclature of its own; and medical anthropology lays down laws that general anthropology never took into consideration, and neglects to bestow particular attention upon the _head_, which formed the object of fundamental research in general anthropology. in the same way, pedagogic anthropology has had to emancipate itself from the general science from which it has sprung, in order to proceed unhampered along the practical line of research, which consists essentially in a study of the pupil and the compilation of biographic charts, from which a fund of material will result, destined to enrich the scientific content of this branch of learning. but since the study of the pupil must not be morphological alone, but psychological as well, it is necessary for anthropology to invoke the aid of experimental psychology, in order to achieve its purpose. now it is essential to psychology, no less than to pedagogic anthropology, to study the reactions of the physiological and psychical personality of the child in the environment which we call _school_. consequently it is reserved for the teacher to make a large contribution to these two parallel sciences, which are coming to assume the highest social importance. it follows further that pedagogic anthropology differs from the other two allied branches in its practical applications; the progress of criminal and medical anthropology requires, as a matter of fact, only the labors of _medical specialists_; in the case of pedagogic anthropology there is equally a need of _medical specialists_, to whom the _diagnosis_ and the _treatment_ of abnormal pupils must be entrusted, as well as the _hygiene_ of their development; but in addition to these, the teachers also are summoned to a vast task of observation, which, by its continuity, will supplement and complete the periodic observations of the physician. furthermore, the _teacher_ will acquire under the guidance of anthropology certain practical rules in the art of educating the child; and it is this especially that makes the anthropological and psychological training of the modern teacher so necessary. the school constitutes an immense field for research; it is a "pedagogical clinic," which, in view of its importance, can be compared to no other gathering of _subjects_ for study. thanks to the system of compulsory education, it gathers to itself every living human being of both sexes and of every social caste, normal and abnormal; and it retains them there, throughout a most important period of their growth. this is the field, therefore, in which the _culture of the human race_ can really and practically be undertaken; and the joint labour of physician and teacher will sow the seed of a future _human hygiene_, adapted to achieve perfection in man, both as a _species_ and as a _social unit_. footnotes: [ ] from a work by e. morselli: _cesare lombroso and scientific philosophy_. [ ] musolino was a brigand, and luccheni an anarchist and regicide. [ ] from a study by prof. e. troilo, _enrico morselli as a philosopher_. in the volume by morselli, milan: vallardi, . chapter i certain principles of general biology in order to _understand_ the practical researches that must be conducted for anthropological purposes, it is necessary to have an adequate preparation in the science of biology. the _interpretation_ of the data that have to be gathered according to technical procedure, demands a _training_; and this training will form our subject in the theoretic part of the present volume. the limits, however, not only of the book itself, but of pedagogic anthropology as well, preclude anything more than a simple general outline; but this can be supplemented by those other branches of study which are either collateral to it or constitute its necessary basis (_i.e._, general biology, human anatomy and physiology, hygiene of environment, general anthropology, etc.). the material substratum of life the synthetic concept of the individual in biology according to the materialistic theories of life, of which haeckel is the most noted supporter, _life_ was derived from a form of matter, protoplasm, which not only has a special chemical composition, but possesses further the property of a constant molecular movement of scission and redintegration; vital metabolism or interchange of matter, by which the molecules are constantly renewed at the expense of the environment. it was huxley who defined protoplasm as the _physical basis_ of life; and, as a matter of fact, life does not exist without protoplasm. but schultze and haeckel carried this doctrine further, to the point of maintaining that a minute particle of protoplasm was all that was needed to constitute life; and that such a particle could be formed naturally, whenever the surrounding conditions were favorable, like any other inorganic chemical substance; and in this way the materialists endeavoured, with great ingenuousness, to maintain the _spontaneous origin_ of life. and when haeckel thought that he had discovered the _moneræ_ or living cells composed of a single particle of protoplasm, he held that these were the first species to have appeared on earth. but the further researches of physiologists and the improvements in the technique of the microscope proved that protoplasm does not exist independently in nature; because living cells are always a combination of protoplasm and a nucleus. if the nucleus is extracted from a radiolarium, the latter mortifies, and the protoplasm also dies; if an _amoeba_ is severed in such a manner that one part contains nucleus and protoplasm and the other protoplasm alone, it will be found that the latter part mortifies and dies, while the first part continues to live. if an infusorium is divided in such a way that each of the separate sections contains a part of the nucleus and a part of the protoplasm, two living infusoria are developed similar to the original one. experiments of this kind, to which verworn has given high authority, serve to prove that life does not exist except in cells divisible into protoplasm and nucleus. further discoveries confirm this theory, as for instance the presence of a nucleus in hemocytes or red blood corpuscles, which were formerly believed to be instances of anuclear cells; and the discovery of protoplasm in microbes, which had formerly been considered free nuclei. now, when we have an independent living cell, it represents an _individual_, which not only has, as a general feature, this primitive complexity of parts, but also certain special characteristics of _form_, of reaction to environment, etc., that mark the _species_ to which this particular living creature belongs. accordingly, we cannot assert, without committing the error of confining ourselves to a generic detail, that life originates in protoplasm or in a combination divisible into protoplasm and nucleus; we should say that _life_ originates in living _individuals_; since, aside from abstract speculation, there can be no other material substratum of life. such a doctrine is eminently _synthetic_, and opens the mind to new conceptions regarding the _properties_ that _characterise_ life. formerly when life was defined as a form of matter (protoplasm) subject to constant movement (metabolism), only a single general property had been stated; for that matter, even the stars consist of matter and movement; and, according to the modern theory of electrons, atoms are composed of little particles strongly charged with electricity and endowed with perennial motion. accordingly, these are universal characteristics, and not _peculiar_ to life; and _metabolism_ may be regarded as a _variation_ of such a property, which is provoked by, or at least associated with the phenomenon of life. the properties which are really characteristic of life have been summed up by laloy in two essential groups; _final causes_ and _limitations of mass_, or, to use a term more appropriate to living organisms, _limitations of form and size_. the term _final causes_ refers to a series of phenomena that are met with only where there is life, and that tend toward a definite purpose or _end_. living organisms take nutriment from their environment, to the _end_ of assimilating it, that is, transforming it from an inert, indifferent substance into a substance that is a living part of themselves. this phenomenon is undoubtedly one of the most characteristic. but there are still other forms of _final cause_, such for example as the transformation of the fertilised ovum into the fully developed individual, predetermined in its essential characteristics, such as form, dimensions, colour, activities, etc. there are ova that to all appearances are exactly alike; the human ovum itself is nothing more than a simple cell composed of protoplasm and nucleus, measuring only a tenth of a millimeter (= / inch); yet all these ovum cells produce living organisms of the utmost diversity; yet so definitely predetermined that, if we know to what species the ovum belongs, we are able to predict how many bones will compose the skeleton of the animal destined to develop from it, and whether this animal will fly or creep upon the ground, or rise to take a place among those who have made themselves the lords of the earth. furthermore, knowing the phases of development, we may predetermine at what _periods_ the successive transformations that lead step by step to the complete development of the individual will take place. another form of _final cause_ is seen in the _actions_ of living creatures, which reveal a _self-consciousness_; a consciousness that even in its most obscure forms guides them toward a destined end. thus, for example, even the infusoria that may be seen through a microscope in a drop of water, chasing hither and thither in great numbers, avoiding collision with one another, or contending over some particle of food, or rushing in a mass toward an unexpected ray of light, give us a keen impression of their possession of consciousness, a dim glimmering of self-will, which is the most elementary form of that phenomenon that manifests itself more and more clearly, from the metazoa upward, through the whole zoologic scale: the _final cause_ of psychic action. again, in multicellular organisms there are certain continuous and so-called _vital_ phenomena, which some physiologists attribute to cellular consciousness: for example, the leucocytes in the blood seem to obey a sort of glimmering consciousness when they rush to the encounter of any danger threatening the organism, and ingest microbes or other substances foreign to the blood; and it is also due to a phenomenon that cannot be explained by the physical laws of osmosis, that the erythrocytes or red blood corpuscles and the plasma in the blood never interchange sodium salts for those of potassium; and lastly the cells of each separate gland seem to _select_ from the blood the special substances that are needed for the formation of their specific products: saliva, milk, the pancreatic juice, etc. still another manifestation of _final cause_ is the tendency exhibited by each living individual to make a constant struggle for life, a struggle that depends upon a minimum expenditure of force for a maximum realisation of life, thanks to which life multiplies, invades its environment, adapts itself to it, and is transformed. another fundamental synthetic characteristic of life is the limitation of _form and size_ that is a fixed and constant factor in the characteristics of each species; the body of the living individual cannot grow indefinitely. living creatures do not increase in quantity by the successive _accumulation_ of matter, as is the case with inorganic bodies, but by _reproduction_, that is, the multiplication of individuals. through the phenomenon of reproduction, life has a share in the eternity of matter and of force, that is, in a universal phenomenon. but what distinguishes it is that the individual creatures produced by other living individuals form, each one of them, an _indivisible element_ in which life manifests itself; and this element is _morphologically fixed_ in the limits of its form and size. the peculiarities which are attributed to the chemical action of protoplasm are of an analytic character, so far as they concern the fundamental characteristics of life. the constant interchange of matter, namely, _metabolism_, constitutes undoubtedly a phenomenon peculiar to living matter, protoplasm; but protoplasm _does not exist_ apart from living organisms. and what constitutes its chief characteristic is that, when brought into contact with it, inert substances are assimilated, _i.e._, they become like it, or rather, are transformed into _protoplasm_; mineral salts such as the nitrates or nitrites of sodium and potassium are transformed in the case of plants into living plasma capable of germinating either into a rose bush or a plane tree or a palm, and inert organic substances such as bread or wine are transformed into human flesh and blood. so that the phenomenon of _assimilation_ outweighs, as a characteristic of life, the molecular chemical action through which it is accomplished. since _metabolism_ does not occur in nature as a chemical phenomenon, and cannot be produced artificially, but is found only in the matter composing living organisms, it follows that life is the cause of this form of dynamic action, and not that this dynamic action is the cause of life.[ ] even the latest theory, developed especially by ludwig in germany--that protoplasm contains a separate _enzyme_ for each separate function appointed to a particular task--amounts to nothing more than an analysis of the living organism. the formation of multicellular organisms we cannot say that the _cell_ is the element of life, because, in an absolute sense, it is not alive; it lives only when it _constitutes_ _an individual_. even the brain cells, the muscular fibres, the leucocytes, etc., are cells; but they _do not live independently_; their life depends upon the living individual that contains them. we may, however, define the cell as the means, the morphological material, out of which all living organisms are formed: because, from the algæ to the orchids, from the coelenterata up to man, all complex organisms are composed of an accumulation of those microscopic little bodies that we call cells. the manner of union between the cells in the most primitive _living colonies_, whether vegetable or animal, is analogous to that followed in the segmentation of the ovum in its ontogenetic (_i.e._, individual) development. but the _manner of construction_ differs notably, as between _animal_ and _vegetable_ cells. vegetable cells, on the one hand, have a resistant and strongly protective membrane; animal cells, on the contrary, have either a very thin membrane or none at all. vegetable cells, as though made _venturesome_ by their natural protection, proceed to invade their environment in colonies--in other words, the cells dispose themselves in series of linear ramifications--witness the formation of primitive algæ; and analogously the expansion of the higher types of vegetation into their environment, with branches, leaves, etc. and just as though the vegetable cell acquired self-confidence because it is so well protected, it becomes stationary and strikes its roots into the soil. to this same fact of cellular protection must be attributed the inferior sensibility and hence the permanent state of obscured consciousness in vegetable life. this protection against the assaults of environment, and the consequent lack of sensibility, constitute from the outset an inferior stage of evolution. animal cells have an entirely different manner of forming themselves into colonies; acting as though they were _afraid_, they group themselves in the form of a little sphere, enclosing their environment within themselves, instead of reaching out to invade it; and subsequent developments of the animal cell consist in successive and complex _invaginations_, or formations of layers, one within another--instead of ramifications, after the manner of vegetable cells. accordingly, if we advance from that primitive animal type, the volvox, consisting of a simple group of cells arranged spherically, like an elastic rubber ball, to the coelenterata, we meet with the phenomenon of the first invagination, producing an animal body consisting of _two layers_ of cells and an internal _cavity_, communicating with the exterior by means of a pore or mouth. the two layers of cells promptly divide their task, the outer layer becoming _protective_ and the inner _nutritive_; and in consequence of their different _functions_, the cells themselves _alter_, the outer layer acquiring a tougher consistency, while the inner remains soft in order to absorb whatever nutriment is brought by the water as it passes through the mouth. in this way, there is a division of labor, such that all the external cells protect not only themselves, but the whole organism; while the internal cells absorb nutriment not only for themselves but for the others. this is the simplest example of a process that becomes more and more complex in the formation of higher organisms; in adapting themselves to their work, the cells become greatly modified (formation of tissues) and perform services that are useful to the entire organism. and at the same time, because of the very fact that they have been differentiated, they become dependent upon the labors of others, for obtaining the means of subsistence. similar laws seem to persist even at the present day in the formation of _social organisms_, in human society. during the development of the embryo, all animals pass through similar phases; and to this man is no exception. [illustration: fig. .--human ovum, magnified. _a._ vitelline membrane; _b._ vitellus; _c._ germinal vesicle.] he traces his origin to an ovum-cell formed of protoplasm, nucleus and membrane, measuring only a tenth of a millimetre, yet vastly large in comparison with the spermatic cell destined to fertilise it by passing through one of the innumerable pores that render the dense membrane penetrable. [illustration: fig. .--first segmentation of a fertilised ovum.] [illustration: fig. .--a morula as seen from the outside.] [illustration: fig. .--an egg and spermatozoon of the same species, about to fertilise it. note the difference in the proportional size of the two cells.] after the ovum-cell is fertilised, it constitutes the _first cell_ of the new being; that is, it contains _potentially a man_. but as seen through the microscope, it is really not materially anything more than a microscopic cell, undifferentiated, and in all things similar to other independent cells or to fertilised ovarian cells belonging to other animals. that which it contains, namely, _man_, often already predetermined not only in _species_, but in individual characteristics--as, for instance, in degenerative inferiority--is certainly not there in _material_ form. at an early stage of the embryo's development, it exhibits a form analogous to that of the volvox; namely, a hollow sphere, called the _morula_; and subsequently, by the process of invagination, two layers of cells, an inner and an outer, are formed, together with the first body cavity, destined to become the digestive cavity, and also a pore corresponding to the mouth. this formation has received the name of _gastrula_ (fig. , facing page ), and the two layers of cells are known as the _primary_ _layers_, otherwise called the _ectoderm_ and the _entoderm_. to these a third intermediate layer is soon added, the _mesoderm_. these three layers consist of cells that are not perceptibly differentiated from one another; but _potentially_ each and every one contains its own special _final cause_. in each of the three layers, invaginations take place, furrows destined to develop into the nervous system, the lungs, the liver, the various different glands, the generative organs; and during the progress of such modifications, corresponding changes take place in the elementary cells, which become differentiated into _tissues_. from the ectoderm are developed the nervous system and the skin tissues; from the entoderm, the digestive system with its associate glands (the liver, pancreas, etc.); from the mesoderm, the supporting tissues (bones and cartilage) and the muscles. but all these cells, even the most complex and specialised, as for example those of the cerebral cortex, the fibres of the striped muscles, the hepatic cells, etc., were originally _embryonic_ cells--in other words, simple, undifferentiated, all starting on an equal footing. yet every one of them had within it a predestined end that led it to occupy, as it multiplied in number, a certain appointed portion of the body, in order to perform the work, to which the profound alterations in its cellular tissues should ultimately adapt it. like children in the same school, these embryonic cells, all apparently just alike, contain certain dormant activities and destinies that are profoundly different. this unquestionably constitutes one of the properties of life, namely, the _final cause_; it is certainly associated intimately with _metabolism_ and _nutrition_, considered as a means of _development_ and not as a cause. upon _metabolism_, however, depends the more or less complete attainment of the _final cause_ of life. in man, for example, strength, health, beauty, on the one hand, degeneration on the other, stand in intimate relations with the _nutrition_ of the embryo.[ ] =the theories of evolution.=--at the present day, there is a general popular understanding of the fundamental principles involved in the mechanical or materialistic theories of evolution which bear the names of lamarck, geffroy-saint-hilaire, and more especially the glorious name of charles darwin. according to these theories, the environment is regarded as the chief cause of the evolution of organic forms. charles darwin, who formulated the best and most detailed theory of evolution, based it on the two principles of the _variability_ of living organisms, and _heredity_, which transmits their characteristics from generation to generation. and in explanation of the underlying cause of evolution, he expounded the doctrines of the _struggle for existence_ and the _natural selection_ of such organic forms as succeeded to a sufficient degree in adapting themselves to their environment. whatever the explanation may be, the substantial fact remains of the _variability of species_ and the successive and gradual transition from lower to higher forms. in this way, the higher animals and plants must have had as antecedents other forms of _inferior species_, of which they still bear more or less evident traces; and in applying these theories to the interpretation of the personalities of human degenerates, he frequently invoked the so-called principle of _atavism_, in order to explain the reappearance of atavistic traits that have been outgrown in the normal human being, certain anomalies of form more or less analogous to parallel forms in lower species of animals. there are other theories of evolution less familiar than that of darwin. naegeli, for instance, attributes the variability of species to _internal_, rather than external causes--namely, to a spontaneous activity, implanted in life itself, and analogous to that which is witnessed in the development of an individual organism, from the primitive cell up to the final complete development; without, however, attributing to the progressive alterations in species that predestined final goal which heredity determines in the development of individual organisms. the internal factor, namely life, is the primary cause of _progress_ and the _perfectionment_ of living creatures--while environment assumes a secondary importance, such as that of _directing_ evolution, acting at one time as a stimulus toward certain determined directions of development; at another, permanently establishing certain useful characteristics; and still again, effacing such forms as are unfit. in this way the external causes are associated with evolution, but with very different effects from those attributed to them by darwin, who endowed them with the creative power to produce new organs and new forms of life. naegeli compared the internal forces to invested capital; it will draw a higher or lower rate of interest, according as its environment proves to be more or less favourable to earning a profit. the most modern theory of evolution is that of de vries, who, after having witnessed the spontaneous and unforeseen transformations of a certain plant, the oenohtera lamarckiana, without the intervention of any external phenomenon, admitted the possibility of the unexpected occurrence of other new forms, from a preexistent parent form--and to such phenomena he gave the name of _mutations_. it is these _mutations_ that create new species; the latter, although apparently unheralded, were already _latent_ in the germ before they definitely burst into life. consequently, new species are formed potentially in the germinating cells, through spontaneous activity. the characteristics established by _mutations_ are hereditary, and the species which result from them persist, provided their environment affords favourable conditions, better suited to them than to the preexisting parent form. accordingly new species are _created_ unexpectedly. de vries draws a distinction between mutations and variations, holding that the latter are dependent upon environment, and that in any case they constitute simple _oscillations of form_ around the normal type determined in each species by mutation. species, therefore, cannot be transformed by external causes or environments, and the mechanism of transformation is not that of a succession of very gradual variations, which have given rise to the familiar saying: _natura non facit saltus_. on the contrary, what produces stable characteristics is a _revolution_ prepared in a latent state, but unannounced in its final disclosure. a parallel to this is to be found, for example, in the phenomena of _puberty_ in its relation to the evolution of the individual. now, when a species has once reached a fixed stability as regards its characteristics, it is _immutable_, after the analogy of an individual organism that has completed its development; henceforth its further evolution is ended. in such a case, the oscillations of variability are exceedingly limited, and adaptation to new environments is difficult; and while a species may offer the appearance of great strength (_e.g._, certain species of gigantic extinct animals), it runs the risk of dying out, because of a lower potentiality of adaptability; or, according to the theory of rosa, it may even become extinct spontaneously. accordingly it is not the fixed species that continue the process of _evolution_. if we compare the tree of life to a plant, we may imagine evolution as soaring upward, sustained by roots far below; the new branches are not put forth by the old branches, but draw their sustenance from the original sources, from which the whole tree draws its life. when a branch matures and flowers, it may survive or it may wither but it cannot extend the growth of the tree. furthermore, the new branches are always higher up than the old ones; that which comes last is the highest of all. thus, the species which are the _latest_ in acquiring a stable form are the highest up in the biological scale, because the privilege of carrying forward the process of evolution belongs to those species which have not yet become fixed. an apparent weakness, instability, an active capacity for adaptation, are consequently so many signs of _superiority_, as regards a potential power of evolution--just as the nudity and sensibility of animal cells, for example, are signs of superiority, as compared with vegetable cells--and of man, as compared with the lower animals. in order to show that the inferiority of a species is in proportion to its precocity in attaining fixed characteristics, rosa conceived the following striking comparison. two animals are fleeing, along the same road, before an advancing flood. one of the two climbs to the top of a neighboring tree, the other continues in its flight toward a mountain. as the level of the water rises, it threatens to isolate and engulf the animal now stalled upon the tree; the other animal, still fleeing toward the heights, reaches, on the contrary, a higher and more secure position. the animal on the tree stands for an inferior species that has earlier attained a fixed form; the other represents a higher species that has continued to evolve; but the animal upon the mountain never was on the tree at all, because, if he had mounted it and become caught there, he would have lost his chance of continuing on his way. in other words, the _higher_ species never was the _lower_ species, since the characteristics of the latter are already fixed. some eloquent comparisons might be drawn from the social life of to-day. we are all of us spurred on to choose as early as possible some form of employment that will place us in a secure and definite place at the great banquet of existence. the idea of continuing to follow an indefinite and uncertain path, leading upward toward the heights is far less attractive than the safe and comfortable shelter of the shady tree that rises by the wayside. the same law of inertia applies to every form of life. biological evolution bears witness to it, in the _forms_ of the different species; social evolution, in the _forms_ of the professions and trades; the evolution of thought, in the _forms_ of the different faiths. and whoever first halts in any path of life, the path of study, for instance, occupies a lower place than he who continues on his road. the salaried clerk, armed only with his high-school certificate, has an assured income and the pleasures of family life, at a time when the physician, with an independent profession, is still struggling to establish a practice. but the obscure clerk will eventually hold a social position below that of the physician; his income will always be limited, while the physician may acquire a fortune. now, the clerk, by _adapting_ himself to his bureaucratic environment, has acquired certain well-defined characteristics; we might even say that he has become a representative type of the _species_, clerk. and the same will be true of the physician in his independent and brilliant life as high priest of humanity, scientist and man of wealth. both men were high-school students, and now they are two widely different social types; but the physician never represented the type of clerk; or, in other words, he did not have to be a clerk before he could be a physician; on the contrary, if he had been a clerk, he never could have become a physician. it is somewhat after this fashion that we must conceive of the sequence of species in evolution. it follows that man never was an anthropoid ape, nor any other animal now living around us. nor was the man of the white race ever at any time a negroid or a mongolian. consequently, the theory is untenable which tries to explain certain morphological or psychic malformations of man, on the principle of atavism--because no one can inherit if he is not a descendant. so, for example, reverting to our previous comparisons, if the animal on the mountain should climb a tree, or if the physician should become pedantic, this would not prove that the animal from the mountain was once upon a time the animal in the tree, nor that the physician recalled, by his eventual pedantry, certain bygone days when he was a clerk. the theories of evolution seemed for a time to illumine and definitely indicate the origin of man. but this illusion has so far resulted only in relegating to still deeper darkness the truth that the biologists are seeking. we do not know of whom man is the son. even the earlier conceptions regarding the mechanics of evolution are essentially altered. the mystery of the origin of species, like that of the mutability of forms, has withdrawn from the forms that are already developed, and taken refuge in the _germinal cells_; these cells in which no differentiation is revealed, yet in which the future organism, in all its details, exists in a potential state; in which, we may even say, _life exists independent of matter_, are the real _laboratorium vitæ_. the individual, in developing, does nothing more than _obey_, by fulfilling the potentiality of the germs. the direction of research has shifted from the individual to its germs. and just as the early darwinian theories evolved a _social ethics_, seemingly based upon the facts of life, to serve as a guide in the _struggle for existence_, so in the same way, to-day, there has arisen from the modern theories a new _sexual ethics_, founded upon a biologic basis. =the phenomena of heredity.=--the most interesting biological researches of to-day are in regard to the hereditary transmission of characteristics. to-day the phenomena of heredity are no longer absolutely obscure, thanks to the studies of mendel, who discovered some of its laws, which seemed to open up new lines of research prolific in results. yet even now, although this field has been invaded by the most illustrious biologists of our time, among others, de vries, correns, tschermack, hurst, russell, it is still in the state of investigation. nevertheless, the _general trend_ of researches relative to mendel's laws is too important to permit of their enlightening first steps being neglected by anthropology. the first phenomena observed by mendel, and the ones which led him to the discovery of the laws of heredity which bear his name, were revealed by a series of experiments conducted with peas. _exposition of the phenomena of hybridism._--if two strains of peas are crossed, one of them having red flowers and the other white flowers, the result in the first generation is, that all the plants will have red flowers, precisely similar to those of one of the parent plants. accordingly, in hybridism, the characteristic of one of the parents completely hides that which is antagonistic to it in the other parent. we call this characteristic (in the case cited, the red flowers), _dominant_; in distinction to the other characteristic which is antagonistic to the first and overcome by it; namely, the recessive characteristic (in the present case, the white flowers). this is the law of prevalence, and constitutes mendel's first law, which is stated as follows: _mendel's first law_: "when antagonistic varieties or characteristics are crossed with each other, the products of the first generation are all uniform and equal to one of the two parents." this result has been repeatedly reached in a host of researches, which have experimentally established this phenomenon _as a law_. thus, for example, if we cross a nettle having leaves with an indented margin, with a nettle having leaves with a smooth margin, the product of the first generation will all have leaves with indented margins, and apparently identical with the parent plant having indented margins, in other words, having the characteristic that has proved itself the dominant one (russell). these phenomena discovered by mendel have been observed in many different species of plants, such as wheat, indian corn, barley and beans. they have also been verified in certain animals, such as mice, rats, rabbits, caveys, poultry, snails, silk-worms, etc. one of the most typical experiments was that of cuénot, who, by crossing ordinary mice with jumping mice, obtained as a result a first generation composed wholly of normal mice; the characteristic of jumping was thus shown to be recessive. notwithstanding that the first generation is apparently in every way similar to the parent with the dominant character, there is in reality a difference. because, if we cross these hybrids _together_, we meet, in the second generation, with the following phenomenon: to every three individuals possessing the dominant character, one is born having the recessive character. to go back to mendel's first example, that of the peas with red flowers (dominant) and with white flowers (recessive), we find, by crossing together the hybrids of the first generation, that for every three plants with red flowers, there is one plant with white flowers. and similarly, the crossing of hybrid nettles with indented leaves will result in a second generation composed of three plants with indented leaves to every one with smooth-edged leaves (see fig. ). [illustration: fig. .] that is, the characteristics which belonged to the first two parents all survive, even though in a latent form, in the descendants; and they continue to differentiate themselves in well established proportions. in one offspring out of four, the characteristics of the grandfather, which have remained dormant in the father, once more reappear. this intermittent heredity of characteristics, that are passed from grandfather to grandson, overleaping the father, is one of the best-known laws of _pathological_ _heredity_ in man; and it is called _atavistic heredity_, to distinguish it from _direct heredity_, which denotes the transmission from parent to offspring. but no explanation had ever been found for this sort of phenomenon. undoubtedly, it must be connected with the phenomena of mendelism. accordingly, in the second generation mendel's second law has been established, the _law of disjunction_, which is stated as follows: _mendel's second law_: "in the second generation obtained by reciprocal fertilisation of the first hybrids, three quarters of the offspring will exhibit the dominant character, and one quarter the recessive." _mendel's hypothesis, designed to explain the phenomena of_ _heredity._--mendel's great service is to have conceived a hypothesis that seems to have disclosed the key adapted to unlock all the secrets of heredity. while the body of an individual is the resultant of forces so mutually exclusive that the appearance of one characteristic means the disappearance of its antagonist; _in the development of_ _the sexual cells the two antagonistic characters are distributed in equal_ _proportion_. that is to say, one-half of the male cells contain the dominant character, and one-half the recessive; and the same holds true for the female cells. the characters of the two parents, in other words, never _merge_ in the reproductive cells, but are distributed _in equal measure_, independently of the question whether they are dominant or recessive. thus for example: in the case already cited of the first hybrid generation of the peas with red flowers, in every one of the plants, without distinction, half the pollen has potentially the red character and half has the white; and in the same way the female cells have, half of them a red potentiality and half of them a white. such hybrids of the first generation, therefore, although apparently similar to the parent with red flowers, _differ in their germinative powers_, which are not made apparent in the individual. and the same may be said of hybrid nettles with indented leaves, etc. granting mendel's hypothesis, we have on the one hand pollen and on the other seed ready to come together in every manner included within the range of possible combinations; the _individual_ is, in its characteristics, nothing else than the product of a combination which must necessarily manifest itself in accordance with the well-known mathematical laws of _probability_. for instance, let us proceed to diagram the possible disposition of the sexual cells of the hybrids of peas, all of them having red flowers. in terms of percentage, they will give, out of every hundred, fifty red and fifty white. _p_ = pollen; _o_ = ova; _r_ = red, dominant; _w_ = white, recessive: the possible number of combinations between the pollen grains and the ova are four; namely, _rr_, _rw_, _wr_, _ww_. but where a dominant characteristic encounters a recessive (_rw_, _wr_), the recessive disappears, to make way in the individual for the dominant characteristic alone. the definitive result is three individuals of dominant character, to one of recessive character. [illustration: fig. .] nevertheless, the hybrids of dominant character are not all equal among themselves. those belonging to the combination _rr_, indeed, are _permanent_ in character and in all respects alike, and they reproduce the original red-flower progenitor. the other red-flower hybrids, belonging to the groups _rw_ and _wr_ are, on the contrary, similar to the hybrids of the first generation and contain reproductive cells differentiated in character; such hybrids, if reciprocally fertilised, will again give three dominant offspring to every one recessive; that is, they will obey the law of disjunction. the hybrids belonging to the fourth group, on the contrary, are constant, like those of the first group, and are permanently of recessive character; and they will reproduce the original progenitor with white flowers. the same results may be attained with nettles with smooth and indented leaves, and with all other types of plant and animal life that obey the laws of mendelism. the figure given actually represents the third generation of nettles; from a combination corresponding to _rr_, there result only indented leaves, and from another combination corresponding to our _ww_ there result only smooth-edged leaves, and from the two mixed groups there come three offspring with indented leaves to every one with smooth leaves. it is possible to represent, by means of a general diagram, the mathematical succession of characteristics in hybrids, after the following manner; denoting the dominant character by _d_, and the recessive by _r_. [illustration: first crossing of individuals with antagonistic characters. first generation of hybrids, all alike, and similar to the progenitor _d_ (dominant). second generation: for each recessive there are three dominant: but of these only one is permanent. third generation: disjunction of the hybrid groups takes place and new permanent groups are formed. fig. .] in each successive generation, provided the fertilisation takes place only between uniform individuals, as indicated in the diagram, and as may be effected by actual experiment with plants, groups identical with the original progenitors will continue to be formed, through successive disjunction of the hybrids; the sexual phenomenon operating in obedience to the laws of probability. an effective experiment, that anyone may repeat for himself, is the one originated by darbishire. he took two boxes, typifying respectively the male and female organ, and placed in them black and white disks of equal size, so distributed that each box contained fifty disks of each colour. after mixing these disks very carefully, he proceeded to take _at random_ one disk at a time alternately from each box; and he piled up each pair of disks in such a manner that the black ones should be on top and the white underneath. the result was that for every three black disks on top of the piles there was one white disk; but of the black groups one consisted of two black disks, while in the other two the lower disk was white. this is simply one of the many games dependent on the laws of probability. now, supposing that instead of one, there are two characteristics that are in antagonism; in that case, we have the occurrence of double hybridism (dihybridism). let us take the strains of peas already considered, but let us choose for observation the character of their seed. one of the plants has round seed and yellow cotyledons; and the other angular seed and green cotyledons. these two characteristics, therefore, are both inherent in the seed; condition of surface (rough, smooth), and colour (green, and yellow). after fertilisation, mendel's first law, that of the prevalence of the dominant character, will operate, and all the plants of the first generation will have round seed and yellow cotyledons. hence these are the dominant characteristics, which we will represent by capital letters: _r_ (round), _y_ (yellow), to distinguish them from the recessive characteristics, which we will designate with small letters: _a_ (angular), and _g_ (green). according to mendel's hypothesis, all these hybrids with round seed and yellow cotyledons, contain sexual cells of opposite potentialities, numerically equal and corresponding to the antagonistic characters of the parent plants. that is, they must have in their pollen grains and their ovarian cells all the possible combinations of their different potentialities. they should produce in equal quantities: pollen grains (_p_) with round seed and yellow cotyledons: _r y_ " " green " _r g_ angular " yellow " _a y_ " " green " _a g_ ovarian cells (_o_) with round " yellow " _r y_ " " green " _r g_ angular " yellow " _a y_ " " green " _a g_ the total number of combinations that may result is sixteen; that is, each one of the four combinations of pollen may unite with any one of the ovarian cells; thus constituting four groups of four. and these groups represent the combinations (of pollen and ova) capable of producing individuals: _r y - r y = r y | a y - r y = r y_ _r y - r g = r y | a y - r g = r y_ _r y - a y = r y | a y - a y = a y_ _r y - a g = r y | a y - a g = a y_ _-----------------|-----------------_ _r g - r y = r y | a g - r y = r y_ _r g - r g = r g | a g - r g = r g_ _r g - a y = r y | a g - a y = a y_ _r g - a g = r g | a g - a g = a g_ [illustration: fig. .] every time that a dominant characteristic encounters a recessive one (_r_ with _a_ or _y_ with _g_), it overpowers and hides it: consequently the results of the different combinations are quite definitely limited as determining forms of different individuals. in fact, the results of the sixteen combinations are as follows: _r y | r y_ _r y | r y_ _r y | a y_ _r y | a y_ _---------_ _r y | r y_ _r g | r g_ _r y | a y_ _r g | a g_ that is to say, the only forms which occur are the following: _r y, r g_ _a y, a g_ whose relative probability of occurrence is: _r y_ times in = . % _r g_ times in = . % _a y_ times in = . % _a g_ time in = . % now, as a result of actual experiment, the forms obtained show the following relative percentage: results of experiments according to the combinations with plants and laws of probability _r y_ . % . % _r g_ . % . % _a y_ . % . % _a g_ . % . % the correspondence between these figures is close enough to warrant the acceptance of mendel's hypothesis as the true interpretation of the phenomena that are shown to take place within the sexual cells; the germinal cells of the hybrid contain potentialities belonging to one or the other only of the parents, and not to both; one-half of the cells contain one of these potentialities, and the other half the other potentiality. but in the phenomena of hybridism, we have seen the results of another fact which determines mendel's third law; the _law of_ _the independence of characteristics_. that is, that while the original progenitors had angular seed and green cotyledons, and round seed and yellow cotyledons, certain hybrid plants inherited the round seed of the one and the green colour of the other; or the angular seed of the one and the yellow colour of the other. in the same way, it may happen, for example, that the colour of one plant may combine with the height of another, etc. that is, that each separate characteristic of the progenitor is independent and may combine with the characteristics of the other progenitor--even to the point of separating the colour from the form, as in the case cited. what we find in hybrids, then, is not a separation into two types of generative cells, considered as united and complex entities; but every separate germ cell may _break up_ into as many different potentialities as there are separate characteristics in the individual; and that, too, not only as regards the separate minute parts of the individual body, but, within the same organ, as regards the shape, colour, character of the surface, etc. such phenomena of mendelism cannot as yet be generalised; yet it has already been established by a host of experiments that a great number of characteristics obey the laws of mendel, such, for example, as the character of the hair or plumage; the gradations of colour, the abundance or absence of hair; physical malformations, such as cerebral hernia in poultry; the character of locomotion, as in the jumping mice: and even normal physiological attributes connected with the epoch of maturity in certain plants. but the manner in which the dominant character asserts itself is not always uniform. there are times when a _fusion_ of antagonistic characters takes place. thus, for example, when two varieties of the _mirabilis jalapa_ are crossed, one having red flowers and the other white, a fusion of the colours takes place in the first generation, and _all_ the plants have pink flowers. in the second generation we get, for every plant with red flowers, two with pink flowers and one with white. that is, the law of disjunction has again asserted itself, but the individual hybrids merge their antagonistic attributes, which remain, nevertheless (as their differentiation proves), separate one from the other in the sexual cells. another phenomenon observed in individual hybrids is the _intermingling_ of characteristics. for instance, there are cases where the flowers of a hybrid produced by a plant with red flowers and another with white are _variegated_ with red and white stripes. accordingly, the transmission of antagonistic attributes through the individual may be divided into three different methods: { exclusive. transmission { by fusion. { by intermingling. in the first case, the character of one of the parents is transmitted intact; in the second, the formation of a new characteristic results, constituting a form more or less nearly midway between those from which it comes and whose fusion it represents; in the third case (which is very rare and seems to obey mendel's laws in quite an uncertain way), the result is a _mosaic_ of the fundamental attributes. of special interest to us are the two first methods of hereditary transmission of characteristics. even before mendel's discoveries, anthropologists had observed that in the intermixture of races certain human attributes remained _distinct_ while others _merged_. in the first case they called the individuals _hybrids_, and in the second case they called them _metics_. take, for example, the colour of the skin when black and white merge in the so-called _mulatto_. other characteristics, instead of merging, intermingle, as for instance those that are internal or related to the skeleton, and those that are external or related to the soft tissues and the skin. it may happen, for example, that where one race has an elongated head and black hair and another has a round head and blond hair, the result of their union will be hybrids with elongated heads and blond hair or _vice versa_. similarly, if one of the parents is tall of stature and fair complexioned, and the other of short stature with a dark skin, these characteristics may be interchanged in the hybrids. a very common occurrence, as regards the colour of the hair, is the _fusion_ of blond and brunette into chestnut; while parents with chestnut hair may have either fair-haired or dark-haired children. in his book entitled _human races and varieties_, sergi says in regard to hybridism: "it is impossible to ignore human hybridism, which, for that matter, has been demonstrated under various forms by all the anthropologists; america, in itself alone, offers us a true example of experimental anthropology in regard to this phenomenon. already the result of investigations shows that human hybridism is multiform among all the peoples of the earth; but what is best known of all is the exchange of external characteristics and their intermingling with the internal; that is, the combination of external characteristics of one type with internal characteristics of another type. it is easy, for instance, to find cases in which a certain colour of skin and hair, with the special qualities proper to them, are found combined with peculiarities of the skeleton that do not rightfully belong to types of that particular colouring, and _vice versa_; and this same phenomenon may be observed regarding certain separate attributes, and not all of them--such as the stature, or the face with its outer covering of soft tissues, or the shape of the skull alone. "if we observe our european populations, that call themselves a white-skinned race, but whose whiteness has many different gradations, we are convinced of the great _intermixture_ of characters, and, what is more, a varied mixture resulting in a great variety of individual types, consisting of characters differing widely from one another. it requires a very accurate and very minute analysis to distinguish the different elements that are found in the composition of ethnic characters in individuals and peoples. undoubtedly these intermixtures and combinations of character differ in their constituent elements and in the number of such elements in the different nations, according to whether we study those of the south, or the centre, or the north of europe; and this results from different degrees of association with mongrel races. "but a more important fact, and one that seems to have escaped the attention of anthropologists, is the _absence of fusion_ of internal and external characteristics in the product of such intermixture. we find only a positional relationship between the different ethnic elements, a syncretism or superposition of characteristics, and a consequent _readiness to disunite and form other unions_. this phenomenon has already been demonstrated in america, on a mass of evidence; but it is apparent also in europe, among the peoples that are seemingly most homogeneous, if by careful observation we _separate the characteristics_ that constitute the ethnic types; and not only the types, but the individuals belonging to the different peoples." and in the following passage, sergi expresses himself still more clearly: "from my many observations, it follows, further, that human hybridism, or meticism, as others choose to call it, is a syncretism of distinct characteristics of great variety, and that these do not modify the skeletal structure or the internal characteristics, excepting by way of individual variation; it may happen that separate parts of the skeleton itself acquire characteristics peculiar to themselves. the stature, the chest formation, the proportion of the limbs, may all be in perfect correlation and be united with external characteristics of diverse forms, as for instance with different forms of cranium, or the cranium may be associated with different facial forms, and conversely. furthermore, the _forms adapted_ _separately_ and in part in hybrid composition _remain unvaried in_ _their typical formation_. the face retains its typical characteristics in spite of its union with different forms of cranium; and similarly the cranium preserves its architectural structure when combined with different types of face. the stature maintains its proportions in spite of combinations with diverse cranial and facial types, and in spite of varied colours of skin and hair." the foregoing page, that i have borrowed from this masterly investigator, is most eloquent testimony that, in regard to the phenomena of hybridism, man also comes within the scope of mendel's laws. there is something wonderful in the power of observation and intuition shown by sergi, who, running counter to the convictions of the majority of anthropologists, arrived through these conclusions at a _truth_ the key to which was destined to be discovered later on through studies, very far removed from anthropology, such as were pursued by the botanists mendel and de vries. while mendel was led by his _experiments_ to the discovery of the laws based upon his ingenious hypothesis, sergi was drawn simply by _observation_ to conclusions that to-day are confirmed by experience. and from difficult observations of _single_ _characteristics taken separately_, sergi demonstrated, in his ingenious studies, their _persistence_ through innumerable generations; while, through the identification of separate characteristics, he achieved that brilliant analysis of the races which revealed to his anthropological insight that the european varieties of man originated among the peoples of africa and asia. unquestionably, the laws of mendel confirm what hitherto were considered, in the scientific world of europe, simply as the individual hypotheses of sergi, but which american anthropologists recognise and welcome as a scientific truth, brilliantly observed and expounded by the italian anthropologist. thus, through single characteristics, through _particularities_, we may read the origins of races; and recognise which are the constant characteristics and which the transitory ones. accordingly, let us keep these principles in mind, as we proceed further in our investigation of the phenomena of heredity. mendel's laws, however much they may be discredited or illuminated by further experience, serve in the meanwhile to give an absolutely new conception of the individual and to shed light upon many obscure problems relating to heredity. the individual is the product of a combination of germ potentialities, which, in the case of hybrids (and consequently always in the case of man, who is the product of racial intermixture), meet in accordance with the mathematical laws of probability. one might almost conceive of a _formula_, or, better yet, a calculation, in accordance with which the _individual_ resulting from any given germs might be predetermined; if it were not for the fact that the calculations would become infinitely complicated through the multiplication of characteristics. with only ten pairs of characteristics it is already possible to form upward of kinds of germinal cells and these give rise to , , different combinations. furthermore, through the law of dominant characteristics, the combinations of germs would produce in the descendants varieties distinguishable by their external appearance, and , differing only internally, that is, in their germinal cells. there remains, however, one general principle: the individual contains not only his personal attributes, but also other attributes which belonged to his ancestors, and which are latent in him, and may reappear in his descendants. consequently, if the individual is a hybrid, he must be interpreted _not only through himself alone,_ _but through the history of his family_; and the characteristics which he may transmit are not those of his own body, but those of his origin. the individual body is nothing more than a "temporary expression" of those germinal characteristics which have united to give it consistency; but the complex transmission of characteristics rests wholly with the germinal cells. the problem of heredity is transferred from the individual and from the series of individuals, who are simple and transitory products of combinations, to the sexual cells and their potentialities. and this is unquestionably an absolutely new scientific concept, and a _revolutionary_ one as well, capable of drawing in its wake a lengthy evolution of thought. since the _germinal potentialities_ determine the single characteristics, they may be considered as the _atoms_ of the biologist. "the field of investigation," says bateson, "does not appear to differ greatly from that which was opened to the students of chemistry at the beginning of the discovery that chemical combinations are governed by definite laws.... in the same way that the chemist studies the properties of every _chemical substance_, the characteristics of organisms ought to be studied, and their composition determined." (_first report_, p. .) this brings us to two widely diverse facts that demand consideration: first, the subdivision of antagonistic characteristics in the germinal cells that form, so to speak, the atomic and chaotic substratum of characteristics--characteristics that combine according to the mathematical laws of probability; and, secondly, the _dominance_ of characteristics, or else their fusion, which, independently of anything that may happen in the germinal cells, serves to determine and define the individual. what sort of characteristics are the dominant ones? according to the latest researches of mendelism, the dominant characteristics are those acquired latest in the course of evolution, in other words, the _youngest_, or, if you prefer, the _most highly_ _evolved_. accordingly, in hybrids, the most perfected characteristics and forms are the ones that triumph in the end. this is quite a new principle. hitherto it was held that the _pure_ species or race was the most perfect; and the hybrid or bastard was under a cloud of contempt. and, as a matter of fact, the first crossings of different races may result in some combinations lacking in harmony, and calculated to sanction the old-time conception of the æsthetic inferiority of the bastard. but it is necessary to leave time for new generations and further crossings, in order that _all of the more highly evolved characteristics_ may unite and end by triumphing in reciprocal harmony. this the followers of mendel cannot yet give us, because it would require decades or centuries, according to the species, to produce experimentally such æsthetic forms of hybridism. but in the human race we have an experiment already accomplished, which actually shows us the _æsthetic triumph_ achieved in the region where the races have for the greatest length of time been crossed and recrossed, through the agency of the most ancient civilisation: the europeans surpass in physical beauty the people of any other continent; and the neo-latin races, the most ancient hybrids of all, seem to be nearing the attainment of the greatest æsthetic perfection. in fact, when i was engaged in compiling an anthropological study of the population of latium, in accordance with sergi's principles, and was making a most minute examination of all the different characteristics and their prevalence, as a possible basis for a delineation of the fundamental racial types, i found that complete beauty is never granted to any one race, but distributed among different races: "as a result of my labours, i find perfect artistic proportion as to certain facial features, in a race having inferior hands and feet; and, _vice versa_, i find facial irregularities in the race having the smallest extremities, and the most artistically proportioned hands. what we now consider as standards of human beauty, and delight in bringing together artificially in a single figure in a work of art, are found in nature scattered and distributed among different races." (see _physical characteristics of young women of latium_, p. .) upon the combination of all the different points of beauty in a single individual depend quétélet's biological theories of the medial man (l'homme moyen), lately revived and extensively developed by viola. the new importance acquired by the reconstruction of the _medial man_ is due precisely to the fact that the new method of reconstructing him is by bringing together all the single characteristics taken separately and worked out mathematically according to the laws of individual variations that behave precisely like those of probability. (see _biometry and the theory_ _of the medial man_.) viola considers, in its relation to the physiological laws of _health_, the combination in a single individual of the maximum number of average characteristics, which at the same time are the characteristics numerically prevalent in individuals (dominant characteristics?). the man who accumulates the greater number of average characteristics, escapes diseases and predisposition to disease; he is consequently sounder and more robust and _handsomer_. de giovanni, on the contrary, through an ingenious conceit, bestows the name of _morphological combination_ upon the union in a single individual, of parts that are mutually inharmonic and incapable of performing their normal functions together, in consequence of which such an individual's morphological personality is predisposed to special maladies. accordingly the meeting and union of germinative potentialities may be either more or less propitious; as for instance the result sometimes produced by the combination of a platyopic (broad) face and an aquiline and extremely leptorrhine (narrow) nose; in other words, combinations that are discordant from the æsthetic standpoint, but harmless as regards health; or again, there may be a lack of harmony between the internal organs, incompatible with a healthy constitution. there may even exist malformations due to the meeting of forms that clash violently; each of which parts may be quite normal, when considered by itself, but cannot adapt itself to the other parts with which it is united. it is as though the dominant characteristic in respect to an organ had been overpowered by another, which ought on the contrary, in this special case, to have been recessive. it is precisely on this question of the dominance of characteristics that the researches of the mendelists are at present being expended. it has been observed in the course of experiments that there exist certain special _correlations between potentialities_, in consequence of which certain characteristics must always go together; as, for example, when two characteristics, having once been united, must continue to recur together, although they each exist separately. these laws, which are not yet clearly determined, may serve to explain the final harmony of the sum total of individual attributes. but in general the _dominance_ of characteristics is not absolute, but subject to many causes of variation, associated with environment. thus, for example, just as a change in nutrition of a young plant will result in a different height, it is also possible in the mechanics of reproduction that the original relations of germs may be altered by external causes, and the dominant characteristics be made recessive.[ ] many deviations are attributable to the influences that act upon the germinative cells of hybrids, after the latter have already been determined in their potentiality; thus for example when certain germinal cells are less resistant during maturation; or again when _combinations_ between potentialities are difficult to achieve. that is to say, there may exist certain phenomena associated with environment, thanks to which mendel's natural laws concerning the dominance of characteristics may become inverted. another fact of great significance is this: that, in the course of extensive experimental plantings, for the purpose of verifying the laws of mendel, a widespread sickliness and mortality occurred among cryptograms, at the expense of the plants of recessive character; which would go to prove that a lower power of resistance accompanies the appearance of recessive characteristics. the dominant characteristics accordingly are not only the most highly evolved, but they also possess a greater power of resistance. so that, to-day, the dominance of the strong tends through the workings of the phenomena of mendelism, to do away, little by little, in the course of generations, with characteristics that are weak or antiquated. this has an important bearing upon human pathology, because it opens the way to hope for a possible regeneration in families branded with hereditary disease. the germinal potentialities that contain beauty and strength seem predestined to that predominance which will achieve the triumph of life in the individual. to learn the laws of the union, in one individual and definitive unity, of the infinite dominant and recessive potentialities that must encounter one another in the mysterious labyrinth in which life is prepared--therein lies the greatest problem of the present day. it is that which should constitute our guiding purpose. form and types of stature the form.--fundamental cannons regarding the form.--types of stature, macroscelia and brachyscelia; their physiological significance.--types of stature in relation to race, sex, and age. a few years ago, when anthropology first began to be studied, the skull was taken as the point of departure; because in the analytical study of the human body it represents the principal part. indeed, the same thing was done by lombroso, when he applied anthropology to the practice of psychiatry and later to the study of criminals. it is a matter of fact that degenerative stigmata of the gravest significance are to be found associated with the skull; and this he could not fail to take into account, because of its bearings upon criminal anthropology. but to-day anthropology is reaching out into vaster fields of science and striving to develop in diverse directions, such as those of physiology and pathology; and revolting from the collection of degenerative details, it undertakes to study normal man in regard to his external form as related to his functional capacity, or else the man of abnormal constitution, who in his outward form reveals certain predispositions to illness; and starting on these lines, it proposes to investigate principally the metamorphoses of growth, through the successive periods of life. from this new point of view, it is not any single malformation, but the individual as a whole in the exercise of his functions, who assumes first importance. the study of the cranium (formerly so important as to be the basis of a special science, craniology), becomes only one detail of the whole. as a matter of fact, the brain, which is what gives the cranium its importance, is not only the immediate organ of intelligence, but it is also the psychomotor organ; and as such exercises control over all the striped muscles, and is morphologically associated with the development and the functional powers of the whole body. it follows that, the larger the body, the bigger brain it needs to control it, independently of the question of intelligence. therefore the first point of departure should be eminently synthetic, and should include the morphological personality considered as a whole. one of the properties of living bodies is that of attaining a determinate development, whose limits, both in regard to the _quantity of its mass_ and the _harmony of its form_, are defined by that biological final cause which is implanted in the race and transmitted by heredity. consequently every living creature has determinate limits: and these constitute a fundamental _biological_ property. the causality of such limits has not yet been determined by scientific research; nevertheless it is a phenomenon over which we must pause to meditate. if the philosopher pauses to contemplate the immensity of the ocean from the sea shore, marvelling that the interminable and impetuous movement of the waves should have such exact and definite limits that it cannot overpass by so much as a metre the extreme high-water line upon the beach, we may similarly pause to meditate upon the material limits that life assumes in its infinitely varied manifestations. from the microbe to the mammal, from the lichen to the palm, all living creatures have inherited these limits, which permit the zoologist and the botanist to assign to each a _measure_ as one of its descriptive attributes. this is the first attribute which we must take into consideration in the study of anthropology: namely, the _mass_ of the body, and together with the mass, its morphological _entirety_. the italian vocabulary lacks any one word which quite expresses this idea, [and in this respect english is scarcely more fortunate[ ]]. the stature which represents to us the most synthetic measure of the body in its entirety (a measure determined by the vertical linear distance between the level on which the individual's feet are placed, up to the top of his head as he stands erect), does not represent the entire body in the sense above indicated. it may rather be considered as a _linear index_ of this entirety. the french language, on the contrary, possesses the word _taille_, which may be rendered in italian by the word _taglia_ [and in english by the word _form_[ ]], provided that we understand it to signify the conception of the whole _morphological personality_. no single measurement can express the form; the weight of the body, indeed, may give us a conception of the _mass_ but not of the _shape_; and the latter, if it needs to be determined in all its limits, requires a series of measurements, mutually related, and signifying the reciprocal connection and harmony of the parts with the whole; in other words, a _law_. we may establish the following measurements as adapted to determine the form, in other words, as _fundamental laws_: the _total stature_, the _sitting_ _stature_, the _total spread of the arms_, the _circumference of the thorax_, and the _weight_. of these measures, the two of chief importance are the stature and the weight, because they express the linear index and the volumetric measure of the entire body. the other measurements, on the contrary, analyse this entirety in a sweeping way: thus, the sitting stature, in its relation to the total stature, indicates the reciprocal proportions between the _bust_ and the _lower limbs_; the perimeter of the chest records the transverse and volumetric development of the bust; and the total spread of the arms denotes a detail that is highly characteristic in the case of man: the development of the upper limbs, which, while they correspond to organs of locomotion in the lower animals, assume in the case of man higher functions, as organs of labour and of _mimic_ speech. such measurements constitute a _law_, because they are in constant mutual relationship, when the normal human organism has reached complete development. the stature, in fact, is equal to the total spread of the arms; the circumference of the thorax is equal to one-half the stature, and the sitting stature is slightly greater than the perimeter of the chest. as regards the weight, it cannot be in direct proportion to any linear measure; nevertheless, an empirical correspondence in figures has been noted that may be recorded solely for the purpose of aiding the memory: the normal adult man usually weighs as many kilograms as there are centimetres in his stature, over and above one metre (for instance, a man whose height is . metres will weigh kilograms, etc.). to make these laws easier to understand, we may resort to signs and formulæ. thus, if we denote the stature by _st_, the total spread of the arms by _ts_, the circumference of the thorax by _ct_, the essential or sitting stature by _ss_, and the weight by _w_, we may set down the following formulæ, which will result in practice in more or less obvious approximations: _st_ = _ts_; _ct_ = _st_/ ; _ct_ = _ss_ and for the weight, the following wholly empirical formula: _w_ = _kg_(_st_- m.). _stature._--among all the measurements relating to the form, the principal one is the stature. it has certain characteristics that are essentially human. what we understand by stature is the height of a living animal, when standing on its feet. let us compare the stature of one of the higher mammals, a dog for instance, with that of man. the stature of the dog is determined essentially by the length of its legs, while the spinal column is supported in a horizontal position by the legs themselves. such is the attitude of all the higher mammals, including the greater number of monkeys, notwithstanding that these latter are steadily tending to raise their spinal column in an oblique direction, in proportion to the lengthening of their forelimbs, which serve them as a support in walking--a form of locomotion half way between that of quadrupeds and of man. man alone has permanently acquired an erect position, that renders the bust ( = sum of head and trunk) vertical, and leaves the upper limbs definitely free from any duty connected with locomotion, thus attaining the full measure of the human stature, which is the sum of the bust and the lower limbs. thus, we may assert that one fundamental difference between man and animals consists in this: that in animals the spinal column does not enter into the computation of stature; while in man, on the contrary, it is included in its entirety. consequently, in man the stature assumes a characteristic and fundamental importance, because part of it (that part relating to the bust) represents, as a linear index, all the organs of vegetative life and of life in its external relations. if we examine the human skeleton in an erect position (fig. ), it shows us the varying importance of the different parts of its structure, according as they are destined to protect, or simply to sustain. at the top is the skull, an enclosed bony cavity; and this arrangement indicates that it is designed to contain and protect an organ of the highest importance. by means of the occipital foramen, this cavity communicates with the vertebral canal, also rigorously closed, that is formed by the successive juxtaposition of the vertebræ. such protective formation is in accord with the high physiological significance and the delicate structure of the organs of the central nervous system, which represent the supreme control over physiological life and over the psychic activities of life in its external relations. below the skull, the structure of the skeleton is profoundly altered; in fact, the framework of the thorax is a sort of bony cage open at the bottom; still, the external arrangement of the bones renders them highly protective to the organs they enclose, namely, the lungs and the heart--physiological centres, whose perpetual motion seems to symbolise the rhythm and consequently the continuity of life. [illustration: fig. .] continuing to descend, we come to a sort of hollow basin, the pelvis, which seems merely to contain, rather than protect, the abdominal organs: the intestines, kidneys, etc. such a structure seems to be in accord with the minor physiological importance of these organs, whose function (digestion) is periodic and may be temporarily suspended, in defiance of physiological stimuli, without suspension of life. in the lower part of the skeleton, on the contrary, the arrangement between the soft and bony tissues is inverted: the long bones of the limbs constitute the inner part; and they are covered over with thick, striped muscles, organs of mechanical movement for the purpose of locomotion. here the function of the skeleton is exclusively that of support, and in its mechanism it represents a series of levers. accordingly, the structure of the skeleton also shows us how the stature is composed of parts that differ profoundly in their physiological significance; life as a _complete whole_, the _living man_, is contained within the _bust_, which holds the organs of the individual, vegetative life; those of life in relation to its environment, and those of life in relation to the race, namely, the organs of reproduction. deprived of arms and legs, man could still live; the limbs are nothing more than appendages at the service of the bust, in all animals; they serve to _transport_ the bust, that is, the part which constitutes the real living animal, which without the limbs would be as motionless as a vegetable, unable to go in pursuit of nourishment or to exercise sexual selection. the embryos of different animals, of a dog, a bat, a rabbit and of man (as may be seen in fig. ) show that the fundamental part of the body is the spinal column, which _limits_ and _includes_ the whole animal in the process of formation. if we next examine the embryonic development of man, as shown in fig. , we may easily see how the limbs develop, at first as almost insignificant appendages of the trunk, remaining hidden within the curve of the spinal column; and even in an advanced stage of development ( th week), they still remain quite accessory parts in their relation to the whole. having established these very obvious principles, we may ask ourselves: of two men of equal stature, which is physiologically the more efficient? evidently, that one of the two who has the shorter legs. in other words, it is of fundamental importance to determine the reciprocal relation, in the stature, between the bust and the lower limbs, that is, between the _height of the bust_ and the _total_ _height of the body_. [illustration: fig. .--gastrula of a sponge. external surface. internal section. (showing the inner and outer primary layers, and the mouth orifice.)] [illustration: fig. . dog. bat. rabbit. man. (from the work by e. haeckel: _anthropogeny_.)] [illustration: fig. . four skeletons of anthropoid apes. man.] the height of the bust was called by collignon the _essential_ _stature_, a name that indicates the biological significance of this measurement. it may, however, also be called the sitting stature, from the method of taking the measure, which equals the vertical distance from the level on which the individual is seated to the top of his head. the other is the total stature. [illustration: fig. . days, weeks, weeks, etc. (natural size).] accordingly, in anthropology we may define the physiological efficiency of a man by the relation existing between his two statures, the total and the essential. if we reduce the total stature (which for the sake of brevity we will call simply the _stature_) to a scale of , we find that the essential stature very slightly exceeds , oscillating between - ; yet it may fall to and even lower, or it may rise above . in such cases we have individuals of profoundly diverse types, whose diversity is essentially connected with the proportional differences between the several parts of their stature. hence, we may distinguish the _type of stature_; understanding by this, not a measure, but a _ratio between measures_, expressed by a number; that is, "_the type of stature is the name given to the ratio_ _between the essential stature and the total stature reduced to a scale_ _of _." the number resulting from this ratio, since it indicates the ratio itself, is called the _index of stature_ (see "technical lessons: on the manner of obtaining and calculating the indexes"). manouvrier has distinguished the type with short limbs and preponderant trunk, by the name of _brachyscelous_; and those of the opposite type, that is, with long legs, by the name of _macroscelous_; reserving the term _mesatiscelous_ to designate the intermediate type. these types differ not only in the reciprocal relation between the two statures, but in all the recognised _laws of the form_. the brachyscelous type has a circumference of chest in excess of half the stature, because the trunk is more greatly developed in all its dimensions; and the total weight of the body exceeds the normal proportion in relation to the stature. the contrary holds true of the macroscelous type; their trunk, being shorter, is also narrower, and the circumference of the chest can never equal one-half the stature, while the total weight of the body is below the normal. canons of form passing next to a consideration of the total spread of the arms, since there is an evident correspondence between the upper and lower limbs, it follows that in the brachyscelous type the total spread is less than the stature, while in the macroscelous it surpasses it to a greater or less degree, according to the grade of type; the two types consequently differ in the level reached by the wrist, when the arms are allowed to hang along the sides of the body. this is a very interesting fact to establish, since at one time it was held that excessive length of arm was an atavistic feature, in other words, an anthropoid reminder. to-day, since the old interpretation of the direct descent from species to species has been abandoned in the light of modern theories of biological evolution, we can no longer speak of _atavistic revivals_. it is true that the anthropoid apes, as may be seen in fig. , have extremely long forelimbs, and that man is characterised by the shortness of his arms, free to perform work and obedient instruments of his brain. but if it happens that certain individual men have excessively long arms, even if they should coincide with an inferior capacity for work and social adaptation, such a simple coincidence must not be interpreted by the laws of cause and effect. the modern theories of evolution tend to admit between the anthropoid apes and man, only a common origin from lower animals not yet fixed in a determined species. so that in phylogenesis men are not considered as the children or grandchildren of apes, but rather their brothers or cousins of a more or less distant degree; and their resemblance must be attributed to a parallel evolution. consequently, it is not possible to speak of _direct transmission_ of characters. therefore, we must interpret an excessive length of arm, or an excessive shortness, after the same fashion, namely, in its relation to the _type of stature_, or to the established _canons of the form_--in other words, as a detail of individual human types. let us sum up the three canons in the following table: --------------------------------------------------------------------- mesatisceles | brachysceles | macrosceles --------------------------------------------------------------------- st = ts | st > ts | st < ts | | ss = st/ | ss > st/ | ss < st/ | | ct = st/ | ct > st/ | ct < st/ | | w = k(st- m.) | w > k(st- m.) | w < k(st- m.) --------------------------------------------------------------------- from these measurements are derived certain types of _individuality_ which we may now describe in detail. the _brachyscelous type_ has an excess of bust, consequently a preponderance of _vegetative life_; the great development of the abdominal organs tends to make a person of this type a _hearty_ _eater_, a man addicted to all the pleasures of the table; his big heart, abundantly irrigating the body, keeps his complexion constantly highly coloured, if not plethoric. we can almost see this man of big paunch, corpulent, with an ample chest, fat, ruddy, coarse, and jolly; an excess of nutriment and of blood-supply are favourable to the ready accumulation of adipose tissue, and as the body constantly grows heavier it steadily becomes more difficult for the undersized legs to support it; so that inevitably this man will tend to become sedentary, and he will select a well-spread table as his favourite spot for lingering. whatever elements of the _ideal_ the world contains, will escape the attention of this type of man, who is far more ready to understand and engage in _commerce_, which leads by a practical way to the solution of the material problems of life. in the other _type_, on the contrary, the macroscelous, the organs of vegetative life are insufficient and the central nervous system is defective. such a man feels, even though unconsciously, that the abdominal organs are incapable of assimilating sufficient nutriment, and that his lungs, unable to take in the needed quantity of oxygen, render his breathing labourious. his small heart is inadequate for circulating the blood through the whole body, which consequently retains an habitual pallor; while the nervous system is in a constant state of excitation. we can almost see this man, so tall and thin that he seems to be walking on stilts, with pallid, hollow cheeks and narrow chest, suffering from lack of appetite and from melancholia; nervous, incapable of steady productive work and prone to dream over empty visions of poetry and art. the man of this type is quite likely to devote his entire life to a platonic love, or to conceive the idea of crowning an ideal love by committing suicide; and so long as he lives he will never succeed in escaping from the anxieties of a life that has been an economic failure. it is interesting to examine the types of stature from different points of view: such, for example, as the height of stature, the race, the sex, the age, the social conditions, the pathological deviations, etc. _the types of stature according to the height of the total stature._--there exists between the bust and the limbs a primary relation of a _mechanical_ nature, already well known, even before manouvrier directed the attention of anthropologists to the types of stature. when one individual is very tall and another is very short, the consequence of this fact alone is that the taller of the two has much longer limbs as compared with the shorter. this is because, according to the general laws of mechanics, the bust _grows less_ _than the limbs_ and is _subject to less variation_. but notwithstanding this general fact, other conditions intervene to determine the comparative relations between the two portions of the stature. indeed, manouvrier exhibits, within his own school, specimens of equal stature but of different types; and furthermore, he notes that the inhabitants of polynesia are of tall stature and have a long bust, while negroes, who are also of tall stature, have a short bust. _types of stature according to race._--among the characteristics of racial types, present-day anthropology has included the reciprocal proportions between the two statures. this means that the medium type in the different races is not always contained within the same limits of fluctuation in regard to stature: but some races are brachyscelous, others are macroscelous, and still again others are mesatiscelous. the most brachyscelous race is the mongolian, prevalent in the population of china; the most macroscelous is the australian type that once peopled tasmania. other races, as for example the negroid, while in a measure macroscelous, approach nearer to the mesatiscelous type, characteristic of the population of europe. let us examine the psycho-ethnic characters of these various peoples. the chinese are the founders of the most ancient of all oriental civilisations, and have established themselves in a vast empire, solid and stable in its proportions, as well as in the level of its civilisation. it would seem as though the chinese people, having accomplished the enormous effort of raising themselves to a determined civic level, were no longer capable of advancement. individually, they have a singularly developed spirit of discipline, and are the most enduring and faithful workers; it is well known that in america the chinese mongolian does not fear the competition of labourers of any other race, because no others can compete with him in parsimony, in simple living, and in unremitting toil. the tasmanians constituted a people that was considered as having the lowest grade of civilisation among all the races on earth. even english domination failed to adapt them to a more advanced environment, and their race was consequently scattered and destroyed. accordingly, we find associated with extreme macroscelia (tasmanians) an incapacity for civic evolution; and with the corresponding extreme of brachyscelia an insuperable limitation to civic progress. consequently, the triumph of man upon earth cannot bear a direct relation to the volume of the bust, or in other words, we cannot assume that the man most favourably endowed on the physiological side is the one who has the largest proportion of viscera. as a matter of fact, the conquering race, the race which has set no limit to the territory of its empire nor to the progress of its civilisation, is composed of white men, whose type of stature is mesatiscelous, that is to say, representative of _harmony_ between its parts. this conception will serve us in establishing a fundamental principle in morphological biology: namely, that perfectibility revolves around a centre, which represents a perfect equilibrium between the various parts constituting an organism. hence, in order to determine the deviations of the individual type, we must always start from those central data, which represent, as the case may be, normality or perfection. even among the populations of europe, and within the italian people themselves, fluctuations occur in the degree of mesatiscelia, approaching to a greater or less degree the eccentric forms of brachyscelia or macroscelia; and such fluctuations are an attribute of race. we should draw a distinction between a people and a race. the term race refers exclusively to a biological classification, and corresponds to the _zoological species_. on the other hand, we mean by a people a group of human individuals bound together by political ties. peoples are always made up of a more or less profound intermixture of races. it is well known that one of the most interesting and difficult problems of ethnology is that of tracing out the original types of races in peoples that represent an intermixture centuries old. without entering too deeply into this question, which lies outside of our present purpose, it will suffice to point out that in the people of italy it is possible to trace types of races differing from one another, yet so closely related as to render them apparently so similar that they might almost be regarded as a single race. now, in an anthropological study of mine on the young women of latium, i succeeded in tracing, within the confines of that region, different racial types that show corresponding differences in degrees of mesatiscelia. thus, for example, in castelli romani there exists in an almost pure state a dark-haired race, short of stature, slender, elegantly modelled in figure and in profile, and showing within the limits of mesatiscelia a brachyscelous tendency, in contrast with another race, tall, fair, massive, of coarse build, which within the limits of mesatiscelia shows a macroscelous tendency, and which is found in almost pure groups around the locality of orte, that is, on the boundaries of umbria. it is interesting to note the importance of researches in ethnological anthropology conducted in small centres of habitation. if it is still possible to trace out groups even approaching racial purity, they will be found only in localities offering little facility to emigration and to the consequent intermixture of races. the fact that we still find in castelli romani types so nearly pure, is due to the isolation of this region, which up to yesterday was still in such primitive and rare communication with the capital as to permit of the survival of brigandage. on the contrary, in localities that have attained a higher civic advancement, and in which the inhabitants are placed in favourable economic and intellectual conditions, the facilities of travel and emigration will very soon effect an alteration in the anthropological characters of the race. hence it would be impossible, in a cosmopolitan city like rome, to accomplish any useful studies of the sort that i accomplished in the district of latium, and which led me to conclude that in the small and slender race of castelli romani we may trace the descendants of the ancient conquerors of the world: descendants that belong to one variety of the great mediterranean race, to whom we owe the historic civilisations of egypt, greece and rome. it would seem that this race, disembarking on the coast of latium, must have driven back, among the apennines, the other race, blond and massive, whose pure-blooded descendants are still found in numerical prevalence at orte, an ancient mediæval town and a natural fortress from the remotest times, through its fortunate situation on the crown of a rocky height, that easily isolates it from the surrounding country (see the ancient history of the town of orte). accordingly, within the limits of mesatiscelia, it appears that the race which in early times won the victory was the more brachyscelous, _i.e._, the one which had the larger bust, and consequently the larger brain and vital organs. in other words, within the limits of normality, brachyscelia is a physiologically favourable condition. _variations of type of stature according to social conditions._--independently of race, and from such a radically different point of view as that of the _social condition_, or adaptation to environment, we may still distinguish brachyscelous and macroscelous types. brachysceles may readily be met with among the labouring classes, habituated from childhood to hard toil in a standing position, thus interfering with a free development of the long bones of the lower limbs; while the macroscelous type will be found among the aristocratic classes, whose members, spending much time sitting or reclining, give the long bones an opportunity to attain their growth (mechanical theories of stature). without stopping to discuss the suggested causes of such differentiation in types, we may nevertheless point out that the brachyscelous type is eminently useful to society, constituting, one may say, the principal source of economic production, while the macroscelous and unproductive type settles comfortably down upon the other like a parasite. but the progress of the world is not due to the labouring class, but to the men of intellect, among whom the prevailing type is the medium, harmonic type, with mesatiscelous stature. _types of stature in art._--the existence of these different individual types, which combine a definite relationship of the parts of stature with the complete image of a well-defined individuality, was long ago perceived by the eye, or rather by the delicate intuition of certain eminent artists. these immortalised their several ideals, investing now the one type and now the other with the genius of their art. thus, for example, rubens embodies in his flemish canvases the brachyscelous type, robust and jovial, and usually represents him as a man of mighty appetite revelling in the pleasures of the table. botticelli, on the contrary, has idealised the macroscelous type, in frail, diaphanous, almost superhuman forms, that seem, as they approach, to walk, shadow-like, upon the heads of flowers, without bending them beneath their feet and without leaving any trace of their passage. accordingly, these two great artists have admirably realised, not only the two opposite types of stature, but also the psychic and moral attributes that respectively belong to them. but it was not granted to these artists to achieve the supreme glory of representing perfect human beauty in unsurpassed and classic masterpieces. the art of greece alone succeeded in embodying in statues which posterity must admire but cannot duplicate, the medial, normal type of the perfect man. _variations of stature according to sex._--it is not always necessary to interpret the type of stature in the same sense. even from an exclusively biological standpoint, it may lend itself to profoundly different interpretations. thus, for example, the type of stature varies normally according to the sex. woman is more brachyscelous than man; but the degree of brachyscelia corresponds to a larger development of the lumbar segment of the spinal column, which corresponds to the functions of maternity. in fact all the various segments of the spinal column show different proportions in the two sexes. as we know, the spinal column consists of three parts; the cervical (corresponding to the neck), the thoracic (corresponding to the ribs), and the abdominal, including the os sacrum and the coccyx. now, manouvrier, reducing the height of the spinal column to a scale of , expresses the relations of these different parts in the two sexes as follows: ------------------------------------------------------- segments | men | women ------------------------------------------------------- cervical | . | . | | thoracic | . | . | | lumbar | . | . | | sacro-coccygeal | . | . ------------------------------------------------------------ in woman the thoracic segment is shorter and the abdominal is longer than in man; but the total sum in woman is relatively greater in proportion to the whole stature. in a case like this we have no right to speak of a morphological or psychosocial superiority of type; nor would a fact of this sort have any weight, for example, in establishing the anthropological superiority of woman. nevertheless, it may be asserted that, if the day comes when woman, having entered the ranks of social workers, shall prove that she is socially as useful as man, she will still be, in addition, the mother of the species, and for that reason preeminently the greater producer. now, it is beyond question that this indisputable superiority is in direct relation with the type of stature. but without insisting unduly on a point like this, we should note the connection between the brachyscelous type and the tendency shown by women to accumulate nutritive substances, adipose tissue; consequently, as compared with man, she is the more corpulent--as are all brachysceles as compared with macrosceles. _types of stature at different ages._--another factor that influences the types of stature is the _age_; or rather, that biological force which we call _growth_. growth is not an augmentation of volume, but an alteration in form; it constitutes the _ontogenetic_ evolution, the development of the individual. the child, as it grows, is transformed. if we compare the skeleton of a new-born child with that of an adult, we discover profound differences between the relative proportions of the different parts. the child's head is enormously larger than that of the adult in proportion to its stature; and similarly, the chest measure is notably greater in the child. if we wish to compare the fundamental measurements of the new-born infant with those of the adult, we get the following figures, on a basis of for the total stature: ------------------------------------------------------------------- | | adult | child at birth ------------------------------------------------------------------- total stature | essential stature | | | | | = | perimeter of thorax | | | | | | height of head | | ------------------------------------------------------------------- [illustration: fig. .] accordingly, the child has to acquire, in the course of its growth, not only the dimensions of the adult, but the harmony of his forms; that is, it must reach not only certain determined limits of dimension, but also a certain type of _beauty_. among the fundamental differences between the new-born child and the adult one of the first to be noted is the reciprocal difference of proportion between the two statures. the child is ultra-brachyscelous, that is, he presents a type of exaggerated brachyscelia, calling to mind the form of the human foetus, in which the limbs appear as little appendages of the trunk. in the course of growth, a successive alteration takes place between the reciprocal proportions of the two parts, so that the lower limbs, growing faster than the bust, tend to approach the total length of the latter. godin has noted that during the years before puberty the lower limbs acquire greater dimensions, as compared with the bust, than are found in the fully developed individual; in other words, at this period a rapid growth takes place in the long bones of the lower limbs, and accordingly at this period of his life the individual passes through a stage of the macroscelous type. immediately after puberty, there begins, in turn, an increase in the size of the bust, which regains its normal excess over the lower limbs, thus attaining the definite normal type of the adult individual. after the age of years, by which time these metamorphoses have been completed, the individual may increase in stature, but the proportions between the parts will remain unaltered. in fig. we have a graphic representation of the relative proportions between the height of the bust and the length of limbs at different ages, the total stature being in every case reduced to . the upper portion of the lines represents the bust, and the lower portion the limbs, while the transverse line corresponding to the number indicates one-half of the total stature. from such a table, it is easy to see how the bust, enormously in excess of the limbs at birth, gradually loses its preponderance. it was drawn up from the following figures calculated by me: types of stature according to age in years ---------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--- at birth | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ---------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ---------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--- godin furnishes the following figures, relating to the type of stature at the period preceding and following puberty: ratio of sitting stature to total stature reduced to scale of (godin) ------------------------------------------------------------- age | - / | | - / | | - / | | - / | | - / ------|------|----|------|----|------|----|------|----|------ ratio | | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------- hrdlicka has calculated the index of stature for a thousand white american children and a hundred coloured, of both sexes, and has obtained the following figures, some of which, based upon an adequate number of subjects, ( - years) are what were to be expected, while others, owing to the scarcity of subjects (under and above years) are far less satisfactory: proportion between the sitting stature and the total stature (american children) ----------------------------------------------------------------- age in| number of | males,|females,| number of | males, |females, years|subjects of| white | white |subjects of|coloured|coloured | each age | | | each age | | ------+-----------+-------+--------+-----------+--------+-------- | -- | -- | -- | | . | . | -- | -- | -- | | -- | . | | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | | . | -- | | . | . | -- | -- | -- ----------------------------------------------------------------- which goes to prove (in spite of the inaccuracies due to the numerical scarcity of coloured subjects of any age) that the females are more brachyscelous than the males; and that the blacks are more macroscelous than the whites. the above table of indices of stature was worked out by hrdlicka from the following measurements: sitting stature --------------------------------------------------- age in | males, | females, | males, | females, years | white | white | coloured | coloured -------+----------+----------+----------+---------- | -- | -- | | | -- | -- | -- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -- | | | -- | -- --------------------------------------------------- total stature --------------------------------------------------- age in | males, | females, | males, | females, years | white | white | coloured | coloured -------+----------+----------+----------+---------- | -- | -- | | | -- | -- | -- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -- | | -- | -- | -- | -- | | -- | -- --------------------------------------------------- the following chart, prepared by macdonald, on the growth of the total stature and the sitting stature of male white children, born in america, gives a very clear idea of the rhythm of each of the two statures. the sitting stature increases quite slowly, and its greatest rate of growth is immediately after puberty (from to years) (fig. ) [illustration: mac donald. fig. .] lastly, in order to make this phenomenon still more clear, i have reproduced an illustration given by stratz, consisting of a series of outlined bodies of children representing the proportions of the body at different stages of growth; and not only the proportions between the bust and the lower limbs, but also between the various component parts of the bust, as for instance the head and trunk. the transverse lines indicate the changes in the principal levels: the head, the mammary glands, and the bust (fig. ). [illustration: fig. .] the different types of stature at different ages deserve our most careful consideration, yet not from the point of view already set forth regarding the different types in the fully developed individual. in the present case for instance, we cannot say of a youth of sixteen that, because he is macroscelous he is a weakling as compared with a boy of ten who is brachyscelous; nor that a new-born child represents the maximum physical potentiality, because he is ultra-brachyscelous. our standards must be completely altered, when we come to consider the various types as stages of transition between two normal forms, representing the evolution from one to the other. at each age we observe not only different proportions between the two fundamental parts of the stature, but physiological characteristics as well, biological signs of predispositions to certain determined maladies, and psychological characteristics differing from one another, and each typical of a particular age. from the purely physical and morphological point of view, for example, a child from its birth up to its second year, the period of maximum brachyscelia and consequent visceral predominance, is essentially a _feeding_ animal. after this begins the development of psychic life, until finally, just before the attainment of full normal proportions, the function of reproduction is established, entailing certain definite characteristics upon the adult man or woman. in accordance with its type of stature, we see that the child from its birth to the end of the first year shows a maximum development of the adipose system together with a preponderance of the digestive organs; while the adolescent, in the period preceding puberty, shows in accordance with his macroscelous type of stature, and reduction in the relative proportion of his visceral organs, a characteristic loss of flesh. these evolutionary changes in the course of growth having been once established, it remains for us to consider the individual variations. the alterations observed at the various ages, or rather, the notable characteristics of each age, serve as so many fundamental charts of the normal average child; and we may consider each successive type of stature, from the new-born infant to the adult man, in the same light as we do the average type of the mature mesatiscelous type. in the case of the latter, we found that both above and below the medium stature, there were a host of individual types departing more or less widely from it, and tending toward brachyscelia on the one hand and toward macroscelia on the other, thus constituting the oscillations of type in the individual varieties. similarly, in the case of the medium type of each successive age we may find brachyscelous or macroscelous individuals whose complex personal characteristics may be compared to those already observed in the adult, and may be summed up as follows: that the macroscele is a weakling; and that the brachyscele may be, according to the degree of variation, either a robust individual or an individual that has been arrested in his morphological development, and retained the type of a younger age. _pedagogic considerations._--from the above conclusion, we may deduce certain principles that can be profitably applied to pedagogy, especially in regard to some of the methods suited to our guidance in the physical education of children. let us begin with the happy comparison drawn by manouvrier, who describes an imaginary duel with swords between a macroscelous and a brachyscelous type. the duel, according to social conventions, must take place under equal conditions: hence the seconds take rigorous care in measuring the ground, the length of the swords, and determine the number of paces permitted to the duelists. but since they have forgotten the anthropologic side, the conditions are not entirely equal: by having a longer arm, the macroscele is in the same position as though he had a longer sword; and because he has a greater development of the lower limbs, the established number of strides will take him over a greater space of ground than his adversary. consequently, the conditions as a matter of fact are so favourable to the macroscele, that is, to the weaker individual, that the latter has a greater chance of victory. the brachyscele might, to be sure, offset this by a different manoeuvre depending on his superior agility; but both he and the macroscele were trained in the same identical method, which takes into consideration only the external factor, the arms of defence, and the immutable laws of chivalry. well, something quite similar happens in the duel of life, which is waged in school and in the outside social environment. we ignore individual differences, and concern ourselves solely with the _means_ of education, considering that they are just, so long as they are equal for all. the fencing-master, if he had been an anthropologist, might have counteracted the probability that the stronger pupil would be beaten by the weaker, by advising the brachyscele always to choose a pistol in place of a sword, or by teaching him some manoeuvre entirely different from that which affords the macroscele a favourable preparation for fencing. and in the same way, it is the duty of the school-teacher to select the _arms_ best adapted to lead his pupil on to victory. that is, the teacher ought to make the anthropological study of the pupil precede his education; he should prepare him for whatever he is best adapted for, and should indicate to him the paths that are best for him to follow, in the struggle for existence. but, aside from general considerations, we may point out that something very similar to the above-mentioned duel takes place in school when, in the course of gymnastic exercises, we make the children march, arranging them according to their total height. we expect them to march evenly and walk, not run, yet we do not trouble to ask whether their legs are of equal length. when we wish to know which of our pupils is the swiftest runner, we start them all together, macrosceles and brachysceles alike, neglecting to measure their lower limbs, the weight of their bodies, the circumference of their chests. then we say "bravo!" to the macroscele, that is, the pupil who is most agile but at the same time the weakest, and we encourage him in a pride based upon a physiological inferiority. when we practise exercises of endurance, we find that certain children weary sooner, suffer from shortness of breath, and frequently drop out of the contest, in which the victory is reserved for others. the latter are the brachysceles, who have big lungs and a robust heart at their disposal. in this case we say "bravo!" to the brachysceles. then we try to arouse a noble rivalry between the two types, encouraging emulation, and holding up before the brachyscele the example of the macroscele's agility, and before the macroscele the example of the brachyscele's endurance--and perhaps we reward the two types with different medals. such decisions by the teacher evidently have no such foundation in justice as he supposes; the diverse abilities of the two types of children are associated with the constitution of their organisms. a modern teacher ought instead to subject the brachyscelous child to exercises adapted to develop his length of limb, and the macroscelous to gymnastics that will increase the development of his chest; and he will abstain from all praise, reward, exhortation and emulation, that have for their sole basis the pupil's complete anthropological inefficiency. "_the judgment passed by the teacher in assigning rewards and_ _punishments is often an unconscious diagnosis of the child's_ _anthropological personality._" similar unconscious judgments are exceedingly widespread. manouvrier gives a brilliant exposition of them in the course of his general considerations regarding the macroscelous and brachyscelous types. a brachyscelous ballet-dancer, all grace and endurance in her dancing, thanks to the strength of her lungs, can never be imitated in her movements by a macroscelous, angular woman, with legs ungracefully long. the latter, on the contrary, wrapped in a mantle, may become the incarnation of a stately matron, extending her long arms in majestic gestures. yet it often happens that the stately actress envies and seeks to imitate the grace of the dancer, while the latter envies and emulates the grave dignity of the actress. in any private drawing-room the same thing occurs, in the shape of different advantages distributed among persons of different types. _there are some gestures that are inimitable because they_ _are associated with a certain anthropologic personality._ every one in the world ought to do the things for which he is specially adapted. it is the part of wisdom to recognise what each one of us is best fitted for, and it is the part of education to _perfect_ and _utilise_ such predispositions. because education can _direct_ and _aid_ nature, but can never transform her. manouvrier is constantly observing how the macroscelous and brachyscelous types are adapted to _different kinds_ of social labour; thus, for example, the macroscele will make an excellent reaper, because of the wide sweep of his arms, and he is well adapted to be a tiller of the soil; while the brachyscele, on the contrary, will succeed admirably in employment that requires continuous and energetic effort, such as lifting weights, hammering on an anvil, or tending the work of a machine. in the social evolution now taking place, the services of the macrosceles are steadily becoming less necessary; intensive modern labour requires the short, robust arm of the brachyscele. such considerations ought not to escape the notice of the teacher, who sees in the boy the future man. he has the high mission of preparing the duelists of life for victory, by now correcting and again aiding the nature of each. and the first point of departure is undoubtedly to learn to know, in each case _le physique du role_. abnormal types of stature and general principles of biological ethics abnormal types of stature in their relation to moral training.--macroscelia and brachyscelia in pathologic individuals (de giovanni's hyposthenic and hypersthenic types).--types of stature in emotional criminals and in parasites.--extreme types of stature among the extra-social classes: nanism and gigantism. let us start from a picture traced in the course of the preceding lessons; the types of stature as related to race. the chinese, being brachyscelous, ought to be hearty eaters; instead, they are the most sparing people on earth. such parsimony, equally with religion and social morality, may be considered as a racial obligation. the whole life of the chinese is founded upon duty: fidelity to religion, to the laws, to the spirit of discipline, to the spirit of _sacrifice_, which always finds the chinese citizen ready to die for his ethics and for his country, are strong characteristics of these invincible men. their whole education rests solely upon a _mnemonic_ basis; and their laws, which are highly democratic, make it possible for anyone to rise to the highest circles, provided he can pass the competitive examinations. in other words, the laws aid in the _natural_ selection of the really strong, and regard favouritism as a crime against the state. on such individual and national virtues is founded the survival of the race and of the massive empire. if to-morrow the chinese should renounce his creed, become a _glutton_, a pleasure-seeker, and follow the instincts of nature, he would be advancing in mighty strides on the path that leads to death. accordingly, what we call _virtue_ may have a biologic basis, and represent the _active force_ that tends to correct the defects of nature. we can conceive of a _type_ of man, whose _life_ is associated with sacrifice; and whose path of evolution is necessarily limited, first because his personality is imperfect, secondly because a part of his individual energy is necessarily expended in _conquering_, or if you prefer, in _correcting_ his own nature. evolution ought to be free; but instead, such a type is necessarily in bondage to _duty_, which stops its progress. accordingly, the civilisation of china remains the civilisation of china; it cannot invade the world. the european on the contrary has no such racial virtues; whatever virtues he has are associated with transitory forms of civilisation, and are ready to succeed one another on the pathway of unlimited progress. the race can permit itself the luxury of not being virtuous on its own account; its biological conditions are so perfect, that they have reached the _fullness of life_. if virtue is the goal of the chinese, happiness is the goal of the european. the _race_ may indulge freely in the joys of living; and dedicate its efforts solely to the _unlimited progress of social civilisation_, and to the conquest of the entire earth. the tasmanian, on the other hand, sparing by nature, lacking sufficient development of the organs of vegetative life, avoids every form of civilisation, and precipitates himself, an unconscious victim, upon the road to death. his natural parsimony, the scantiness of his needs, have prevented him from ever feeling that _spur_ toward struggle and conquest which has its basis in the necessities of life. neither virtue, nor felicity, nor civilisation, nor survival were possible to that race, whose extermination began with the first contact with european civilisation. hence we may draw up a table that will serve to make clear certain fundamental ideas that may prove useful guides along our pedagogic path: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- biological types | brachysceles | mesatisceles | macrosceles ------------------+---------------+-----------------+----------------- races and peoples | chinese. | europeans. | tasmanians. civilisation | stable | changeable | outside the | civilisation,| civilisation, | pale of | but limited. | with unlimited | civilisation. | | powers of | | | evolution. | psycho-moral types| high ideal of | happiness. | insensibility. | virtue and | | | sacrifice. | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- we ought to strive for the supreme result of producing men who will be _happy_; always keeping clearly before us the idea that the happy man is the one who may be spared the effort of thinking of himself, and dedicate _all_ his energies to the unlimited progress of human society. the preoccupation of _virtue_, the _voluntary_ _sacrifice_ are in any case forces turned back upon themselves, that expend upon the individual energies that are lost to the world at large; nevertheless, such _standards of virtue_ are necessary for certain inferior types. there exist, besides, certain individuals in rebellion against society, outcasts whose lives depend upon the succor of the strong, or may be destroyed by their adverse intervention, but in any case have ceased to depend upon the will of the individuals themselves. between two inferior types the one with the better chances is the one with the larger chest development; apparently, in the case of biological deviations, _melius est abundare quam deficere_. accordingly, let us draw up a chart. human perfectionment tends toward _harmony_. if we wish to represent this by some symbolic or intuitive sign, we could not do so by a mere line; because perfection is not reached by the quantitative increase of favourable parts; robustness, for instance, cannot be indefinitely increased by augmenting the degree of brachyscelia; nor can intelligence be increased by augmenting the volume of the head; but perfection is approached, in the race and in the individual, through a _central harmony_. it is accordingly in the direction of this centre that progress is made; and whoever departs furthest from this centre, departs furthest from perfection, becomes more eccentric, more untypical, and at the same time also loses the psycho-moral potentiality to attain the highest civic perfection. in fig. , we have a graphic representation in three concentric circles. [illustration: fig. ] let us begin by considering the middle circle, that of the abnormals. here we have inscribed, as psycho-moral and physio-pathological traits, abstemiousness, _anti-social tendency,_ _predisposition to disease_. abstemiousness represents a _corrective_, without which the individual tends toward an anti-social line of action and contracts diseases. abstemiousness is present within the circle of abnormal human beings, as a more or less attainable ideal; but it must be regarded as the pedagogic goal, when the problem arises of educating an untypical class of individuals. in other words, there are certain abnormal individuals who, if they are not to turn out criminals, must exercise a _violent corrective_ _influence over their psycho-physical personality_, and they must be trained to do so; for it is an influence unknown to the normal man, who not only has no inclination to commit a crime, but recoils from doing so, and on the contrary may arise to degrees of moral perfection that are inconceivable to the abnormal man. consequently, in order to maintain a relatively healthy condition, certain abnormal individuals are constrained to submit themselves to a _severe hygienic régime throughout their entire life_; a régime useless to the normal man, who indulges naturally in all the pleasures which are consistent with the full measure of physical health, and which remain forever unknown, and unattainable, to the abnormal individual organically predisposed to disease. such self-restraint we may call the _culte of virtue_, a necessity only to certain categories of men; and we may also call it the _virtue of inferior individuals_. it applies and is limited almost wholly to the individual. meanwhile, there is the normal man's high standard of virtue, which is an indefinite progress toward moral perfection; but the path it follows lies wholly in the direction of society collectively, or toward the biological perfectionment of the species. in life's attainment of such a triumph, man both feels and is _happy_ rather than virtuous. the separation between the circles, or rather between the different categories of individuals, the normal and the abnormal, is not clear-cut. there always exist certain imperceptibly transitional forms, between normality and abnormality; and furthermore, since no one of us is ideally normal, no one who is not abnormal in _some one thing_, it follows that this "some one thing" must be corrected by the humbling practice of self-discipline. at the same time it is rare for a man to be abnormal in all parts of his personality; in such a case he would be outside the social pale, a monstrosity; the high, collective virtues can, therefore, even if in a limited degree, illuminate the moral life of the abnormals. st. paul felt that it "is hard to kick against the pricks"; and the _picciotto_ of the camorra feels that he is obeying a society that protects the weak. it is a question of _degree_. but such a conception must lead to a separation in _school_ and in method of education, for the two categories of individuals. abnormal types according to de giovanni's theory certain very important pathological types have been distinguished and established in italy by de giovanni, the paduan clinical professor who introduced the anthropological method into clinical practice. through his interesting studies, he has to-day fortunately revived the ancient theory of temperaments, explaining them on a basis of physio-pathological anthropology. de giovanni distinguishes two _fundamental types_; the one _hyposthenic_ (weak), the other _hypersthenic_ (over-excitable); these two types obey the following rules: morphologically considered, the hyposthenic type has a total spread of arms greater than the total stature and a chest circumference of less than half the stature: these data alone are enough to tell us that the type in question is _macroscelous_; as a matter of fact, the chest is narrow and the abdomen narrower still. de giovanni says that, owing to the scant pulmonary and abdominal capacity the organs of vegetative life are inadequate; the heart is too small and unequal to its function of general irrigator of the organism; the circulation is consequently sluggish, as shown by the bluish network of veins, indicating some obstacle to the flow of blood. the type is predominantly lymphatic, the muscles flaccid, with a tendency to develop fatty tissues, but very little muscular fibre; there is a predisposition to bronchial catarrh, but above all to pulmonary tuberculosis. this _hyposthenic type_, which corresponds to the _lymphatic temperament_ of greek medicine, is in reality a macroscelous type somewhat exceeding normal limits and therefore physiologically inefficient and feeble. the following is de giovanni's description: _morphologically._--deficient chest capacity, deficient abdominal capacity, disproportionate and excessive development of the limbs; insufficient muscularity. _physiologically._--insufficient _respiration_, and consequent scanty supply of oxygen (a form of chronic asphyxia of internal origin), insufficient _circulation_, because the small heart sends the blood through the arteries at too low a pressure; and this blood, insufficiently oxygenated, fails to furnish the tissues with their normal interchange of matter, and therefore the assimilative functions in general all suffer; finally, the venous blood is under an excessive pressure in the veins, the return flow to the heart is rendered difficult and there results a tendency to venous hyperemia (congestion of the veins), even in the internal organs. this is accompanied by what de giovanni calls _nervous erethism_ (in contradistinction to _torpor_), which amounts to an abnormal state of the central nervous system, causing predisposition to insanity and to various forms of neurasthenia (rapid exhaustion, irritability). this type is especially predisposed to maladies of the respiratory system, subject to bronchial catarrh recurring annually, liable to attacks of bronchitis, pleurisy, and pneumonia, and easily falls victim to _pulmonary tuberculosis_. here are a few cases recorded by de giovanni.[ ] (it must be borne in mind that the total spread of the arms, _ts_, ought to equal the total stature, _st_. the measurements are given in centimetres.) f. m.--_st_ ; _ts_ .--extremely frail; frequent attacks of hemorrhage of the nose; habitually pale and thin. certain disproportions of the skeleton, hands and feet greatly enlarged; extreme development of the subcutaneous veins. _pulmonary tuberculosis_. a. m.--_st_ ; _ts_ .--nervous erethism; from the age of twelve subject to laryngo-bronchial catarrh; every slight illness accompanied by fever; habitually thin. _pulmonary_ _tuberculosis_. f. m.--_st_ ; _ts_ ; _ct_ .--lymphatic, torpid, almost chronic bloating of the abdomen. enlargement of the glands; scars from chilblains on hands and feet. _primary tuberculosis of_ _the glands, secondary tuberculosis of the lungs._ a. m.--_st_ ; _ts_ .--extreme emaciation, heart singularly small. _chronic bronchial catarrh._ if it is important for us, as educators, to be acquainted with this type in the adult state, it ought to interest us far more during its _ontogenesis_, that is, during the course of its individual evolution. since, in the process of growth, man passes through different _stages_, due to alteration in the relative proportions of the different organs and parts, it follows that this hyposthenic type correspondingly alters its _predisposition to disease_. its final state, manifested by various defects of development, gave unmistakable forewarnings at every period of growth. in early infancy symptoms of rickets presented themselves, and then disappeared, like an unfulfilled threat: dentition was tardy or irregular; the head was large and with persistent nodules. this class, as a type, is weak, sickly, easily attacked by infectious diseases, tracoma, purulent otitis. when the first period of growth is passed, _glandular_ symptoms begin, with liability to sluggishness of the lymphatic glands (scrofula) or persistent swelling of the lymphatic ganglia of the neck. this is supplemented by bronchial catarrh, recurring year after year; finally intestinal catarrh follows, accompanied in most cases by loss of appetite. such conditions are influenced very slightly or not at all by medical treatment. during the period of _puberty_, _cardiopalmus_ (palpitation of the heart) is very likely to occur, often accompanied by frequent and abundant epistasis, or by the occurrence of slight fever in the evening, and by blood-stained expectorations, suggestive of tuberculosis. the patient is pale (oligohæmic), very thin, and shoots up rapidly (preponderant growth of the limbs); he is subject to _muscular asthenia_ (weakness, exhaustibility of the muscles) and to various forms of nervous excitability. these symptoms also (some of them so serious as to arouse fears, at one time of rickets and at another of tuberculosis), are all of them quite beyond the reach of medical treatment (tonics, etc.). now, a fact of the highest importance, discovered by de giovanni, is that of _spontaneous corrections_, that is, the development of _compensations_ within the organism, suited to mitigate the anomalous conditions of this type, and hence the _possibility of_ _an artificial intervention_ capable of calling forth such compensations. such intervention cannot be other then _pedagogic_; and it should consist in a rational system of gymnastics, designed in one case to develop the heart, in another the chest, in another to modify the intestinal functions or to stimulate the material renewal of the body; while every form of overexertion must be rigorously avoided. "i think that we should regard as an error not without consequences what may be seen any day in the gymnasiums of the public schools, where pupils differing in bodily aptitude, and with different gymnastic capacity and different needs are with little discernment subjected to the same identical exercises, for the same length of time. "and day by day we see the results: there are some children who rebel outright against the required exercise which they fear and from which they cannot hope to profit, because it demands an effort beyond their strength. some have even been greatly harmed; so that one after another they abandon these bodily exercises, which if they had been more wisely directed would assuredly have bettered their lot. [illustration: fig. . fig. . brachyscelous type (from viola).] [illustration: fig. . fig. . macroscelous type (from viola).] "experience also teaches that one pupil may be adapted to one kind of exercise and another to another kind. accordingly a really physiological system of gymnastics requires that _those_ _movements and those exercises which are least easily performed should_ _be practised according to special methods, until they have strengthened_ _the less developed functions_, without ever causing illness or producing harmful reactions.[ ]" so that the final results are an improvement in the morphological proportions of the organism, and consequently a correction and improvement in the relative liability to disease. the other fundamental pathological type described by de giovanni is the _hypersthenic_ (second morphological combination), corresponding in part to the _sanguine_ temperament of greek medicine, and in part to the _bilious_ temperament. in this type the total spread of the arms is generally less than the stature, and the perimeter of the chest notably exceeds one-half the stature. consequently we are dealing with the _brachyscelous_ type. this type has a greatly developed thorax, a _large heart_, an excessive development of the intestines; hence he is a hearty eater, subject to an over-abundance of blood; he is over-nourished, the ruddy skin reveals an abundant circulation, there is an excess of adipose tissue and a good development of the striped muscles. such a constitution accompanies an _excitable_, _impulsive_, _violent_ disposition, and conduces to diseases of the heart. "this type is characterised in general by robustness and a liability to disorders of the central circulatory system."[ ] but there are still other forms of disease that await the individuals of this class, such for example as disorders affecting the interchange of organic matter (diabetes, gout, polysarcia = obesity) and attacks of an apoplectic nature. in the case of acute illness individuals of this class suffer from excess of blood and may be relieved by being bled. they are readily liable to bloody excretions. here are a few cases illustrating this _morphological combination_, which is characterised by an exorbitant chest development (it must be borne in mind that the circumference of the thorax, _ct_, should equal one-half the stature, _st_). p. a.--_st_ ; _ct_ .--endocarditis; insufficient heart-action. z. c.--_st_ ; _ct_ .--cerebral hyperemia of an apoplectic nature. hypertrophy of the left ventricle of the heart. _polysarcous_ (gluttonous) _eater_. b. g--_st_ ; _ct_ .--diabetic, obese, subject to diabetic ischialgia (neuralgia), frequent recurrence of gravel in the urine. _tendency to excesses of the table._ d. g.--_st_ ; _ct_ .--polysarcia, the first symptoms of which appeared in early youth. at the age of sixteen, suffered from all the discomforts of obesity. shows atheroma (fatty degeneration) of the aorta, irregular heart-action, hypertrophy and enlargement of the heart. in this brachyscelous type it may happen either that the whole trunk (that is, both the thoracic and abdominal cavities) is in excess, or else that the excessive development is confined to the abdomen. this latter case is very frequent, and may easily be found even in early childhood. such children are hearty eaters, are very active and, for this reason, the pride and joy of their parents. nevertheless, there are many signs that should give warning of constitutional defects; constant digestive disturbances (diarrhoea), frequent headaches, pains in the joints, apparently of a rheumatic character, tendency to pains in the liver which is excessively enlarged; excess of adipose tissue; a tendency to fall ill very easily, of maladies that are almost always happily overcome (but the truly robust person is not the one who recovers from illness, but the one who _does not become ill_), and finally an excessively lively disposition, irritability and above all, _impulsiveness_. such individuals ought, like the macrosceles, to live under the necessary and perpetual tyranny of a hygienic régime, adapted to correct or to diminish the morbid predispositions associated with the organism. a special dietetic, a regular hydrotherapic treatment, a moderate gymnastic exercise designed to _direct_ the child's motive powers, and thus to prepare the _man_ for that form of existence to which it is necessary for him to subject himself, if he does not wish to shorten his own life, or at least his period of activity--all these things are so many duties which the _school_ ought in great part to assume. in this way we have briefly considered the _abnormal_ types of brachyscelia and macroscelia, which by their very constitution are _predisposed_ to incur special and characteristic forms of disease, which may be avoided only by subjecting the organism to a special hygienic regimen. _men cannot all live according to the same rules._ types of stature in criminals in these latter times, some very recent researches have been made by applying de giovanni's method to the anthropological study of criminals, especially through the labours of dr. boxich. he has found that the great majority of parasitic criminals, thieves for example, are macrosceles. they exhibit the stigmata already revealed by lombroso: great length of the upper limbs, with elongated hands; furthermore, a narrow chest and a small heart, insufficient for its vital function; such individuals are singularly predisposed to pulmonary tuberculosis, and hence in their physical constitution they are already stamped as organisms of inferior biological value--having little endurance and almost no ability as producers--consequently they are forced to live as they can, that is like parasites, profiting by the work of others. on the contrary, the great majority of criminals of a violent character present the brachyscelous type: the thorax is greatly developed, the heart hypertrophic, the arterial circulation superabundant. this class of criminals, including a large proportion of murderers, have a special tendency to _act from impulse_, corresponding to their large heart which sends an excess of blood pulsing violently to the brain, obscuring the psychic functions; or, in the speech of the people, such a man has "lost his reason," "the light goes from the eyes when the blood goes to the brain." here are some notes regarding these two different types: we will select as measures of comparison the stature and the weight, bearing in mind that in the macrosceles the weight is scanty and that the opposite is true of the brachysceles, while normally there ought to be a pretty close correspondence between the weight in kilograms and the centimetres of stature over and above one metre. types of non-violent criminals (_parasites_) case no. .--_st._ ; _wt._ . farm steward, three years' sentence for theft. pallid complexion, visible veins, scant muscles. heart small and weak, pulse feeble and slow. case no. .--_st._ ; _wt._ . baker, comfortable financial circumstances, has received a number of sentences for theft, amounting altogether to ten years. is twenty-four years of age. cyanosis of the extremities (bluish tinge, due to excessive venous circulation). cardiac action feeble. scant muscles. case no. .--_st._ ; _wt._ . peasant. straitened circumstances. four years' sentence for theft. rejected by the army board for defective chest measurement. dark complexion. extensive acne. scant muscles. bronchial catarrh. has had hemoptysis (spitting of blood). cardiac action weak. pulse very feeble. case no. .--_st._ ; _wt._ . book-binder. prosperous circumstances. four years' sentence or thereabouts, for theft; age, twenty-four. conjunctivitis and blepharitis from early childhood. frontal and parietal nodules prominent. muscles scant; cardiac action weak; lymphatic glands of the neck enlarged. the following is an example of the typical thief:[ ] _st._ ; _wt._ .--exceedingly small heart, feeble cardiac action. suffers from chronic bronchial catarrh. cranial nodules very prominent. began as a small child to steal in his own home, and since then has received sentence after sentence for theft, up to his present age of twenty-nine. types of violent criminals (_assault_, _mayhem_, _homicide_) case no. .--_st._ ; _wt._ . peasant. good financial circumstances. condemned to thirty years in prison for homicide. well-developed muscles. blood vessels congested. strong heart action; the pulsation extends as far down as the epigastrium. ample pulse. case no. .--_st._ ; _wt._ . shoemaker. bad financial circumstances. condemned to fifteen years' imprisonment for homicide, after having been previously convicted three times for theft. the chest circumference exceeds one-half the stature by centimetres. subject to frequent pains in the head. good muscles. corpulent. full pulse. (it should be noticed that the florid complexion, accompanying this type of stature, persists in spite of straitened circumstances!) case no. .--_st._ ; _wt._ . turner in iron. comfortable circumstances. sentenced to thirty years in prison after one previous conviction for criminal assault. ruddy complexion. veins not visible. abdomen very prominent. gastrectasia (dilation of the stomach). entire cardiac region protuberant. laboured breathing. cardiac action abundant. hence we perceive, in the etiology of crime, the importance of the organic factor, connected directly with the lack of harmony in the viscera and their functions, and consequently accompanied by special morbid predispositions. as a result of this line of research, criminality and pathology are coming to be studied more and more in conjunction. for that matter, it was already observed by lombroso that in addition to the various external malformations found in criminals, there were also certain anomalies of the internal organs, and a widespread and varied predisposition to disease. in short, his statistics reveal a prevalence of cardiac maladies and of tuberculosis in criminals, as well as a great frequency of diseases of the liver and the intestines. extreme or infantile types, nanism and gigantism, extra-social types whenever the disproportion between the bust and the limbs surpasses the extreme normal limits, the whole individual reveals a complex departure from type. thus, for example, in connection with extreme _brachyscelia_, there exists a characteristic form of nanism (dwarfishness), called _achondroplastic nanism_, in which, although the bust is developed very nearly within normal limits, the limbs on the contrary are arrested in their growth so as to remain permanently nothing more than _little appendages_ of the trunk. this calls to mind the foetal form of the new-born child, and the resulting type, because of this morphological coincidence, is classed among the infantile types. achondroplastic nanism is associated with a _pathological_ deformity due to foetal rickets. it is not only the child after birth, but the foetus also which, during its intrauterine life, may be subject to diseases. rickets (always a localised disease, usually attacking some part of the skeleton) in this case fastens upon the enchondral cartilages of the long bones. as we know, the long bones are composed of a body or _diaphysis_ and of extremities or articular heads, the _epiphyses_. now, these different parts, which form in the adult a continuous whole, remain separate throughout the foetal and the immediate post-natal period: so that the heads of the humerus and the femur, for example, in the case of the new-born child, are found to be joined to the _diaphysis_ by cartilages (destined to ossify later on), which are the chief seat of growth of the bones in the direction of length. well, in these cases of pre-natal rickets, the union of the bony segments takes place prematurely, and since the bones can hardly grow at all in length, they develop in thickness, and the result is that the limbs remain very short and stocky. meanwhile the bust, the bones of which have in no way lost their power of growth, develops normally. now, these dwarfs, who have abundant intelligence, because they have the essential parts of stature in their favour, constituted the famous jesters of the mediæval courts, whose misfortune served to solace the leisure hours of royalty. paolo veronese went so far as to introduce a dwarf buffoon, of the achondroplastic type, into his famous painting, _the wedding at cana_. conversely, in connection with an exaggerated _macroscelia_, we have gigantism. ordinarily, a giant has a bust that is not greatly in excess of normal dimensions. the limbs, on the contrary, depart extremely from the normal limits, in an exaggerated growth in the direction of length: so much so that the bodies of giants present the appearance of small busts moving around on stilts. nevertheless, many different forms of gigantism occur. the pathology of this phenomenon is quite complex; but we can not concern ourselves with it here. it is a scientific problem of no immediate utility to our pedagogic problems. dwarfs and giants, whatever their type and their pathological etiology, constitute extra-social individuals, who have been at all times excluded from any possibility of adaptation to useful labour, and employed, whether in the middle ages or in the twentieth century, to a greater or less extent as a source of amusement to normal beings, because of their grotesque appearance, either at court or in the theatres, or in moving pictures, or (in the case of giants) as figures suited to adorn princely or imperial gateways. these individuals are as completely independent of the social conditions of the environment in which they were born as if they were extraneous to humanity. in relation to the species, they are _sterile_. from the biological side, a consideration of these types serves merely as an illustration of an important law: _the essential part_ _of the organism_ (the vertebral column) is _less variable_ than the accessory parts (the limbs). summary of the types of stature according to the relative development of bust and limbs we have distinguished three types, the macrosceles, the brachysceles and the mesatisceles, within their respective limits of oscillation. since the type of stature gives us a proportion between the different parts of an individual, it constitutes a fundamental criterion for a morphological judgment of the personality. that is, it leads to a diagnosis of the individual constitution, with which are associated not only the "character" but also certain predispositions to disease. a knowledge of these _types_ shows us the necessity we educators are under of taking into consideration the individual pupils, each of whom may have separate needs, tendencies and forms of development; and of demanding separate _schools_, in which even the _methods_ _of moral education_ must differ. because men are not only not all adapted to the same forms of work, but they are not even all adapted to the same standards of _morality_. and since it is our duty to assume the task of aiding the _biological development_ and the _social adaptation_ of the new generations, it will also be part of our task to _correct_ defective organisms, and at the same time to correct the types of mental and moral inferiority. in the following chart we may summarise the points of view from which we have studied the types of stature: synoptic chart types of { macrosceles {long legs, short bust. stature { brachysceles {short legs, long bust. { { / mongols (brachysceles). { { { tasmanians (macrosceles). { { { dark mediterranean race { { { (mesatisceles tending { { race { toward brachyscelia). variations in { { { blond race (mesatisceles types of { normal { { tending toward macroscelia). stature { { / woman more brachyscelous. { { sex \ man more macroscelous. { { { childhood brachyscelous. { { age { old age macroscelous. { / de giovanni's { macrosceles { { hyposthenic { predisposed to { pathologically{ types { tuberculosis. { abnormal. { de giovanni's { brachysceles predisposed variations in { { hypersthenic { predisposed to types of { { types. { diseases of stature { { { the heart. { criminals. / macrosceles......parasites. { \ brachysceles.....violent. { infantile / achondroplastic nanism. { types \ gigantism. summary of the scientific principles illustrated in the course of our discussion _biological laws._--_a._ growth is not only an augmentation in volume, but also an evolution in form. _b._ the more essential parts vary less than the accessory parts in the course of their transformations. _the index._--the index is the mathematical relation between the measurements belonging to the same individual, and as such it gives us an idea of the _form_; since the form is determined by the relations between the various parts constituting the whole. the stature while the figure and the type of stature tend to delineate the _individual_ considered by himself, the different measurements considered separately may guide us in our study of individuals in their relation to the race and the environment. among the measurements of the _form_, we will limit ourselves to a study of the _stature_ and the _weight_, which serve to give us respectively the linear index of development and the volumetric estimate of the body taken as a whole. we shall reserve the study of the other measurements, such as the total spread of the arms and the perimeter of the thorax, until we come to the analytical investigation of the separate parts of the body (limbs, thorax). the _stature_ is expressed by a _linear measure_ determined by the distance intervening in a vertical direction between the plane on which the individual is standing in an erect position and the top of his head. it follows that the _stature_ is a measurement determined by the _erect position_; on the other hand, when a man is in a recumbent position, what we could determine would be the _length_ of body, which is not identical with the stature. in fact, a man on foot, resting his weight upon articulations that are elastic, and therefore compressible, is a little shorter than when he is recumbent. if we examine the skeleton (see fig. ), we discover that the single synthetic measure that constitutes the stature results from a sum of parts that differ greatly from one another. to be specific, it is composed of the long and short bones of the lower limbs; of flat bones, such as the pelvis and the skull; of little spongy bones, such as the vertebræ; all of which bones and parts obey different laws in the course of their growth. furthermore, intervening between these various bones are _soft_, elastic parts, known as the articulations, which, starting from below, succeed each other in the following order: . _calcaneo-astragaloid_, between the _calcaneus_ and the superimposed _astragalus_. . _tibio-astragaloid_, between the _astragalus_ and the superimposed _tibia_. . of the _knee_, between the _tibia_ and the _femur_. . of the _hip_, between the _femur_ and the _os innominatum_. . _sacro-iliac_, between the _os iliacum_ and the _sacrum_. . _sacro-vertebral_, between the _sacrum_ and the _last lumbar vertebra_. . of the _vertebræ_, consisting of intervertebral disks, that is to say interposed between the vertebræ, which include the following: _ lumbar,_ _ thoracic, cervical_. . _occipito-atloid_, between the first cervical vertebra, called the _atlas_ and the _os occipitale_ of the cranium. accordingly, there are _thirty_ articulations in all; and of these, are the intervertebral disks, which constitute, taken together, a fourth part of the complex height of the vertebral column. furthermore, the height of the body cannot be considered simply the _sum_ of the component parts, since these are not superimposed in a straight line. as a matter of fact, if we examine the vertebral column, we see that it is not straight as in the case of animals, but exhibits certain curves that are characteristic of the _human species_, and must be taken into consideration in their relation to the _erect position_. in fact, the vertebral column presents two curvatures, the one _lumbar_, and the other _cervical_, which together give it the form of an s. these curvatures are _acquired_ along with the _erect position_, and are not innate; one of the points of difference between the skeleton of the new-born child and that of the adult is precisely this, that the former has a _straight_ vertebral column. a fact of no small importance to note, since in the _course of_ _growth_ a certain _determined_ form of normal curve, and no other, ought to establish itself; otherwise, _abnormal deviations_ in the vertebral column will become established. and for the very reason that it is _plastic_ and _destined_ to assume a _curve_, the vertebral column may very easily be forced into exaggerating or departing from its morphological destiny. in such a case, the resulting stature would be _inferior_ to what it should normally have been. accordingly, the stature is the resultant of the sum of _anatomical_ _parts_ and of _morphological conditions_. hence it is a _linear index_ not only of _biological man_, that is, of man considered in relation to his racial limitations; but also of social man, that is, of man as he has developed in the struggle for adaptation to his environment. _the limits of stature, according to race._ stature is an anthropological datum of great _biological_ value, since it is a definite _racial_ characteristic and is preserved from generation to generation by _heredity_. the first distinguishing trait of a race is the height of the body in its natural erect position. it is also the first characteristic that strikes us when a stranger comes toward us for the first time. and that is why we make it the leading descriptive trait: a person of tall, or of low stature. if, for a moment, we should picture to ourselves the legend of noah's ark--quite incredible, because emigration and embarkation of all the known species would have required more than a century of time (it is enough merely to think of the embarkation of the tortoises and the sloths!), and the necessity of an ark as big as a nation, what must inevitably have struck noah and his sons would have been the _stature_ of the individuals belonging to each separate species. the _stature_ is the linear index of the limit of mass. among the human races the variations in stature are included between fairly wide oscillations: coming down to facts, the average stature of the akkas is . m. ( ft. - / in.) for the males; and that of the scotchmen of galloway is . m. ( ft. - / in.). accordingly between the average heights of the two races that are considered as the _extremes_, there is a difference of cm. ( - / in.); but since the averages are obtained from a complex mass of normal measurements, some of which are _above_ and others necessarily _below_ the average itself, we may assert that the "_normal human individuals_" may differ in stature to an extent of more than half a metre; the oscillations of normal individuals on each side of the racial average being estimated at about cm. ( . in.). if we should see a little akka ft. in. ( . m.) in height alongside of a scotchman ft. ( . m.) high we should say "a _dwarf_ beside a _giant_." but such terms are _pathological_ and should never be employed to indicate _normal individualities_. as a matter of fact dwarfs and giants are as a class extra-social and sterile; normal individuals, on the contrary, represent the physiopsychic characteristics of their respective races. consequently we may say that normal people have a _low stature_, or a _high stature_; or if it is a question of extremely low stature (such as that of the akkas) we may make use of the term _pigmies_ or of the _pigmy race_, in speaking of such individuals. sergi has proved the existence, among the prehistoric inhabitants of europe, of various pigmy races. in the field of anthropology the scientific terminology ought always to be based upon certain determined limits. the authorities indicate the normal extremes of individual stature, beyond which we pass over the into realm of _pathology_, incompatible with the survival of the species; and even in the pathological cases they determine the extreme limits, obtained from the individual monstrosities that have actually existed in the course of the centuries, and that seem to indicate the furthest limits attained by the human race. deniker, in summing up the principal authorities, assigns the following limits: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |normal statures, range of oscillations among the races| |-------|----------------------------------------------| statures|lowest |exception-|extreme|extreme |exception-|highest|statures less |indi- |ally low |low |high |ally high | indi- |from than |vidual |individual|racial |racial |individual|vidual | m. . m. | | stature |average|average | stature |extreme|upward --------+-------+----------+-------+--------+----------+-------+--------- nanism | . m.| . m. | akkas |scotch- | . m. | . m.|gigantism | | | . | men of | | | | | | m. |galloway| | | | | | | . m.| | | ----------------|-------------------------------------------------------- the pathological extremes that would seem to indicate the limits of stature compatible with human life would seem to be on the one hand the little female dwarf, hilany agyba of sinai, described by jaest and cited by deniker,[ ] inches high ( . m.--the average length of the italian child at birth is . m. = - / in.), and on the other, the giant finlander, caianus, cited by topinard[ ], ft. - / in. in height ( . ); the two extremes of human stature would accordingly bear a ratio of : . on the other hand, quétélet[ ] gives the two extremes as being relatively : --namely, the swedish giant who was one of the guardsmen of frederick the great, and was . m. tall ( ft. in.); and the dwarf cited by buffon, . m. in height ( - / in.). when there is occasion for applying the terms _tall_ or _low_ stature to individuals of our own race, it is necessary at the same time to establish limits that will determine the precise meaning of such terms. livi[ ] gives as the average stature for italians . m. ( ft. in.), and speaking authoritatively as the leading statistician in anthropology, establishes the following limits: stature of italians (livi) averages determining the terminology of stature -----------------------+-------------------------+-------------------- . m. and below, low | . m. and all between | . m. and above, statures. | . - . , mean statures| tall statures. -----------------------+-------------------------+-------------------- the individual extremes among the low statures tend to approach the average stature of the japanese race ( . m.), and those among the high statures approach the anglo-saxon average (the scotch = . m.) there is much to interest us in studying the _distribution_ of statures in italy. in livi's great charts, he has marked in _blue_ those regions where the prevailing percentage of stature is high ( . m. and upward), and in red those where the low statures prevail ( . m. and below); and the varying intensity of colouration indicates the greater or lesser prevalence of the high or low statures. thus it becomes evident in one glance of the eye that tall statures prevail in northern italy and low statures in the south; while the maximum of low stature (indicated by the most intense red) is found in the islands, and especially in sardinia. in the vicinity of the central districts of italy (the marches, umbria, latium) the two colours fade out; this indicates that here all notable prevalence of stature, either tall or low, ceases; consequently we have here, as the prevailing norm, the mean stature ( . m.). anyone wishing to analyse the natural distribution of stature, has only to study these charts by livi, which are worked out with great minuteness. if a study of this sort, extending over the entire peninsula, seems too great an undertaking, it is at least advisable for a teacher to acquaint himself with the _local distribution_ of stature; in order that when it becomes his duty to judge of the stature of pupils in his school he will have the necessary idea regarding the _biological_ (racial) _basis_ on which so important an anthropological datum can oscillate. livi's charts, based upon the male stature, correspond almost perfectly with my own regional charts based upon the _average_ _statures_ of the women of latium. both livi and i find that in the region of latium the tall statures prevail north of the tiber, especially toward the confines of umbria; while the lowest statures are found in the neighbourhood of the valley of the tiber, toward the sea (castelli romani). that is to say, the stature becomes lower from north to south, and from the mountains toward the sea. furthermore, there exist certain nuclei of pure race, such as at orte and in castelli romani, where we may find the extremes of average stature, which for women are found to be . m. at orte, and . m. at castelli romani; while the extreme individual statures, according to my figures, oscillate between . m. (castelli) and . m. (orte). it would be helpful to the teachers of rome and latium, if they would acquire some idea regarding the racial types of the district, by studying my work on the _physical characteristics_ _of the young women of latium_, which is the only work on regional anthropology taken directly from life that so far exists in anthropologic literature.[ ] _the stature in relation to sex._--it is sufficient to point out that the stature varies normally between the sexes, so that the average figures differ by about centimetres (nearly in.) in the direction of a lower stature for woman. variations in stature through the different ages notwithstanding that growth is an evolution, it manifests itself also by an _absolute augmentation of mass_; and the linear index of such augmentation is given by the _growth in stature_, or by its variations at different ages. this exceedingly important measurement ought to be taken in the case of all pupils; and undoubtedly in the course of time anthropometry will form a part of our school equipment; because, by following the increase of stature in a child, we follow his physical development. in chapter vii, in which the technique of the stature is discussed, there is a graphic representation of the annual increase of stature in the two sexes; the upper parabolic line refers to the male sex, and the lower one to the female. on the vertical line are marked the measures of growth, from the base upward, and on the horizontal line the ages. all the dotted vertical lines which rise from the horizontal, each corresponding to a successive year of life, and stop at the parabolic line, represent the relative proportion of stature from year to year; while the parabola which unites the extremities of such lines may be regarded as a line drawn tangent to the top of the head of an individual through the successive periods of his life. if we analyse this table, we find that the greatest increase in stature takes place during the first year; in fact, a child which at birth has an average length of body of . m. for males, and . m. for females (the new-born child does not have _stature_, but only _length of body_, since it has not yet acquired an erect position) has by the end of the first year augmented the length of body by centimetres, which gives an average length of . m. in no other year of life will the stature acquire so notable an increase; it is very important for mothers to watch the growth of the child during this first year of its life; and the following figures may be useful for comparison: it will be seen that the maximum increase takes place during the first four months--especially in the first month ( cm. = . in.) the rate diminishing from this point up to the fourth month ( cm. = . in.), after which the monthly increase remains steadily at one centimetre ( . in.). [illustration: fig. .--new-born child, seen from in front and from behind. (stratz.)] [illustration: year. months. months. at birth. fig. --skeleton of a child from birth to the age of one year.] growth in length of body during the first year of life (from figueira) --------------+-------------------+----------------- age in months | length of body in | monthly increase | metres | --------------+-------------------+----------------- | . | | . | | . | | . | | . | | . | | . | | . | | . | | . | | . | | . | | . | --------------+-------------------+----------------- the same facts appear from the combination picture given by stratz, showing an infant's skeleton at four-month intervals from birth to the end of the first year. during the second year of life, the increase in stature is about one-half that of the preceding year, that is, about cm. ( in.), so that at the end of the second year the child attains a height of about cm. ( - / in.). after this, the annual increase diminishes in intensity (see "figures of the increase of stature according to quétélet and other authors," in the technical part, chapter vii), as is shown by the horizontal dotted lines, which, starting from a vertical line at points corresponding to the height of various statures, represent by the intervals of space between them the successive growth from year to year. this increase is not regular, but proceeds by periodic impulses that in early childhood seem to recur at intervals of three years. thus for example the increase between - years of age is successively , , cm. between - years of age is successively , , cm. between - years of age is successively , , cm. between - years of age is successively , , cm. accordingly we have a _triennial rhythm_, decreasing throughout the whole period of childhood; the maximum increase is in the first triennium, the second and third periods of three years correspond exactly, while the last period shows a lowered rate of increase. at this point the period of approaching puberty begins ( years for boys), after which the rate of increase becomes more rapid than it had been during the second or third period, attaining its maximum during the years - ; to be specific, the rate from to is successively , , , , , cm. when the period of puberty is ended ( years), the rate of growth is much slower; in fact, during the two following years ( to ) it hardly attains one centimetre. nevertheless, the stature continues to increase up to the twenty-fifth year; according to quétélet's figures, the average male stature at the age of eighteen is . m. (in belgium) and at twenty-one it is . m. from twenty-five to thirty-five the stature remains stable; this is the adult age, the full attainment of maturity; at the age of forty the period of involution insensibly begins, and after fifty in the case of women, and sixty in the case of men, the stature begins insensibly to decrease; a decrease which becomes more marked with the advance of age, corresponding to an anatomical diminution of the soft parts interposed between the bones in the sum of parts that make up the stature; more especially the intervertebral disks; and in connection with this phenomenon the vertebral column tends to become more curved. according to quétélet's figures, at the age of eighty the average male stature is . m. ( ft. - / in.), a stature corresponding to that of the age of sixteen. accordingly, the variations in stature throughout the different periods of life are neither a _growth_ nor an _evolution_, but a _parabolic_ _curve_, including _evolution and involution_. this curve represents the true _human stature_; the measurements taken successively from year to year representing nothing more than transitory _episodes_ in the individual life. _man_, as he really is, we may represent by portraits taken successively from time to time, from his birth until his death; the occasional photograph which it is the custom to have taken represents nothing; following no rule, it seizes a fugitive instant in the life of an individual, who is never a fixed quantity but is constantly in transition during the whole course of his existence. so that the habit of taking a picture annually on a child's birthday is an excellent one if we wish to preserve a true likeness; and this practice is recommended in pedagogic anthropology, when it is desired to preserve the biographic history of the pupil. it is interesting to study, side by side with the growth of stature and the marked rhythms and periods that constitute its laws, the phenomenon of general mortality in its relation to age. lexis gives the following curve of general mortality: the horizontal line marks the years and the vertical line the corresponding number of deaths, while the curved line shows the _progress_ of mortality, and the highest points in the curve indicate the maximum mortality. it is highest of all during the first year and in general during early childhood, and is steadily lowered to a point corresponding to the ages from ten to thirteen, after which it rises again. [illustration: fig. .--curve of general mortality (lexis).] let us examine the curve up to this point, since it has a bearing upon our school work. we can prove that the _maximum mortality_ corresponds to the maximum individual growth; in other words, an organism in _rapid evolution_ is exposed to death, its powers of immunity to infective diseases are weakened; it constitutes what in medical parlance is known as a _locus minoris resistentiæ_. in that period of _calm_ in growth, which would seem to be a _repose_ preceding the evolution of puberty, mortality is at the lowest; only to rise again rapidly _during the period of puberty_; while the rise becomes less rapid after the eighteenth year, notwithstanding that after that age mankind in general are exposed, in their struggle for existence, to many causes of death that did not exist during the preceding years. toward the age of seventy the line of mortality attains another apex, because the age of _normal death_ is reached; after which it drops precipitously because of the lack of survivors. from these facts we may deduce certain very important principles that throw useful light upon pedagogy: there are certain _ages at which even the strong are weak_; and their weakness is of such a nature that it _exposes the individual to death_. now, whenever the phenomenon of _mortality_ occurs it is always an indication of _impoverishment in the survivors_. for example, of every one person that dies, many persons have been ill who have recovered from their illness; but there are still many others who, although they did not actually fall ill, were weakened even though they passed through the peril unharmed. in short, for each death, which represents a _final disaster_, there are many victims. and whenever there is a rise in the phenomenon of mortality in connection with any one age, it is our duty to give special attention to those individuals who are not only weak in themselves, but whom the _social causes affecting_ them tend to weaken still more and push onward toward illness and death. whenever there are many deaths, there are undoubtedly also _many sufferers_. now, in pedagogy we have no criterion to guide us in this matter of _respecting the weaknesses characteristic of the various ages_, as, for example, that of early infancy and of the age of puberty. with the most cruel blindness we punish and discourage the lad who, having reached the age of puberty, no longer makes the progress in his studies that rendered him the brilliant champion during the period of physiological repose in his growth; and instead of regarding this as a psychic indication of a great physiological transformation that it is necessary to protect, we urge on the organism to _enforced effort_, without even suspecting that, in proportion to the degree of resistance of our pupil, we may be doing our share to induce in him a permanent weakness, or an arrest of development, or disease and death. our responsibility as educators is great, because we have the _threads of life_ entrusted to our care; man represents a continuous transition through successive forms, and each following period has been prepared for by the one preceding. whenever we have the misfortune to concur in _weakening a_ _child_, we touch that parabolic line traced in the graphic chart of stature, and standing as an index of the life of the body, and we give it a shock throughout its whole length; it may either be shattered or be brought down to a lower grade. but the life of an individual does not contain merely that _individual alone_; the cycle of the stature with its violent period of puberty and the perfect physiological repose corresponding to the years from to , or even , indicates the _eternity of the individual_ _in the species_: his maturity for reproduction. man in his progress through the different levels of height, as indicated on the graphic chart of stature, does not pass through them without reproducing himself, save in exceptional cases; he commences the ascent alone, but in his descent he attains the majesty of a creator who leaves behind him the immortal works of his own creation. well, even the capacity of _normal reproduction_, and of begetting a strong species, is related to the _normal cycle of life_: whoever weakens a child and puts a strain upon the threads of its existence, starts a vibration that will be felt throughout posterity. the parabolic cycle of stature shows us which is the most favourable period for the reproduction of the species; it is undoubtedly that period that stands at the highest apex of the curve, and at which the organism has reached an almost absolute peace, as if forgetful of itself, in order to provide for its eternity. when it has completed its period of _evolution_, during which the organism shows that it has not yet matured; and before the commencement of involution, in which period the organism is slowly preparing for departure--that is the moment when man _may_ or rather _ought_ to procreate his species. careful forethought not to produce immature or feeble fruit, will form part of the coming man's regard for his posterity. a new moral era is maturing, that is giving birth to a _solidarity_, not only between all living beings, but including also those future beings who are as yet unborn; but for whose existence the living man of to-day is preparing through his care of his own strength and his own virtue. to have intentionally begotten a son better than himself will be a proud victory for the man who has attained the higher sexual morality; and such pride will be no less keen than that of the artist, who by perfecting his marvelous talents has created a masterpiece. the statistics collected by quétélet demonstrate that "too precocious marriages either occasion sterility or produce children that have a smaller probability of living." they prove furthermore that the number of children who die is largest in marriages contracted at the age of sixteen or earlier, and becomes lowest among the children born of marriages contracted between the years of and . during these years also the parents are most fertile: as is shown by the following tables: sandler's figures based on the families of english peers ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | percentage of | | age of parents |deaths of children| average births to| percentage of at marriage | before attaining | each marriage |births to each | marriageable age | | death ---------------+------------------+------------------+---------------- years | | . | . - years | | . | . - years | | . | . - years | | . | . ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- age at the time | percentage of deaths | average number of births of child's birth | to each birth | in one year of marriage -----------------+----------------------+----------------------------- years | . | . - years | . | . - years | . | . - years | . | . - years | . | . ----------------------------------------------------------------------- the results of a recent research show that famous men have hardly ever been the first-born, and that the great majority were begotten of parents who were at the time between the ages of and years. _variations of stature with age, according to the sexes._--the general laws of the growth and involution of stature are pretty nearly the same for the two sexes. the female stature, beginning at birth, averages throughout life somewhat less than the male. but since the development of puberty takes place earlier in woman than in man, the female child manifests the characteristic increase in stature at an earlier age than the male; consequently at that age (about eleven) she overtakes him, and for the time being both boy and girl are equal in stature. but as soon as the boy enters upon the period of puberty, he rapidly surpasses the girl, and his stature henceforth steadily maintains a superiority of about ten centimetres (nearly four inches), as is shown by the deviations between the two parabolic curves, representing the variations of stature in the two sexes. even the involution of stature occurs precociously in women, as compared with man. variations in stature due to mechanical causes of adaptation to environment _variations due to mechanical causes. transitory and permanent_ _variations. deformations._--the individual stature is not a fixed quantity at all hours of the day; but it varies by several millimetres under the influence of mechanical causes connected with the habits of daily life. in the morning we are slightly taller than at night (by a fraction of a centimetre): in consequence of remaining on foot a good deal of the time during the day, our stature is gradually lowered. this is contrary to the popular belief that "while we stand up our stature grows." as a matter of fact, in the erect position the soft tissues that form part of the total stature are under constant pressure; but being elastic, they resume their previous proportions after prolonged rest in a horizontal position. consequently at night, especially if we have taken a long walk, or danced, we are shorter than in the morning after a long sleep; the act of stretching the limbs in the morning completes the work of restoring the articular cartilages to their proper limits of elasticity. nevertheless, according to the mechanical theory accepted by manouvrier, persons who are habituated from childhood to stand on foot much of the time (labourers) interfere with the free growth of the long bones in the direction of length and at the same time augment the growth in thickness; hence the skeleton is rendered definitely shorter in its segments as well as in its bones (_i.e._, a shallower pelvis, shorter limbs, etc.). the result is a stocky type with robust muscles: the _europlastic type_, which is found among labourers. on the contrary, a person who spends much time reclining on sofas among cushions, and taking abundant nutriment, is likely to tend toward the opposite extreme; bones long and slender, the skeleton tall in all its segments, the muscular system delicate; this is the _macroplastic_ or aristocratic type. according to manouvrier, when a person has a long, slow convalescence after a protracted infectious malady such as typhoid, recumbent much of the time and subjected to a _highly nutritive_ diet, it may happen, especially if he has reached the period of puberty at which a rapid osteogenesis naturally takes place in the cartilages of the long bones, that he will not only become notably taller, but will even acquire the macroplastic type. the macroplastic type is artistically more beautiful, but the europlastic type is physiologically more useful. it is not only the erect position that tends to reduce the stature, but the sitting posture as well. in fact, whether the pelvis is supported by the lower limbs or by a chair, the intervertebral disks are in either case compressed by the weight of the bust as a whole. if, for example, children are obliged, during the period of growth, to remain long at a time in a sitting posture, the limbs may freely lengthen, while the bust is impeded in its free growth, and the result may be an artificial tendency toward macroscelia. this is why children are more inclined than adults to throw themselves upon the ground, to lie down, to cut capers, in other words to restore the elasticity of their joints, and overcome the compression of bones and cartilages. accordingly, such variations of stature recur habitually and are _transitory_, and since they are associated with the customary attitudes of daily life, they are _physiological_. but if special causes should aggravate such physiological conditions, and should recur so often as not to permit the cartilages to return completely to their original condition, in such a case _permanent_ _variations_ of stature might result, and even _morphological_ _deviations_ of the skeleton. for example, a porter who habitually carries heavy weights on his head, may definitely lower his stature; and in the case of a young boy, the interference with the growth of the long bones through compression exerted from above downward, may produce an actual arrest of development of the limbs and spinal column, presenting all the symptoms of rickets. witness certain consequences of "child-labour" chief among which must be mentioned the deformities of the _carusi_ [victims of child-labour, who from an early age toil up the succession of ladders, bearing heavy burdens of sulphur from the mines below.[ ]] in the sicilian sulphur mines.[ ] as a general rule, all _cramped positions that_ _are a necessary condition of labour, if they surpass the limits of resistance_ _and elasticity of_ the human frame, and especially if they operate during periods of life when the skeleton is in process of formation, result in deformities, and when the skeleton is deformed, the internal organs and hence the general functional powers of the whole organism, suffer even greater alteration. [illustration: fig. .--vincenzo militella of lereata, a sicilian caruso.] [illustration: fig. .--aged field labourer.] [illustration: fig. . fig. . attitude of woman working in the rice fields as seen from the right and left sides.] [illustration: fig. .--a gang of eight workers in the rice fields.] consider the postures that miners must endure, or as pieraccini phrases it, their "disastrous attitudes." the transport galleries are ordinarily too low to permit a man of average height to walk erect; along these galleries little transport-wagons are run by hand, excepting where the carrying is done on the backs of the men themselves. "even in the front of the advance tunnels and in the galleries that are being worked, miners are to be seen in the most incongruous attitudes. these anomalous positions of the body maintained throughout long hours of toil react upon the functional action of the heart and lungs, upon the stomach and intestines in the proper performance of their tasks, and result in producing hernia, varicose veins and eventually deformities of the skeleton (vertebral column, thorax)."[ ] field labourers also (fig. ) become permanently deformed, with diminution of stature, from remaining too long bent over in the act of hoeing or reaping. but a still more painful labour is that of the women in the rice fields during the period when the weeding is done. the position necessitated by this work requires a strained and prolonged dorsal flexion of the vertebral column, accompanied by a strain on the lower dorsal nerves; great _elasticity_ is required to endure a position so painful and so apt to induce _lumbago_; only young women can endure it, and even they become deformed, and suffer seriously from anemia, intestinal maladies and diseases of the uterus, which predispose them to abortion or sterility (figs. , , ). stone breakers also contract painful diseases and deformities from their work. they are constantly bowed over their task, performing a rhythmic, alternating movement of flexion, extension and torsion of the trunk upon itself, while at the same time there is a slight undulation in a backward and forward direction, accompanying the rising and falling of the arm holding the hammer. these movements of extension and flexion of the trunk involve the whole vertebral column, while the pelvis remains practically motionless. "at the end of the day they rise from their task bowed over and they walk home bowed over, holding the vertebral column rigid; any attempt to force the trunk into an erect position is extremely painful. in the morning they return to their work with their loins still aching." and among these stone breakers there are young men, some of them mere boys! and when we think that these injurious _attitudes_ are coupled with malnutrition, we must realise the extent of the organic disaster that accompanies diminution of stature as a result of adaptation to labour. we are naturally horrified at such conditions enforced upon a certain portion of humanity; and we pray for a time to come when machinery will have universally replaced human labour, in transportation, in stone-breaking, and in reaping, and when children will be spared from hard and deforming toil. but how is it that while we are so sympathetic regarding conditions at a distance from us, we remain unconscious of similar conditions, that are close beside us, and of which we are the directors, the cruel enforcers, the masters? in the near future, i hope that people will tell with amazement, as if citing a condition of inferior civilisation, how the school children, up to the opening of the twentieth century represented one category of those "deformed by prolonged and enforced labour in injurious positions!" such studies in _school hygiene_ as deal with the type of school benches, designed to minimise the danger of deformities of the vertebral column in children--will, i hope, be regarded by the coming generations with the most utter amazement! and the school benches of to-day will find their place in _museums_, and people will go to look at them as if they were relics of bygone barbarism, just as we now visit the collections from old-time insane asylums, of series of complicated instruments of wood and iron that in bygone centuries were considered _necessary_ for maintaining discipline among the insane. what in the world would we say, if somebody should propose, in order to obviate the deformities and physiological injuries of labourers, that certain mechanisms should be applied to them individually for the purpose of diminishing the harm? imagine a law being proposed, to the effect that all miners should be obliged to wear trusses, to keep their viscera from breaking loose, as a result of prolonged compression! what would we think of such reforms and such a path toward an orthopedic state of society? our way toward progress and higher civilisation is a very different one. to remove man from torturing toil that twists the bones and undermines the health--such is the goal that it is our duty to set before us! for the deformed vertebral column is the _extreme_ sign of a great accumulation of evils; the internal organs are correspondingly affected with disorders fatal to the entire organism; but even greater is the corresponding harm done to the human soul! what we want is not only that the bones shall not be thrown out of their eurhythmic harmony, but that the souls of the labourers shall be freed from the inhuman yoke of slavery (progress can consist solely in a radical alteration of the _form of labour_). so far as concerns the school, which is not limited to a few categories of human beings, but is extended to _all_, _by requirements_ _of law_, is it not possible for us to adopt a different attitude of mind? the established fact that the pupils may even deform their skeletons in the course of their work, goes to prove that this work contains some _error in principle_ that is fatal to successive generations; and so long as this principle is maintained, we may assert a priori that even if, with the help of school benches as complicated and as costly as orthopedic machines, we should succeed in checking the deformation of the vertebral column, we should fail to check the deformation of the soul. because whoever is condemned to labour that deforms is a slave. and as a matter of fact we employ coercive means, "rewards and punishments," to enforce upon children a condition that in their eyes amounts to serving their first sentence. it is not the school bench, but the _method_ that needs reforming; it is not the ligaments of the spinal column, but _human life in_ _evolution_ that we ought to respect, and _lead toward the attainment_ _of perfection_! amid the many banners of liberty that have been raised in these latter times, one is still missing--one which we ought to seize upon as the standard of our cause: the liberty of the new generation, which is groaning in the slavery of compulsory education, upon iron-bound benches, emblematic of chains! i foresee, in a radical reform of pedagogic methods, the practical possibility of taking as guiding principles the _individual liberty_ _of the pupil_ and a _reverential regard for life_. and i affirm this all the more loudly, because i have applied such a method with indisputable success in the "children's houses," obtaining prodigious results in the health and happiness of the children, perfect discipline in the classes, marvelously rapid progress in studies, and a surprising awakening of souls, a passionate love for the work. variations due to adaptation in connection with causes of various kinds--social, physiological, physical, psychic, pathological, etc. =physiology and social conditions.=--_nutrition._--one of the effects of environment, of the highest importance in its relation to the development of stature, is nutrition. in order to attain the maximum development as biologically determined by heredity in a race, sufficient nutriment is the first necessity. it is a familiar fact that material or physiological life consists essentially in the exchange and _renewal of matter_, or in _metabolism_, which is also a renewal of vital force. the living molecules are continually breaking up, thus expressing in an active form forces that had accumulated in a potential form, and eliminating the rejected matter; only to form again by means of new matter, containing potential forces. this breaking up and renewal constitutes the material of life, that never pauses in its molecular movement; the cessation of renewal of matter is death, that is, scission without reparation; consumption without renewal; and consequently a rapid disintegration of the body. living matter consists in metabolism, and is consequently directly related to the nutritive substances which renew the elements necessary for continual redintegration. we may disregard certain individual potentialities, of a purely biological nature, and that are capable of manifesting vital forces of varying degrees of intensity: but it may be asserted as beyond question that every living being, if he is to live according to his biological destiny, has need of sufficient nutrition. this is not the same as saving that the food determines the life of an individual in its final development, in the sense that by eating in excess one may attain the stature of a giant, or an imbecile become intelligent or a man of talent become a genius. we all bear within us, in that fertilised germ that constituted the first cell of our organism, predetermined biological conditions, on which depend the physical limits of our body, as well as those of our psychic individuality. but in order that this germ may develop in accordance with its potentiality, it is necessary that it shall obtain the requisite material from its environment. because otherwise--and here the relation is direct--neither the volumetric development nor the morphological development can be accomplished, nor the psychic potentiality express itself; in other words, the stature will be undersized, in a body defrauded of the degree of beauty potential in the germ, and the muscular forces, in common with those of the brain, will remain at a level of development below that which nature had intended. consequently, to deprive children of their requisite nutriment is stealing from life, it is a _biological crime_. while we live, we must eat; and while we labour, that is, while we expend the vital forces, it is necessary to repair them. the schools should establish a system of luncheons for the pupils; this is a principle that has already been generally recognised and is already bearing fruit. there was a time when a good appetite was regarded as a _low_ _material instinct_; it was also the time when people sang the praises of _spirituality_, but actually indulged in banquets of lucullian lavishness. the vice of the palate and the physiological need of nourishment were included under one and the same disdain. to-day science has shed its light upon the true conception of nutrition and holds it to be the _first necessity_ of life, and consequently the first social problem to be solved. from this point of view, food is not a vulgar material thing, nor the dinner-table a place of debauchery. indeed, there is nothing which affords better proof of immateriality than the act of eating. in fact, the necessity of eating is itself a proof that the matter of which our body is composed does not endure but passes like the fleeting moment. and if the substance of our bodies passes in this manner, if life itself is only a continual passing away of matter, what greater symbol of its immateriality and its spirituality is there than the dinner-table? "... the bread is my flesh and the wine is my blood; do this in remembrance of what life really is." something similar to this is being accomplished to-day by science in regard to the sexual relations. we are accustomed to consider the sexual instincts as something contemptible, material and low, praising abstinence, and leaving these instincts wholly out of consideration in the course of education, as though they were something degrading, or even shameful. and undoubtedly our sexual abuses are shameful, and shameful also is the barbaric tolerance of the masses regarding prostitution, seduction, illegitimacy and the abandonment of new-born children. it is criminal abuse that makes us despise sexual relations, just as at one time excesses of the table made us despise nutrition. but the day will come when science will raise to the dignity of a new sexual morality the physiological function which to-day is considered material and shameful--and that comprehends the most sublime of human conceptions. in it are to be found the words which ancient races deposited in their religious tabernacles: creation, eternity, mystery. and in it are also to be found the most sublime conceptions of modern races: the destiny of humanity, the perfectionment of the human species. accordingly, we must to-day regard the serving of food in the schools as a necessity of the first order; but it is well, in introducing it into the schools, to surround it with that halo of gladness and of high moral significance that ought to accompany all manifestations of life. the _hymn to bread_, which is a human creation and a means of preserving the substance of the human body, ought to accompany the meals of our new generations of children. the child _develops_ because the substance of his body passes away, and the meals that he eats symbolise all this: furthermore, they teach him to think of the vast labour accomplished by men who, unknown as individuals, cultivate the earth, reap the grain, grind the flour, and _provide_ for all men and for all children. where they are and who they are, we do not know; the bread bears neither their name nor their picture. like an impersonal entity, like a god, humanity provides for all the needs of humanity: and this god is labour. if the child is destined some day to become himself a labourer, who produces and casts his products to humanity without knowing who is to receive his contribution toward providing for humanity, it is well that as he lifts his food to his lips he should realise that he is contracting a debt toward society at large, and that he must give because he takes; he must "forgive debts as his have been forgiven"; and since life is gladness, let him send forth a salutation to the universal producing power: "our father, give us our daily bread!" the providence of human labour rules over our entire life; it gives us everything that is necessary. the god of the universe, in whose train come cataclysms, is not more terrible than the god, humanity, that can give us war and famine. while we give bread to the child, let us remember that man does not live by bread alone: because bread is only the material of his fleeting substance. the system of furnishing meals in school constitutes a chapter of _school hygiene_ that cannot directly concern us. nevertheless, there are three rules of this hygiene which should be borne in mind: children should never, in any case, drink wine, alcoholic liquors, tea or coffee--in other words, stimulants, which are poisons to their childish organisms. on the other hand, children need _sugar_, because sugar has a great formative and plastic power; all young animals have sweetish flesh because their muscles, in the course of development, are extremely rich in sugar. the method of giving sugar to children should be as simple as possible, such, for instance, as is endorsed by the very successful english system of hygiene for children, which recommends freshly cooked fruits, sprinkled with sugar or served with a little syrup. but the substantial nourishment for young children should consist of _soup_ or _broth_ served hot, since heat is as essential as sugar for organisms in the course of evolution. the english recommend soups made of cereals and gluten, in which it is never necessary to use soup stock, just as it is never necessary to use meat in children's diet. that nutrition has a noteworthy influence upon growth, and therefore upon the definitive limits of stature, is exhaustively proved by statistics. in his brilliant studies of the poorer classes, niceforo has collected the following average statures:[ ] ----------+--------------------- age | stature | (in centimetres) +--------------------- | children +--------------------- | rich | poor ----------+----------+---------- years | | years | | years | | years | | years | | years | | years | | years | | ----------+----------+---------- from which it appears that, in spite of the strong biological impulse given by the attainment of _puberty_, the children of the poor continue to show a stature lower than that of the well-to-do. ales hrdlicka has compiled the following comparative table of the poor or orphaned children received into the asylums, and the pupils of the public schools in boston: ----------------------------------------------------------------- stature of american children: ( ) in asylums; ( ) in boston public schools ----------------------------------------------------------------- boys -----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---- age | | | | | | | | | | | | in | | | | | | | | | | | | years| | | | | | | | | | | | -----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---- ( ) | | | | | | | | | | | | -- ( ) | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- girls -----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---- ( ) | -- | -- | | | | | | -- | -- | | -- | -- ( ) | | | | | | | | | | | | -----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---- even after reaching the adult age these differences are maintained, as may be shown by the following statistics taken from various authorities: ----------------------------------------------------------------- average statures obtained from soldiers (in centimetres) -------------------------+---------------------+----------------- italians | english | french -------------------------+---------------------+----------------- students and |professional men |students professional men |merchants |domestics tradesmen |peasants |day labourers peasants |city employees | ----------------------------------------------------------------- from which it appears that while in italy the class of labourers having the lowest stature is the peasant class, which lives under the most deplorable economic conditions, in england on the contrary it is the workers in the cities who live under worse economic conditions than the peasantry, it being well known that the english peasant is the most prosperous in the agricultural world. according to livi, it is nutrition which causes the differences of average stature that are usually to be found between different social classes, and those between the inhabitants of mountains and of plains, or between the dwellers on the mainland and on the islands. in general the mountain-bred peasants have a _lower_ stature than those of the plains; and this is because the means of procuring food are fewer and harder in mountainous regions. similarly, the islanders, because of less ready means of communication, have less likelihood than those on the mainland of obtaining adequate nutrition. the same may be said regarding the differences found between the statures of cultured persons and of the illiterate, to the disadvantage of the latter (the poorer classes). students show the tallest stature of all, because they have in their favour the joint effect of the two chief factors of environment that influence this anthropological datum: _mechanical causes_ and _nutrition_. a sedentary life, and above all a hearty diet both contribute to the tall stature of students, doctors, and members of the liberal professions. in this respect, the average figures of all the authorities agree, as appears from the following tables:[ ] livi: , italian soldiers -------------------------------+--------------- professions and callings |average stature | in centimetres -------------------------------+--------------- students and professional men | . small shopkeepers and the like | . peasants | . blacksmiths | . carpenters | . masons | . tailors and shoemakers | . barbers | . butchers | . carters | . bakers | . day labourers in general | . -------------------------------+--------------- ----------------------------------------------- professions and employments |average stature | in centimetres -------------------------------+--------------- professional men | . merchants and tradesmen | . peasants and miners | . city labourers | . sedentary workmen | . prisoners | . insane | . ------------------------------------------------ oloriz: conscripts from the city of madrid ------------------------------------------------- professions and employments |average stature | in centimetres ---------------------------------+--------------- liberal professions | . including: | students | . other professions | . workmen employed in the open air| . workmen employed in closed rooms| . including: | tailors, hatters and the like | . shoemakers | . ------------------------------------------------- conditions of nutrition, which are always accompanied by a combination of other hygienic conditions all tending toward the same effects, have also an influence upon the development of puberty. puberty is retarded by malnutrition. as a result of an inquiry made among the inmates of the pia barolo society, which offers an asylum to reformed prostitutes, marro[ ] records that out of ninety rescued girls only those above the age of fourteen had begun to menstruate: notwithstanding that the normal period for the development of puberty in italian women is between the years of twelve and thirteen. furthermore, among the girls above the age of fourteen, menstruation had not yet begun in all cases; on the contrary, a large proportion of them still failed to show the phenomena of puberty: --------------------------------------------------- age in years | whole number | number menstruating -------------+--------------+---------------------- - | | - | | - | | - | | --------------------------------------------------- all the rest (thirty in number) menstruated for the first time after the age of eighteen. among those in whom menstruation had appeared earlier, the order of appearance was as follows: years number when we consider that we are dealing with _rescued_ girls, we may conclude that direct sexual stimulus does not facilitate the normal development of puberty, but on the contrary, in conjunction with other causes, _retards it_. accordingly, we must not confound the _normal development of the organism_ with its disorders: whatever aids the natural development of life is useful and healthy. there may be conditions _unfavourable_ to the development of puberty, which are favourable to the development of sexual vices (see, further on, the other causes influencing puberty, and moral conditions in colleges). in his work above cited, marro compares his figures obtained from the pia barolo society with those of dr. bianco[ ] taken from young girls in city institutes representing young women in easy circumstances: --------------+-----------------+------------------------- date of first |girls in the pia | girls in city institutes menstruation. | barolo society. | for the wealthy classes. | percentage | percentage --------------+-----------------+------------------------- years | . | ---- years | . | . years | . | . years | . | . years | . | . years | . | . years | . | . years | . | . --------------+-----------------+------------------------- it should be noted that the cold climate of turin retards puberty (see below): but the above table clearly shows the precocious puberty of young women in easy circumstances; in the great majority, in fact, it occurs between the ages of twelve and fourteen, with thirteen for the average; on the other hand, the majority for reformed prostitutes is between fourteen and sixteen, with fifteen for the average. besides labour and nutrition, there are other factors that contribute to the development of stature (which we regard as an index to the entire mass of the body). such factors are: physical conditions--heat, light, electricity _thermic conditions._--among the physical conditions which may have an influence upon the stature, the _thermic_ conditions ought to receive first consideration. it is a principle demonstrated by nature that organisms in the course of evolution have need of heat. even the invertebrates, as for example the insects, develop during the heat of summer; and the eggs of the higher vertebrates such as the birds, develop their embryo by means of the maternal warmth. in placental animals the development throughout the whole embryonic period takes place within the maternal womb, in the full tide of animal heat. in order to preserve life in premature babies, that is, in those born before the expiration of the physiological term of nine months, _incubators_ have been constructed, an oven-like arrangement in which the child may be maintained at a temperature considerably higher than would be possible in the outside air; the term is also specifically used of the structures in which fertilised hens' eggs are kept during the required period of time until the chickens are hatched. accordingly it is a principle taught us by nature that organisms in the course of evolution have need of heat. the most luxuriant vegetation, the most gigantic animals, the most variegated birds belong to the fauna and flora of the tropics. how is this physiological law, which nature expresses in such broad, general lines, to be interpreted by us in the environment of the school? it is well known that in this regard there are two conflicting opinions. there are some who would go to excessive lengths in protecting small children from the cold, by dressing them entirely in woolen garments and keeping their apartments well heated; others on the contrary assert that the _physiological_ _struggle of adaptation_ to the cold invigorates the infant organism, and they advise that the child's body should never be completely protected, as for example that the legs should always be left bare, that the child should be lightly clad, that his apartments should not be heated, etc. furthermore, it used to be held in the pietistic schools, and still is to some extent, that _warmth_ had a demoralising influence, inasmuch as it tended to enervate both mind and body. we educators cannot fail to be interested in such a discussion. as often happens in physiological arguments, the two opposite contentions each contain a part of the truth. in order to get at the truth of the matter, it is necessary to distinguish two widely separated facts: on the one hand, _physiological exercise in the form_ _of thermal gymnastics_, and on the other, the _development of organisms_ _in a constantly cold environment_. to live constantly warm, protected either by clothes or by artificial heat, so that the organism remains always at a constant temperature, is not favourable to growth, because it deprives the organism of the physiological exercise of adapting itself to variations in external temperature, an exercise which stimulates useful functions. by perspiring in summer, we cleanse our system of poisonous secretions, and by shivering in winter we give tone to our striped muscles and to our internal organs, as is proved by our gain in appetite. anyone who wishes to be kept on ice in summer and to transform his apartment into a hot-house in winter, robs himself of these advantages and enfeebles his system. the apparent _comfort_ is not in this case a real physiological enjoyment but a _weakness of habit_ that is accompanied by a loss of physiological energy. what makes us robust is a rational exercise of all our energies. _thermal gymnastics_ is consequently useful. it consists in exposing a healthy, resistant organism to changes in temperature, trusting to our physiological resources for the means of defense. thus, for example, a child who is well fed and well protected from the cold for many hours of the day in the well-heated family apartment, can go out with bare legs into the snow; and doing so will make him more robust. in the same way, the ancient romans exposed themselves in their hot baths to the steadily increasing temperature of the _calidarium_, up to the point of degrees ( fahrenheit), and then still perspiring flung themselves into a cold plunge. and it is a familiar fact that afterward they held lavish banquets in these same baths. such exercise which in classic times gave vigour to the race that made itself master of the world may be summed up as follows: "_thermic_ _gymnastics_" of organisms "well nourished and strong." our own boatmen also throw themselves into the river in midwinter, half nude, and half nude they ply their long poles. they expose themselves to the cold, in the same way that they might raise a weight of many pounds with their robust arms, for _gymnastic_ _exercise_. but all this differs radically from living continually in a cold temperature. it is a very different thing from the life of a child of the lower classes, who goes bare-foot in winter, clad in a few scant rags, half frozen in his wretched tenement, and unable to obtain sufficient nourishment to develop the needed heat-units. he is already deficient in bodily heat because of malnutrition, and the effects of cold are cumulative. in this case it is not a question of _thermic exercise_ but of a permanent _deprivation of heat_, in individuals who are already suffering from an _insufficient development_ _of heat-units_. consequently the organism is enfeebled--it grows under unfavorable conditions--and the result is a permanent diminution of development. whoever grows up, exposed to cold after this fashion, has, in the average case, a lower stature than those who grow up in the midst of warmth, or in the practice of that healthful exercise which constitutes the ideal: _thermic_ _gymnastics_. the contradictory ideas that are held as to the efficacy of heat in regard to growth, are due to a large extent to a prejudice which amounts to this: heat is effective in promoting the evolution of life as a whole, and consequently the development of that part of life that is centred in the organs of reproduction; from which comes the wellnigh antiquated theory that artificial heat should be banished from the schools, as one of the factors leading to immorality! it is true that _warmth_ accelerates the development of puberty; but who is there in this twentieth century who can still conceive the idea that it is a moral act to silence the forces of nature? good nourishment also leads to a more precocious puberty; and the same is true of the repeated psychic stimulus produced by various forms of intellectual enjoyment, by conversation, and by social intercourse with individuals of the opposite sex. accordingly, if it were a moral act to retard the development of puberty and to produce a general impoverishment of sexual life, the moral measures to be taken in education would be cold, malnutrition, and the isolation of the sexes in the schools, which, as a matter of fact, form the stumbling-block of environment in our colleges. but it is well known that all this leads on the contrary to moral and physical degeneration! as has already been said, the normal physiological development stands in counterdistinction to immoral habits; consequently, whatever is an aid to physiological development is in its very nature moral. in warm climates the first manifestations of puberty occur precociously in man as well as in woman; and with them come all the transformations that are associated with puberty, among others the rapid increase of stature. in cold climates, on the contrary, such manifestations are more tardy. the women of lapland are latest of all to develop. with them, menstruation begins only at eighteen, and they are incapable of conceiving under the age of twenty, while the period of the menopause (involution of sexual life) is correspondingly early; in other words, the entire period of sexual life is shortened. furthermore, the fertility of the women of lapland is low; they cannot conceive more than three children. but if these same women leave lapland and make their home in civilised countries, as for example in sweden, they have a more precocious sexual life, as well as longer and more fertile, and altogether quite similar to that of the swedish women.[ ] cabanis[ ] notes that even in cold climates, when young girls spend much of their time in the vicinity of stoves, menstruation begins at about the same age as in women who live on the banks of the ganges--as is the case with the daughters of wealthy russians, whose development is quite precocious. in arabia, in egypt, and in abyssinia the women are frequently mothers at the age of ten, menstruation having begun at the eighth year. it is even said that mahomed married radeejah when she was only five and that he took her to his bed at the age of eight. the religious laws of india permit the marriage of girls when they are eight years old. consequently it is true that _heat_ has an influence upon the development of the organism independently of other influences; in fact, heat acts both in the form of _climate_, that is, in a natural state, and also in an artificially warmed environment. it is also one of the causes of the different degrees of growth in _stature_ through the successive seasons (see below). in conclusion: it is enjoined upon us, as a hygienic necessity, to heat the schools in winter, especially the schools for the poorer classes; it means more than increased vigour, it may even mean giving _life_ to some who otherwise would pine away from deprivation of heat-units, a condition most unfavourable to organisms in the course of evolution. _photogenic conditions._--light also has a perceptible influence upon growth: it is a great physiological stimulant. at the present day, physical therapy employs _light baths_ for certain forms of neurasthenia and partial enfeeblement of certain organs; and some biological manifestations, such as the pigments--and similarly the chlorophyl in plants and the variegated colouring of birds--receive a creative stimulus from light. light contains in its spectrum many different colours, which act quite differently upon living tissues; the ultra-violet rays, for instance, kill the bacilli of tuberculosis and sometimes effect cures in cases of cancer. psychiatrists and neuropaths have demonstrated that many colours of light have an exciting effect, while others, on the contrary, are sedative. hence there has arisen in medicine a vast and most interesting chapter of _phototherapy_. in regard to the phenomena of growth, it has been noted that certain coloured lights are favourable to it, while certain others, on the contrary, diminish or arrest it, as the red and the green. phototherapy ought to concern us as educators, especially in regard to schools for the _benefit_ of nervous children: a periodic sojourn in a room lit by _calming colours_ might have a beneficent effect upon epileptic, irritable, nervous children, in place of the debilitating hot bath, or, worse yet, the administration of bromides; while light-baths would be efficacious for weak and torpid children. but for normal children we must consider the light of the sun as the best stimulant for their growth. a sojourn at the sea-shore, so favourable to the development of children, is now believed to owe its beneficial effects to the fact that the child, playing half naked on the sea-shore, bathes more in the sunlight than he does in the salt water. gymnastics in the sun, while the body is still only half dry, is what the younger generations should practise on a large scale, if they would bring about the triumph of physiological life. we must not forget this great principle when, by planning home work for the pupils, we practically keep them housed during the entire day, keeping them for the most part employed in writing or reading; in other words, using their sense of sight, which, if it is to be preserved unharmed, demands a _moderate light_. the eye ought to rest its muscles of accommodation, and the whole body be exposed to the full light of the sun during the greater part of the day. let us remember that often the children of the poor live in a home so dark that even in full mid-day they are obliged to light a lamp! let us at least leave them the light of the street, as a recompense for wretchedness that is a disgrace to civilisation! according to certain experiments conducted in rome by professor gosio, the light of the sun has an _intensive_ effect upon life. living creatures reared in the solar light grow and mature _earlier_, but at the same time their life is shortened; that is, the cycle of life is more intense and more precocious; conversely, in the shade the cycle of life is slower, but of longer duration. a plant matures more quickly in the sun, but its stature is lower than that of a plant in the dark, which has grown far more slowly, but has become very tall and slender and lacking in chlorophyl. similarly, as is well known, the women in tropical countries attain a precocious puberty, while conversely those of the north attain it tardily; and this fact must be considered in relation to the influence of the sun. a life passed wholly in the sunlight would be too intense; an organism that is exposed a few hours each day to the rays of the sun is invigorated; the interchange of matter (metabolism) is augmented; all the tissues are beneficially stimulated. for this reason sun baths are employed for paralytic and idiot children, and consist in exposing the body of the child, reclining upon its bed and with its head well protected, to the direct rays of the sun for several hours a day; this treatment is found to be most efficacious in giving _tone_ to the tissues and improving the general condition of the system. _variations in the growth of stature according to the seasons._--one proof of the beneficent influence of heat and sunlight upon the growth of the organism, is afforded by the variations in the rate of growth according to the seasons. every individual grows more in summer than in winter. daffner gives the following figures relative to the increase in stature according to the seasons: ----------+-------+--------------------------+-------------------- | | stature | increase number of | age in| in centimetres | in centimetres subjects | years+--------+-------+---------+-------------------- | | october| april | october |winter|summer|entire | | | | | | | year ----------+-------+--------+-------+---------+------+------+------ | - | . | . | . | . | . | . | - | . | . | . | . | . | . | - | . | . | . | . | . | . | - | . | . | . | . | . | . | - | . | . | . | . | . | . | - | . | . | . | . | . | . | - | . | . | . | . | . | . | - | . | . | . | . | . | . | - | . | . | . | . | . | . ----------+-------+--------+-------+---------+------+------+------ in the "children's houses," i require a record of stature to be made month by month in the case of every child, the measurement being taken on the day corresponding to the day on which he was born in the month of his birth; in addition to which i keep a record of the total annual increase. the ages of these children vary between three and four years, and they all belong to the poorer social classes. monthly average increase in stature in the "children's houses" (in millimetres) ------------------------------+------------------------- cold months | warm months ---------+---------+----------+-----+------+------------ december | january | february | may | june | july | | | | | ---------+---------+----------+-----+------+------------ another factor of growth is _electricity._--one of the most interesting discoveries of recent date is that of the influence of terrestrial electricity upon the growth of living organisms. a series of experiments were made, by isolating cavies (a species of small indian pig) from terrestrial electricity, and as a result they were found to be retarded in growth and to develop very imperfectly, much as though they had been suffering from rickets. in short, they manifested an arrest of organic development. if, in electro-therapy, an electric current is applied to the cartilages of the long bones in children whose limbs have apparently been arrested in development, the result is a rapid increase in length, amounting to a luxuriant _osteogenesis_. since we know that the electric current can stimulate the nerve filaments and the fibres of the striped muscles when they have been rendered inactive from the effects of paresis or even of paralysis, we realise that _electricity_ can exert an influence over the entire physiological life of an organism. we live not only upon nutriment, air, heat, and light, but also upon a mysterious, imperceptible force, that comes to us from the mother earth. in addition to the biological potentialities which control the development of every individual, all living creatures owe something of themselves to their environment. _space._--an empirical contention, without scientific value, but nevertheless of some interest, is that there is an ultimate _relationship_ between the dimensions of living bodies and the _territorial space_, that is, the environment in which they are destined to live. in view of the innumerable varieties of living creatures, such an assertion would seem to be utterly unfounded. but as a matter of fact we see that while inorganic bodies can increase indefinitely in dimension, living creatures are limited in form and size. this fact undoubtedly has some primal connection with properties innate in corporeal life itself; in fact, in order to attain its appointed end, life requires the services of certain very small microscopic particles called _cells_. but the aggregations and combinations of cells in living organisms are also limited in their turn, and no matter how willingly we would attribute the greatest share of causation to biological facts, nevertheless, as always happens in life, we cannot wholly exclude _environment_. both animals and men that are bred on vast continents (chinese, russians) have tended to produce races of powerful and giant build: in islands, on the contrary, the men and the animals are of small size; it is sufficient merely to cite the men and the little donkeys of sardinia, the small irishmen who furnish jockeys for the race-track, and the small irish horses or _ponies_ that serve as saddle-horses for the children of the aristocracy the world over. there is a harmony of associations, as between the container and the contained, between environment and life, notwithstanding that as yet science has not made serious investigations in regard to it. voltaire, in his _micromega_, avails himself of this intuitive conception to create the material needed for his satire; he talks amusingly of the inhabitant of the planet sirius, who was eight leagues in height and at four hundred years of age was still in school, while the inhabitant of saturn was a mere pigmy in comparison, being scarcely a thousand rods tall--in fact, the inhabitants of saturn could not be otherwise than pigmies in comparison, since saturn is barely nine hundred times larger than the earth. gulliver makes use of similar standards in his _travels_, which are read with so much delight by children. =psychic conditions.=--_psychic stimuli._--accordingly many chemical and physical factors associated with the environment concur in aiding _life_ in its development. from the light of the sun to the electricity of the earth, the whole environment offers its tribute to life, in order to cooperate in life's triumph. but, in the case of man, in addition to these widely different factors, there is still another distinctly human factor that we must take into consideration and that we may call the _psychic stimulus of life_: we may scientifically affirm the bible statement that "man does not live by bread alone." without reverting to the basic physiological explanations of the emotions, as given by lange and james, we may nevertheless assert that sensations of pleasure stimulate the renewal of bodily tissues and consequently promote health, happiness, and strength; while, on the contrary, painful events produce physiological effects depressing to the tone of the nervous system and to the metabolic activity of the tissues. but it is precisely these metabolic phenomena that hold the key of life, and an organism in the course of evolution depends directly upon them. this problem concerns pedagogy in a very special way: when we have given food to the children in our schools, we have not yet completed our task of _nourishing_ these children; for the phenomena of nutrition which take place in the hidden recesses of their tissues are very different from a simple intestinal transformation of aliments, and are influenced by the psychic conditions of the individual pupil. great workers not only need abundant nutriment, but they require at the same time a series of stimuli designed to produce "pleasure." the pleasures of life, necessary to human existence, include more than _bread_. in the history of social evolution there exist, side by side with the _productions of labour_, an entire series of _enjoyments_, more or less elevated, that constitute the _stimului_ to production, and hence to evolution, and more profoundly still, to life itself. the further man evolves and the more he produces, the more he ought to multiply and perfect his means of _enjoyment_. without stimuli, nutrition would grow less and less till it ended in death. every-day experience in the punishment of criminals gives us proof of this. confinement to a solitary cell is nothing else than a complete deprivation of psychic stimuli. the prisoner does not lack _bread_, nor air, nor shelter from the elements, nor sleep; his whole physiological life is provided for, in the strict material sense of the word. but the bare walls, the silence, the isolation from his fellow men in utter solitude, deprive the prisoner of every stimulus, visual, oral and moral. the consequences are not merely a state of hopelessness, but a real and actual _malnutrition_ leading to tuberculosis, to anemia, to death from atrophy. we may affirm that such a prisoner _dies_ _slowly of hunger due to defective assimilation_; the solitary cell is the modern donjon, and far more cruel than the one in which ugolino died within a few days, so much so that solitary confinement, being incompatible with life, is only of short duration. labour, love, and sensations apt to stimulate ideas, that is, to nourish the intelligence, are necessities of human life. this is further proved by observations made regarding the development of puberty. psychic stimuli may render such development precocious, and, on the contrary, their absence may retard it. jean jacques rousseau relates in _Émile_ that at friuli he encountered young people of both sexes who were still undeveloped, although they were past the usual age and were strong and robust, and this he attributed to the fact that "owing to the simplicity of their customs, their imagination remained calm and tranquil for a longer time, causing the ferment in their blood to occur later, and consequently rendering their temperament less precocious."[ ] recent statistical research confirms the intuitive observation of that great pedagogist; the women in the environs of paris attain puberty nearly a year later than those who live in the city; and the same difference is observed between the country districts around turin and those of the city itself. all this goes to prove the fact of psychic influence upon physiological life: psychic excitation, experienced with _pleasure_, by developing healthy activities, aids the development of physical life.[ ] these principles must be taken under deep consideration when it comes to a question of directing the _physiological growth_ of children. fenelon relates a fable about a female bear who, having brought into the world an exceedingly ugly son, took the advice of a crow and licked and smoothed her cub so constantly that he finally became attractive and good-looking. this fable embodies the idea that _maternal love_ may modify the _body of the child_, aiding its evolution toward a harmony of form by means of the first psychic stimuli of caresses and counsel. nature has implanted in the mother not only her milk, the material nourishment of her child, but also that absolutely altruistic love which transforms the soul of a woman, and creates in it moral forces hitherto unknown and unsuspected by the woman herself--just as the sweet and nourishing corpuscles of the milk were unknown to the red corpuscles of her blood. accordingly, the nature of the human kind protects the _species_ through the mother in two ways, which together form the complete nutrition of man: aliment and love. after a child is weaned, it obtains its aliment from its environment in more varied forms; and it also obtains from its environment a great variety of psychic stimuli, calculated not only to mould its psychic personality, but also to bring its physiological personality to its full development. i have had most eloquent experience of this in the "children's houses" in the san lorenzo quarter of rome. this is the poorest quarter in the city, and the children are the sons and daughters of day labourers, who consequently are often out of work; illiteracy is even yet incredibly frequent among the adults, so much so that in a very high percentage of cases at least one of the parents is unable to read. in these "children's houses" we receive little children between the ages of three and seven, on a time schedule that varies between summer, from nine to five, and winter, from nine to four. we have never served food in the school; the little ones, all of whom live in their own homes, with their parents, have a half hour's recess in which to go home to luncheon. consequently we have not _in any way influenced their diet_. the pedagogic methods employed, however, are of such sort as to constitute a gradual series of psychic stimuli perfectly adapted to the needs of childhood; the environment stimulates each pupil individually to his rightful psychic development according to his subjective potentiality. the children are _free_ in all their manifestations and are treated with much cordial affection. i believe that this is the _first time_ that this extremely interesting pedagogic experiment has ever been made: namely, to _sow the seed_ in the consciousness of the child, leaving free opportunity, in the most rigorous sense, for the spontaneous expansion of its personality, in an environment that is _calm_, and warm with a sentiment of affection and peace. the results achieved were _surprising_: we were obliged to remodel our ideas regarding child psychology, because many of the so-called instincts of childhood did not develop at all, while in place of them unforeseen sentiments and intellectual passions made their appearance in the primordial consciousness of these children; true _revelations_ of the sublime greatness of the human soul! the intellectual activity of these little children was like a spring of water gushing from beneath the rocks that had been erroneously piled upon their budding souls; we saw them accomplishing the incredible feat of despising _playthings_, through their insatiable thirst for knowledge; carefully preserving the most fragile objects of the lesson, the tenderest plants sprouting from the earth--these children that are reputed to be vandals by instinct! in short, they seemed to us to represent the childhood of a human race more highly evolved than our own; and yet they are really the same humanity, marvelously guided and stimulated through its own natural and free development! but what is still more marvelous is the astonishing fact that all these children are so much improved in their general _nutrition_ as to present a notably different appearance from their former state, and from the condition in which their brothers still remain. many weakly ones have been organically strengthened; a great many who were lymphatic have been cured; and in general the children have gained flesh and become ruddy to such an extent that they look like the children of wealthy parents living in the country. no one seeing them would believe that these were the offspring of the illiterate lower classes! well, let us glance over the notes taken upon these children at the time when they first entered the school; for the great majority, the same note was made: need of tonics. yet not one of them took medicine, not one of them had a change of diet; the renewed vigour of these children was due solely to the _complete satisfaction_ _of their psychic life_. and yet they remain in school continually from nine till five through eleven months out of the year! one would say that this was an excessively long schedule; yet what is still more surprising is that during all this period the children are continually _busy_; and even more remarkable is the report made by many of the mothers to the effect that after their little ones have returned home they continue to busy themselves up to the hour of going to bed; and lastly--and this seems almost incredible--many of the little ones are back again at school by half past eight in the morning, tranquil, smiling, as though blissfully anticipating the enjoyment that awaits them during the long day! we have seen small boys become profoundly observant of their environment, finding a spontaneous delight in new sensations. their stature, which we measure month by month, shows how vigorous the physiological growth is in every one of them, but particularly in certain ones, whose blood-supply has become excellent. such results of our experiments have amazed us as an unexpected _revelation_ of nature, or, to phrase it differently, as a _scientific discovery_. yet we might have foreseen some part of all this had we stopped to think how our own physical health depends far more upon happiness and a peaceful conscience than upon that material substance, bread! let us learn to know _man_, sublime in his true reality! let us learn to know him in the tenderest little child; we have shown by experiment that he develops _through work, through liberty, and through love_; hitherto, in place of these, we have stifled the splendid possibilities of his nature with irrational toys, with the slavery of discipline, with contempt for his spontaneous manifestations. man lives for the purpose of learning, loving and producing, from his earliest years upward; it is from this that even his bones get their growth and from this that his blood draws its vitality! now, all such factors of physiological development are _suffocated_ by our antiquated pedagogic methods. we prevent, more or less completely, the development of the separate personalities, in order to keep all the pupils within the selfsame limits. the perfectionment of each is impeded by the common level which it is expected that all shall attain and make their limit, while the pupils are forced to _receive_ from us, instead of producing of their own accord; and they are obliged to sit motionless with their minds in bondage to an iron programme, as their bodies are to the iron benches. we wish to look upon them as machines, to be driven and guided by us, when in reality they are the most sensitive and the most superb creation of nature. we destroy divine forces by slavery. rewards and punishments furnish us with the needed scourge to enforce submission from these marvelously active minds; we encourage them with rewards! to what end? to winning the prize! well, by doing so we make the child lose sight of his real goal, which is knowledge, liberty and work, in order to dazzle him with a prize which, considered morally, is vanity, and considered materially is a few grains of metal. we inflict punishments in order to conquer nature, which is in rebellion, not against what is good and beautiful, not against the purpose of life, but against us, because we are tyrants instead of guides. if only we did not also punish sickness, misfortune and poverty! we are breakers-in of free human beings, not educators of men. our faith in rewards and punishments as _a necessary means_ to the progress of the children and to the maintenance of discipline, is a fallacy already exploded by experiment. it is not the material and vain reward, bestowed upon a few individual children, that constitutes the psychic stimulus which spurs on the multifold expansions of human life to greater heights; rewards degrade the grandeur of human consciousness into vanity and confine it within the limits of egotism, which means perdition. the stimulus worthy of man is the joy which he feels in the consciousness of his own growth; and he grows only through the conquest of his own spirit and the spread of universal brotherhood. it is not true that the child is incapable of feeling a spiritual stimulus far greater than the wretched prize that gives him an egotistical and illusory superiority over his companions; it is rather that we ourselves, because already degraded by egotism, judge these new forces of nascent human life after our own low standards. the small boys and girls in our "children's houses" are of their own accord distrustful of rewards; they despise the little medals, intended to be pinned upon the breast as marks of distinction, and instead they actively search for objects of study through which, without any guidance from the teacher, they may model and judge and correct themselves, and thus work toward perfection. as to punishments, they are depressing in effect, and they are inflicted upon children who are already depressed! even in the case of those who are adult and strong, we know that it is necessary to encourage those who have fallen, to aid the weak, to comfort those who are discouraged. and if this method serves for the strong, how much more necessary it is for lives in the course of evolution! this is a great reform which the world awaits at our hands: we must shatter the iron chains with which we have kept the intelligence of the new generations in bondage![ ] =pathological variations.=--among the factors that may have a notable influence upon the stature are the pathological causes. aside from those very rare occurrences that produce gigantism, it may be affirmed that pathological variations result in general in an arrest of development. in such a case it may follow that an individual of a given age will show the various characteristics of an individual of a younger age; that is, he will seem younger or more childish. in such a case the stature has remained on a _lower_ level than that which is normal for the given age; and this in general is the most obvious characteristic, because it is the index of the whole inclusive arrest of the physical personality. but together with the diminution of stature, various other characteristics may exist that also suggest a younger age; that is, the entire personality has been arrested in its development. it follows, in school for example, that such pathological cases may _escape_ the master's attention; he sees among his scholars a type that is apparently not abnormal, because it does not deviate from the common type, in fact is _quite like_ other children; but when we inquire into its age, then the anomaly becomes evident, because the actual age of this small child is greater than his apparent age. a principle of this sort announced in these terms is perhaps too schematic; but it will serve to establish a clear general rule that will guide us in our separate observations of a great variety of individual cases. this form of arrested development was for the first time explained by lasegue, who introduced into the literature of medicine or rather into nosographism, the comparative term of _infantilism_. infantilism has been extensively studied in italy by professor sante de sanctis, who has written notable treatises upon it. i have taken from his work _gli infantilismi_, the following table of _fundamental_ characteristics necessary to constitute the _infantile_ _type_. . stature and physical development in general below that required by the age of the patient. . retarded development or incomplete development of the sexual organs and of their functions. . incomplete development of intelligence and character. in order to recognise infantilism, it is necessary to know the dimensions and morphology of the body in their relation to the various ages, and to bear in mind that in young children sexual development either has not begun or is still incomplete. _dimensions and morphology of the body at the various ages._--what we have already learned regarding stature will give us one test in our diagnosis of infantilism: the increase of stature and the transformations of _type of stature_ concur in establishing the dimensions and the morphology of the body (see stature, types of stature, diagrams). a sufferer from infantilism will have, for example at the age of eleven, a stature of centimetres and a statural index of , while the average figures give: ----------------------------- age |stature | index ----------+---------+-------- years | | years | | years | | years | | years | | ----------------------------- consequently, in such a case the eleven-year-old patient would have the appearance of a child of seven, not only in stature but also in the relative proportions of his body. (and if we examined him psychically, we should probably find his speech was not yet perfected, that he showed a tendency toward childish games, a mental level corresponding to the age of seven or thereabouts; in school the child would be placed in the first or second elementary grade.) accordingly the anthropological verdict of infantilism must not be based upon limits of measurement alone, but also upon the _proportions_ of the body. every age has its own morphology. now, such changes are found not only in the reciprocal relations between the bust and the limbs, but also between the various parts of the bust, as we shall see when we come to an analytical study of the morphology of the head, the thorax and the abdomen; the detailed anthropological examination of the individual patient will furnish us with further accompanying symptoms helpful in establishing a diagnosis. further on we shall give a summarised table of the morphology of the body from year to year (laws of growth); and of the most notable and fundamental psychological characteristics of the different years of childhood; so that a teacher may easily derive from it at a glance a comprehensive picture that will aid in a diagnosis of the _age_, and hence of the arrest of development, in subjects suffering from infantilism. before entering upon the important question of pathogenesis in its relation to infantilism, i will reproduce a few biographic notes of _infantile types_, taken from various authorities: giulio b. was brought to the clinic because of his continued love for toys, notwithstanding his age. at seventeen and a half he retained the manners, the games and the language of a child of between ten and twelve. in appearance, he gave the impression of being between thirteen and fourteen, and was as well proportioned as a lad of that age. his stature was . meters (at thirteen the average stature is . m. and at fourteen it is . m.; while at seventeen it ought to be . m.) and his weight was kilograms (at fourteen the weight is k. and at seventeen it is k.). his appearance was lively, intelligent, but on the whole childish. his genital organs were like those of a boy of twelve (fig. ). the patient understood all that was said to him, he could read, write and sing, but could not apply himself to any serious occupation; he did not read the papers, but would amuse himself by looking at pictures in illustrated books; he could play draughts, but was equally pleased when playing with children's toys. during his stay at the clinic he was several times punished for childish pranks: he filled his neighbour's chamber vessel with stones, and amused himself by making little paper boats and sailing them in the urine, etc. he was employed as a page at an all-night café; his age permitted him to perform this work forbidden to children, while his appearance rendered him fitted for the task. when questioned discreetly regarding his sexual functions, or rather his sexual incapacity, he understood at once, and expressed in a childish way his deep regret, because he had heard it said that "that was why they wouldn't let him serve in the army." vittorio ch. is twenty-two years old and looks about eight or ten. stature . metres (average stature for the age of seven being . m.; for eight, . m.). has no beard, nor any signs of virility; genital organs like those of a child. his intelligence is alert, but does not surpass that of a boy of ten. he speaks correctly, can read, write and sing; plays draughts, but does not disdain children's toys, and prefers looking at pictures in illustrated books to reading the daily papers. after the death of the patient, it was found, as a result of the autopsy, that the epiphyses of the long bones had not yet united with the diaphyses, and that the bones of the skull were still as soft as those of a child (fig. ). here is another case, taken from moige:[ ] it is the case of a young working girl, presenting all the appearance of a child of twelve or fourteen; she had not yet attained puberty, although she was thirty years of age. no external sign gave evidence that she was undergoing the sexual transition that should give her womanhood. her breasts were reduced to the mere nipple, as in infancy. her voice was weak. this woman was hysterical and subject to frequent attacks of convulsions. her mental condition remained infantile. she was gentle, docile, timid and apprehensive; she was destitute of coquetry or sense of shame. [illustration: fig. .--boy, seventeen and one-half years old.] [illustration: fig. .--young man, twenty-two years old.] [illustration: fig. .--idiotic cretin, age years, stature . m.] [illustration: fig. .--an example of myxedematous infantilism.] [illustration: fig. .--a group of cretins in the valley of aosta (piedmont). the alteration of the thyroid gland is of endemic origin.] renato l.,[ ] age twenty-nine; stature . m. (average stature at the age of ten, . m.; at eleven, . m.) weight, kilograms (average weight, age of twelve, k.). it appears from his history that he developed normally up to the age of nine, after which period an arrest of development occurred, both physical and psychic. an arrest of the genital organs dates back also to early childhood. his intelligence is that of a backward child; he has never been able to read or write, but can count up to . he has never been able to learn a trade, but shows some talent for drawing. his criminal instincts seem to be especially developed. he spends whole hours, turning over the leaves of popular illustrated novels, and whenever he comes across a picture representing a homicide or an assassination, he utters loud exclamations of delight. he has only one passion, tobacco, and only one object of adoration, ravachol. very violent, extremely irritable; when he is angry, he would kill someone, if, as he says, "he had the strength for it." although, as a rule, he docilely obeys the orders given him, it is because he is "afraid of being scolded." his ideal is to be able some time to obtain refuge in the hospice de bicêtre. from de sanctis's work, _gli infantilismi_, i obtain the following data, that are very suggestive on the anthropological side, regarding a case of infantilism observed by the professor in his asylum-school for defective children, in rome. vincenzo p., seven years of age. father in good health and of good character. mother small, thin, weak, underfed; has had nine children, of which five are living, all feeble. vincenzo was born in due time, birth regular; had five wet-nurses; cut his teeth at the normal intervals; began to walk at the end of the second year and to speak at the end of the first. according to his mother, all went well until the fourth year. at this period, vincenzo became very troublesome and ceased to "grow taller." later on he was sent to the communal school, but the director of the school in the via ricasoli, seeing how undersized and backward he was, sent him to the asylum-school for defective children. in appearance the child is eurhythmic, excepting that the head appears a little _too big_ in proportion to the rest of his body; but it is not of the hydrocephalic type (an infantile characteristic). he is slightly asymmetric, the postero-inferior portion of the right parietal bone being more depressed than that of the left (infantile plagiocephaly). ---------------------------------------+------------------------------ measurements | age at which the -------------------+-------------------+ measurements of of the child |normal measurements| vincenzo would |at the age of seven| be normal -------------------+-------------------+------------------------------ stature, . m. | . m. |three years, stature, . m. weight, . kg. | . kg. |two years, weight, kg. circumference of | . m. |four years, circumference of chest, . m. | | chest, . m. vital index, | vital index, |two years, vital index, . -------------------+-------------------+------------------------------ the bust is _greatly developed_ in comparison with the lower limbs, which are unquestionably short. (the sitting stature was not taken, but this note, recorded from simple observation, reminds us of the enormous difference between the indices of stature at the age of two or three and at the age of seven: index at two years= ; at three= ; at seven= .) but although we lack the index of stature, we may make use of the vital index, which is given by the proportion between the circumference of the chest and the stature, and consequently gives us an index of the morphology of the bust in its relation to the whole personality; thus we find that the vital index corresponds in the present case to that of a child of two, as is also true of the weight, so that we may deduce that the index of stature was probably about - . he shows no impairment as to external sensations; on the other hand, internal sensations, such as satiety, illness, etc., are blunted. his power of attention seems sufficient, both at play and in school and when questioned. neither does his memory show anything abnormal. emotionally, he is below the normal level; he says that he is afraid of thunder; occasionally he shows annoyance when disturbed; but it is equally certain that he never becomes angry, never turns pale and never blushes, as the result of any excitement. he is of an indifferent disposition and is passive in manner; he is good natured, or rather, a certain degree of apathy makes him appear so. all things considered, his mental development may be described as that of a three-year-old child; only that he differs from children of that age in his lack of vivacity and in his complete development of articulate speech (it should be noted, in regard to the diagnosis of age made by so distinguished a psychologist as de sanctis, that he judged the child to have a psychic development corresponding to the age of three years); while we, studying the general measurements of the body, determined that they correspond to three different ages, namely, two, three and four the average of which is precisely three; while the stature, which is the index of development of the body as a whole, corresponds almost exactly to that average of three years ( . m., . m.). _pathogenesis of infantilism._--at this point it might be asked: why do we grow? we hide the mechanism of growth under very vague expressions: biological final causes, ontogenetic evolution, heredity. but, if we stop to think, such expressions are not greatly different from those which they have replaced: the divine purpose, creation. in other words, a causal explanation is lacking. but positive science refuses to lose itself in the search after final causes, in which case it would become metaphysical philosophy. nevertheless, it may pursue its investigations into the genesis of phenomena, whenever the results of experiments permit it to advance. so it is in the case of growth; certain relatively recent discoveries in physiology have made it possible to establish relations between the development of the individual and the functions of certain little glands of "internal secretion." now, the discovery of these relations is certainly not a causal explanation of the phenomenon of growth, but only a profounder analysis of it. hitherto, we have considered the organism in regard to its chief visceral functions: in speaking of macroscelia and of brachyscelia, we considered the different _types_ in relation to the development of the organs of vegetative life and the organs of external relations: the central nervous system, the lungs, the heart, the digestive system. our next step is to enter upon the study of certain little organs, which were still almost ignored by the anatomy and physiology of yesterday. these organs are glands which, unlike other glands (the salivary glands, the pancreas, the sudoriferous glands, etc.), are lacking in an excretory duct, through which the juices prepared for an immediate physiological purpose might be given forth; and in the absence of such excretory tubes, their product must be distributed through the lymphatic system, and hence imperceptibly conveyed throughout the whole organism. one of these glands, the one best known, is the _thyroid_; but there are others, such, for example, as the _thymus_, situated beneath the sternum, or breast-bone, and much reduced in size in the adult; the _pineal gland_ or hypophysis cerebri, situated at the base of the encephalon; the _suprarenal capsules_, little ear-shaped organs located above the kidneys. up to a short time ago, it was not known what the functions of such glands were; some of them were regarded as atavistic survivals, because they are more developed in the lower animals than in man, and consequently were classed with the vermiform appendix as relics of organs which had served their functions in a bygone phylogenetic epoch and remain in man without any function, but on the contrary represent a danger through the local diseases that they may develop. the cerebral hypophysis was in ancient times regarded as the _seat of the soul_. these glands are very small; the largest is the thyroid, which weighs between thirty and forty grams ( to - / oz.); the suprarenal glands weigh four grams each (about grains); the hypophysis hardly attains the weight of one gram. the importance of these glands began to be revealed when antiseptic methods rendered surgery venturesome, and the attempt was made (in ) to remove the thyroid gland. after a few weeks the patient operated on began to feel the effects of the absence of an organ necessary to normal life: effects that may be summed up as, extreme general debility; pains in the bones and in the head; an elastic swelling of the entire skin; enfeebled heart action, and anemia; and on the psychic side, loss of memory, taciturnity, melancholy. after the lapse of some time the patient showed such further symptoms as the shedding of the cuticle of the skin, whitening of the hair and _facies cretinica_. but when sick undertook to operate upon the thyroid of a child of ten, the deleterious effects of interrupting the above-mentioned function of the gland manifested itself in an _arrest of_ _development_; at the age of twenty-eight the patient operated on by sick was a cretin (idiotic dwarf) . metres tall (average stature at age of ten= . m.). since that time certain diseases have been recognised that call to mind the condition of patients who have undergone an operation for removal of the thyroid glands, and in which the subjects have suffered from _hypothyroidea_, or insufficient development of the thyroid. such individuals were characterised by _nanism_, solid edema of the skin, arrest of psychic development, and absence of development of puberty; this malady has taken its place in medical treatises under the name of myxedema; and, when serious, is accompanied by _nanism_ and myxedematous idiocy. but in _mild_ _cases_ it may result in a simple myxedematous infantilism. the other glands of internal secretion are also associated with the phenomena of growth. first in importance is the _thymus_ which is found highly developed in the embryo and in the child at birth, and thereafter diminishes in volume, until it almost disappears after the attainment of puberty. in the psychological laboratories of luciani, at rome, the first experiments were conducted upon dogs, for the purpose of determining what alterations in growth would result as a consequence of the removal of the thymus. the dogs thus operated on were weak; furthermore they became atrophied, accompanied by roughness of the skin and changes in pigmentation. after this, experiments were made in the pediatric clinic at padua, under the direction of professor cervesato, in the application of thymic organotherapy (that is, the use of animal thymus as medicine) with notable success in the case of atrophic children (infantile atrophy occurs in early infancy; this form is known popularly in italy as the "monkey sickness." nursing children become extremely thin, cease to grow in length, the little face becomes elongated and skeleton-like, and is frequently covered with a thick down). stoppato also obtained analogous results in infantile atrophy and anemia. hence it is evident that the very rapid growth in the embryo is associated with the functional action of the thymus. and this is also true of the very rapid growth during the first years of a child's life. the pituitary gland, or cerebral hypophysis, has also functions associated with the general nervous tone and trophism (or nourishment) of the tissues, and especially of the osseous system. there is a disease known as acromegalia (marie's disease) which is characterised by an abnormal and inharmonic growth of the skeleton, especially in the limbs and the jaw; the hands and feet become enormously enlarged, while the jaw lengthens and thickens (an unhealthy formation on which the common people of italy have bestowed the name of "horse sickness," because of the appearance assumed by the face). such patients complain of general and progressive debility of their psychic activities. in such cases, an autopsy shows an alteration of the pituitary gland, often due to malignant tumors (sarcoma). the suprarenal capsules also bear a relation to general trophism and particularly to the pigmentation of the skin. it was already noted by cassan and meckel that the negro races show a greater volumetric development of the suprarenal capsules; when in addison for the first time discovered a form of disease associated with alterations of the suprarenal capsules, characterised by an intensely brown colouration of the skin (bronzed-skin disease), general debility of the nervous and muscular systems, progressive anemia and mental torpor; the malady ends in death. in the case of animals operated on for physiological experiments, not one of them has been able to survive. some interesting observations have been made by zander on the connection between the development of the nervous system and the suprarenal glands. he found that there was an insufficient development of these glands in individuals having teratological (monstrous) mis-shapements of the brain, as in the case of hemicephalus (absence of one-half the brain), cyclops, etc. there exists between all the ductless glands, or those of internal secretion, an organic sympathy: in other words, if one of them is injured the others react, frequently to the extent of assuming a vicarious (compensating) functional action. what their functional mechanism is, that is, whether the secretions act as formative stimulants or enzymes, ferments of growth, or whether as antitoxins to the toxins elaborated by various organs in the process of regression, is a question still controverted and in any case cannot enter within the limits of our field. it is enough for us to know that the general growth of the organism and its morphological harmony, depend not only as regards the skeleton, but equally in relation to the cutaneous system and its pigmentation, the development of the muscles, the heart, the blood, the brain, and the trophic functions of the nervous system, upon some formative and protective action of all these little glands of "internal secretion," with which are associated the _psychic activities_ and even the life itself of each individual, as though within the embryonic crucible there must have been certain substances that acted by stimulating the genetic forces and directing the trophism of the tissues toward a predetermined morphology. to-day it is held that even the _mother's milk_ contains these formative principles, or _enzymes_, suited to stimulate the tissues of her own child in the course of their formation; consequently, it produces results which no other milk in all nature can replace. alterations in these glands of "internal secretion" may therefore produce an arrest of development--and, in mild cases, forms of infantilism. but the gland which in this connection is of first importance is the _thyroid_. now there is one form of arrest of the trophic rhythm of growth which may be due to _hereditary causes_ effecting the formative glands (myxedematous infantilism), or to exceptional causes occurring in the individual himself in the course of formation, either at the moment of conception, or at some later moment, as may happen even during the period of infancy (dystrophic infantilism of various origin). in all these cases, however, according to hertoghe, the exceptional causes, deleterious to growth, would first of all exercise their influence upon the glands of internal secretion and especially upon the thyroid. in order to make clear, in connection with such complex pathological problems, the cases which are important from the point of view of pedagogy and the school, let us divide them into: _myxedematous infantilism_, due to congenital insufficiency of the thyroid gland from hereditary causes, and _dystrophic infantilism_, associated with various causes deleterious to individual development--and acting secondarily upon the glands of internal secretion (syphilis, tuberculosis, alcoholism, malaria, pellagra, etc.). _myxedematous infantilism_ is characterised by short stature, by excessive development of the adipose system, and by arrest of mental development (including speech). such _infantiles_ very frequently have a special morphology of the face, that suggests the mongol type, and characteristic malformations of the hands (little fingers atrophied). when treated with extracts of the thyroid glands of animals, they improve notably; they become thinner, they gain in stature, their mentality develops to the extent of permitting them to study and to work. certain mongoloids treated by de sanctis in the asylum-school at rome were improved to the point of being able to attend the high-school and therefore were restored to their family and to society as useful individuals--all of which are facts that are of singular importance to us as educators! medical care working hand in hand with pedagogy may save from parasitism individual human beings who otherwise would be lost. we ought to be convinced from such evidence of the necessity of _special schools_ for deficients, wholly separated from the elementary schools, and where _medical care_ combined with a specially adapted pedagogic treatment may transform the school into a true "home of health and education." the plan of a "school with a prolonged schedule of hours," including two meals and a medical office, as was conceived and organised by prof. sante de sanctis in rome, has been proved to answer admirably to this social need; because without wholly removing the children from their families, and therefore without exposing them to the disadvantages of a boarding school, it provides them with all the assistance necessary to their special needs. _dystrophic infantilism._--given a case of infantilism, discoverable by the teacher through the general measurements of the body and psychic examination, it is interesting to investigate the deleterious _causes_. it may be the result of _poisoning_, as for example from _alcohol_. alcohol has such a direct influence upon the arrest of development that in england jockeys are produced by making the lads drink a great deal of alcohol. children who drink alcohol _do not grow in_ _stature_, and similarly the embryo grows in a less degree when the mother indulges in alcohol during pregnancy; some swiss women deliberately resort to this means, in order that a smaller child may lessen the pain of childbirth. but alcohol not only diminishes the stature, but destroys the harmony of the different parts; that is, in the development of the body it arrests both the volumetric and the morphological growth. furthermore, alcohol produces in children an arrest of mental development. an acquaintance with this principle of hygiene should be looked upon by the teacher less as a piece of special knowledge than as a _social duty_. from the point of view of the educator, the fight against alcoholism should have no assignable limits! it would be vain for him to perfect his didactic methods in order to _educate a child that drank_ _wine or other still worse alcoholic liquors_. it would be better if the efforts which he meant to dedicate to such educative work could be all turned to a _propaganda_ directed toward the parents of such children, or toward the children themselves, to induce them to abstain from so pernicious a habit! we may also consider in the category of _poisonings_ certain chronic maladies which act upon the organism with special toxic (poisonous) effects. in the foremost rank of such maladies belongs _syphilis._--this disease is ranked among the principal causes of _abortion_; in other words, the foetus which results from a syphilitic conception lacks _vitality_, and often fails to complete the cycle of intrauterine life. but even granting that the foetus survives and attains its complete development, the child after birth _grows_ tardily, and very often remains an _infantile_. it is well known that syphilis has been transmitted to new-born infants at the time of birth, in consequence of which these infants may in turn transmit syphilis to their wet-nurses. in such cases they are really _sick_ and need medical treatment from the hour of their birth. just as in the adult patient, syphilis has several successive stages, an acute primary stage, with plain manifestations of hard ulcers, erythema diffused over the skin of the entire body, glandular infiltrations, etc., and then secondary and tertiary manifestations that eventually become chronic and exhibit almost imperceptible symptoms; so in the case of children, syphilis may be transmitted in various degrees of virulence. in the acute stage the result will be abortion or the child will be still-born, or else the new-born child will plainly exhibit ulcerations and erythema, but at other periods of the disease, the child may bear far less evident signs of its affliction, as for instance a special form of corrosion in the enamel of its teeth; the _cervical pleiades_ or enlargement of certain little lymphatic glands like the beads of a rosary, distinguishable by touch in the posterior region of the neck; certain cranial malformations (prominent nodules on the parietal bones, parrot's nodes); and in the child's whole personality an under-development in respect to its age. in cases like these the teacher's _observations_ may be of real social value, because the child has shown no symptoms of such a nature as to cause the parents to have recourse to a physician, and it is the child's _scholarship_ (using the word in the broad sense of the _way in which the child reacts in the environment_ _of school_, the profit he derives from study, etc.) that may reveal an abnormal development to an intelligent teacher. the first indication is a _stature below what is normal at a given_ _age_. such observations ought to be obligatory upon teachers who are in sympathy with the new ideas, for they alone can be the arbiters of the rising generations. it is being said on all sides, to be sure, with optimistic assurance that argues a deficiency of critical insight and common sense, that an adequate _education of_ _the mothers_ ought to enlighten all women in regard to the laws of growth in children and the abnormalities that are remediable. but of what class of mothers are we supposed to be speaking? certainly not of the great mass of working women and illiterates! certainly not of the women who have been constrained to hard toil from childhood up, and later on condemned to abortion because of such unjust labor, while their spirit is brutalized and their memory loses even the last lingering notion of an alphabet! it will always be easier and more practical, in every way, to enlighten twenty-five thousand teachers regarding these principles than to enlighten many millions of mothers; not to mention that if we wished to enlighten these mothers in a practical way regarding the principles of the hygiene of generation, we should still have to invoke the services of that very class whose assigned task in society is precisely that of educating the masses! the teacher can and should learn at least how to _suspect_ the presence of hereditary syphilis in his pupils, in order to be able to invoke the aid of the physician, leaving to the latter the completion of the task, namely, the eventual cure. it is well known that iodide of potassium and its substitutes, especially if used at an early stage, can _cure_ syphilitic children and therefore save innocent boys and girls from eventual definite arrest of development and from all the resultant human and social misery. another cause that is deleterious to development is _tuberculosis._--although it has now been demonstrated that tuberculosis is not hereditary, as an active disease--that is, we cannot inherit in our organism localised colonies of the tuberculosis bacillus, because the bacilli cannot pass through the placenta into the foetus during the period of gestation--nevertheless a _predisposition_ to infection from the bacillus can be inherited. a predisposition which consists in a special form of weakened resistance of the tissues, rendering them incapable of immunity, and a skeletal formation which is distinguished by a narrowness of the chest, and a consequent smallness of lungs, which, being unable to take in sufficient air, constitute a _locus minoris resistentiæ_ (locality of less resistance) to localisation of the bacilli. now, since our environment is highly infected by the bacilli of tuberculosis, we must all necessarily meet with it, we must all have repeatedly received into our mouths and air passages koch's bacilli, alive and virulent; and yet the strong organism remains immune, while the weak succumbs. consequently those who are predisposed by heredity are almost fated to become tuberculous, and in this sense the malady presents the appearance of being truly hereditary. but such organic weakness in a child predisposed to tuberculosis is manifested not only by possible attacks of various forms of the disease localised in the glands (scrofula) or the bones, but also by a _delayed development of the whole personality_. now, the environment of school and the educative methods still in vogue in our schools, not only are not adapted to correct such a predisposition, but what is more, the school itself _creates_ this predisposition! in fact, the sitting posture--or rather, that of stooping over the desk, to write--and the prolonged confinement in a closed environment, impede the normal development of the thorax and of all the physical powers in general. many a work on pedagogic anthropology has already shown that the _most_ _studious scholars_, the _prize-winners_, etc., have a wretched chest measure, and a muscular force so low as to threaten ruin to their constitutions. consequently, children who are predisposed to tuberculosis ought unquestionably to be _removed_ from our schools and cared for and educated in favourable environments. while we are still impotent in the face of fatalities due to this deplorable disease, we are not ignorant of the means needed to save a predisposed child and transform him into a robust and resistant lad. such knowledge, to be sure, was applied to _mankind_ only as a second thought; for the first men to apply and then to teach such means of defence were the owners of cattle and the veterinaries. the owners of cattle discovered that if a calf was born of a tuberculous cow, it could be saved and become an excellent head of cattle, if only it was subjected to a very simple procedure; the calf must be removed from its mother and given over to be nursed by another cow in the open country; and it must remain in the open pastures for some time after it its weaned. by taking similar precautions in the case of children, it has been shown that the son of a tuberculous woman, if entrusted to a wet-nurse in the _open country_, and brought up on an abundance of nourishing food until his sixth year in the freedom of the fields, can be made as robust as any naturally sound child. from this we get the principle of _schools in the open air_, or of _schools in the woods_, or _on the sea-shore_, for the benefit of weak, anemic children, predisposed to tuberculosis. such a sojourn constitutes the "school-sanatorium," the lack of which is so grievously felt by the parents of feeble children, and that might so easily be instituted in our mild and luxuriant peninsula, so rich in hillsides and sea-coast! _malaria._--one of the chief causes of mortality and of biological pauperism in many regions of italy is _malaria_. this scourge rages even to the very gates of rome. the country folk of these abandoned tracts pine away in misery and at the same time in illiteracy, while their blood is impoverished by disease, and a notable percentage of the children are _victims of arrested development_. these unfortunates, forgotten by civilisation, are destined to roam the fields, bearing with them, till the day of their death, a deceptive appearance of youth, and an infantile incapacity for work, an object-lesson of misery and barbarity! among the means of fighting malaria, the spread of civilisation and the school ought to find a place. even the quinine given freely by the government is distributed with difficulty among these unhappy people, brutalised by hunger and fever; and some message from civilisation ought to precede the remedy for the material ill. a far-sighted institution is that of sunday classes founded by signor celli and his wife in the abandoned malarial districts. in these classes, the teachers from elementary schools give lessons every sunday, spreading the principles of civic life, at the same time that they distribute quinine to the children. if we stop to think that wherever malaria is beaten back, it means a direct conquest of fertile lands and of robust men, and hence of wealth, we must realise at once the immense importance of this sort of school and this sort of struggle, which may be compared to the ancient wars of conquest, when new territories and strong men constituted the prize of battles won, and the grandeur of the victorious nations. _pellagra._--pellagra is still another scourge diffused over many regions of italy. it is well known that this disease, whose pathological etiology is still obscure, has some connection with a diet of mouldy grain. pellagra runs a slow course, beginning almost unnoticed in the first year, with a simple cutaneous eruption, which the peasants sometimes attribute to the sun. the second year disturbances of the stomach and intestines begin, aggravated by a diet of spoiled corn; but it is usually not until the third year that pellagra reveals itself through its symptoms of great nervous derangements, with depression of muscular, psychic and sexual powers, together with _melancholia_, amounting to a true and special form of psychosis (insanity) leading to homicide, even of those nearest and dearest (mothers murdering their children) and to suicide. this established cycle of the disease is not invariable. instead of representing successive _stages_, these symptoms may often be regarded merely as representing the _prevailing_ phenomena in various forms of pellagra; in any case, it constitutes a malady that runs a slow course during which the same patient is liable to many relapses. while the malady is running its course, the patients may continue their usual physiological and social life, and even _reproduce_ themselves. so that it is not an infrequent case when we find mothers, _suffering from pellagra_, nursing an offspring generated in sickness and condemned to manifold forms of _arrested development, both_ _physical and mental_. against a disease so terrible that it strikes the individual and the species, it is now a matter of common knowledge that there is an exceedingly simple remedy: it consists in a strongly nitrogenous diet (i.e. meat) and that, too, only temporarily. in fact, in the districts where the pellagra rages, various charitable organisations have been established, among others the economic _kitchens_ for mothers, which by distributing big rations of meat effect a cure, within a few months, not only of the sick mothers but of their children as well. the real battle against pellagra must be won through _agrarian_ _reforms_: but in the meantime the local authorities could in no small degree aid the unhappy population with their counsel, by enlightening the peasants regarding the risks they run, as well as by informing them of the various forms of organised aid actually established in the neighbourhood and often unknown to the public or feared by them, because of the ignorance and prejudice with which they are profoundly imbued! _pauperism_, _denutrition_, _hypertrophy._--we may define all the causes hitherto considered that are deleterious to growth, as _toxical_ _dystrophies_, since not only alcohol, but the several diseases above discussed--syphilis, tuberculosis, malaria, pellagra--produce forms of chronic intoxication. but besides all these various forms of dystrophies, we may also cite cases of infantilism due purely to defective nutrition, and family poverty. physiological misery may produce an arrest of growth in children. but just as denutrition associated with pauperism (social misery, economic poverty, lack of nourishment) may cause an organism in course of development to arrest its processes of evolution through lack of material, the same result is equally apt to be produced by any one of a great variety of causes liable to produce organic denutrition, physiological poverty. for example, too frequent pregnancies of the child's mother, which have resulted in impoverishing the maternal organism, causing deficiency of milk, etc. _infant illnesses._--in the same way, organic impoverishment is caused by certain maladies of the digestive system which impede the normal assimilation of nutritive matter: dysentery, for instance; and the effects may be still more disastrous if symptoms of this kind are accompanied by feverish conditions, as in typhus. there are cases, however, in which the arrest of development is not to be attributed to some wasting disease, or to the denutrition resulting from it; but rather to some acute illness occurring in early childhood (pneumonia, etc.), after which the child ceased to progress in accordance with his former obviously normal development. _anangioplastic infantilism._--another form of infantilism is associated with a malformation of the heart and blood-vessels, that is to say, the heart and aorta together with the entire circulatory system are of small dimensions; the calibre of the arteries is less than normal. in such a case the restriction of the entire vascular system and the scantiness of circulation of the blood constitute an impediment to the normal growth of the organism. although in such cases the explanation of the cause of the phenomenon is purely mechanical, nevertheless such abnormality of the heart and veins is to be classed as a teratological (monstrous) malformation, determined by original anomalies of the ductless glands, similar to what is found in cases of cephalic and cerebral monstrosities. in this form of infantilism the patient shows not only the usual fundamental characteristics already noted, but also symptoms of _anemia_ as obstinate to all methods of treatment as _chlorosis_ is; in addition to which they often show congenital malformations of the heart, in every way similar in their effects to valvular affections such as may result from pathological causes (chief of which are mitral and aortic stenosis, which consist of a stricture of the valves connected with the left ventricle of the heart). accordingly, children who show forms of mitral infantilism are inferior to their actual age not only in their whole psychosomatic appearance, but they are noticeably weak, pale and suffering from shortness of breath and disturbances of the circulation. in such cases, neither pedagogy nor hygiene can counteract the arrest of development; but it is well that the attention of teachers should be called to such cases, in order that cruel errors may be prevented, which would unconsciously do additional harm to individuals already burdened by nature with physiological wretchedness. in conclusion: the normal growth of the organism is _associated_ with the functional action of certain glands known as glands "of internal secretion," such as the thymus and thyroid, first of all, as well as the suprarenal capsules and the cerebral hypophysis. this group of _formative_ glands presides not only over the entire growth of the body, but also over the intimate modeling of its structure; so that a _lesion_ or _deficiency_ in any of them results not only in nanism and an arrest of mental development, but in various forms of general dystrophy. that the organism is associated in the course of its transformations with the functional action of specific glands is shown by the _development of puberty_, which consists in a series of transformations of the _entire organism_, but is associated with the establishment of functional activity of glands that were hitherto immature: the genital glands (ovaries, testicles). these glands also are functionally in close sympathy with the entire group of formative glands: so much so that, if the glands of internal secretion are injured, the genital glands usually fail to attain normal development (infantilism). now, the transformations which take place in the organism at the period of puberty might be produced at other periods if the functional action of the generative glands should show itself at a different epoch. that is, these transformations are not associated with the _age of the_ _organism_, but with the development of specific glands. there are cases of the genital glands maturing at abnormal ages; or of local maladies that have hastened the appearance of the phenomena of puberty in children of tender years. a notable case is that described by dr. sacchi,[ ] of a nine-year old boy, who had grown normally up to the age of five and a half, both in his physiological organism and in his psychic personality. at the age of five and a half, the child's father noticed a physical and moral alteration; the child's voice grew deeper, his character more serious, and the skeletal and muscular systems grew rapidly, while on certain portions of the body, as for example on the face, a fine down appeared. at the age of seven the child had attained a stature that was gigantic for his age; he was very diligent and studious and did not care to play with his comrades. at nine, he had a stature of . metres (the normal stature being . ), a weight of kilograms (normal = ); his muscles were highly developed, his powers of traction and compression being equal to those of a man; his chin was covered with a thick beard five centimetres long. when he was examined by a physician, the latter discovered a tumor in the left testicle. after an operation, the child lost his beard and regained his childish voice; his character became more timid and sensitive; he began once more to enjoy his comrades and take part in boyish games. his muscular force underwent a notable diminution. _rickets._--it is important not to confound any of the various forms of infantilism with _rickets_. rickets is a well-defined malady whose special point of attack is the osseous system in course of formation; but it leaves the nervous system and the genital system unimpaired. the sufferer from rickets may be a person of intelligence, capable of attaining the highest distinctions in art or in politics; he is normal in his genital powers, so that he is capable of normal reproduction, without, in many cases, transmitting any taint of rickets to his descendants. nevertheless this disease, like all constitutional maladies, occurs only in individuals who are _weakly_. among the characteristics of rickets, the one which assumes first importance is _inferiority of stature_ in comparison with the normal man. in this connection i quote the following figures from bonnifay:[ ] -------------------------------------------------- age | stature in centimetres | rachitic children | normal children -------------+-------------------+---------------- months | . | . years | . | . - years | . | . - years | . | . - years | - | . - years | . | . - years | . | . - years | . | . - years | . | . -------------------------------------------------- but together with diminution of stature there exist in rickets various _deformities_ of the skeleton, especially in the bones of the cranium, in the vertebral column and in the frame of the thorax; although even the pelvis and the limbs have been known to show the characteristic deformities. an objective knowledge of the first symptoms of rickets ought to be regarded as indispensable on the part of mistresses in children's asylums, and in any case to form an important chapter in pedagogic anthropology. for it is well known that in the early stages of _rickets_ the child may be so guided in its growth as to save it from deformities of the skeleton, even though a definite limitation of the stature may not be _prevented_. that is to say, that through the intervention of hygiene and pedagogy the rachitic child may be saved from becoming a _cripple_ or a _hunchback_, and will simply remain an individual of _low stature_; with certain signs and proportions of the skeleton indicative of the attack through which he has passed. even in very severe cases it is at least possible to minimize the deformity of the thorax and the curvature of the vertebral column. the precursory signs of rickets in a child are: a characteristic _muscular weakness_, frequently accompanied by excessive development of adipose tissue, giving an illusory impression of abundant nutrition; delay in the development of the teeth and in locomotion, which from the very beginning may be accompanied by curvature of the long bones of the legs. the bregmatic fontanelle of the cranium closes later than at the normal period, and is larger than in normal cases, just as the entire cerebral cranium is abnormally developed in volume, while the facial portion remains small, especially in regard to the jaw bones. one of the most salient characteristics, however, is the peculiar enlargement of the _articular heads_ of the long bones, easily recognizable in the size of the _wrists_; the enlargement is also found in the extremities of the ribs, which at their points of union on each side of the sternum form a succession of little lumps, like the beads of a rosary. in conjunction with these characteristics, it is to be noted, at all ages, as appears from the figures given by bonnifay, that there is a notable _diminution of stature_. the _treatment_ of rickets is _medical_ and _pedagogical_ combined. children of this type should be _removed_ from the public school, where the school routine might have a fatally aggravating effect upon the pathological condition of such children. in fact, gymnastics based upon marching and exercising in an erect position, together with a prolonged sitting posture, are likely to produce weaknesses of the skeleton and deformities, even where there are no symptoms of rickets! the establishment of _infant_ asylums for rachitic children is one of the most enlightened movements of the modern school. we italians are certainly not the last to found such institutions, and padua possesses one of the oldest and most perfect asylums of this sort of which europe can boast. asylums for rachitic children ought to have a special school equipment, so far as concerns the _benches_ and the apparatus for _medical and orthopedic gymnastics_; furthermore they should be provided with a pharmaceutical stock of remedies suited to building up the osseous system and the organism in general; and a school refectory should be provided, adapted to the condition of the children. the methods of instruction should rigorously avoid any form of _fatigue_, and instead provide the child with psychic stimuli designed to overcome a sluggishness due to the mental prostration to which he is for the most part subject. as regards their situation, these asylums for rachitic children may be advantageously located upon the _sea-coast_. _the stature of abnormals._--the name of abnormals is applied to the entire series of individuals who are not normal: hence the categories already considered (infantilism, gigantism, rachitis) are included by implication. the group of abnormals, however, includes besides a long series of other classes, neuropathics, epileptics, and degenerates. under the head of abnormals may also be included those who are abnormal in character, such as criminals, etc. it is not irrational to group together the different types of abnormals, for the purpose of anthropological research, in contrast with those who are normal. in america, for instance, such studies are conducted on a large scale, precisely for the purpose of showing the _deviation_ of abnormal dimensions of the body from normal dimensions, not only in the definitive development of the body, but also during growth. the abnormals depart from the mean measurements, now rising above and again falling below, as though they were intermittently impelled by the biological impulse of their organism, which at one time manifests a hypergenesis and at another a hypogenesis. a clear illustration of these facts is afforded by macdonald's diagram (see page ): the solid line which rises regularly represents the growth in stature of normal individuals; the dotted line which forms a zig-zag, now rising rapidly above the normal line and then falling very much below it, represents the growth in stature of the abnormals. naturally such a chart must be interpreted by comparison with the standards of mean measurements gathered at successive ages from a large number of different children. it shows that normal children are nearly uniform among themselves, and in relation to the years of their growth: while abnormal children differ greatly one from another and do not accord with the mean stature of the age they represent. regarding the stature of _criminals_ there can be nothing special to say: _criminals_ do not represent an anthropological entity. they belong to a large extent, whenever the criminal act has a psychophysiological basis, to various categories of _abnormals_. from the victim of rickets to the infantile, to the submicrocephalic, to the ultra-macroscele or ultra-brachyscele, all abnormal organisms may contribute to the number of those predisposed to the social phenomenon of criminality. and it is for this reason that we may say in general that the stature of abnormals is sometimes above and sometimes below the normal, but with a prevailing tendency to fall below. _moral and pedagogic considerations._--the objection may be raised that a medico-pedagogic system of treatment, designed to prevent a threatened arrest of development or to minimise its progressive symptoms, demands on the part of society an excessive effort, out of proportion to the end in view. to cure or ameliorate the condition of the weak may even be regarded as a principle of social ethics that is contrary to nature, whose laws lead inexorably to the selection of the strong and to the elimination of all those who are unfitted for the struggle for life. sparta has furnished us with a practical example that is very far from the principles which scientific pedagogy is to-day seeking to formulate as a new necessity of social progress. [illustration: mac donald _stature of normal persons_ _stature of abnormal persons_ fig. .] but we are too far removed from the triumphant civilisation of greece, to recur to the authority of her example: the principle sanctioned to-day by modern civilisation, that of "respect for human life," forbids the violent _elimination_ of the weak: mount taygetus is no longer a possible fate for innocent babes in a social environment the civic spirit of which has abolished the death penalty for criminals. consequently, since the weak have a right to live, as many of them as naturally survive are destined to become a burden, as parasites, upon the social body of normal citizens; and they furnish a living picture of physiological wretchedness, a spectacle of admonitory misery, inasmuch as it represents an _effect_ of social causes constituting the collective errors of human ethics. ignorance of the hygiene of generation, maladies due to the vices and the ignorance of men, such as syphilis, other maladies such as tuberculosis, malaria and pellagra, representing so many scourges raging unchecked among the people, are the actual causes that are undermining the social structure, and manifesting themselves visibly through their pernicious fruit: the birth of weaklings. to forget the innocent results of such causes, as we forget the causes themselves, would be to run the risk of plunging precipitously into an abyss of perdition. it is precisely these disastrous effects upon posterity that ought to warn us and shed light upon the errors through which we are passing lightly and unconsciously. accordingly, to gather in all the weaklings is equivalent to erecting a barrier against the social causes which are enfeebling posterity: since it is impossible to conceive that if the existence of such a danger were once demonstrated, society would rest until every effort had been made to guard against the possibility of its recurrence. in addition to such motives for human prophylaxis, a more immediate interest should lead us to the pedagogic protection of weak children. the establishment of special schools for defective children, sanatarium-schools for tuberculous children, rural schools for those afflicted with malaria and pellagra, infant asylums for rachitic children, is a work of many-sided utility. they constitute a fundamental and radical purification of the schools for normal children: in fact, so long as intellectual and moral defectives and children suffering from infantilism and rachitis intermingle with healthy pupils, we cannot say that there really exist any _schools_ _for normal children_, in which pedagogy may be allowed a free progress in the art of developing the best forces in the human race. still another useful side to the question is that of putting a stop to the physiological ruin of individual weaklings. very small would be the cost of schools for defective children, asylums for the rachitic, tonics, quinine, the iodide treatment, school refectories for little children afflicted with hereditary taints and organic disease: very small indeed, in comparison to the disastrous losses that society must one day suffer at the hands of these future criminals and parasites gathered into prisons, insane asylums and hospitals, in comparison to the harm that may be done by one single victim of tuberculosis by spreading the homicidal bacilli around him. it is a principal of humanity as well as of economy to _utilise_ all human forces, even when they are represented by beings who are apparently negligible. to every man, no matter how physiologically wretched, society should stretch a helping hand, to raise him. in north america the following principle has the sanction of social custom: that the task of improving physiological conditions and at the same time of instilling hope and developing inferior mentalities to the highest possible limit constitutes an inevitable human duty. accordingly it remains for the science of pedagogy to accomplish the high task of human redemption, which must take its start from those miracles that the twentieth century has already initiated in almost every civilised country: straightening the crippled, giving health to the sick, awakening the intelligence in the weak-minded--much as hearing is restored to the deaf and speech to the mutes--such is the work which modern progress demands of the teacher. because such straightening of mind and body naturally lies within the province of those who have the opportunity to give succor to the human being still in the course of development; while after a defect has reached its complete development in an individual, no manner of help can ever modify the harm that has resulted from lack of intelligent treatment. the prevention of the irremediable constitutes a large part of the work which is incumbent upon us as educators. summary of stature we have been considering _stature_ as the linear index of the whole complex development of the body, taking it in relation to two other factors, the one internal or biological, and the other external or social. these two factors, indeed, unite in forming the character of the individual in his final development; and in each of them education may exert its influence, both in connection with the hygiene of generation and through reforms instituted in the school. in the following table are summed up the different points of view from which we have studied stature in its biological characteristics and in its variations: varieties {ethnic varieties {stature in different races; extreme limits. of stature { and limits of {stature of the italian people; and its { oscillation { geographical distribution. { {limits of stature: medium, tall, low. {biological {difference of stature in the sexes. { varieties {stature at different ages (growth). {mechanical {transitory or physiological. { {permanent, often caused by variations {variations { {deformities (causes: the in stature { due to { {attitudes required by the work.) { adaptation { { {physiological {nutrition. { {physical {heat. { { {light. { { {electricity. { {psychic {psychic stimuli. {myxedematous. {pathological {infantilism { { variations { {dystrophic {from alcohol. { { { {from syphilis. { { { {from tuberculosis. { { { {from malaria. { { { {from pellagra. { { {hypotrophic {denutrition. { { {anangioplastic { {rachitis summary of the scientific principles illustrated in the course of the exposition of our subject when an anthropological datum is of such fundamental importance as the _stature_, its limits of oscillation must be established, and its terminology must be founded upon such limits expressed in figures that have been measured and established by scientists (medium, tall, low). the stature is the most important datum in pedagogic anthropology, because it represents the linear index of the development of the body, and for us educators is also the _index_ of the child's normal growth. _biopathological laws._--in cases of total arrest of development of the personality (infantilism) the first characteristic symptom usually consists in a diminution of stature in relation to age; the morphological evolution, as well as the psychic, fails to progress in proportion to the _age of the subject_; but it corresponds to the mean bodily proportions belonging to the age which would be normal for the actual stature of the subject. =weight= the _weight_ is a measure which should be taken in conjunction with the stature; because, while the stature is a linear index of the development of the body, the weight represents a _total measure_ _of its mass_; and the two taken together give the most complete expression of the bio-physiological development of the organism. furthermore the weight permits us to follow the _oscillations_ of development; it provides educators with an index, a level of excellence, or the reverse, of their methods as educators, and of the hygienic conditions of the school or of the pedagogic methods in use. the fact is, that if a child is ill, or languid, etc., his stature remains unchanged; it may _grow more slowly_, or be arrested in growth; but it can never diminish. the weight, on the contrary, can be lost and regained in a short time, in response to the most varied conditions of _fatigue_, of _malnutrition_, of _illness_, of _mental_ _anxiety_. we might even call it the _experimental datum_ of the excellence of the child's development. another advantage which the measure of weight has over that of stature is that it may serve as an _exponent of health_ from the very hour of the child's birth; while _stature_ does not exist in the new-born child, and begins to be formed (according to the definition given) only after the first year of its life, that is, when the child has acquired an erect position and the ability to walk steadily. _variations._--weight is one of the measures that have been most thoroughly studied, because it is not a fruit of the recently founded science of pedagogic anthropology; but it enters into the _practice_ of pediatricians (specialists in children's diseases) and of obstetricians (specialists in childbirth), while even the general practitioner can offer precious contributions from his experience. according to winckel, and practically all pediatricians agree with him, "the weight of a child, if taken regularly, is the best thermometer of its health; it easily expresses in terms of figures what the nursing child cannot express in words."[ ] the new-born child weighs from three to four kilograms; but oscillations in weight from , to , grams are considered normal. some obstetricians have noted weights in new-born children that are enormous, true gigantism, which, however, while possible, are altogether exceptional; nine and even eleven kilograms. the oscillations in weight of the child at birth, within normal limits, may have been determined by general biological factors, as for example the sex (the female child weighing less than the male), and the race (especially in regard to the stature of the parents): but the factors which influence the weight of the new-born child in a decisive manner are those regarding the _hygiene of generation_. . "the children which have the greater weight are those born of mothers between the ages of twenty-five and thirty." (mathews duncan.) let us recall what we have said regarding stature; at the end of the twenty-fifth year, that is, at the end of the period of growth, man is admirably ripe for the function of reproduction; and we ought further to recall the views cited regarding the mortality of children conceived at this age which is so favourable to parenthood; and finally the note in regard to celebrated men, almost always begotten at this age. . "first-born children have in general a weight inferior to that of those born later ( , first-born children gave an average of , grams: while , born of the second or subsequent conceptions gave an average of , gr.)" (ingerslevs). let us remember that celebrated men are scarcely ever the _first-born_. . "very short intervals between successive pregnancies interfere with this _progression_ in weight; long intervals on the contrary do not interfere with it" (wernicke). in other words, too frequent pregnancy is unfavourable to the result of the conception. . "mothers who, at the birth of their first child weigh less than fifty-five kilograms and are under twenty years of age, have children of inferior weight, who are less predisposed to normal growth" (schafer). let us recall what we have said regarding the _form_ and the scanty weight in the case of macrosceles; and also in regard to the age of procreation in its relation to stature. . "women who toil at wearisome work up to the final hour give birth to children inferior in weight to those born of mothers who have given themselves up to rest and quiet for some time before the expected birth" (pinard). all these considerations which refer to _normal individuals_, represent a series of hygienic laws regarding _maternity_, which may be summed up as follows: excellence in procreation belongs to those mothers who have already attained the age at which the individual organism has completed its development, and before it has entered upon its involutive period; the mother must herself have a normal weight; the pregnancies must be separated by long intervals; and during the last weeks of pregnancy it is necessary that the mother should have the opportunity of complete rest. the increase in weight of the new-born child during the first days of its life, may constitute a valuable prognostic of the child's life. that is to say, through its successive gains it reveals the vitality, the state of health of this new human being. here also the pediatrists can furnish us with valuable experimental data, which serve to formulate the "laws of growth." these are: . from the moment of a child's birth, throughout the first two days, it suffers a loss in weight of about grams, due to various causes, such as the emission of substances accumulated in the intestines during the intrauterine life (meconium), and the difficulties of adaptation to a new environment and to nutrition. but by the end of the first week a normal child should have regained its original weight; so that after the seventh day the normal child weighs the same as at the moment of birth. on the contrary, children born prematurely, or those having at the time of birth a weight below the average, or those that are affected with latent syphilis, or are weak from any other cause whatever, regain their original weight only by the end of the second week. accordingly, in one or two weeks the family may form a prognosis regarding future life of the new-born child: a matter of fundamental and evident importance. furthermore, an antecedent detail of this sort may be valuable in the progressive history of subjects who, having attained the age for attendance at school, come to be passed upon by the teachers. to this end, in the more progressive countries, the _carnet_ _maternel_, or mother's note-book, has begun to come into fashion, for the use of mothers belonging to the upper social classes (as, for instance, in england): it consists of a book of suitable design, in the form of an album, and more or less _de luxe_ in quality, in which the most minute notes are to be registered regarding the lives of the children from the moment of their birth onward. various authors, especially in france, now give models for the _maternal_ _registration_ of the child's physiological progress; true _biographic_ _volumes_ that would form a precious supplement to the _biographic_ _charts_ of the schools: and the efforts of the family would round out and complete those of the school for the protection of the lives of the new generations. such assistance, however, is only an _ideal_, because nothing short of a great and far distant social progress could place _all_ mothers (the working women, and the illiterate of italy) in a position to compile their _carnet maternel_. auvard advocates, for registering the weight of the child during the first days of its life, a table in which the successive days from the first to the forty-fifth are marked along a horizontal line, while a vertical column gives a series of weights, with -gram intervals, covering a range of grams, the multiples of a hundred being left blank, to be determined by the actual weight of the child and filled in by the mother or whoever takes her place. [illustration: fig. .] in such a table, the graphic sign indicating the changes in weight ought to fall rapidly and rise again to the point of departure by the seventh day, _if the child is robust_. another law of growth which may serve as a prognostic document in the child's physiological history is the following: . "children nourished at their mother's breast double their weight at the fifth month and triple it at the twelfth." in other words, before the middle of its first year a healthy child, normally nourished, will have doubled its weight. on the contrary, "artificial feeding retards this doubling of weight in children, which is attained only by the end of the first year; so that the weight is not tripled until some time in the course of the second year." and this gives us pretty safe principles on which to judge of the personality in the course of formation, at an epoch when stature does not yet exist. undoubtedly a great moral and social progress would be accomplished through a wide dissemination of very simple and economical _carnets maternels_; which should contain not only tables designed to facilitate the keeping of the required records, but also a statement of the laws of _infant hygiene_; or at least, simple and clear explanations of the significance of such phenomena, in relation to the life and health of the child; and also as to the causes which produce weakness in new-born children; or in other words, advice regarding the fundamental laws of the hygiene of generation. all that would be needed, in such case, would be a progressive exposition by means of the _carnets_, through lessons made as simple and as objective as possible, such as the weighing of small babies, to make the much desired "education of the mothers" both possible and practical. but without this practical means; without this new sort of syllabarium on hand, to serve as a constant and luminous guide for married women, i do not believe that we shall have much success with the scattered lectures, obscure and soon forgotten, that at present are being multiplied in an attempt to reach the mothers of the lower classes. in conclusion, i note this last contribution that comes to us from the pediatrists: . "there are certain maladies that cause a daily and very notable loss in weight"; they are the intestinal maladies; there may be an average loss of from to grams a day; but even in cases of simple loss of appetite (dyspepsia) the weight may decrease by about grams a day. but when a child suffering from acute febrile intestinal trouble (cholera infantum), loses a tenth of his weight in twenty-four hours, the illness is mortal. now from the point of view of the educator this fact ought to be of serious interest, because we very frequently find among the recorded details of sickly children, or those suffering from arrested or retarded development, a mention of some _intestinal_ malady incurred in early infancy. still one further observation: meunier has noted a fact of extreme importance: that while children are passing through the period of incubation of an infectious disease, and before they show _any symptoms_ likely to cause a suspicion of the latent illness, they sustain a _daily loss in weight_, from the fourth or fifth day after exposure to contagion until the appearance of decisive symptoms. in children between one and four years old, the daily loss is about fifty grams, and the total about ; but such a loss may rise as high as gr. the most numerous observations were taken in cases of _measles_. now, there is no need of explaining the prophylactic importance of observations such as these! a child who for a period of twenty days is in a state of incubation, is called upon to struggle, with all the forces of immunity that his organism possesses, against a cause of disease which has already invaded him; yet no external sign betrays this state of physical conflict. consequently, the child's organism _continues_ to sustain the customary loss of energy due to the activities of its daily life, and by doing so lessens its own powers of immunity. to prescribe rest, if nothing more, for a child suspected of passing through the period of incubation would in many cases mean the saving of a life, and at the same time would protect his companions from infection, which is communicable even during the period of incubation. in our biographic records of defective children, which include the great majority of the weakly ones, we find in many cases a _characteristic tendency to relapses_ in all kinds of infective diseases, from which they regularly recovered. such organisms, feeble by predisposition, yet sufficiently strong to recover from a long series of illnesses, were _exhausted in respect to those biological forces_ on which the normal growth of the individual depends, by this sort of internal struggle between the organic tissues and the invading microbes. no scheme of special hygiene for children of this type can help us, either in the home or at school; the _daily variations_ _in weight_, on the contrary, might constitute a valuable guide for the protection of such feeble organisms; at the first signs of a diminution in weight, such children ought to be subjected to absolute repose. the use of the weighing-machine, both at home and in school cannot be too strongly recommended. in america the pedagogic custom has already been established of recording the weight of the pupils regularly once a month; but instead of once a month, the weight ought to be taken _every day_. the children might be taught to take their own weight by means of self-registering scales, and to compare it with that of the preceding day, thus learning to keep watch of themselves: and this would constitute both a physical exercise and an exercise in _practical living_. the weight may be considered by itself, as a measurement of the body; and it may be considered in its relation to comparative mean measurements given by the authorities; just as it may also be considered, in the case of the individual, in its relation to the stature. _a._ the weight, taken by itself, is not a homogeneous or rigorously scientific measurement. in the same manner as the stature, it represents a sum of parts differing from one another, the difference in this instance being that of specific gravity. as a matter of fact, it makes a great difference whether a large proportion of the weight of an individual is adipose tissue, or brain, or striped muscles. each of the various organs has its own special specific gravity, as appears from the following table: ------------------------- specific gravity ----------------+-------- tubular bones | . spongy bones | . cartilage | . muscles {from | . {to | . tendons | . epidermis {from | . {to | . hair {from | . {to | . liver | . kidneys | . brain | . cerebrum | . cerebellum | . adipose tissue | . ------------------------- all these specific gravities are low; we weigh but little more than water; and for that reason it is easy for us to swim. but because of the difference in their composition, the _total weight of_ _the body_ gives us no idea of its constituent parts. take for example the question of increase in weight. we can compare the mean figures given by the authorities with the ascertained weight of some particular child of a given age, so as to keep an empirical check upon the normality of its growth. but since we know that an individual in the course of evolution undergoes profound alterations in the volumetric proportions of the different organs in respect to one another, we cannot obtain from the total weight any light upon this extremely important alteration in proportions. thus, for example, quétélet gives the following figures of increase in weight for the two sexes: ------------------------------------------ weight | weight --------------------+--------------------- age | males |females| age | males |females | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | . | -- | . | . | | . | . | . | . | -- | -- | -- | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | -- | -- | -- ------------------------------------------ increase in weight of body according to sutils ------------------------------------ age |weight of body | increase | in grams | ----------+---------------+--------- at birth | | -- month | | months | | months | | months | | months | | months | | months | | months | | months | | months | | months | | months | | ------------------------------------ but these figures give no idea of the laws of growth that govern each separate organ, and that have been studied by vierordt. according to this authority, the total weight of the body increases nineteen-fold from birth to complete development. certain ductless glands, on the contrary, _diminish_ in weight in the course of growth; the thymus, for instance, is reduced to half what it weighed originally. furthermore, the various organs all differ in such varying degrees, as compared with their respective weights at birth, that it facilitates comparison to reduce the weight of each separate organ to a scale of . on this basis we find that when complete development is attained, the eyes weigh . ; the brain . ; the medulla oblongata (spinal marrow) ; the liver ; the heart ; the spleen ; the intestines, stomach and lungs ; the skeleton ; the system of striped muscles . and these widely different augmentations are not uniform in their progress, nor is the complete development of each organ attained at the same epoch. as a matter of fact, the brain acquires one-half its final weight at the end of the first year of age; the organs of vegetative life attain half their weight at the beginning of the period preceding puberty (eleventh year). to offset the lack of indications regarding such increases in weight, we have a guide in the _morphology_ of growth, which reveals how differently the various parts of the body develop. however empirical it may be from an analytical point of view, the datum of weight is a valuable index, and represents, _taken by_ _itself_, a synthetic anthropological measure of prime importance. it obeys certain laws of growth which are themselves of great interest; namely, there exist two periods of rapid growth: at birth and during puberty; while at various periods in childhood, between the ages of three and nine, there are alternations of greater and lesser growth analogous to those already noted in relation to stature. accordingly, the weight confirms the fact that the organism does not proceed uniformly in its evolution, but passes through _crises_ _of development_ during which the forces of the organism are all devoted to its rapid transformation; such periods represent epochs at which the organism is more predisposed to maladies, more subject to mortality and less capable of performing work (compare the observations already made in relation to stature). _index of weight._--accordingly, weight and stature stand in a certain mutual relationship, but the correspondence between them is not perfect. in the study of individual physiological development it is necessary to know the anthropological relation between weight and stature; in other words, the ponderal index. without this, we cannot get a true idea of the weight of an individual. for instance, if two persons have the same weight, kilograms for example, and one of them has a stature of . metres and the other of . m.; it is evident that the first of these two will be very thin, because his _weight is insufficient_, while the second, on the contrary, will have an _excessive weight_. a stout, robust child will weigh less, in an absolute sense, than an adult man who is extremely thin and emaciated; but relatively to the mass of his body, he will weigh more. now this relative weight or index of weight, the _ponderal index_, gives us precisely this idea of relative _embonpoint_, of the more or less flourishing state of nutrition that any given individual is enjoying. hence it is a relation of great physiological importance, especially when we are dealing with children. the calculation of the ponderal index ought to be analogous to that of other indexes; what has to be found is its relation to the stature reduced to a scale of . in this case, however, we find ourselves facing a mathematical difficulty, because _volumetric_ measurements are not comparable to linear measurements. consequently it is necessary to reduce the measurement of weight by extracting its cube root, and to establish the following equation: _st_:[*cube root](_w_) = :_x_ whence _pi_ = ([*cube root](_w_))/_s_ the application of this formula necessitates a troublesomely complicated calculation, which it would be impracticable to work out in the case of a large number of subjects. but as it happens, tables of calculations in relation to the ponderal index already exist, thanks to the labours of livi[ ] and it remains only to consult them, as one would a table of logarithms, by finding the figure corresponding to the required stature, as indicated above in the horizontal line, and the weight as indicated in the vertical column. some authors have thought that they were greatly simplifying the relation between weight and stature by calculating the proportional weight of a single centimetre of stature and assuming that they had thus reduced the relation itself to a ratio based upon a single linear measurement (one centimetre), analogous to the ratio established by the reduction of the total stature to a scale of . but evidently such a calculation is based upon two fundamental errors, namely: first, no comparison is ever possible between a linear measure and a measure of volume; and secondly, the relation which we are trying to determine is that between synthetic measurements, _i.e._, measurements of the whole, and not of parts. [illustration: fig. .] in the aforesaid method of computing (which is accepted by such weighty authorities as godin and niceforo), the number expressing the weight in grams is divided by the stature expressed in centimetres, and the quotient gives the average weight of one centimetre of stature expressed in grams. this method, which sounds plausible, may easily be proved to be fallacious, by the following illustration, given by livi in his treatise already cited (fig. ). the two rectangles _a_ and _b_ represent longitudinal sections of two cylinders, which are supposed to represent respectively (in _a_) the body of a child so fat that he is as broad as he is long (the rectangle _a_ is very nearly square), and (in _b_) that of a man of tall stature and so extremely thin that he very slightly surpasses the child in the dimensions of width and thickness (note the length and narrowness of rectangle _b_). evidently the ponderal index of _a_ is very high and that of _b_ is very low. but if we calculate the _proportional weight_ of one centimetre of stature, it will always be greater in the man than in the child, and consequently we obtain a relation contrary to that of the ponderal index. let us make still another counterproof by means of figures; let us take an adult with a stature of . metres and a weight of kilograms; and a three-year-old child . m. tall and weighing kg. (the normal weight of a child of four). in the case of the adult one centimetre of stature will weigh / grams = grams; while one centimetre of the child's height will weigh / = grams. in other words, one average centimetre of the child's stature weighs less than one centimetre of the adult, as it naturally should, while the ponderal index on the contrary is . in the case of the adult, and . in that of the child. the reciprocal relations between stature and weight vary from year to year. in babyhood, the child is so plump that the fat forms the familiar dimpled "chubbiness," and bichat's adipose "fat-pads" give the characteristic rotundity to the childish face; while the adult is much more slender. a new-born syphilitic child which, with a normal length of centimetres, weighed only two kg.--and consequently would be extremely thin--would have the same identical ponderal index as an adult who, with a stature of . m., weighed kg. the _evolution_ of the ponderal index forms a very essential part in the _transformations_ of growth; and it shows interesting characteristics in relation to the different epochs in the life of the individual. in this connection, livi gives the following figures, for males and for females; from which it appears that at some periods of life we are _stouter_, and at others more _slender_; and that men and women do not have the same proportional relation between mass and stature. --------------------------------------------------- indices | indices -------+-------+---------+--------+-------+-------- age in | males | females | age in | males | females years | | | years | | -------+-------+---------+--------+-------+-------- | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | -- | -- | -- | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | -- | -- | -- --------------------------------------------------- it may be said in general, so far as regards the age, that the following is the established law of individual evolution: during the first year the ponderal index increases, after which it diminishes up to the period immediately preceding puberty (eleventh year for males, tenth year for females), the period at which boys and girls are exceedingly slender. after this, throughout the entire period of puberty, the ponderal index seems to remain remarkably constant, oscillating around a fixed figure. at the close of this period (seventeenth year for males, fourteenth for females), the ponderal index resumes its upward course (corresponding to the period in which the transverse dimensions of the skeleton increase, and in which the individual, as the phrase goes, _fills out_), and it continues to rise well into mature life (the individual _takes on flesh_); until in old age, the ponderal index begins to fall again (the soft tissues shrink, the cartilages ossify, the whole person is shrunken and wasted.) [illustration: fig. .] women, during their younger years are on a par with men in respect to the ponderal index, but in later life surpass them, because of woman's greater tendency toward _embonpoint_, since she is naturally stouter and plumper than man, who is correspondingly leaner and more _wiry_. the following diagram indicates the progressive evolution and involution of the ponderal index throughout the successive stages of life: the ponderal index has revealed certain physiological conditions in pupils that are extremely interesting. some authors had already noted that the ponderal index was higher in _well-nourished_ children (binet, niceforo, montessori); but last year one of my own students, signorina massa, in a noteworthy study of children, all taken from the same social class and quite poor, and who did not attend the school refectory or have the advantage of any other physiological assistance, established the fact that the more _studious_ children, the _prize winners_, have a lower _ponderal index_ and a _muscular_ _force_ inferior to that of the non-studious (negligent) pupils. that the development of the ponderal index stands in some relation to the muscular force, might already have been deduced from the fact that the greatest increase of weight is due, in the evolution of the individual, to the system of striped muscles. studious children, accordingly, are sufferers from _denutrition through_ _cerebral consumption_; furthermore, they are weakened throughout their whole organism; in fact, i discovered, in the course of researches made among the pupils in the elementary schools of rome, that the _studious_ children, those who _received prizes_, had a _scantier_ chest measurement than the non-studious. this goes to prove that school prizes are given at the cost of a useless holocaust of the physiological forces of the younger generations! that the ponderal index has an eminently physiological significance, is further shown by the following comparative figures between normal and weak-minded children. the stature, which is biologically significant, is lower in the weak-minded; but their ponderal index is greater when they are well fed, as in the asylums in paris. accordingly, the sole cause of the physical inferiority of studious children is _study_, _cerebral fatigue_. bio-physiological differences between normal and weak-minded children (simon and montessori: based on children from to ) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | weight in kilograms| average stature | ponderal index |--------------------+--------------------+------------------- age |weak-minded |normal |weak-minded |normal |weak-minded |normal ----+------------+-------+------------+-------+------------+------ | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | | . ------------------------------------------------------------------ it should be noted that in the foregoing table the normal children include both the studious and the non-studious. footnotes: [ ] see further, as to these fundamental ideas: laloy, _l'Évolution de la vie. petite encyclopédie_ _du xx siècle_; claude bernard, _leçons sur les phènomènes de la vie_; le dentu, in _la matière vivante, et théorie nouvelle de la vie_; luciani, _fisiologia umana_, in the first chapter: "material substratum of vital phenomena." [ ] consult: haeckel, _anthropogenie_; e. perrier, _les colonies animales et la formation_ _des organismes_; richet, _l'effort vers la vie, et la théorie des causes finales_. [ ] correns: _concerning the laws of heredity_. [ ] translator's note. [ ] translator's note. [ ] de giovanni, _op. cit._, p. . cases referring to the first morphologic combination. [ ] de giovanni, _op. cit._ [ ] de giovanni, _op. cit._ [ ] boxich, _contribution to the morphological, clinical and anthropological study of_ _delinquents_. [ ] deniker, _races et peuples de la terre_. [ ] topinard, _elementi di antropologia_. [ ] quÉtÉlet, _proporzioni medie (mean proportions)_. [ ] livi, _antropometria militare (military anthropometry)_. [ ] montessori, _caratteri fisici delle giovani donne del lazio._ [ ] translator's note. [ ] fig. and those following it, dealing with deformities resulting from labour, are taken from pieraccini's great work, _the pathology of labour_. [ ] pieraccini, _op. cit._ [ ] alfredo niceforo, _les classes pauvres_ (the poorer classes). [ ] taken from livi: _on the development of the body in relation to the profession and the_ _social condition._ rome, voghera, . [ ] marro, _puberty_. [ ] cited by pagliani, _human development, according to age, sex, etc._ [ ] raciborski, cited by marro, _puberty_. [ ] _idem._ [ ] rousseau, _Émile_, cited by marro. [ ] it should be noted that sexual precocity or vice retards the development of puberty, while healthful psychic stimuli are favourable to it. hence it was a right instinct that led us to give the name of sin and vice to what retards the normal development of life, and virtue and honour to what is favourable to it.--author's note. [ ] compare _the method of scientific pedagogy applied to infantile education_ _in the "children's houses,"_ montessori: casa editr. lapi, . [ ] moige, _nouvelle iconographie de la salpétrière_, . [ ] apert, _op. cit._ [ ] cited by marro. [ ] cited by figueira, _semejotica infantile_, p. . [ ] cited by figueira (rio janeiro) in his volume, _elementi di semejotica infantile_, . from this volume, which contains the result of the most modern investigations in pediatry, i have taken a number of data regarding the weight of children. [ ] livi: _antropometria_. chapter ii craniology having finished the study of general biological questions and of the body considered in its _entirety_, we may now pass on to analyse its separate parts, treating in connection with each of such parts the social and pedagogic questions which may pertain to it. the _parts_ of the body which we shall take under consideration are: the _head_, the _thorax_, the _pelvis_ and the _limbs_. _the head._--when we pass from the body as a whole to a more particularised study of the separate parts, it is proper to begin with the head because it is the most important part of the whole body. the older anthropology, and biological and criminal anthropology as well were very largely built up from a study of the head; a study so vast and important that it has come to constitute a separate branch of science: _craniology_. the fact is that the characteristics manifested by the cranium are chiefly in the nature of _mutations_ rather than _variations_, and consequently the anthropological data relating to the cranium correspond more directly to the characteristics of the species, or in the case of man, to the characteristics of race. hence they are of special interest to the general study of anthropology. but when these imitative characteristics, which are naturally constant and have a purely biological origin, undergo _alterations_, they are to be explained, not as variations, but as _pathological deviations_; and for this reason criminal anthropology has drawn a very large part of its means of diagnosis of _anomalies_ and of _degeneration_ from malformations of the cranium. furthermore, the cranium together with the vertebral column represents not only the characteristics of species, but also those of the _genus_; in fact, it corresponds to the cerebro-spinal axis, which is the _least variable_ part of the body throughout the whole series of vertebrates; just as, on the contrary, the _limbs_ represent the _most variable_ part. indeed, if we study separately the cranio-vertebral system and the limbs, through the whole series of vertebrates, we shall discover _gradual_ alterations in the former, and sudden wide alterations in the latter. the cerebro-spinal axis (and hence the cranio-vertebral system) shows from species to species certain progressive differences that suggest the idea of a gradual sequence of modifications (from the amphioxus to man) to which we could apply the principle, _natura non facit saltus_: while the limbs on the contrary, even though they preserve certain obvious analogies to the fundamental anatomic formation of the skeleton, undergo profound modifications--being reduced in certain reptiles to mere rudimentary organs, developing into the wing of the bird, the flying membrane of the bat, and the hand of man. since it is not only a characteristic of species and race, but of _genus_ as well, the cranium constitutes one of the most _constant_ anatomical features. for the same reason it is less subject to _variations due to environment_, and from this point of view offers slight interest to pedagogic anthropology. but since the cranium contains the organ on which the psychic manifestations depend, we have a deep interest in knowing its human characteristics, its _phases of development_, and its normal limits. head and cranium the term _head_ is applied to the living man; the _cranium_, from which this branch of science takes its name, is the _skeleton of the_ _head_. the cranium is composed of two parts, which may be virtually separated, in the lateral projection, by a straight line passing through the external orbital apophysis and extending to the auricular foramen, thus separating the facial from the cerebral portion of the cranium. hence the _cranium_ is the skeleton of the head in its entirety, and is divisible into the _cerebral cranium_ and the _facial cranium_. _the cranium._--the cranium is a complex union of a number of flat, curved bones united together by means of certain very complicated arborescent sutures, and forming a hollow osseous cavity of rounded form. i will briefly indicate the bones which form its external contour. on the anterior part is the _frontal_ bone, terminated by the suture which unites it to the two parietal bones: the _coronal suture_; while the two parietal bones are joined together by the _median_ or _sagittal suture_, which forms a sort of _t_ with the other suture. on the posterior side is the _occipital bone_, which is also joined to the two parietal bones, by means of the occipital or _lambdoidal_ suture. below the two parietal bones, in a lateral direction, are the _two temporal bones_; and between the temporal and parietal bones are situated the _great wings of the sphenoid_. the main body of the sphenoid is at the base of the cranium. besides these there is another, internal bone, the _ethmoid_. _the face._--the skeleton of the face is composed of fourteen bones; some of these are external and lend themselves to measurement; others which are internal and hidden contribute to the completion of the delicate scaffolding of this most important portion of the skeleton. the principal bones of the face are: the two _zygomatic_ _bones_ (articulating with the temporal, frontal and maxillary bones); the two nasal bones (articulating with the frontal and with the ascending branch of the maxillary, and uniting above to form the bridge of the nose; this is a bone of great importance in anthropology, because it determines the naso-frontal angle and the formation of the nose); the two upper maxillary bones, or upper jaw (articulating together in front to form the subnasal region; laterally with the zygomatic bones; above with the nasal bones; internally with each other, to form the palate, and posteriorly with the palatine bones); the _mandible_ or lower jaw (a single bone, and the only movable bone in the cranium), articulating with the temporal bones by means of a condyle, and the separate parts of which are distinguished as the _body of the mandible_ and the _ascendant branches_, which are united to the cranium. [illustration: fig. .--note the line of division between the cerebral and facial cranium; in addition to this the sutures are shown which divide the frontal, parietal, occipital and temporal bones. pd. coronal suture; dl. sagittal suture; al. lambdoidal suture.] the bones of lesser importance, which are interior and hidden are: the two _lacrymal_ bones (situated at the inner angle of the orbitary cavity), the _vomer_ or osseous septum of the nose; the two bones in the nose which lie on each side of the vomer and are known as the _turbinated bones_ (_concha nasalis_); and the two palate bones (which form the backward continuation of the palatine vault constituted by the maxillary bones). _human cranium and animal cranium._--the dividing line between the cerebral and facial cranium is of great importance in anthropology, because the relative proportions between these two parts of the cranium form a human characteristic, contrasting widely with the animal characteristics; and they offer a simple criterion for determining the higher or lower type of the human cranium. (compare in this connection fig. , skulls of the higher mammals and of man.) [illustration: fig. .] the illustration represents a number of different animal skulls; and at the top are two human skulls, the one of an australian and the other of a european. it will be seen that the proportions between the facial and cerebral portions are very different; in the animals, even in the higher orders such as the _primates_ (orang-utan, gorilla, etc.), the _facial_ and _masticatory_ parts predominate over the cerebral. one might even say that the skeleton gives us at a glance the characteristic psychological difference; the animal _eats_, man _thinks_; that is, the animal is destined only to vegetate, to feed itself; man is an entirely different species; he has a very different task before him; he is the _creative being_, who, through thought and labour, is destined to subjugate and transform the world. there are still other characteristic differences between the animal and the human skull. the cerebral cranium of the ape is not only smaller but it is furnished with strong bony ridges, to serve as points of attachment for powerful muscles intended to protect the cranial cavity. the human skull is completely devoid of such ridges; it is perfectly smooth, with delicate contours; it might be described as "frail and naked"; for the word nakedness precisely expresses the _absence_ of those defences with which the cranium of the anthropoid ape is so abundantly provided. accordingly, the human cranium is _undefended_ by soft tissues; and even the bony walls themselves are far from thick. if we take a transverse section of the bones of the cranium, we find that they are formed of two very thin layers of bone united by a porous, osseous substance; the external layer is in direct contact with the muscles of the scalp, and the internal layer with the brain. these two layers differ widely in their degree of elasticity: the external layer is so elastic that if it receives a bruising blow (provided this is not so heavy as to surpass its limits of elasticity) it will yield even to the point of touching the inner layer and then spring back to its original position without leaving any perceptible trace of the blow received (this is especially true in the case of infants),[ ] while the inner layer is so unelastic as to appear almost as brittle as _glass_: so much so, for example, that the indirect shock of the same contusion may cause it to splinter into fragments, which may either penetrate the substance of the brain, or produce hemorrhages, or inflammatory reactions in the meninges--and sometimes may constitute the sole cause of epilepsy, and various forms of inflammation of the brain (even resulting in idiocy), and sometimes of meningitis and death. contusions on the heads of children, and in general blows resulting from falls or other causes, must be taken into serious consideration, in the history of the individual, even though they have left no profound traces _externally_. this human characteristic of nakedness, of the _absence_ of powerful bodily defences, is not limited to the head alone, but is diffused over the entire morphological organism. man, considered as an animal, is weak; he is born naked and he remains naked, and destitute of those natural defences which explain the endurance and the survival of other species; neither the fur nor the plumage of mammals and of birds nor the bony shields of reptiles and scales of fishes serve as defences for this vertebrate, who has raised himself to the highest eminence in the zoological scale; neither the muscular strength and powerful teeth of the felines, nor the talons of the birds of prey have been his arms of conquest. nevertheless, man who has conquered the earth and overcome all his powerful biological enemies, owes his survival, equally with all other living creatures, to his victory over other animals and over his environment. wherein lies the special strength of this little, feeble being, who has become the lord of the earth? it lies in his brain. the arms of this conqueror are wholly psychic. it is his intelligence which has prevailed over the might of other animals and enabled him to acquire the means of adapting himself to his environment, or else of adapting his environment to himself. his intelligence, which sufficed him as a weapon with which to achieve victory in the struggle for existence, is also the means which still permits him to continue on the road toward self-perfectionment. the morphological importance attached by anthropologists to the cerebral cranium depends precisely upon this: that it is the envelope of the _brain_. if we examine the interior of the human cerebral cranium, we find that it has adapted its bony contours so faithfully to those of the soft tissues that it bears the imprint of the various parts of the brain (cerebrum, cerebellum), the convolutions, and even the blood-vessels of the meninges. accordingly, a study of the cerebral cranium amounts to an indirect study of the brain itself. _characteristics of the human cranium._--the characteristics of the human cranium are all associated with the great development of the volume of the brain. let us assume that we have an elastic vessel, representing in form an animal cranium, open at the base through an orifice corresponding to the occipital foramen. if we inflate this vessel, it will not only begin to enlarge at the expense of its folds (ridges), and to stretch and distend its walls (thinness and fragility of the cranial bones); but furthermore it will undergo a change in form, acquiring a more pronounced rotundity and _pushing upward_ in its anterior part above the face. this part, rising erect above the face, and determined by the volume of the brain, is the _forehead_. animals do not have an erect forehead; their orbits continue backward in an almost horizontal line, giving them an extremely receding brow. corresponding to this preponderance of the cerebral portion, the facial portion _retires_ below the brow, the mandibles do not extend beyond the anterior axis of the brain, and are so far diminished in volume that they assume, as compared with animals, a new function; in short, the mouth is no longer merely the organ of mastication, but also the organ of speech; its animal part has been spiritualised. _the evolution of the forehead.--inferior skull caps; the skull_ _of the pithecanthropus; the skull of the neanderthal man._ the forehead is so distinctly a human characteristic that mankind has not needed the help of anthropology in order to realise its importance--and as a sign of superiority, nobility or sovereignty, has placed upon the forehead the crown of laurel, or the crown of nobility or kingship. has the forehead always been a human characteristic, or have we acquired it little by little? such a problem is associated with the evolution of the brain. there are in existence certain remains of the skeletons of primitive men, which show them to have possessed a cerebral cranium inferior in volume to that now attained by the human species; and in these remains the forehead is also profoundly different from that of to-day, in that it is much lower and slants backward, while the supraorbital arches are very prominent. such is the evidence of the "cranial caps," discovered in the early geological strata. in the tertiary strata of the island of java, which in that remote epoch of the earth's history must, together with sumatra, have formed part of the continent of asia, which is considered as the "laboratory of races," a skull was found by dubois which raised the problem whether it should be classed as that of an ape superior to those now existing, or of a primitive man. prior to this discovery, it had been maintained that man did not make his appearance until the quaternary period. this supposed primitive man was called by his discoverer the pithecanthropus, _pithecanthropus_ _erectus_. remains that are unquestionably human occur in the quaternary period, in which however skeletons are very rare, as compared with relics of human labour or social life, relics which are found scattered everywhere throughout asia and europe as well (chipped flints). the various remains of skeletons show us skulls much inferior to those of modern man, but superior to that of the pithecanthropus. in treatises of general anthropology reproductions are given of human crania known as the spy or neanderthal type, belonging to the epoch when the gigantic mammoth still roamed the earth. the forehead is very low and receding and the orbital arches are enormously developed; while the cerebral capacity calculated from the cranial dimensions is inferior to that of modern man. consequently, as the brain increases in volume in the course of the revolution of the race, the cranium not only shows a corresponding volumetric increase, but at the same time _alters its form_, thus producing the _forehead_ which little by little rises from a receding to an erect position, and becomes high where it was formerly low, while at the same time the prominent orbital arches disappear. accordingly, we may consider the forehead as the _skeletal_ _index_ of the cerebral volume, and hence of the relative anthropological and intellectual superiority. in addition to its above-mentioned value, it also furnishes us with a biological principle of much importance: the relation _between_ _the volume and form_ of the cranium. while the volume has a significance that is _relative_ to the mass of the body, the significance of the form is _absolute_. let us examine these two skulls: normal human skulls of our own epoch; one of the celtic race (fig. ) and the other sardinian (fig. ); that of the celtic race is much larger and rounder; that of the sardinian is very much smaller and more elongated. if we were considering only the _volume_, we might say that it was simply a case of a _microcephalic_ and a _macrocephalic_: two terms (microcephaly and macrocephaly) that fall within the province of pathology. on the contrary, these two skulls are normal, but they belonged to individuals characterized by differences of race; the one (small skull) having a low stature; the other (large skull) having a tall stature. the volume of the head therefore bears a relation to that of the body; the volume has a _relative_ significance. but the form in both of them reveals a state of normality; the two skulls have a high and erect forehead, and exhibit in their whole contour a fine and regular development. therefore the _form_ has an _absolute_ significance. it even proves to us the _normality_ of the volume, a fact which could not be determined by the volume alone. another mechanical correspondence between volume and form is disclosed when we compare the skull of a new-born child with that of an adult. the skull of the new-born child is much smaller in volume; but the form shows the relatively enormous volumetric development of the brain; in fact the skull is protuberant and the forehead bulges forward above the face (_front bombé_), while corresponding to this index of cerebral development is the enormous preponderance of the cerebral cranium over the facial cranium, which is so small as to be almost reduced to a simple rudiment. hence the form by itself alone reveals the infantile character of the cerebral volume, which, in relation to the bulk of the body is of far greater dimensions than in the adult. in fact, if a child simply increased in volume and its growth was not the sum total of a morphological evolution, the adult man would become a monster; his macrocephaly would be so exaggerated that his neck could not sustain the weight of the head (if the relations between the proportions in infancy were maintained through life the adult man would have a head with a perimeter of centimetres, = ft. in.). aside from its mechanical relations to the volume, the _form_ has characteristics dependent upon biological factors, such as the _sex_ and the _race_. the female cranium in fact has a straighter forehead than the male and the orbital arches are absolutely wanting, while the entire surface of the cranium is smoother and more rounded. similarly, the different races exhibit _forms_ determined by biological factors and not by mechanical causes--for instance, the degree of dolichocephaly (elongated cranium) and of brachycephaly (short cranium). hence the form is life's manifestation not only of the characteristics proper to the species, but also of the mechanical adaptations demanded by the material composing the body. it may be said that the _volume_ and the _form_ of the cranium are dependent upon two different biological potentialities: the volume is mainly determined by the cerebral mass; the form, on the contrary, is mainly determined by the bony structure--no matter how completely form and volume coincide in their reciprocal mechanical relations. that is, the attainment of a given volume of head depends upon the development of the brain; the bone follows this development passively, is the index of it, the skeletal representation of it, but never the determining factor. at one time it was thought, on the contrary, that a precocious ossification of the cranial cavity would arrest the development of the brain; _microcephaly_ was believed to be caused by a precocious closing of the sutures of the cranial bones; and there was a certain period when the surgical treatment of microcephaly consisted in the removal of a portion of the cranial bone, in order to allow the brain to develop freely. [illustration: fig. . fig. . dividing line in human skull, as compared with that of gorilla.] [illustration: fig. .--rounded ellipsoidal cranium.] [illustration: fig. .--brachycephalic cranium (vertical norm)] [illustration: fig. .--remains of spy cranium.] [illustration: fig. .--brachycephalic cranium.] [illustration: fig. .--egyptian cranium, st dynasty, ovoid type.] [illustration: fig. .--dolichocephalic cranium, from lateral norm.] but the failure of such attempts afforded additional proof of the fact that the volumetric development of the cranium depends upon the brain alone. if a precocious or abnormal suture occurs in the cranial bones, there does not follow an arrest of development, but simply a _malformation_; which is precisely in proportion to the potentiality of the brain, which grows less where the suture has been formed, and in compensation grows more than normally where the conditions of the bones permit of cerebral expansion; and a deformity results. microcephaly on the contrary shows inferiority of form (smallness, receding forehead, etc.), but not _malformation_. _anomaly of form_, therefore, results only from anomaly of skeletal development, and is frequently found in conjunction with a _normal development of the brain_. consequently _malformations_ of the cranium do not have the grave significance of biological inferiority or of degeneration that they were at one time believed to have; but frequently they must be considered in connection with pathological conditions resulting for the most part in delayed development in the embryo or in early infancy, producing a thickening of the bone, or a partial suturation of the points, or parts, or of the entire suture (punctiform synostosis, partial or total); sometimes the sutures remain unaltered, and the deformation must be attributed to various disturbances connected with the nutrition of the skeleton in the course of intrauterine evolution (hereditary syphilis, denutrition of the mother during pregnancy, etc.). in short, a cranium that is abnormal in form is an indication of pathological occurrences or of physiological errors that have resulted in altering the normal growth of the individual. there are many anomalies in the form of the cranium, but here we will cite only the two principal ones, because they are the most frequent and most likely to be encountered in individuals whose growth has been retarded (from lack of nutrition) and consequently constitute signs of physiological inferiority often associated with social caste. these two forms are: scaphocephaly and plagiocephaly. the scaphocephalic cranium (figs. , ), is characterised by being very narrow and flattened laterally; while the forehead and the occiput project in front and behind, the two parietal bones meet above almost in an angle, so that, if it were turned upside down, the vault of the cranium would have the appearance of the hull of a ship. the _plagiocephalic_ cranium is a cranium which is unsymmetrical in respect to its longitudinal axis; that is, it is not equally developed on the right and on the left. as a matter of fact, our bilateral symmetry is an ideal standard rather than an absolutely attainable reality; we are all of us a little larger on one side and a little smaller on the other, but to so slight a degree as to escape superficial observation, so that in general we have _apparently_ a bilateral symmetry--that is, we appear to be symmetrical according to the testimony of our senses; but a more delicate examination proves that this is not true. plagiocephaly therefore represents an exaggerated case of a normal fact. plagiocephaly may be simple or compound; it is simple when the asymmetry is partial; namely, when it is confined to the anterior or posterior portion; it is compound when it is total; and in such case we find a complete diagonal correspondence: for instance, if the right nodule in the frontal region is more prominent, the left nodule is more prominent in the left occipital region, or _vice versa_. in general it may be said that the various forms of _plagiocephaly_ are produced by asymmetry of the _nodules_ or of the _flattened_ surfaces of the cranium. even in the case of _microcephaly_ and of _macrocephaly_, which are substantially anomalies of _volume_, we find corresponding characteristic abnormalities of form. the microcephalic cranium is of inferior type, suggesting that of the ape--in other words, it is a cranium which has mechanically adapted itself to a brain of inferior volume: the macrocephalic cranium, especially if the abnormality is due to _rickets_ or to _hydrocephaly_, calls to mind the infantile type of cranium; it has the characteristic bulging forehead, while mechanical adaptation frequently renders it very round (pathological brachycephaly). we will take up this question again when we come to speak in particular of _malformations_ and to describe the technical methods of cranioscopy. what more particularly concerns us now is a consideration of the _normal_ form of the cranium and its morphological evolution. [illustration: fig. .--cranium of new-born child (lateral norm).] [illustration: fig. .--cranium of new-born child (vertical norm).] [illustration: fig. . fig. . scaphocephalic cranium.] [illustration: fig. .--cranium of new-born child seen from above, showing polyhedric contour due to nodules of ossification; fontanelle of the bregma; and suture dividing the two frontal bones.] [illustration: fig. .--ellipsoides (classified by sergi).] =the morphological evolution of the cranium through the= =different periods of life.= _embryogeny. order of appearance of_ _the points of ossification and of synostosis of the sutures._--in its successive transitions through the different periods of life, the cranium not only acquires successively greater volume, but it assumes forms corresponding to the different grades of morphological evolution. we may group its transformation under five different periods: . from conception until birth (embryonic evolution); . from birth until the end of the third year (infantile evolution); . from three years old until twenty (youthful evolution); . from twenty to forty (adult age); . from forty to the end of life (involution). _first period._--in the earliest stages of intrauterine life the cranium consists of a membranous skin, enclosing the primitive cells of nerve tissue constituting the brain; it has a cartilaginous basal part, destined later to form the _base_ of the skull (basioccipital and basisphenoid bones). but all the rest (the vault or cap of the cranium) remains in a membranous state, so that at this period the head of the embryo has not yet acquired a definite form. [illustration: fig. .--cranium of new-born child. showing nodules and fontanelles.] in the second month of intrauterine life the phenomena of ossification have already begun to take place; that is, a fine network has formed, spreading over almost the entire surface, which proceeds to fill up its interstices with calcareous salts. this process, however, is more rapid and more intense at certain points (points of ossification), from which it cannot properly be said that the ossification _radiates_, but rather that at these points the general process is intensified and concentrated. there are five principal points of ossification: two frontal, two parietal and one occipital, which appear clearly defined and projecting like nodules, imparting to the cranium, when seen from above, a pentagonal form, which is the normal form of the infant cranium. _second period._--at birth the cranium has not yet completed the process of ossification, nor are the normal number of bones that will eventually compose the adult cranium, as yet definitely determined. therefore the cranium of the new-born child has three distinct characteristics: . it is not yet uniformly rounded, but polyhedral because of the noticeable prominence of the five primitive nodules or centres of ossification ( frontal, parietal, occipital, figs. , ). . since the process of ossification of the bones is not yet completed, certain membranous portions or _cranial fontanelles_ still remain, which are especially wide at the points where several bones meet. the principal fontanelle is that of the bregma (at the juncture of the two frontal with the two parietal bones, quadrangular). next comes that of the lambda, which is much smaller (juncture of the two parietal bones with the occipital, triangular), and lastly the fontanelles of the asterion and the pterion, on opposite sides of the temporal bones, the former being situated behind and the latter in front. . since the process of ossification is incomplete, the fusion of bony portions into entire bones, such as they are destined to be when complete development is reached, has not yet been accomplished; that is to say, certain bones of the cranium are still divided into several portions. for example, the frontal bone in the new-born child is composed of two bones, separated by a longitudinal suture that is destined to disappear, and the occipital bone is composed of four parts, namely, the base, the squama and the two condyles (basioccipital, exoccipital and superoccipital bones). during the first period of three years, while the brain is increasing notably and rapidly in volume, the cranium undergoes various and interesting transformations. the pentagonal form of the cranium tends steadily to become rounder, because the primitive nodules are diminishing, or even disappear, although in this regard many individual varieties result; and the processes of ossification reach their completion. this is the most important period of growth, during which the individual development of the perfect cranial form may be attained, provided the rhythm of growth between the brain and its envelope remains harmonious; or again, certain deformations may be definitely established, owing to the intervention of some pathological condition or a disturbance of nutrition, altering either the internal volume or the normal process of ossification of the bony covering. the first closing of the fontanelles takes place, in our race, in those of the asterion (posterior to the temporal bones), and next in those of the pterion; and it sometimes happens, as an anomaly of growth that leaves no external trace in the living man, that a little bone is formed, duplicating the shape of the fontanelle itself; such little bones, very common in abnormal crania, are called _wormian_ _bones_. they may occur in connection with any of the fontanelles, but especially with that of the bregma. [illustration: fig. .--cranium of adult with abnormal medio-frontal suture.] the fontanelle of the lambda generally closes during the first year; and the last of all the fontanelles to close is the largest, which is situated toward the front of the head, at the _bregma_, and is well known, even by the common people, and can easily be felt upon a child's head; it generally closes toward the end of the second year; and its characteristics may furnish valuable indications of abnormality or insufficiency of the child's development. for example, if it diminishes and disappears ahead of time, this may constitute the first symptom of _microcephaly_, or at all events, of submicrocephaly (_i.e._, a case of microcephaly that is not very pronounced). on the contrary, when this fontanelle remains dilated and delays its normal closing, this is a sign of organic weakness and debilitating disease (cachexia, rickets, myxedema). furthermore, the fontanelle in question may alter its characteristic appearance in certain forms of sickness. in the case of hydrocephaly it becomes distended, while in enteritis, on the contrary, in which the organism parts with a large proportion of liquid, it becomes depressed. the _sutures_ also undergo notable changes during this period of life. the first to become effaced is the metopic or medio-frontal suture, which is destined to close and form a single bone; by the end of the first year it is obliterated throughout the middle third of its length, and thereafter the process of suturation spreads upward and downward until it is completed at the end of the second year (welcker, haeckel, humphry). sometimes, however, this suture is not obliterated until very late, and there are anomalous cases where it has remained throughout life, giving the forehead a characteristic form (pronounced frontal nodules and a slight palpable furrow along the medial line of the forehead). during this same time a fusion has also taken place between the occipital squama and the two lateral or condyloid portions; but the resultant whole still remains separated from the _corpus_ or _base_ of the occipital bone, which will not become welded into one solid piece with the rest before the age of seven years. at the age of three, the ossification of the cranial vault has been completed. in place of being depressed and protuberant, as it was at birth, the cranium has grown upward and forward in the frontal region, assuming an almost definitive form; the volume of the cranium has at the same time undergone an exceedingly rapid growth, attaining proportions very near to those of an adult. from the age of three onward the head grows slowly, and its transformations are much slighter and fewer. the cranial capacity which at birth is cubic centimetres, becomes at the age of three, , , at the age of fifteen, , , and in the adult, , cu. cm. respectively. accordingly we might say that at the age of three a sort of repose has been established in the growth both of the the brain and of the cranium; this is the age at which an awakening begins in the child of that intelligence which is to put him in touch with the external world, and it is also the age at which he may begin his education in school. _third period._--there follows a slow and parallel growth of both brain and cranium. the ossification of the cranium itself reaches completion. at the age of seven the occipital is definitely solidified into a single bone and between the years of fifteen and twenty the body of the sphenoid also becomes welded to the occiput. this process of synostosis begins from the interior of the cranium, and only subsequently manifests itself externally. consequently, the basilar suture closes at the time when the last large molars, the so-called "wisdom teeth," appear. after this period, the base of the cranium can no longer undergo any sort of growth, and in the case of uneducated persons the complete development of the cranium is definitely accomplished. _fourth period._--but in the case of cultured persons, those who form the class of brain-workers, the brain continues to grow, although extremely slowly, up to the age of thirty-five or even forty, thanks to the sutures which still remain completely intact and which still make an expansion of the bony envelope possible. after this comes the beginning of the _fifth period._--the period of involution, during which the synostosis (closing) of all the cranial sutures will successively occur, until in advanced old age the cranium becomes composed of a single bone, just as in the embryo it was formed of a single membrane. the synostoses which occurred in the early periods had an evolutive significance and were associated with the growth of the body and the intelligence. these later synostoses, on the contrary, have an involutive significance and are associated with the physiological decay of the organism and at the same time with that of the psychic activities. the first point at which synostosis takes place is in the region of the obelion, that is, near the middle of the suture which, unites the two parietal bones; shortly afterward, the fronto-parietal sutures begin to unite along the pterion. at the age of forty-five, the obeliac synostosis has progressed as far as the lambda, and that of the fronto-parietal suture to the bregma; and at fifty the ossification is very nearly accomplished, at least on the right-hand side (according to broca's series of crania). at seventy the squama of the temporal bone unites with the parietal, and at eighty the entire cranium has become a single bone. these processes are subject to no small number of individual variations; there have been cases of persons who, although very old, still preserved many of their cranial sutures intact and their psychic activities remained correspondingly alert (men of genius). conversely, the closing of the sutures sometimes begins as early as the thirty-fifth year. a diagnosis of age, as determined by the skeleton, is consequently only approximate. during the periods of growth the cranium may exhibit transitory anomalies; it is very common to encounter in the heads of children of the lower social classes, who are consequently subject to denutrition, _malformations_ which represent various degrees and forms of _plagiocephaly_, and which subsequently disappear completely, as the development of the cranium advances. anomalies of form must therefore be judged differently in the case of the child than in that of the adult. it may even happen that the five primitive nodules persist for a long time and even remain as a definitive form of the adult cranium constituting, according to sergi, a distinct variety, the _pentagonal_ cranium. but this is quite rare. from the frequency with which this form is to be observed in schools attended by children of the poorer classes, it is better to regard it as due to a delay in morphological evolution, which will probably disappear later on. normal forms of the cranium we are indebted to sergi for an exact knowledge of the _normal_ _forms_ of the cranium. such forms are racial characteristics and are _invariable_, as sergi has succeeded in proving by a comparison of the most ancient forms of the cranium with recent forms. accordingly this authority takes the cranial formation as the basis for his classification of races. we have no direct interest, so far as concerns the special scope of our own science, in the value of this theory of classification--a theory, by the way, already divined, although very imperfectly and under a different form, by french and german anthropologists. sergi's studies of cranial forms interest us solely as a diagnostic test of _normality_ as compared with _abnormality_. for it is due to these researches that certain forms that used to be considered pathological, have come to be recognised as normal. the _normal forms_ of the cranium may be grouped, according to sergi, under nine primary varieties, each of which includes _sub-varieties_. these nine varieties are named as follows: i. ellipsoid; ii. ovoid; iii. pentagonoid; iv. rhomboid; v. beloid; vi. cuboid; vii. sphenoid; viii. spheroid; ix. platycephalic. [illustration: fig. .--_ellipsoides depressus_ cranium.] i. _ellipsoid_ (fig. ).--this form is recognised by inspecting the cranium according to the vertical norm (see in the chapter on _technique_ the method of cranioscopy). the cranial contour recalls an ellipse in which no trace of the nodules remains, and in which the occiput is not in the least flattened; while the anterior half of the cranium closely corresponds to the posterior half. the sub-varieties are differentiated by their greater breadth and length, by the form and protrusion of the occiput, and also by the height of the cranium measured vertically. [illustration: fig. .--ellipsoid cranium.] [illustration: fig. .--ovoid cranium.] accordingly, the sub-varieties have a binominal nomenclature indicating, in addition to the fundamental characteristic (variety) the qualitative characteristic of the sub-variety (_e.g., ellipsoids_ _depressus_; compare fig. , showing a cranium seen laterally). ii. _ovoid._--this form of cranium, seen from above, is that of an ovoid, with the broader portion corresponding to the parietal bones, at the point where the characteristic embryonal nodules are situated. the protrusions of the parietal bones are apparent (swellings) but not angular (nodules). the occiput protrudes and is broad (fig. ). [illustration: fig. .--pentagonoid cranium.] [illustration: fig. .--rhomboid cranium.] iii. _pentagonoid._--in this form, persistent traces of the five primitive embryonal nodules are still plainly visible, giving the contour of the cranium, when seen vertically, the appearance of a pentagon. the protuberances, however, are quite smooth and not pointed, as in the embryonal cranium. [illustration: fig. .--beloid cranium.] iv. _rhomboid._--this form is similar to the pentagonoid, excepting that the parietal breadth is much more notable in proportion to the forehead, which is much narrowed and has lost its nodules. [illustration: fig. .--ovoids (classified by sergi).] [illustration: fig. .--pentagonoides acutus (sergi's collection).] [illustration: fig. .--beloides lybicus (classified by sergi).] [illustration: fig. .--platycephalus orbicularis (classified by sergi).] [illustration: fig. .--platycephalus ovoidalis (classified by sergi).] [illustration: fig. .--spheroidal cranium, vertical norm (sergi's collection).] v. _beloid._--the beloid, or arrow-head cranium is like the ovoid with the occiput more flattened, so that the widest portion is further back than in the ovoid; toward the front it becomes narrower, constituting altogether an admirably shaped type of head. [illustration: fig. .--cuboid cranium.] vi. _cuboid._--this form is most clearly perceived when the cranium is seen either sidewise or from the rear. not only the face, but the lateral and occipital walls as well are flattened; so also is the forehead, which in general is quite vertical. vii. _sphenoid_ (cuneiform).--the broadening between the two parietal bones is usually far back and very evident, while the cranium narrows toward the front. the occiput is flattened. [illustration: fig. .--sphenoid cranium.] viii. _spheroid._--seen vertically, it presents the appearance of a very broad ellipse; all the curves tend to become spherical. the forehead, however, is not notably vertical. ix. _platycephalic._--the fundamental characteristic of this type of cranium is that it is flattened on top, or rather, since such flattening cannot be absolute, the arch of its vault is a segment of a circle of very large diameter (sergi), with the result that this cranium has the appearance of being very low vertically and very broad laterally. when seen vertically it may present a wide variety of contours, ellipsoid, ovoid, pentagonoid, etc., but its distinguishing characteristic remains that of the flattened vault. [illustration: fig. .--spheroid cranium.] =sub-varieties.=--_sphenoids_ _trapezoids_, or _trapezoid cranium_. observed from the vertical norm, this form appears as a variety of the _sphenoid_; and when seen laterally it is characterised by the lines of its contour forming a _trapezium_. starting from the vertex of the cranium one line slants toward the forehead and another toward the occiput, which is very massive. in the figure given below, the quadrangle drawn in solid lines serves to indicate the correct position of the cranium, while the trapezium formed of dotted lines gives us its characteristic form. [illustration: fig. .--trapezoid cranium.] among the forms described by sergi, are several which were formerly held to be abnormal, such, for instance, as the _platycephalic_ _cranium_ and the _pentagonoid_. similarly, when the surfaces of the cranium showed a tendency toward flatness, or when there were cranial protuberances, even though these were destined to disappear, they were regarded as malformations. before this high authority offered us his guidance, there were certain forms, frequently encountered, that it was difficult to define, for example, the trapezoid cranium, which often presents a notable vertico-occipital flattening, with the vertex notably higher than the forehead. there are also certain forms of cranium having the frontal region more restricted than the parietal region, or slanting down from a much elevated vertex, which have been proved to be _normal forms_; while still another error previously made was that of trying to judge the _forehead_ on the criterion of a single model, deviations from which were much too readily relegated to the category of abnormalities. the most regular and beautiful forms, and the ones that are commonest in our racial stocks are the ellipsoid, ovoid and sphenoid. in my work on the women of latium, precisely one of the points that i noted was the frequent occurrence of certain sub-varieties of the _ellipsoid_ and the _sphenoid_. in order to recognise the _forms of the cranium_, a certain training is necessary which each one must acquire for himself. observations of the cranium will make it easier to judge of the form in relation to the _head_, at least, when the latter is not too much hidden by the hair, as often happens in the case of young children. a knowledge of the _normal_ forms of the cranium will also guide us in our judgment of many abnormal forms, which very often present the appearance of _exaggerations_ of normal types. thus, for example, the _acrocephalic_ cranium (much raised in the parieto-lambdoideal region and sloping forward toward the brow, while the occipito-lambdoideal region is flattened) recalls the _trapezoid_; and the clinocephalic cranium (in which the coronal suture forms a slight girdle-like indenture and divides the contour of the cranium, when observed along the vertical norm, in two curves, a lesser anterior and a greater posterior curve, resembling a figure of ) recalls certain varieties of ovoid cranium described by sergi. this brings us to a principle that is very interesting to establish, namely, that frequently _anomalies_ represent _exaggerations_ of the racial or family type. the cephalic index retzius was the first to take the _cranium_ under consideration as a basis for a classification of the human races; and he attempted to determine a concept of its _form_ by means of a numerical formula expressing the relation between the length and width of the cranium (cephalic index). thus he distinguished the races into _brachycephalics_, or those having a short head; and _dolichocephalics_, or those having a long head. following retzius, who may be regarded as the founder of craniology, broca adopted, completed and expanded this method, deriving from the cranium, or rather from the particular character given by the cephalic index, a _key_, as it were, suited to unlocking the intricate mysteries of hybridism among the human races. consequently the cephalic index was not confined, as regards its importance, within the same limits as all the other indexes, but was raised by the french school, warmly seconded by italian anthropologists, to the dignity of a fundamental determinant of the _ethnic type_, as definitely as, for example, the vertebral column serves as basis for a classification including all species of vertebrates. the germans refused to accept the cephalic index as determining the classification of races; but while seeking to prove themselves independent of it, they continued to regard the _form of the cranium_ as a basis of classification (rütimeyer, von höller, and to-day virchow), but without ever having identified, as sergi has now done, existing _forms_ as normal types of race. the _cephalic index_ is obtained by the well-known formula expressing the relation between the _maximum transverse diameter_ of the skull (see "technique") and the _maximum longitudinal diameter_ reduced to , and is expressed as follows: ci = ×d/d (the cephalic index is equal to a hundred times the lesser diameter divided by the greater; in the present case the lesser diameter is the transverse). this _proportion between linear measurements_ cannot properly sum up the _form_ of the cranium. we can, for example, conceive of a microcephalic cranium having a normal _cephalic index_, since the relation between the two maximum diameters necessary for deducing the index, does not tell us, for example, either the dimension of the cranium or the form of the forehead. if, for instance, we should imagine a photograph of a cranium enlarged a hundred diameters, the reciprocal relations between the length and the width would still remain unchanged. in order to demonstrate that the cephalic index does not determine the form of the cranium, sergi makes use of a number of different geometric figures, such as a triangle, an ellipse, a trapezoid inscribed within equal rectangles, and which consequently have an equal base and equal altitude, that is, the same proportion between length and width. it follows that skulls corresponding more or less closely in shape, trapezoidal, trigonocephalic, ellipsoidal, plagiocephalic, and hence both normal and abnormal, can be expressed by a cephalic index having the same identical figures. but, although the cephalic index is far from being _descriptive_ in regard to the form of the cranium, it constitutes an anthropological datum that has two advantages: . it depends upon measurements and is therefore accessible to those who, not being anthropologists, lack the trained eye that can distinguish with careful accuracy the true _forms_ of the cranium in their manifold variety. furthermore, since the measurement of maximum diameters is sure and easy and may be obtained with exactness, regardless of the thickness of the hair, it may be applied in anthropological research to all subjects. . the cephalic index, even if it does not give us the form, does give us a fact which has a bearing upon the form, namely, whether the cranium is long or short; in other words, it substantially represents the most real and evident difference between the different types of cranium. and since the cranium has a visibly spheroid form, that is, with smooth and rounding surfaces, and constantly adheres to this generic delineation, the fact of being longer or shorter introduces a definite differentiation into the general and accepted form, and gives a very simple and concise indication of it, that conveys the idea more clearly than a description would. granting the _practicality_ of this line of research, the cephalic index may also be accepted as an index of form, so long as there is no intention of going deeply into minute differentiations for systematic purposes. professor sergi himself, author of the system that forms the basis of the study of cranial forms, urged me to exclude from a practical course in pedagogic anthropology the classification of forms, limiting the concept of form to that included in the cephalic index. the cephalic index has the additional advantage of having been extensively studied and consequently of having an abundance of mean averages for comparison that are of great practical use. furthermore, the idea it gives regarding the cranium by means of one simple figure serves to convey certain fundamental principles with great clearness. in dealing with figures that determine an anthropological datum of such high importance, it is necessary to define its limits and its nomenclature. various authors have introduced their own personal classification of the cephalic index, and no small confusion in nomenclature has resulted; so much so that a need was felt of establishing a uniformity of numerical limits and of the relative terminology, in other words, of simplifying the scientific language. accordingly, a congress was held at frankfort in , at which the following nomenclature was established by international agreement: cephalic index.--_nomenclature established at frankfort_ dolichocephalia = and below mesaticephalia = from . to . brachycephalia = from to hyperbrachycephalia = . and above. previous to this, the most widely varied classifications were in use, and the leading authorities had all introduced into the literature of the subject their own personal classifications. here are some of the more important: broca: dolichocephalics = and below subdolichocephalics = from to subbrachycephalics = from to . brachycephalics = . and above. ranke: dolichocephalics = . mesaticephalics = from to . brachycephalics = and above. kollman: dolichocephalics = . and below mesaticephalics = from to . brachycephalics = from to . hyperbrachycephalics = and above. retzius and davis: dolichocephalia = and below brachycephalia = and above. topinard: { and below = ultradolichocephalics. { \ { } { } true dolichocephalics. { } dolichocephalics { / { \ { } { } subdolichocephalics. { } { } { \ { / true mestaicephalics mesaticephalics { (_mean average._) { \ { / submesaticephalics { } { } { } subbrachycephalics. { } { / brachycephalics { \ { } true brachycephalics. { } { } { / { and above = ultrabrachycephalics. it remains to determine the extreme _limits of oscillation_ of the index, both in relation to the normal mean and in relation to the fluctuations of this important ethnic datum in a given population. topinard, as we have seen, gives as his mean figures for the extreme normal limits among the human races and . deniker gives, as his mean averages for the human races, the following figures: for dolichocephaly, . (natives of the caroline islands; australia); for brachycephaly, . (the ayssori of the transcaucasus; asia).[ ] but we know that a mean is obtained from figures either greater or smaller than the mean itself, so that the limits of _individual variation_ must exceed that of the given figures. accordingly the oscillation of the normal cephalic indices may be given as ranging from to . in regard to abnormalities (extreme human limits of the cephalic index) the authorities give for dolichocephaly (scaphocephaly) and for brachycephaly (in which case the cranium is round and known as _trochocephalic_; it is met with among the insane). between oscillations of such extremely wide range in the normal cephalic index, the number chosen as a medial figure to serve the purpose of dividing the dolichocephalics from the brachycephalics is that of , which is included within the division of brachycephaly. in spite of the nomenclature established at frankfort, there is a distinct scholastic advantage, because of the greater simplicity of memorising and fixing the idea, in reverting to the nomenclature of retzius, who classes as brachycephalics all crania from upward, and as dolichocephalics all those below . it is certainly strange to class all crania from to without distinction as brachycephalics, and then to alter the name and call a cranium with an index of . a dolichocephalic. it has been found that there is always a slight difference between the index taken from measurements of the cranium and that obtained from measurements of the _head_. according to broca, it is necessary to subtract _two units_ from the cephalic index taken from a living person, in order to obtain that of the cranium; thus, for example, if the cephalic index (taken from life) is , the cranial index (taken from the skeleton) would be . such differences are due to the disposition of the soft tissues. consequently, even according to the simple subdivision of retzius, a person who was brachycephalic during life, would become dolichocephalic after he was dead. but this is what always happens in biology, whenever we try to establish _definite_ limits. life undergoes an insensible transition through successive limits and forms, and this fact constitutes the grave difficulties and the apparent confusion of biological systems. in determining degrees of difference, it is necessary to have recourse constantly to _special methods_, which teach us to recognise general properties and to use them as a basis in dividing living creatures into separate groups (see in the section on _method_, "mean measurements and formation of series in relation to individual variations"). hence, for mnemonic purposes, we need remember only the single number, . but if we wish to adopt the nomenclature of frankfort, it is necessary to keep in mind two figures denoting limits, (inclusive) for dolichocephaly, and (inclusive) for brachycephaly. mesaticephalics dolichocephalics brachycephalics ultra these constitute, as it were, two centres, beyond which, on this side and on that, we may picture to ourselves the _individual variations_ drawn up in martial line. in this case, the space between and , in other words, the limits of mesaticephaly, may be interpreted as due to oscillations between dolicho- and brachycephaly according to the laws of variability, which is analogous to what takes place in the case of oscillations in the opposite direction ( - dolichocephaly; - brachycephaly). from this point of view, these two numbers, and , constitute _median centres_ of two different types. but according to broca and his school--and this view is accepted by many anthropologists--mesaticephaly should be regarded as constituting a _fusion_ of the two other types, the brachy- and dolichocephalic, whence it follows that mesaticephalics would be _hybrids_. other authorities, on the contrary, exaggerating the conception of the fixity of the cephalic index in a given race, admit the existence of mesaticephalic races. [illustration: fig. . map of the cephalic index in italy.] but it has been observed that the greater number of mesaticephalics are to be found in regions where dolichocephaly prevails; in certain districts of africa, as for example, in somaliland, not a single brachycephalic exists, yet none the less the mesaticephalics are numerous. accordingly, mesaticephaly may be classed with _dolichocephaly_ and regarded as one of its variations, while it seems to be independent of brachycephaly. therefore the nomenclature of retzius may for many good reasons be chosen and adopted in our schools. in conclusion, we shall regard the brachycephalics and dolichocephalics as the two fundamental types; and shall adopt the figure , included among the brachycephalics, as the limit of separation. the different grades of dolicho- or brachycephaly are to be determined by _mean averages_, and the oscillations due to individual variations, by _series_. hence it is important to determine the _mean average_ and the oscillation of the cephalic index for the different races; and this is of interest to us as educators, in order to establish the limits of _normality_. the practical method of studying the cephalic index is according to geographical distribution. here are a few general data of the cephalic index relative to its distribution: the most dolichocephalic of all peoples are found in melanesia, australia, india and africa. in the fiji islands the mean cephalic index is ; in the caroline archipelago it is ; in various regions of india, ; that of the hottentots, ; of the bantus, . belonging to the dolichocephalics or mesaticephalics are the populations of the extreme south of europe (mediterranean race) and at the extreme north (english, scotch). on the contrary, the races of western europe and of central asia are brachycephalic (celts, mongols). the most brachycephalic of all these peoples are met with in the transcaucasus; their mean average is . . there also exists a notable brachycephalic type in france (savoyards, . ; inhabitants of the upper loire, . ); also in dalmatia, , while the lapps of scandinavia are also ultrabrachycephalic, . . on very general lines, it may be said that the dolichocephalics are the eurafrican races (including the mediterranean race, with which the first civilisations are associated: egyptian, greek and roman) who migrated from the mediterranean basin into europe; and the brachycephalics are the eurasian races, who on the contrary migrated from continental asia across western europe (the aryans). as far as regards italy, its population is by no means evenly constituted. the median index given by livi for italy, deduced from observation of more than , subjects is ; in regard to regional distribution, the results are shown in the following table: piedmont . emilia . venctia . lombardy . umbria . marches . liguria . tuscany . campania . abruzzo and molise . latium . basilicata . apulia . sicily . calabria . sardinia . let us remember that if the cephalic index were measured directly from the cranium, the result would be one or two units less, hence the mean average of the cranial index would be about . the accompanying map represents still more clearly the geographical distribution. the results show that in piedmont, in emilia, and in northern italy in general the inhabitants are more brachycephalic; while in the south and more especially in the island possessions we find the more dolichocephalic part of the population. the highest degree of dolichocephaly is found in sardinia. but if, instead of the cartographic summary herewith reproduced, we could examine the exhaustive one with which livi has illustrated his great work on anthropometry, we should discover that the distribution does not follow the great _regional lines_; but that as a matter of fact certain _human groups_ exist, isolated like little islands, which have a cephalic index in marked contrast to that of the remaining population of the same region. thus, for example, at lucca, in the midst of a brachycephalic population, there is a pronouncedly dolichocephalic group; and in the midst of the dolichocephalic population of abruzzo and the neighbouring provinces, there exists at chieti a strongly brachycephalic group. besides these and similar groups contrasting with the regional type, there exist a multiplicity of differences, from one successive boundary line to another, so that the _limits_ _of the cephalic index_ may be determined with great minuteness in the various regions. livi's large charts lend themselves with great clearness to this sort of analytical study, which would be found to be very profitable to teachers. it is also quite instructive to compare the different charts representing various anthropological data of ethnical importance; such, for example, as that of the distribution of stature and that of the distribution of pigmentation. these data are regarded by anthropologists as attributes of race. well, in these three charts it is evident at the first glance that there is a notable resemblance in distribution, so much so than an eye untrained to observation would be likely to confuse them. the cephalic index, the stature, the colour of the skin are consequently of almost uniform distribution. corresponding to the most pronounced brachycephaly, we have the tallest stature and the fairest complexion; corresponding to the most pronounced dolichocephaly, we find instead the lowest stature and the most brunette types. such an accumulative coincidence, in certain communities, of characteristics, in contrast to those that are found combined in certain other communities, reveal the existence in italy of _two different races_. one of these races seems to have descended from over the alps; the other, to have landed on the shores of the mediterranean. the first belong to the eurasians; the second to the eurafricans. in my work upon the population of latium, the mean cephalic index obtained by me is . the distribution according to the localities studied affords the mean averages noted in the following table, in which i have also recorded the maximums and minimums, and the percentage of brachycephalic and dolichocephalic individuals who contributed to the given means: cephalic index among the people of latium (according to montessori) -------------------------------------------------------------------- |mean | | | dolicho- |brachy- provinces |cephalic |minimum |maximum |cephalics, |cephalics, |index | | |per cent. |per cent. ----------------+---------+--------+--------+-----------+----------- rome | | | | | _castelli romani_ | | | | | -- tivoli | | | | | velletri | . | | | | frosinone | . | | | | civitavecchia | . | | | | bracciano | | | | | _orte_ | . | | | | acquapendente | . | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------- the results show a preponderance of brachycephalics or of dolichocephalics in the places where the mean cephalic index is respectively highest for brachycephaly (orte) or for dolichocephaly (castelli romani). furthermore, the extreme maximum and minimum figures are found to be included in these groups ( at orte and at castelli). it should be noted that at castelli romani the mean average is mesaticephalic ( ), notwithstanding the absence of brachycephalics; this average is based on figures showing an extremely pronounced dolichocephaly (ranging to !). the groups at castelli and at orte also showed characteristics in respect to stature (see page ); at orte the mean stature is . m., with a maximum of . m. (very tall statures for women), and at castelli the mean stature is . m., with a minimum of . m. (low statures). similarly, in regard to pigmentation, i found at orte a prevalence of blonds, and at castelli of brunettes. hence the conclusion may be drawn that at castelli and at orte there exist groups of human beings who are of almost pure race, in the midst of a population in which racial types have become attenuated or hidden; but in centres like these we still find persistent testimony as to the ethnic factors that combined to form the people of latium: the one, a blond, tall, brachycephalic race; the other, dark, small, and dolichocephalic. _the cephalic index at different ages of life._--another quality that renders the cephalic index of great importance is that it remains constant in the course of growth, since the two maximum diameters, the antero-posterior and the transverse, increase at very nearly the same rate, excepting during the earliest years, at which time the length of the cranium increases slightly more than the width. according to some authorities it is in the second year, according to others it is in the fourth or seventh, that the cephalic index becomes constant (binet, deniker, pearson, fawcette, ammon, johannson, and westermarck). the following table is one that i have drawn up on the basis of quétélet's figures: cephalic index --------------------------------------------------- age | males |females| age | males |females ---------+-------+-------+---------+-------+------- at birth | | | years| | year | | | years| | years | | | years| | years | | | years| | years | | | years| | years | | | years| | years | | | years| | years | | | years| | years | | | years| | years | | | years| | years | | | --- | -- | -- --------------------------------------------------- since it has been observed that the cranium in the course of its growth may assume forms, amounting even to apparent malformations (due chiefly to "bumps," either symmetrical or asymmetrical), which disappear during the evolution of the individual, the _cephalic index_, for _the very reason_ that it does not represent a faithful description of the form, gives us precious aid in judging the cranium of the child, because it _accurately determines the proportions_ _between length and breadth_ which are destined to persist even in the adult, and hence serve to give, even in infancy, a sure indication of the ethnic type to which the child belongs. [illustration: per cent. negro children children born in syria children born in russia children born in germany fig. .] we owe to dr. ales hrdlicka the extremely important graphic chart, which i will proceed to summarise, of the cephalic indices of children of various races: the central dotted line corresponds to the index : consequently the brachycephalics are indicated on the right, and the dolichocephalics on the left (fig. ). in the case of italy, the graphic line extends between the two extreme figures of and , which are precisely the extreme limits that we have already noted for individual adults, in the case of the women of latium: moreover, the curve is perceptibly symmetrical, although the brachycephalics are in the majority; a fact already established by livi's mean averages. one might say that this curve was a graphic representation of livi's two-colour method in his map of the cephalic index: one-half of italy is brachycephalic and the other half is dolichocephalic; but since brachycephaly prevails in the northern half, a wider extent of territory is occupied by brachycephalics. in america, where emigration brings every variety of humanity, the curve is even more symmetrical, and rests on a broader basis, representing widely separated extremes. ireland also shows a very perceptible symmetry, the population being a mixture of celts (brachycephalics) and of scotch (northern blond dolichocephalics). in germany there is a prevalence of brachycephalics; we are here approaching the eastern regions from which the eurasian race came through emigration. here the slavs and celts (brachycephalics who immigrated into europe at various epochs) are intermingled with a notable percentage of dolichocephalics (teutons). [illustration: per cent. children born in ireland white children born in america children born in italy fig. .] but in russia, a region still further east, and similarly in syria, we find an almost pure race: the curves lie wholly within the field of brachycephaly. on the contrary, the dark-skinned children given in the last chart, and belonging to african races and tribes of american indians, are all of them _dolichocephalic_. according to binet and other writers, the _cephalic index_ and the _cranial volume_ are the two anthropological data on which the criterion of _normality_ of children's heads must be based. when we observe a child's head which is apparently malformed, we cannot call it _abnormal_; it is not abnormal unless it has a volume notably too small (submicrocephaly, microcephaly) or too large (rickets, hydrocephaly); and a cephalic index exceeding the normal limits, in other words, _exaggerated_ (scaphocephaly, trochocephaly, pathological brachycephaly occurring in hydrocephalics). the volume of the cranium the volume of the cranium owes its importance, as we have already seen, to the fact that the cranium represents the _envelope_ of the brain, and is consequently normally determined, as regards its dimensions, by the cerebral volume. accordingly, in normal cases, when we speak of the cranial volume, we are speaking by implication of the _cerebral volume_; and all anthropological questions regarding the volumetric development of the cranium in reality have reference to the brain. in abnormal cases, on the contrary, it may happen that the bony covering is not a skeletal index of the brain; in fact, pathological cases may occur analogous to those we have already observed in discussing the etiology of cranial malformations, in which the flat bones of the cranial vault undergo a notable thickening, so that as a result the greater volume of the cranium is due to the increased quantity of bony substance, and not of brain tissue, and is very heavy, so that it readily droops over upon the shoulder: _pachycephalic_ cranium. another cause for lack of correspondence between the cerebral and the cranial volume may be the abnormal production of cerebro-spinal fluid within the brain: _hydrocephalic_ cranium. =the development of the brain.=--in the earliest period of embryonal life, the brain consists of a single vesicle, the continuation of which forms the spinal marrow: later on, this vesicle divides into three superimposed vesicles which represent respectively the embryonal beginnings of the anterior, middle and posterior brain; continuing their development, the anterior and posterior brains each divide in turn into two other vesicles, so that there result in all five primitive vesicles of the brain, superimposed one upon another (see fig. ); the anterior vesicle which is destined to grow enormously, dividing into two parts, right and left, with a longitudinal division, will constitute the cerebral hemispheres; the second vesicle will constitute the optic thalami; the third vesicle, the corpora quadrigemina; the fourth vesicle, the cerebellum, and the fifth vesicle, the medulla oblongata. when complete development is attained, the cerebral hemispheres completely cover the other parts of the brain, besides which they themselves are covered over with a multiplicity of folds constituting the _convolutions_. if we take a cross-section of the hemispheres, we find that they consist of an outer layer of _gray_ matter formed of nerve cells, and of a central mass of _white_ matter, formed of fibres. [illustration: fig. . brain of a human embryo after the fourth week.] the study of the convolutions is quite important from the anthropological standpoint, because their number is not identical in the different branches of the human race, and also because they differ both in number and in arrangement from the convolutions in the brain of the anthropoid apes. but however interesting they may be, considered as differentiating characteristics, we cannot linger over a study of this kind, which has a purely theoretic importance, and for the present cannot be applied in any practical and direct way to our problems of pedagogic anthropology. it will be sufficient to note rapidly that at the present time the study of the _convolutions_ has received a new impulse through the labours of certain distinguished investigators, among whom we must once more include dr. sergio sergi. instead of studying the surface convolutions, dr. sergi studies the internal folds which are disclosed by separating the lips of the cerebral fissures; and from these he draws deductions which to a large extent correct those made by previous scientists, in regard to the eventual ancestry of the different species, the marks of biological superiority or inferiority, the differences in the brain due to sex, etc. the surface fissures which divide the cerebral hemispheres into convolutions are shown in the two accompanying figures (figs. and ), the first of which shows the outer side of the hemispheres, and the second the inner side. of chief importance to us is the arrangement of convolutions and furrows on the outer surface of the hemispheres. the points to be noted are the following: the two great fissures, rolando's, running longitudinally, and silvius's running transversely, which, together with the perpendicular fissure, divide the hemisphere into four lobes: the _frontal_ lobe and the _parietal_ lobe, situated respectively in front and behind rolando's fissure; the _temporal_ lobe, situated below silvius's fissure, and lastly, the _occipital_ lobe at the posterior apex of the hemisphere. [illustration: fig. .--cerebral hemisphere; external face.] in the third frontal convolution are situated broca's centres, which are believed to be the seat of articulate speech; while along rolando's fissure, in the ascendant convolutions, is the locality designated by physiologists as the motor centres. the occipital lobe is the location of the zone of sight; and the temporal lobe, that of hearing. it is important for us to observe the volume of the brain, and therefore that of the head, in relation to the rest of the body; it is enormous in the embryo; and even at birth and during childhood the head is quite voluminous as compared with the body, as appears from the diagram in fig. , in which a new-born child and an adult man are reduced to the same scale, each retaining his relative bodily proportions. in fig. a new-born child is shown in two positions: from the front and from behind; the head is very large and the cranial nodules are plainly visible. figs. and represent the same child at the age of six months and a year and a half; in the first picture the head is still very large as compared with the body, and the forehead protrudes (infantile forehead); in the second, the proportion between head and body has already altered. a knowledge of the laws governing the growth of the brain is of particular importance in relation to pedagogic anthropology. [illustration: fig. .--cerebral hemisphere, internal face.] within the last few years anthropologists have established certain principles that are well worthy of notice: . the child's head is normal when its _volume_ and _cephalic index_ come within the limits of normality (even if the shape appears abnormal: simon, binet, etc.). . when the volume of the head is too small it frequently indicates psychic deficiency; when it is too large, even up to the age of twenty years, it indicates a predisposition to precocious mortality (see below). very frequently when the size of the head is larger than normal and is not due to pathological causes (rickets, hydrocephaly, etc.), it is associated with an excessive development of the brain, and also with an intellectual precocity. a high percentage of this type die before reaching the age of twenty years; and this fact confirms the popular belief that children who are too intelligent or too good cannot live long. this indication alone ought to be sufficient to prove the pedagogic importance of the cerebral volume. the researches made by various authors in regard to the growth of the brain are not rigorously in accord as to the _limits of volume_: but they do agree as to the _rhythm of growth_. welcker gives the following figures: weight of the brain in grams (according to welcker) ------------------------------ age | males | females ------------+-------+--------- at birth | | two months | | one year | | three years | , | , ten years | , | , accordingly, the weight of the brain is doubled before the end of the first year; according to massini it is very nearly doubled at the end of the first six months: massini's figures as to the weight of the brain -------------------------------------------------- age |total weight| increase ---------------------------+------------+--------- at birth | | } first month | | } from first to third month | | from third to sixth month | | } from sixth month to year | | } [illustration: fig. .--spheroidal cranium lateral norm (sergi's collection).] [illustration: fig. .--spheroids typicus (from sergi's collection).] [illustration: fig. .--a child six months old.] [illustration: fig. .--the same child a year and a half old.] it follows from these figures that by the end of the sixth month the weight of the brain is already very nearly doubled; but the maximum growth takes place between the ages of one month and three, after which it shows a notable diminution of rate. but while the weight of the whole body is increased threefold by the end of the first year, that of the brain is very far from being tripled, since the rate of growth is still further diminished during the second six months; in fact even according to welcker the weight at the end of the first year has little more than doubled. accordingly the rhythm of cerebral growth is not identical with that of the increase in weight of the body taken as a whole. according to massini, the relation between the cerebral weight and the weight of the body, at the various successive ages, is as follows: relation between weight of brain and total weight (according to massini) ----------------------------------------------------------- age | brain | body | age | brain | body --------------------+-------+------+---------+-------+----- at birth | | | years | | first month | | | years | | from first to third | | | | | month | | | | | to sixth month | | | | | to one year | | | years | | ----------------------------------------------------------- in other words, the body grows more rapidly than the brain, and consequently, than the head: a fact which results in the different proportions already noted between head and body. the rhythm of brain growth considered by itself has been set forth in a most noteworthy and accurate fashion by boyd, based on the study of about two thousand cases; from the figures given by boyd, i have calculated the amount of increase from period to period, as well as from year to year, the whole result being set forth in the following table: rhythm of growth of brain (_males_: according to boyd) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |weight|difference|difference| |proportion age | in | for each | for each | relative|to maximum |grams | period | year | epoch | reduced | | | | | to -----------------------+------+----------+----------+---------+---------- at birth | | -- | -- | -- | . from birth to months | | + | -- | -- | . from to months | | + | -- | -- | . from months to year| | + | + | st year | . from to years | | + | + | d year | . from to years | , | + | + | d- th| . from to years | , | + | + | th- th| . from to years | , | + | + | th- th| . from to years | , | + | + | th- th| . from to years | , | -- | -- | -- | . from to years | , | + | + . | th- th| . from to years | , | - | - . | th- th| . from to years | , | - | - . | th- th| . from to years | , | - | - . | th- th| . from to years | , | - | - . | th- th| . from to years | , | - | - . | th- th| . ------------------------------------------------------------------------- in the above table, the first column of figures gives the _mean_ _average weight_ of the brain, obtained by direct observation of individual subjects; while from all the others the rhythm of cerebral growth and involution throughout the successive periods of life may be computed. we see that the maximum growth takes place in the first years of life, the intensity is greater in the first year than in the second, and greater in the first three months than in those that follow. already at the end of the first year the brain has surpassed one-half of the maximum weight which the individual is destined to attain in adult life (last column: proportions computed on scale of ). a notable rate of increase continues up to the age of four, after which it moderates, but receives a new impulse at about the fourteenth year (period of puberty); hence it appears that at this important epoch of life the _brain_ not only shares the general rapid growth of the body, but that by the end of the fourteenth year the brain has _already practically completed its development_; in fact, assuming that represents its complete development, the weight of the brain is already . ; and at thirty it will be only . . by studying the above table we can obtain a clear analysis of these phenomena. for women, boyd gives the following figures: the growth of the brain in women (figures given by boyd) -------------------------------------------------- | |proportion to the age | weight | maximum reduced | | to -----------------------+--------+----------------- at birth | | . three months | | . from to months | | . from months to year| | . from to years | | . from to years | | . from to years | , | . from to years | , | . from to years | , | . from to years | , | . from to years | , | . from to years | , | . from to years | , | . from to years | , | . from to years | , | . from to years | , | . -------------------------------------------------- the rhythm of growth of the female brain is analogous to that of the male, except for the more precocious attainment of the maximum weight, which corresponds to the more precocious evolution of the female organism. it should be noted that in the tables above cited the maximum is actually given as occurring at the age of twenty; and that after this period the weight diminishes again, subsequently increasing up to an age that varies according to the sex. but this maximum at the age of twenty must be considered as one of the false results of mean averages; and it must be explained on the ground that after the twentieth year the death rate has eliminated a series of individuals whose heads were abnormally large, and that a majority of the survivors were those whose heads had developed within normal limits. this fact is further confirmed by wagner's figures, cited by broca: mean weight of the brain (according to wagner) -------------------------------------- age | men | women --------------------+--------+-------- under years | | , from to years | , | , from to years | , | , from to years | , | , from to years | , | , from to years | , | , above years | , | , here again we have a false maximum at twenty, which nature subsequently corrects through mortality. from such knowledge we obtain certain important rules of hygiene. the normal brain which exceeds the common limits of volume is not, in an absolute sense, _incompatible_ with life. we need only to call to mind certain men of genius who had the brains of a giant. accordingly a brain which exceeds the limits _demands of the_ _individual who possesses it_ that he shall live according to certain special rules of hygiene. children and young people who are _too intelligent_, _too good_, in other words, children of the elite class demand a special treatment, just as much as any other class of beings that pass beyond the bounds of average normality. parents and teachers ought to be enlightened in regard to these scientific principles; the growth of individuals who are exceptional in regard to their intelligence and their emotions, should be supervised as though it were something precious and fragile. such individuals are destined to be more subject than others to _infective_ _maladies_, which frequently prove fatal, developing symptoms of meningitis and cerebral affections. consequently a hygienic life, _psychic repose_, an avoidance of emotional excitement, moderate physical exercise in farm or garden, a prolonged stay in the open country, might be the salvation of children of this type, who often are over-praised and over-stimulated by friends and relatives, and consequently subjected to continual excitement and _surménage_ to a degree destructive to their health. =extreme individual variations of the volume of the brain.=--in regard to individual variations, the authorities give various figures, from which the following have been selected as most noteworthy for their accuracy of research: normal extremes of individual variations in the volume of the brain ----------------------------------------------------------- | age: from to years| from to authors |-------------------------+----------------------- | maximum | minimum | maximum | minimum ---------+------------+------------+------------+---------- calori | , | , | , | , bischoff | , | , | , | , | | | | | _without distinction of age_: broca | maximum | minimum | , | , ----------------------------------------------------------- these figures refer to individuals belonging to european races. _comparison with the brains of apes._--the brain of the great anthropoid apes (chimpanzee, orang-utan, gorilla), whose total weight of body is comparable to that of man, weighs on an average grams, and the greatest weight which it can attain is gr. _specific gravity of the human brain._--in normal individuals, the average specific gravity is . ; in insane persons it is slightly higher: . . _the relation between the weight of the brain and the cranial_ _capacity: figures given by lebon_: weight of the brain cranial capacity in in grams cubic centimetres , , , , , , , , _figures given by manouvrier_: weight of the brain cranial capacity in in grams cubic centimetres , , , , , , , , =increase in the volume of the brain.=--studies regarding the growth of the head, although not yet complete, have gone sufficiently far to give us some useful ideas. in regard to the volume in a general sense, the _cranium in its growth obeys the cerebral_ _rhythm_. we shall speak in the section on _technique_ of the methods of measuring the head: at present it will suffice to point out that the measurements may be made directly upon the cranium, and the _cranial capacity_ calculated directly from the head: and that the _maximum linear measurements_ are sufficient to indicate the volume--such measurements being the three maximum diameters, _longitudinal_, _transverse_, and _vertical_, and the _maximum circumference_. even the forehead, as an index of the general volume of the brain, is of interest in researches relating to the volumetric growth of the head. regarding the growth of the several cranial dimensions, the most accurate and complete knowledge is furnished by binet's researches among the school-children of paris ( ). this author has made special investigations into the _rhythm_ of growth of the cranium and of the face, with special reference to the period of _puberty_. the following are the mean averages obtained by him, relative to the three diameters corresponding to the three maximum dimensions of the head: mean averages of cephalic measurements taken upon children of different ages (binet: _from the schools of paris_) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | kinder- |lower primary schools |upper pri- |normal | gartens | |mary schools|schools |-----------+-----------------------+------------+------- measurement | | | | | | | | | |years|years|years|years|years|years|years| years| years ---------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------+------ antero-post. diameter| . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . transverse diameter | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . vertical diameter | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- it is evident that these figures contain inaccuracies, especially in regard to the vertical diameter (where the subsequent two-year period gives a smaller measurement than the preceding) due to the fact that the averages were obtained from an insufficient number of subjects or from subjects differing too widely in intelligence (from schools of different grades). for this reason binet summarises the differences in growth, that is, the increase in relation to the diameters, under broad groups (six year groups, from four to ten years, and from ten to sixteen), in order to determine whether puberty exerts a sensible influence upon the cranial growth. the result is contained in the following table: increase of the three maximum diameters of the head in millimetres from four to eighteen years of age --------------------------------------------------------------------------- age in years: from -- to -- | - ; - ; - | - ; - ; - | - ----------------------------+----------------+---------------------+------- antero-posterior diameter | . ; . ; . | . ; . ; | . | \-----------/ | \------------/ | | \/ | \/ | | . | . | transverse diameter | . ; . ; . | . ; . ; . | . | \-----------/ | \------------/ | | \/ | \/ | | . | . | vertical diameter | . ; . ; . | . ; . ; . | . | \-----------/ | \------------/ | | \/ | \/ | | . | . | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- from which it appears that there exists, in regard to the head, a puberal acceleration of growth. these conclusions of binet are indirectly confirmed by the researches of vitale vitali regarding the development of the forehead in school-children; since it is well known that the forehead represents the index of the general growth of the cerebral cranium. vitale vitali based his observations upon school-children and students between the ages of ten and twenty. he not only measured the width of the forehead (_frontal diameter_; see _technique_), but also measured its height, obtaining the percentage of its relation to the width (frontal index). these are his figures: frontal index and diameter according to age (vitale vitali: researches among scholars and students from to years old) ------------------------------------------ age | frontal | frontal | amount of | index | diameter | increase ---------+----------+----------+---------- years | . | . | -- years | . | . | . years | . | . | . years | . | . | . years | . | . | . years | . | . | . years | . | . | . years | . | . | . years | . | . | . years | . | . | . ------------------------------------------ accordingly, between the years of fourteen and sixteen there is a puberal acceleration of growth, accompanied by an elevation of the forehead (high frontal index). vitali gives, as extreme limits of the frontal index, and . but in order to give a better illustration of the author's figures, his own words may be quoted: "it appears from our observations that the forehead begins to develop in notable proportions during the fourteenth year, and that the development of the frontal region as compared with the parietal region continues to augment up to the sixteenth year; after this it still increases, but only by a few millimetres, until the end of the sixteenth year. the cephalic development is completed between the sixteenth and eighteenth years. this observed fact is of great importance in relation to the development of the intellect." the most complete figures at the present time on the growth of the brain, are those of quétélet, which follow its development from birth until the fortieth year. they are summarised in the following table: increase in the circumference of the brain and in its three maximum diameters (according to quÉtÉlet) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | maximum diameters age |circumference |------------------------------------------------ |in millimetres | antero-post. | transverse | vertical ---------+---------------+---------------+---------------+---------------- | men | women | men | women | men | women | men | women at birth | | | | | | | | year | | | | | | | | years | | | | | | | | years | | | | | | | | years | | | | | | | | years | | | | | | | | years | | | | | | | | years | | | | | | | | years | | | | | | | | years | | | | | | | | years | | | | | | | | years | | | | | | | | years | | | | | | | | years | | | | | | | | years | | | | | | | | years | | | | | | | | years | | | | | | | | years | | | | | | | | years | | | | | | | | years | | | | | | | | years | | | | | | | | years | | | | | | | | years | | | | | | | | years | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- it appears from the foregoing table that after the twenty-fifth year the growth of the cranium practically ceases in all directions. in regard to the rhythm of growth, the problem is rendered clearer by the following table, which gives the annual increase: annual increase in the maximum cranial measurements in males (from figures given by quÉtÉlet) --------------------------------------------------------- age| circumference | antero-post. | transverse | vertical | | diameter | diameter | diameter ---+---------------+--------------+------------+--------- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --------------------------------------------------------- it appears from the above table that the total growth of the cranium takes place to a notable extent during the early years of life; as regards the diameters, the longitudinal diameter grows faster during the first few months than the transverse; but after the first year, the two maximum diameters which determine the cephalic index increase in very nearly the same proportion (constancy of the cephalic index throughout life). the vertical diameter on the contrary undergoes a relatively much greater increase than the two others, since, although much shorter than the transverse, it nevertheless overtakes and surpasses it in its absolute annual increase. this corresponds to the fact that the first two diameters are indexes of growth relative to the base of the cranium, while the vertical diameter is the index of expansion of the cranial vault, which more directly follows the growth of the brain and elevates the forehead as it pushes upward. quétélet's figures, however, fail to show in the rhythm of growth that puberal acceleration which has been observed to take place in the growth of the brain. this contradicts the researches of vitali and also those of binet. similar studies have been made a number of times during the last few years, especially in america, but with english tables of measurement, and with little uniformity in the results obtained by the different investigators. among the most recent and most complete figures should be cited those of bonnifay[ ] in which however the measurement of the vertical diameter is lacking, or in other words the third element needed, in conjunction with the dimensions of length and breadth, to give the volumetric factors. cranial measurements at different ages (according to bonnifay) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | absolute figures | amount of increase |--------------------------+-------------------------- age from -- to -- |circum-| antero- | trans- |circum-| antero- | trans- |ference|posterior| verse |ference|posterior| verse | | diameter|diameter| | diameter|diameter --------------------+-------+---------+--------+-------+---------+-------- birth to days | . | . | . | -- | -- | -- days to months| . | . | . | . | . | . months to months| . | . | . | . | . | . months to year | . | . | . | . | . | . year to years| . | . | . | . | . | . years to years| . | . | . | . | . | . years to years| . | . | . | . | . | . years to years| . | . | . | . | . | . years to years| . | . | . | . | . | . years to years| . | . | . | . | . | . years to years| . | . | . | . | . | . years to years| . | . | . | . | . | . years to years| . | . | . | . | . | . years to years| . | . | . | . | . | . years to years| . | . | . | . | . | . years to years| . | . | . | . | . | . years to years| . | . | . | . | -- | . years to years| . | . | . | . | . | . years to years| . | . | . | . | . | . -------------------------------------------------------------------------- among the linear measurements of the cranium, the one which serves to give the most exact index of volume is the _maximum_ _circumference_. this index, nevertheless, is not a perfect one, in the same sense that the _stature_, for instance, is a perfect index in respect to the body, because in the case of the cranium another element enters in: the form. the cranial circumference of an extremely brachycephalic cranium (almost circular) may contain a larger surface (and consequently include a larger volume), than a maximum circumference of the same identical measure, which belongs to an extremely dolichocephalic cranium (approaching the shape of an elongated ellipse). this may be easily understood if we imagine a loop of thread laid out in the form of a circle: if we pull it from two opposite sides, the enclosed area diminishes until it finally disappears as the two halves of the thread close together, while the length of the thread itself remains unaltered. nevertheless, the maximum circumference still remains the linear index best adapted to represent the _volume_; indeed, the authorities take its proportional relation to the stature as representing the reciprocal degree of development between head and body at the different successive ages. here are the figures which daffner gives in this connection: development of the stature and of the cephalic perimeter from birth to the age of eleven years ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | males females --------+--------------------------------------------------------------- number | |stature| cranial | number | |stature| cranial of | age | in |perimeter,| of | age | in |perimeter subjects| | cms. | cms. |subjects| | cms. | cms. --------+--------+-------+----------+--------+--------+-------+--------- |at birth| . | . | |at birth| . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . ------------------------------------------------------------------------ development of the stature and of the cephalic perimeter between the years of and ------------------------------------------------------------ number of subjects | age | stature in | cephalic perimeter | | centimetres| in centimetres -------------------+-------+------------+------------------- | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . ------------------------------------------------------------ one very important research made by daffner is in reference to the maximums and minimums that are normal for each successive age. this is extremely useful for the purpose of diagnosing the _morphological normality in relation to the age_. he naturally bases his figures upon subjects studied by him personally, who altogether form an aggregate number of , , and are not always sufficiently numerous when distributed according to their ages. nevertheless, in the great majority of groups, especially those including the younger children, the number of subjects is sufficient and even superabundant. at all events, daffner's researches may serve as a valuable guide in the researches that lay the foundation for diagnosis; and every future investigator will find it an easier task, under such guidance, to make his own contribution to it and to correct those inaccuracies which (for certain epochs) are to be attributed to an insufficient number of subjects. daffner distinguishes, for each year, a _maximum_ and a _minimum_ both for the stature and for the cephalic perimeter; but since the person having the maximum stature does not always have the maximum cephalic perimeter, and _vice versa_, the author indicates, in connection with the maximum and minimum figures, the other of the two measurements which, as a matter of fact, corresponds to them in each given case. individual variations maximums and minimums of stature and of cranial circumference ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | measurements |maximum (m.) |measurements occurring | s.--stature |and |in combination with age | cc.--cranial |minimum (m.) in |the m. or m. | circumference |millimetres |measurements -----------+-----------------+----------------+----------------------- | males from birth to the age of eleven years | at birth |cranial circumf. {m. = |(s. = ). ________ | {m. = |(s. = ). |stature {m. = |(cc. = , , ). | {m. = |(cc. = , , ). -----------+----------------------------------+----------------------- year |cranial circumf. {m. = | ______ | {m. = | |stature {m. = |(cc. = ). | {m. = |(cc. = ). -----------+----------------------------------+----------------------- years |cranial circumf. {m. = |(s. = ). _______ | {m. = |(s. = ). |stature {m. = |(cc. = ). | {m. = |(cc. = ). -----------+----------------------------------+----------------------- years |cranial circumf. {m. = | _______ | {m. = |(s. = ). |stature {m. = |(cc. = , ). | {m. = |(cc. = ). -----------+----------------------------------+----------------------- years |cranial circumf. {m. = |(s. = ). ------- | {m. = |(s. = ). |stature {m. = |(cc. = ). | {m. = |(cc. = , ). -----------+-------------------------------------+------------------------ years |cranial circumf. {m. = |(s. = ). ------- | {m. = |(s. = ). |stature {m. = |(cc. = ). | {m. = |(cc. = ). -------------------------------------------------------------------------- years |cranial circumf. {m. = |(s. = ). ----- | {m. = |(s. = ). |stature {m. = |(cc. = ). | {m. = |(cc. = ). -----------+-------------------------------------+------------------------ years |cranial circumf. {m. = |(s. = ). _____ | {m. = |(s. = , ). |stature {m. = |(cc. = ). | {m. = |(cc. = ). -----------+-------------------------------------+------------------------ years |cranial circumf. {m. = |(s. = , ). _____ | {m. = |(s. = ). |stature {m. = |(cc. = ). | {m. = |(cc. = ). -----------+-------------------------------------+------------------------ years |cranial circumf. {m. = |(s. = ). _____ | {m. = |(s. = ). |stature {m. = |(cc. = ). | {m. = |(cc. = ). -----------+-------------------------------------+------------------------ years |cranial circumf. {m. = |(s. = ). ______ | {m. = |(s. = ). |stature {m. = |(cc. = ). | {m. = |(cc. = ). -----------+-------------------------------------+------------------------ years |cranial circumf. {m. = |(s. = ). _____ | {m. = |(s. = ). |stature {m. = |(cc. = ). | {m. = |(cc. = ). note. ----- indicates that the number of subjects is abundant. _____ indicates that the number of subjects is sufficient. ..... indicates that the number of subjects is scarce. females from birth to the age of eleven years ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | measurements |maximum (m.) |measurements | observations | s.--stature |and |occurring in | age | cc.--cranial |minimum (m.)in|combination with | | circumference |millimetres |the m. or m. | | | |measurements | --------+----------------+--------------+-----------------+------------------ at birth.|cranial circumf.{m. = |(s. = ). |(the most frequent _________| {m. = |(s. = ). |s. was mm. |stature {m. = |(cc. = ). |combined with cc. | {m. = |(cc. = , ).| = , .) ---------+----------------+--------------+-----------------+------------------ year |cranial circumf.{m. = |(s. = ) | ...... | {m. = |(s. = , ). | |stature {m. = |(cc. = ). | | {m. = |(cc. = ). | ---------+----------------+--------------+-----------------+------------------ years |cranial circumf.{m. = |(s. = ). | ______ | {m. = |(s. = ). | |stature {m. = |(cc. = ). | | {m. = |(cc. = ). | ---------+----------------+--------------+-----------------+------------------ years |cranial circumf.{m. = |(s. = ). | _______ | {m. = |(s. = ). | |stature {m. = |(cc. = ). | | {m. = |(cc. = ). | ---------+----------------+--------------+-----------------+------------------ years |cranial circumf.{m. = |(s. = ). | _______ | {m. = |(s. = , ). | |stature {m. = |(cc. = ). | | {m. = |(cc. = ). | ---------+----------------+--------------+-----------------+------------------ years |cranial circumf.{m. = |(s. = ). | ------- | {m. = |(s. = ). | |stature {m. = |(cc. = ). | | {m. = |(cc. = ). | ---------+----------------+--------------+-----------------+------------------ years |cranial circumf.{m. = |(s. = ). |(the maximum s. | {m. = |(s. = ). | was found in a |stature {m. = |(cc. = ). | child of years | {m. = |(cc. = ). | and months; | | | the next highest | | | stature was | | | mm., cc. ; | | | another little | | | girl of years | | | and months had | | | s. = ; cc. = | | | ). ---------+----------------+--------------+-----------------+------------------ years. |cranial circumf.{m. = |(s. = ). | ________ | {m. = |(s. = ). | |stature {m. = |(cc. = ). | | {m. = |(cc. = ). | ---------+----------------+--------------+-----------------+------------------ years..|cranial circumf.{m. = |(s. = ). | _____ | {m. = |(s. = ). | |stature {m. = |(cc. = ). | | {m. = |(cc. = ). | ---------+----------------+--------------+-----------------+------------------ years..|cranial circumf.{m. = |(s. = ). | _____ | {m. = |(s. = ). | |stature {m. = |(cc. = ). | | {m. = |(cc. = ). | ---------+----------------+--------------+-----------------+------------------ years.|cranial circumf.{m. = |(s. = ). | _____ | {m. = |(s. = ). | |stature {m. = |(cc. = ). | | {m. = |(cc. = ). | ---------+----------------+--------------+-----------------+------------------ years.|cranial circumf.{m. = |(s. = ). | _____ | {m. = |(s. = ). |(the next higher |stature {m. = |(cc. = ). | s. was , with | {m. = |(cc. = ). | a cc. of ). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ extremes between the ages of and years (the figures here given are less exact, because of the great scarcity of subjects) -------------------------------------------------------------- | measurements |maximum (m). |measurements that |s. = stature |and |occur in conjunction age. |cr. = cranial |minimum (m.) |with m. and m. |circumference |in millimetres| measurements ---------+----------------+--------------+-------------------- years |cranial circumf.{m. = | (s. = ). ..... | {m. = | (s. = ). |stature {m. = | (cc. = ). | {m. = | (cc. = ). ---------+----------------+--------------+-------------------- years |cranial circumf.{m. = | (s. = ). _____ | {m. = | (s. = ). |stature {m. = | (cc. = ). | {m. = | (cc. = ). ---------+----------------+--------------+-------------------- years |cranial circumf.{m. = | (s. = ). _____ | {m. = | (s. = ). |stature {m. = | (cc. = ). | {m. = | (cc. = ). ---------+----------------+--------------+-------------------- years |cranial circumf.{m. = | (s. = ). | {m. = | (s. = ). |stature {m. = | (cc. = ). | {m. = | (cc. = ). ---------+----------------+--------------+-------------------- years |cranial circumf.{m. = | (s. = ). | {m. = | (s. = ). |stature {m. = | (cc. = ). | {m. = | (cc. = ). ---------+----------------+--------------+-------------------- years |cranial circumf.{m. = | (s. = ). | {m. = | (s. = ). |stature {m. = | (cc. = ). | {m. = | (cc. = ). ---------+----------------+--------------+-------------------- years |cranial circumf.{m. = | (s. = ). | {m. = | (s. = ). |stature {m. = | (cc. = ). | {m. = | (cc. = ). ---------+----------------+--------------+-------------------- years |cranial circumf.{m. = | (s. = ). | {m. = | (s. = ). |stature {m. = | (cc. = ). | {m. = | (cc. = ). ---------+----------------+--------------+-------------------- years |cranial circumf.{m. = | (s. = ). | {m. = | (s. = ). |stature {m. = | (cc. = ). | {m. = | (cc. = ). ---------+----------------+--------------+-------------------- years |cranial circumf.{m. = | (s. = ). | {m. = | (s. = ). |stature {m. = | (cc. = ). | {m. = | (cc. = ). -------------------------------------------------------------- _nomenclature relating to cranial volume. anomalies._--(in regard to the method of directly measuring or calculating the cranial capacity, and of taking and estimating the measurements of the skull, see the section on _technique_.) _limits._--the cranial capacity, according to deniker, has normally such a wide range of oscillation that the minimum is fully doubled by the maximum, the limits being respectively , and , cubic centimetres--these figures, however, including men of genius. furthermore, the mean average capacity oscillates between limits that change according to race--not only because the cerebral volume may of itself constitute an ethnic characteristic (superior and inferior races) with which the _form of the forehead_ is usually associated, but also because the cranial volume bears a certain relation to the _stature_, which is another factor that varies with the race. deniker gives the following mean averages of oscillations: europeans from , to , cu. cm. negroes from , to , cu. cm. australians, bushmen from , to , cu. cm. the average difference of cranial capacity is cubic centimetres less in woman than in man. the following nomenclature for oscillations in cranial capacity was established by topinard, based upon the figures and methods of broca: macrocephalic crania from , cu. cm. upward large crania from , to , cu. cm. medium or ordinary crania from , to , cu. cm. small crania from , to , cu. cm. microcephalic crania from , cu. cm. downward to-day, however, the terms _macrocephalic_ and _microcephalic_ have come to be reserved for _pathological_ cases. virchow has introduced the term _nanocephalic_ to designate normal crania of very small dimensions; while sergi has adopted a binomial nomenclature, calling them _eumetopic_ microcephalics, which signifies _possessed of a fine forehead_: since, as we have seen, it is precisely the shape of the forehead which determines normality. and in place of _macrocephalic_, we have for very large normal crania the new term _megalocephalic_. pathological terminology includes the following nomenclature: macrocephaly, sub-macrocephaly, submicrocephaly, microcephaly. microcephaly may fall as low as cubic centimetres; macrocephaly may rise as high as , cubic centimetres, and at these extremes the volume alone is sufficient to denote the anomaly. but in many cases the volume may fall within the limits of normality; in such cases it is the _pathological form_ and an examination of the patient which lead to the use of the term submicrocephalic in preference to that of nanocephalic, etc. the volume, taken by itself, if it is not at one of the extreme limits, is not sufficient to justify a verdict of abnormality. the terms macro- and microcephalic are, in any case, quite generic, and simply indicate a morphological anomaly, which may include many widely different cases, such, for example, as rickets, hydrocephaly, pachycephaly, etc., all of which have in common the morphological characteristic of _macrocephaly_. in rickets, for instance, macrocephaly may occur in conjunction with a normal or even supernormal intelligence (leopardi). microcephaly, on the contrary, could never occur combined with normal intelligence, since it is a sign indicative of _atrophy of the_ _cerebro-spinal_ axis and diminution or, as brugia phrases it, dehumanization of the individuality. [illustration: fig. .--growth of cranial circumference.] in all the widely varied series of pathological and degenerate individuals who are included under the generic names of "deficients" and "criminals," there is a notable percentage of crania that are abnormal both in volume and in form; the percentage of crania with normal dimensions is less than that of the crania which exceed or fall below such dimensions, and among these there is a preponderance of _submicrocephalic_ crania: a morphological characteristic associated with a partial arrest of cerebral development, due to _internal_ _causes_ and manifested from the earliest period of infant life. the accompanying chart (fig. ) demonstrates precisely this fact. it represents the growth of the cranium in normal and in abnormal children. the abnormal are at one time superior and at another inferior to the normal children; but their general average shows a definite inferiority to the normal. lombroso established the fact that among adult criminals there is an _inferiority_ of cranial development, frequently accompanied by a stature that is normal, or even in excess of normality. quite recently, binet has called attention to a form of _submicrocephaly_ acquired through external causes, which is of great interest from the pedagogic point of view. blind children and those who are deaf-mutes have, up to the seventh or eighth year, a cranium of normal dimensions, but by the fourteenth or fifteenth year the volume is notably below the normal, and this stigma of inferiority remains permanently in the adults. this fact, which is of very general occurrence, is attributed by binet to a deficiency of sensations, and consequently a deficiency of certain specific cerebral exercises. this whole question has a fundamental interest for us as educators, because it affords an indirect proof that _cerebral exercise_ _develops_ the brain, or in other words, that education has a physical and morphological influence as well as a psychic one. this question, coupled with that of the influence of _alimentation_ upon the development of the head, leads to the conclusion that a two-fold nutriment is necessary for the normal development of man: _material_ nutriment and nutriment of the _spirit_. it follows that education must be considered from two different points of view: that of the progress of civilisation, and that of the perfectionment of the species. in regard to variations of cranial volume, just as in the case of variations of stature, there are a number of different factors which may be summed up in such a way as to afford us certain determining characteristics of _social caste_. delicate questions these, which we may sum up in a single question equally delicate, that lends itself to a vast amount of discussion; namely, what is the relation between the _volume_ of the brain and the development of the intellect? _individual variations of cerebral (and cranial) volume. relation_ _between the development of the cerebral volume and the development_ _of the intelligence._--the series of arguments in reference to the _cerebral volume_ ought to be considered independently of the biological and biopathological factors which we have up to this point been considering; namely, race, sex, age, degeneration and disease. that is to say, in normal individuals, other conditions being equal, volumetric differences of the brain may be met with, analogous to those other infinite individual variations, in which nature expresses her creative power, even while preserving unchanged the general morphology of the species. it is due to this fact that the innumerable individuals of a race, while all bearing a certain resemblance to one another, are never any two of them identically alike. variations of this sort, which might be called biological individualisations, are in any case subject to the most diverse influences of environment, which concur in producing individual varieties. this is in accordance with general laws which are applicable to any biological question whatever, but that in our case assume a special interest. there are certain men who have larger or smaller brains; and there are men of greater or of less intelligence. is there a quantitative relation between these two manifestations, the morphological and the psychic? everyone knows that this is one of those complicated, much discussed questions that spread outside of the purely scientific circles and become one of the stock themes of debate among classes incompetent to judge; consequently it has been colored by popular prejudice, rather than by the light of science. it is well that persons of education should acquire accurate ideas upon the subject. if the volume of the brain should be in proportion to the intellectual development, argues the general public, what sort of a head must dante alighieri have had? he would have had to be the most monstrous macrocephalic ever seen upon earth. and on the basis of this superficial observation, they wish to deny any quantitative relation whatever between brain and intelligence. and yet it is this same general public that keeps insisting: woman has less intelligence than man, _because_ she has a smaller brain. a single glance up and down the _zoological scale_ suffices to show that throughout the whole animal series a greater development of brain is accompanied by a correspondingly greater development of psychic activity; and that there is a _conspicuous_ difference between the human brain and that of the higher animals (anthropoid apes), corresponding to the difference between the level of man's psychic development and that of the higher mammals; and this justifies the assertion that, _as a general rule_, there is a quantitative relation between the brain and the intellect. this suggests the thought that the perfect development of this delicate _instrument_, the brain, demands a variety of harmonious material conditions, among others the _volume_, in order to render possible the conditions of psychic perfection. from this premise, we may pass on to a more particularised study of the _material conditions_ essential to the superior type of brain. the volume is the quantitative index; but the _quality_ may be considered from various points of view, which may be grouped as follows: i. _the general morphology of the brain_ in reference to: (_a_) the harmonious, relative volumetric proportions between the lobes of the brain (namely, the proportion between the frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital lobes). it was formerly believed that a superior brain ought to show a prevalence of the frontal lobes, since a lofty forehead is a sign of intellect; but it was afterward established that there is no direct relation between the development of the forehead and the development of the frontal lobes; a higher forehead results from a greater volume of the entire cranial contents; the superior brain, on the contrary, is that in which no one lobe prevails over another, but all of them preserve a reciprocal and perfect harmony of dimensions. (_b_) the form, number and disposition of the cerebral convolutions, and of the folds of the internal passage (sergio sergi). (_c_) the form, number and disposition of the cells in the cortical strata of the brain, and the proportion between the gray matter and the white, that is to say, between the cells and fibres; in short, the histological structure of the brain. ii. the _chemistry_ of the brain: (_a_) the chemical composition of the substances constituting the brain, which may be more or less complicated. (recent studies of the chemical evolution of living organisms have demonstrated that the atomic composition is far more complex in the higher organisms.) (_b_) the intimate interchange of matter in the cerebral tissues, in connection with their nutrition. (_c_) the chemical stimuli coming from the so-called glands of internal secretion (thyroid, etc.). all these conditions concur in determining the _quality_ of the cerebral tissues. in its ontogenetic evolution, for example, the brain does not merely increase in volume, and its development is not limited to attaining a definite morphology; but its intimate structure and its chemical composition as well must pass through various stages of transition before attaining their final state. we know, for example, that the myelination of the nerve fibres takes place upward from the spinal marrow toward the brain, and that the pyramidal tracts (voluntary motor tracts) are the last to myelinate, and hence the last to perform their functions in the child. the consistence of the cerebral mass and its specific gravity also differ in childhood from that of the adult state. the evolution of the brain is therefore a very complex process; and this process may not be fully completed (for instance, it may be completed in volume, but not in form or chemical composition, etc.). consequently, just as in the case of volume, there may be various qualitative conditions, such as would produce organic inferiority. but supposing that qualitatively the evolution has been accomplished normally, where there is greater cerebral volume, is there a correspondingly greater intellect? at this point it is necessary to take into consideration another series of questions regarding the brain considered as a _material_ _organ_, and having reference to the relation between the volume of the _brain_ and that of the _stature_. the brain must govern the nerves in all the _active parts_ of the body, especially the striped muscles, which perform all voluntary movement. consequently the cerebral volume must be in proportion, not only to the intellectuality, but also to the _physical_ _activity_. evidently, a greater mass of body demands a greater nervous system to give it motive power. the biological law is of a general nature: if the brain of a rat weighs centigrams, that of an ox weighs grams, and that of an elephant , grams. _"the absolute volume of the brain increases with the total volume_ _of the body."_ but this correspondence is not proportional. there are two facts that alter the proportions. one of these is that the mass of the body increases faster than the brain, throughout the biological series of species, so that the smaller the body the greater the proportional quantity of brain. just the opposite from what was found to hold true for the absolute weight. it may be affirmed as a biological law that "_the relative volume_ _of the brain increases as the size of the body diminishes_." for instance, the tiny brain of a rat is a d part of the total volume of its body; the brain of an ox, on the contrary, is a th part. consequently we may say that the little rat has relatively a far larger brain than the huge ox. and the same thing holds true among men; those of small build have a proportionately larger brain than those of large build. a second fact which alters the absolute proportion between the volume of brain and the volume of body has reference to the "_functional capacity_" of the active parts. the muscles which are capable of the best activity and the greatest agility are the ones more abundantly stimulated through their nerves than those which are capable only of slow and sluggish action. the same may be said of the organs of sensation; the more highly the sensibility is developed, the larger are the corresponding nerves, and consequently the greater is the corresponding quantity of cerebral cells. accordingly the animal which is nimblest in its movements, and most capable of sensations has in proportion to this greater _functional activity_ a greater cerebral volume. in this same way we may explain the enormous difference in relative brain volume between the extremely active, sensitive and intelligent little beast which we call the rat, and the sluggish and stupid animal which we call the ox. consequently this _functional activity_ has a correspondingly greater volume of brain, without a correspondingly greater volume of the various highly sensitized organs. in such a case it may be stated as a general law that "_the relative volume_ _of the brain is in direct proportion to the intelligence (or, more broadly,_ _to the functional activity), while the absolute volume is in direct relation_ _to the total mass of the body_." man has a cerebral volume of , cubic centimetres, a volume equal to a fortieth part of the whole body. consequently he has a brain twice the actual size of that of the ox, while considered in its relation to bodily bulk, he has more brain than the smallest rat (man = / ; rat = / ). a volume so far exceeding the proportions found in animals, is beyond doubt directly related to _human_ _intelligence_. _relation between cerebral and intellectual development in man._--this ends our examination of the generic question of the relation between cerebral volume and intellect. granting these biological principles, and wishing to apply them to normal man, let us go back to our first question: "do persons of greater intelligence have a greater cerebral volume, and consequently a larger head?" there is an extensive literature upon this question, the tendency of which is to decide it affirmatively. parchappe has made a comparative study between writers of recognized ability and simple manual workers, and has found that the former have a development of the head notably in excess of the latter. broca took measurements, in various hospitals, of the heads of physicians and male nurses, and found a greater development of head in the case of the physicians. lebon made a study of cranial measurements in men of letters, tradesmen, the nobility and domestic servants, and found the maximum development among the men of letters and the minimum among the servants. the tradesmen, who at all events are performing a work of social utility, stand next to the men of letters; while the aristocrats show some advantage over the domestics. bajenoff took his measurements from famous persons on the one hand and from convicted assassins on the other, and found a greater head development among the former. enrico ferri has made similar researches among soldiers who have had a high-school education and those who are uneducated, and has found a more developed cranium among the educated soldiers. i also have made my own modest contribution to this important question, by seeking to determine the difference in cranial volume between the school-children who stand respectively at the head and foot of their class, and have found among children of the age of ten a mean cranial circumference of millimetres for the more intelligent and of only millimetres for the less intelligent. similar results were obtained by binet in his researches among the elementary schools of paris. he found among children of the age of twelve that the brightest had a mean cranial circumference of millimetres and those at the foot of their class a mean of only millimetres. the following table gives a parallel between these various cranial measurements: cranial measurements (in millimetres)[ ] binet children in the elementary schools of paris, from to years of age montessori children in the elementary schools of rome, from to years of age ------------+----------------------------+---------------------------- | binet's figures | montessori's figures +-----------+--------+-------+-----------+--------+------- measurements|pupils |pupils |differ-|pupils |pupils |differ- |chosen |chosen | ence |chosen |chosen | ence |for intel- |as | |for intel- |as | | ligence |backward| | ligence |backward| ------------+-----------+--------+-------+-----------+--------+------- maximum cir-| | | | | | cumference | | | | | | of cranium.| | | + | | | + length of | | | | | | cranium | | | + | | | + breadth of | | | | | | cranium | . | . | + . | | | + height of | | | | | | cranium | . | | - . | | | + minimum | | | | | | frontal | | | | | | diameter. | | | + | | | + height of | | | | | | forehead | | . | + . | | | + ------------+-----------+--------+-------+-----------+--------+------- by calculating the cranial capacities according to broca'a method, i obtained: { in the best pupils chosen cu. cm. cranial capacity { the worst pupils chosen cu. cm. from all these manifold researches above cited, we can reach no other conclusion than that individuals of greater intelligence have a larger quantity of brain; or else that individuals with a greater quantity of brain are more intelligent. there is a subtle distortion of this principle, which many sociological anthropologists have taken as their starting-point, especially in germany, in their attempt to establish a biological basis for the schopenhauerian theories of friedrich nietzsche. according to these, the persons who have acquired high social positions are biologically superior (possessing a greater cerebral mass), and the same may be said of conquering races as compared with the conquered. differences in caste are to be explained in the same way, and on this ground nature sanctions the social inferiority of woman. this is a question of the greatest importance, which merits a vast amount of discussion. _what sort of man is the most intelligent?_--straightway, a first serious objection suggests itself: what sort of persons are the most intelligent? are they really those who have attained the higher academic degrees and the most eminent social positions? consequently, is the prime minister more intelligent than the assistant secretary of state, and the latter more intelligent than the head of a department, and he again than the door-keeper? are literary productions and the acquisition of laurels reliable tests of intelligence? is this man a doctor because he is more intelligent, and that man a hospital attendant because he is less intelligent? it is evident that there exist in the social world certain privileges of caste, which may raise to the pinnacle of literary glory or to a clamorous notoriety certain persons who owe their rise to favoritism and trickery; or at least, so-called "literary fame" must be dependent upon the possibility of getting writings published, which another man perhaps would have had no way of bringing before the public so as to make them known and appreciated; just as, on the other hand, there are men of genius who are destined to feel their inborn intelligence suffocating under the cruel tyranny of existing economic conditions, which punish pauperism with obscurity and hold protection and favours at a distance. a thousand various conditions of our social environment hinder powerful innate activities from finding expression and attaining elevated social positions. now, when we start to measure these different categories of persons, shall we measure the more or the less fortunate individuals, those more or those less favoured by economic conditions of birth and environment, or shall we measure those persons who are actually the more and the less intelligent? and even in school can we be sure that the child whom we judge the most intelligent is actually so? studies in experimental psychology made in quite recent times of men whose works justify their being placed in the ranks of geniuses, have shown that these men of genius were never, in their school-days, either at the head of their class, or winners of any competitions. consequently, we have not yet learned the means of _judging intelligence_. if we stop to think of the way in which the intelligence of pupils was judged up to only a few years ago, according to pedagogic methods that were a remnant of the pietistic schools, this will help us to form some idea. the more intelligent ones were those best able to recite dogmatic truths from memory. and even to-day we have not advanced very far above that level. as a general rule that pupil is considered the most intelligent who best succeeds in echoing his teacher and in modeling his own personality as closely as possible upon that of his preceptor. this fact is so well known that it has come to be utilised as one of the clever tricks for obtaining higher marks even in university examinations, and for winning competitions; it is known that the prize is reserved for the student who can repeat most faithfully and proclaim most eloquently the master's own ideas. here is precisely one of the most fundamental problems offered by scientific pedagogy: how to diagnose the human intelligence, and distinguish the person who is intelligent from the person who is not. a difficult task, or rather a difficult problem. _the influence of economic conditions upon the development of_ _the brain._--certain factors, due to environment, exert an influence upon the development of the cerebral volume; this fact opens up another whole series of interesting questions. among the factors due to environment, the leading place is held by _nutrition_, dependent upon economic conditions. niceforo contends that among the various social classes, those who can obtain the best nourishment have the greatest development of brain, and consequently of head. he offers in evidence the figures summarised in the following table: circumference of the heads of -------------------+---------+---------------+--------- | | sons of small | boys of the age of | rich | tradesmen and | poor | | clerks | -------------------+---------+---------------+--------- years | . | . | . years | . | . | . years | . | . | . years | . | . | . -------------------+---------+---------------+--------- in short, there is a gradation of cranial volume corresponding to the economic status in society. this is a condition easy to understand: we simply find repeated in this particular the same thing that we have already seen happen to the body as a whole; the organism in its entirety and consequently each separate part of it--if it is to develop in accordance with its special biological potentiality and so attain the limits of finality set for it--must receive nourishment. it is only natural that children who, during their period of growth, are deprived of sufficient and suitable nutrition should remain inferior in development to those who had the advantage of an abundance of the proper kind of food. the influence of the economic factor is indisputable. consequently, reverting once more to the studies above cited, may we not conclude that the man of letters, the physician, the person of distinction have a greater development of head than the manual labourer, the hospital attendant, the illiterate, simply because it was their good fortune to obtain better nutriment, through belonging to the wealthy social classes? _the influence of exercise upon cerebral development._--the second interesting question is in reference to the influence which _exercise_ may have upon the development of the brain. as early as broca investigated this question in a classic work: _de l'influence_ _de l'éducation sur le volume et la forme de la tête_ ("the influence of education on the volume and form of the head"), in which he arrived at the following conclusion: that a suitable exercise (intellectual culture, education, hygiene) does have an influence on the development of the brain, in the same way as with any other organ, as, for example, the striped muscles, which gain in volume and strength and beauty of form through gymnastic exercise. "consequently," exclaims broca enthusiastically, "education not only has the power of rendering mankind _better_; it has also the marvellous power of rendering man superior to himself, of enlarging his brain and perfecting his form!" _"popular education means the betterment of the race."_ accordingly we might say, relying on the above-mentioned studies, that the man of letters, the physician, the person of distinction have a more highly developed head than the manual workman, the hospital attendant and the illiterate, because they exercised their brain to a greater extent, and not because they were more intelligent. this, however, is a question which differs profoundly from that which we were previously considering, nutrition, because in this case exercise, in addition to developing the organ, gives its own actual and personal contribution to the intelligence. therefore, we are able to be creators of intelligence and of brain tissue, which in turn becomes the creative force of our civilisation. a system of instruction which, in place of over-straining the brain, should aid it to develop and perfect itself, stimulating it to a sort of auto-creation, would truly be, as broca says, "capable of rendering man superior to himself." this is what is being sought by scientific pedagogy, which has already laid the foundation of "cerebral hygiene." we are still very far to-day from realising this highest human ambition! we do not yet know the basic laws of the economy of forces that would lead to a stimulation of the human activities to the point of creation; on the contrary, we are still at a primitive period, in which many of the environing conditions interfere, to the point of preventing the human germ to attain its natural biological finality. in short, we know how to obtain artificially an arrest of development; but we have not yet learned the art of aiding and enriching nature! _the influence of the biological factor upon cerebral development._--what conclusion ought we to reach from what has been said up to this point? upon what does the cerebral volume depend, in all its individual variations, resting on the common biological bases of race, normality and sex? is individual variation due solely to causes of environment, such as nutrition and exercise? and does it follow that it is not dependent upon _biological potentialities_ more or less pronounced in separate individuals--in short, upon different degrees of intelligence? in the presence of such a multiplicity of questions we must proceed, not to a selection but to a sum. every biological phenomenon is the result of a number of factors. the development of the brain depends in precisely the same way as the development of the whole body or of a single muscle, upon the combined influence of biological factors determining the _individual variability_, and of factors of environment, principal among which are nutrition and exercise. a suitable diet aids growth, and so also does a rational exercise; but underlying all the rest, as a _potential_ cause, is the biological factor which mysteriously assigns a certain _predestination_ to each individual. the environment may combat, alter, and impede what nature "had written upon the fertilised ovum;" but we cannot forget that this _scheme_, pre-established by the natural order of life, is the principal factor among them all, the one which determines the "_character of the individual_." now, on the basis of this influence of the biological factor upon the cerebral development, we may affirm that: to greater intelligence there corresponds a brain more developed in volume. what gives us proof of this is the brain of the exceptional man--of men of genius, who frequently have heads of extraordinary volume. persons of high celebrity, and not those, for example, who have become known through some recent discovery in the field of positive science--since a piece of good fortune may coincide with a normal cranial volume--but the true creative geniuses who have left the deep imprint of themselves upon their immortal works, have generally had a cerebral volume that was truly gigantic: the poetic brain of the great schiller weighed , grams, that of cuvier, the naturalist, , grams, that of the great statesman, cromwell, , grams, and lastly, that of byron, , grams. the brain of the normal man weighs about , grams. consequently, these are extraordinary volumetric figures that could not be acquired, either by much eating, or by being educated according to the scientific means of the most advanced pedagogy; they are due to the extraordinary biological potentiality of the man of genius. in these extraordinary heads the exceptional volume is combined with a characteristic form: they always have a more than normal development of the forehead. even in the course of biological evolution, as we have already seen, in the higher species a greater cerebral volume has a correspondingly broader and more erect forehead. if we examine portraits of men of genius, what strikes us chiefly in them is the high and spacious brow, as though men of genius, in comparison with the rest of us, were representatives of a superior race. but if the portrait shows the face taken in profile, it will be easily observed that the _direction_ of the forehead is not vertical, but even slightly recessive; that is, it preserves the characteristic male form, with the vault slightly inclined backward and the orbital arches slightly pronounced. _the pretended cerebral inferiority of woman._--one final argument, which is of interest to us, is the great question of the relation between cerebral volume and intelligence in woman. because, as you know, there is a very widespread belief of long standing that is confirmed in the name of science: that woman is biologically, in other words totally, inferior, that the volume of her brain is condemned by nature to an inferiority against which nothing can prevail. just as our perfected pedagogy, excellent alimentation and improved hygienic conditions could never endow a normal man with the brain of a genius, in the same way, so it is said, it is impossible ever to augment the size of the brain of woman, who is necessarily condemned to resign herself to remain in that state of social inferiority to which she is now reduced and from which she would in vain attempt to emancipate herself. names as famous as that of lombroso[ ] which are associated with the progress of positive science, lend the weight of their authority to this form of condemnation! and it is not easy to do away with this sort of prejudice, which has slowly been disseminated among the people under the guise of a scientific theory. but to-day there are scientists who have been impelled to make certain extremely minute, impartial and objective studies, without any preconception on the subject--such men as messedaglia, dubois, lapique, zanolli, and manouvrier--who, by calculating the cerebral mass, at one time in comparison with the whole body, at another with the surface of the body, and still again with the various active or skeletal parts of the organism--have arrived at an opposite conclusion: namely, that they can demonstrate a greater development of brain in woman. among these scientists it gives me pleasure to name before all others manouvrier--one of the most gifted anthropologists of our day--who has devoted twenty years to an exceedingly minute study of this problem. here in brief outline are his method of procedure and his conclusions. that the cerebral volume should be considered in its relation to the stature is a familiar principle; but a comparison between man and woman based solely upon such a proportion, continues to maintain the cerebral inferiority of woman. have we, however, the right to compare a volumetric measure (the cerebral mass) with a linear measure (the stature)? such a comparison is a mathematical error, as we have already technically proved. accordingly we find that manouvrier compares the brain with the mass of the whole body, its entire bulk; and he analyzes this entire bulk, considering separately its active parts, without troubling himself about their functional potentiality. he deduces from them certain figures and proportions; more than that, he forms a sort of index, which might be called the "index of sexual mass," between woman (minor mass) and man, reduced to a scale of --which may be summed up in an equation: man: = woman:the following percentual analyses: stature and weight of body . weight of brain . weight of skeleton (femur) . co exhaled in twenty-four hours . vital capacity (at age of eighteen) . strength of hands . strength of vertical traction . hence it is evident, that, in comparison with her actual organic mass, woman differs from man far more than is indicated by the differences in stature and in bodily weight. instead of taking all these various separate mean measurements, let us take one single comprehensive mean resulting from them: woman:man = : ; there we have the proportion. now, manouvrier proceeds to reduce all the separate measurements of man from to , and calculates how much brain man would lose if he were reduced to a mass having feminine limits; he finds that the loss would be grams. woman on the contrary has only grams of brain less than man. consequently the cerebral volume of woman is superior to that of man! this is an anthropological superiority which is further revealed in the more perfected form of the cranium, insomuch as woman has an absolutely erect forehead and has no remaining traces of the supraorbital arches (characteristics of superiority in the species). thus, we have a contradiction between existing anthropological and social conditions: woman, whom anthropology regards as a being having the cranium of an almost superior race, continues to be relegated to an unquestioned social inferiority, from which it is not easy to raise her. _who is socially superior?_--but here again we may ask, as we did regarding the question of intelligence: what constitutes social superiority? and in our social environment who is superior and who is inferior? [illustration: fig. .--leptoprosopic face.] [illustration: fig. .--chameprosopic face.] [illustration: fig. .--lina cavalieri.] [illustration: fig. .--maria mancini.] social superiority, like moral superiority, is the product of evolution. in primitive times when men, in order to live, were limited like animals to gathering the spontaneous fruit of the earth, according to the poetry of the biblical legend, and according to what sociology repeats to-day, the superior man was the one of largest stature, the giant. people paid him homage because he was the most imposing, without troubling themselves to ask whether, or not, he might be insane. in this way saul was the first king. when the time came that men were no longer content to live on the spontaneous fruit of the earth, but were forced to till the soil, then a new victory was inaugurated, the victory of the more active and intelligent man. david killed goliath. this great bible story marks the moment when the superiority of man came to be considered under a more advanced and spiritual aspect. when the men who cultivated the earth began to feel the need of other neighbouring lands and became conquerors, then the soldier was evolved, until in the middle ages there resulted such a triumph of militarism that the nobles alone were conquerors in war; and the persons who to-day would be called superior, the men of intellect, the poets, were considered as feeble folk, despicable and effeminate. in our own times, now that the great conquests of the earth have been made and the victorious people consequently brought into harmony, the moment has come for conquering the environment itself, in order to wring from it new bread and new wealth. and this is the proud work of human intelligence which creates by aiding all the forces of nature and by triumphing over its environment; thus to-day it is the man of intelligence who is superior. but it seems as though a new epoch were in preparation, a truly human epoch, and as though the end had almost come of those evolutionary periods which sum up the history of the heroic struggles of humanity; an epoch in which an assured peace will promote the brotherhood of man, while morality and love will take their place as the highest form of human superiority. in such an epoch there will really be superior human beings, there will really be men strong in morality and in sentiment. perhaps in this way the reign of woman is approaching, when the enigma of her anthropological superiority will be deciphered. woman was always the custodian of human sentiment, morality and honour, and in these respects man always has yielded woman the palm. face and visage _the limits of the face._--the face is that part of the head which remains when the cranial cavity is not considered. to attempt to separate accurately, in the skeleton, the facial from the cerebral portion would involve a lengthy anatomical description; for our purpose it is enough to grasp the general idea that the face is the portion _situated beneath_ the forehead, bounded in front by the curves of the eyebrows, and in profile by a line passing in projection through the auricular foramen and the external orbital apophysis (fig. , page ). it is customary during life to consider the entire anterior portion of the head as constituting one single whole, bounded above by the line formed by the roots of the hair, and below by the chin. this portion includes actually not only the face but a _portion of the_ _cerebral cranium as well_, namely, the forehead; it bears the name of the visage and is considered under this aspect only during life. _human characteristics of the face._--one characteristic of the human cranium, as we have already seen (fig. ), as compared with animals, is the decrease in size of the face, and especially of the jaw-bones in inverse proportion to the increase of the cranial volume. "man," says cuvier, "is of all living animals the one that has the largest cranium and the smallest face; and animals are stupider and more ferocious as they depart further from the human proportions." in man, the cranium, assuming that graceful development which is characteristic of this superior species, surmounts the face, which recedes below the extreme frontal limit of the brain. the different races of mankind, however, do not all of them attain so perfect a form; in some of them the face protrudes somewhat in advance of the extreme frontal limit, and in such cases we say that it is prognathous. thus the relations in the reciprocal development between cranium and face are different in animals and in man; as they also are in the various human races. cuvier gives some idea of these proportions by comparing the european man with animals, by means of the following formulas which he has obtained by calculating approximately the square surface of a middle section of the head: _cranium:face_ = european man : (cranium four times the size of the face) orang-utan and chimpanzee : lower monkeys : carnivora : ruminants : hippopotamus : horse : (the reverse of man) whale : [illustration: fig. .--portrait of the _fornarina_ (raphael sanzio) rome: barbarini gallery.] [illustration: fig. .--triangular face.] [illustration: fig. .--ellipsoidal face.] [illustration: fig. .--long ovoid face.] but no general law, no systematic connection can be deduced from such relative proportions. they serve only to demonstrate a characteristic. upon this characteristic depends preeminently the _beauty_ of the human visage. if we are considering the _visage_ from its æsthetic aspect and wish to compare it with the muzzle of animals, we may say that in regard to its proportions it is as though the muzzle had been forced backward from its apex, while the cranium had swelled, through the increase of its vertical diameter. the muzzle is formed of the two jaws alone, on the upper of which the nose is located horizontally; there is neither forehead nor chin along the vertical line of the visage. as the jaws recede and the cranium augments, the forehead rises, the nose becomes vertical, and when the mandible has retreated beyond the frontal limit, the wide yawning mouth has been reduced in size, while a new formation has appeared below it--the chin. by this, i am trying merely to draw a comparison which i trust will be of service by suggesting a didactic method of illustrating the reduction of an animal's muzzle to human proportions. whatever forms a part of the _visage_ bears the morphological stamp of humanity: the forehead, the erect nose and the entire region of the mandible, which contains the principal beauty of the human face. the narrow opening of the lips, mobile because so richly endowed with the muscles that unite in forming it, is quite truly the charming and gracious doorway of the organs of speech, which by shaping the internal thought into words are able to give it utterance; while the winning _smile_ allures, captivates and consoles, thereby accomplishing an eminently _social_ function; and sociability is inseparable from humanity. the animal mouth, on the contrary, is the organ for seizing food, the organ of mastication, and, in felines, a weapon of offence and a means of destruction. tarde says: "the mandibles seem to shape themselves in accordance to the degree of intelligence; they become more finely modeled in proportion as the two social functions of speaking and smiling acquire a greater importance than the two individual functions of biting and masticating." and mantegazza says: "cruelty has localised its imprint around the mouth, perhaps because killing and eating are two successive moments of the same event." the normal visage the visage is that part of the body which is preeminently human; being richly endowed with muscles, it represents the "mirror of the soul," through the expressions that it assumes according to the successive sentiments, passions and transitions of thought. the visage is a true mine of individual characteristics, by which different persons may be most easily and clearly distinguished from one another; while at the same time it bears the stamp of the most general characteristics of race, such as the form, the expression, the tone of complexion, etc., in consequence of which the face has hitherto held the first place in the classifications of the human races. even the peoples of ancient times, such as the egyptians, made a physiognomical study of individual characteristics, founding a sort of empirical science that sought to read from the physiognomy the sentiments of the soul, the tendencies of character and the destiny of man. the visage also contains the greatest degree of attraction and charm, constituting that physical and spiritual beauty by which one person arouses in others feelings of sympathy and love. oriental women cover their faces with thick veils through modesty, because the face reveals the entire feminine individuality, while the rest of the body reveals only the female of the human species, a quality common to all women. the visage includes many important parts, which, by developing differently alter the physiognomy; the forehead, index of cerebral development, surmounts the face like a crown, revealing each individual's capacity for thought; furthermore, the visage contains all the organs of specific sense: sight, hearing, smell and taste, and hence all the "gateways of intelligence." the organs of mastication, whose skeleton consists of the maxillaries and the zygomata which reinforce and anchor the upper maxillary, are the parts that constitute by far the greater portion of the facial mass. in fact, their limits (breadth between the two zygomata; breadth between the external angles of the mandible, chin) are the determining factors of the contour and general form of the face, which is completed by the soft tissues. _forms of face._--the first distinction in facial forms is that which is made between _long_ or _leptoprosopic_ faces and _short_ or _chameprosopic_ faces. figs. and (facing page ) represent two faces having the same identical breadth between the zygomata or cheek-bones; the profound difference between them is due to their different height or length of visage. [illustration: fig. .--tetragonal face (parallelepipedoidal).] [illustration: fig. .--pentagonal leptoprosopic face.] [illustration: fig. .--pentagonal mesoprosopic face.] [illustration: fig. .--face of inferior type prominence of the maxillary bones (prognathism).] the precise relation between height and breadth constitutes the _index of visage_, which is analogous to the index that we have already observed for the cranium. normally there is a correspondence in form between the cranium and the face; dolichocephalics are also leptoprosopic; and brachycephalics are chameprosopics; normally, also, mesaticephaly is found in conjunction with mesoprosopy; but owing to the phenomena of hybridism or pathological causes (rickets), it may also happen that such correspondence is wanting; and that we have instead, for instance, a leptoprosopic face with a brachycephalic cranium or _vice versa_. accordingly, _long_ and _short_ faces are characteristics of race almost as important as the cephalic index. but leptoprosopy and chamaeprosopy are not in themselves sufficient to determine the _form_ of the face. on the contrary, in the case of living persons it is necessary also to take into consideration the _contour of the visage_, which contains characteristics relating to race, age and sex. the races which are held to be inferior have _facial contours_ that are more or less angular; those that are held to be superior have, on the contrary, a rotundity of contour; men have a more angular facial contour, in comparison with that of women; while children have a contour of face that is distinctly rotund. the angularities of the face are due to certain skeletal prominences, owing either to an excessive development of the zygomata (cheek-bones), or to a development of the maxillaries, which sometimes produce a salience of the lower corners of the mandible, and at others a prominence of the maxillary arch (prognathism). accordingly, the facial contours may be either rounded or angular, and that, too, independently of the facial type; because in either case the visage may be either _long_ or _short_. depending upon the rounded facial contours, the visage may be distinguished as ellipsoidal or oval; we may meet with faces that are _long_, _short_ or _medium ellipsoids_ (leptoprosopic, chameprosopic, mesoprosopic faces), even to a point where the contour is almost circular: the _orbicular face_. similarly, the oval faces may be classified as _long_, _short_ and _medium ovals_. the so-called typical _roman visage_ is mesoprosopic, with an ellipsoidal contour. the faces of cavalieri and of the _fornarina_ (figs. , ), celebrated for their beauty, are mesoprosopic ovals--and the exceptionally beautiful face of maria mancini is a mesoprosopic ellipse (fig. ). countenances with rounded and mesoprosopic contours belong to the mediterranean race, and the more closely they come to the _mean average_ of that type and to a _fusion_ of contours, the more _beautiful_ they are. faces with angular contours may be: _triangular_ (due to prominence of the cheek-bones, or zygomata, and of the chin); _tetragonal_, further subdivided into _quadrangular_ (chameprosopic) and parallelepipedoidal (leptoprosopic, due to prominence of zygomata and corners of mandible); and polygonal, which may be either _pentagonal_, formed by the protrusion of the zygomata, the angles of the mandible, and the chin; or hexagonal, formed by protrusion of the frontal nodules, the zygomata and the angles of the mandible. there may occur, in certain types of face, a very notable prevalence of one part over another, so much so as to produce sharply differentiated and characteristic physiognomies. thus, for example, a prevalence of forehead characterises the higher and superior type of the _man of genius_ (compare the portrait of bellini or of darwin). on the other hand, a prevalence either of the cheek-bones, or the lower jaw, or the angles of the mandible, together with an accompanying powerful development of the masticatory muscles, produce three different types, all of them chameprosopic, which represent, in respect to the face, inferior racial types, differing from one another, but which are frequently met with (at least to a noticeable extent) even among our own people, as types of the lower-class face, precisely because of the preponderance of the coarser features. combined with the general type of face, there are certain specified particulars of form of the separate parts; as, for example, in the case of the ellipsoid or ovoid types of mesoprosopic face, which seem to have attained the most harmonic _fusion_ of characteristics, and consequently the highest standard of beauty, the eyes are very large and almond-shaped (the _fornarina_, maria mancini, cavalieri); angular faces are characterised by a narrow, slanting eye, through all the degrees down to that of the mongolian; faces of low type have an eye characterised less by its form than by its smallness. the nose also shows differences; it is long and narrow (leptorrhine) in the more leptoprosopic faces, and short, broad and fleshy (platyrrhine, flat-nosed) in chameprosopic faces, especially in the _lower types_; in mesoprosopic faces it assumes its proper proportions, and occurs as the last detail or crowning touch of harmony in the perfect faces of the above-mentioned women. [illustration: fig. .--hexagonal face.] [illustration: fig. .--tetragonal face (square).] [illustration: fig. .--faces of inferior type (cheek bones prominent).] [illustration: fig. .] when one starts to make the first draft of an ornamental design, it often happens that the proportional relations are based upon certain _geometric figures_ that might be called the skeleton of the ornamental design that is being constructed from them. accordingly, when an artist wishes to judge of the harmony of proportions in a drawing, a painting, or a statue, he often reconstructs with his eye a geometrical design that no longer exists in the finished work, but that must have served in its construction. in short, there exist certain secret guiding lines and points which the eye of the observer must learn to recognise, to trace and to judge. this is the way that we should proceed in studying the facial profile. let us take or assume a person with the head _orientated_ (_i.e._, with the occipital point resting against a vertical wall, and the glance level). the line uniting the point of the tragus (the little triangular cartilage projecting from the auricular foramen), with the juncture between the nasal septum and the upper lip, ought, in the case of an æsthetically regular face, to be _horizontal_. we may call this line the line of _orientation_. if it proves not to be horizontal, but oblique, slanting either forward (long nose) or backward (short nose), this in itself denotes an irregularity which is plainly perceptible, even to the casual observer. but it is only in exceptional cases that this line is not horizontal; its horizontality constitutes the _norm_, in our hybrid races. naturally, it is horizontal only when the head is _orientated_ in the manner above stated. hence in normal cases its horizontality is an _index_ of the orientation of the head. the orientated head is perfectly upright; and the line in question marks its _level_. everyone knows that this position of the head is known as that of "attention" and constitutes the position which formerly only soldiers, but now school children as well, must assume as a sign of salutation and respect toward their superiors. it is also the anthropologically normal attitude (as we may see in statuary). and it is a known fact that it is a position exceedingly difficult to assume intentionally with absolute accuracy. in fact, it corresponds to an attitude which has to be called forth by some inward stimulus of emotion, and for this reason i would call it the "fundamental psychological line." the man who is conscious of his own dignity, or who hopes for his own redemption; the man who is free and independent involuntarily holds his head orientated. it is not the vain man, or the proud man, or the dreamer, or the bureaucratic official, whose head assumes this _involuntary_ _horizontal level_ that is characteristic of the most profound sentiments known to humanity; persons of such types hold their heads slightly raised and the line shows a slight backward slant. the man who is depressed and discouraged, the man who has never had occasion to feel the deep, intimate and sacred thrill of human _dignity_, has on the contrary, a more or less forward slant in the psychological line of orientation. look at fig. , which shows a very attractive group of _ciociari_ or neapolitan peasants. the man, or rather the beardless youth who is just beginning to feel himself a man, and therefore hopes for independence, holds his head proudly level; but the very pretty woman seated beside him holds her head gracefully inclined forward. for that matter, this is woman's characteristically _graceful_ attitude. she never naturally assumes, nor does the artist ever attribute to her the proud and lofty attitude of the level head. but this graceful pose is in reality nothing else than the pose of slavery. the woman who is beginning to struggle, the woman who begins to perceive the mysterious and potent voice of human conflict, and enters upon the infinite world of modern progress, raises up her head--and she is not for that reason any the less beautiful. because beauty is enhanced, rather than taken away, by this attitude which to-day has begun to be assumed by all humanity: by the laborer, since the socialistic propaganda, and by woman in her feministic aspirations for liberty. similarly in the school, if we wish to induce little children to hold their heads in the position of orientation, all that is necessary is to instil into them a sense of liberty, of gladness and of hope. whoever, upon entering a children's class-room, should see their heads assume the level pose as if from some internal stimulus of renewed life, could ask for no greater homage. this, and nothing else, is certainly what will form the great desire of the teacher of the future, who will rightly despise the trite and antiquated show of formal respect, but will seek to touch the souls of his pupils. [illustration: fig. .--a group of roman peasants.] to return to our lines, it follows that the level orientation is the true human position for the head; it ought never to be abased nor carried loftily, because man ought never to make himself either slave or master; it is the _normal line_, because it should be that of the accustomed attitudes; because man cannot normally be perpetually meditating, with his gaze upon the ground, as if forgetful of himself and of his social ties; nor can he forever gaze at the heavens, as though drawn upward by some supernal inspiration. the normal attitude is that of the thinking man, who cannot lean either in the one direction or the other, because he is so keenly conscious of being in close connection with all surrounding humanity; and he looks with horizontal gaze toward infinity, as though studying the path of common progress. now, if from the _metopic_ point of the forehead, we drop an imaginary perpendicular to the line of orientation, it ought to form, in projection, a tangent to the point of attachment of the nostrils. observe the two lines traced on the profile of pauline borghese. this line, if prolonged, passes slightly within the extreme angle of the labial aperture, and forms the limit of the chin (see the portrait of cavalieri, fig. ). in this case the profile is eurygnathous. when the line does not pass in the aforesaid manner, but the facial profile protrudes beyond it, we have a case of _prognathism_, which may be total, when the whole face projects; maxillary when the mandibles project, nasal when it is only the nose that projects, and mental (or _progeneism_) when it is only the chin that protrudes. figures , and represent forms of normal prognathism (related to race, figs. , ), and of pathological prognathism (fig. , form associated with microcephaly). these two microcephalic profiles call to mind the muzzle of an animal; there is no erect forehead, the orbital arch forming the upward continuance; the nose is very long and almost horizontal to the protruding jaw; the fleshy lips constitute in themselves the anterior apex of the visage; while the chin recedes far back beneath them. but leaving aside these exceptional profiles, which serve by their very exaggeration to fix our conception of _prognathism_, let us examine the series of profiles in fig. , which include some forms more or less peculiar, and others that are more or less customary, of prognathism; forms that serve to characterise the physiognomy. [illustration: fig. .--( ) orthognathous face; ( ) prognathism limited to the nasal region; ( ) prognathism limited to the subnasal region; ( ) total prognathism, including the three regions, supra-nasal, nasal and subnasal; ( ) exaggerated total prognathism, accompanied by mandibular prognathism; ( ) the same in a child; ( ) very marked prognathism, but due entirely to the prominence of the supra-nasal section, resulting in an apparent orthognathism (male of tall stature); ( ) opposite type to the preceding: pronounced prognathism not extending to the supra-nasal region (feminine type); ( ) misunderstood greek profile (incorrect) resulting in a notable prognathism; ( ) correct greek profile, i.e., conforming to that of greek statues, and incompatible with prognathism.[ ]] manouvrier, analysing the forms of prognathism from the point of view of physiognomy and cerebral development, notes that varieties and seem to him to correspond to a more or less serious cerebral development; variety , very frequent in france and more particularly, according to the author, among the jews, is not incompatible with a high cerebral inferiority. variety , more frequent in the feminine sex, is found in conjunction, sometimes with a weakly skeletal system, and frequently with rickets and cretinism; nevertheless, beethoven showed an approach to this profile. variety indicates on the contrary an extremely vigorous development of the skeleton, with the qualities and defects commonly associated with great physical strength; variety is regularly associated with tall stature; in fact, in this case the prognathism is determined by excessive development of the frontal bone-sockets. it is this development, prevalent in the male sex, that renders subnasal prognathism much rarer in man. as a matter of fact, the feminine type of prognathism shown in no. is not greater in degree than the male type, no. . variety shows us a form of _prognathism in art_, due to a false interpretation of the greek profile; it is commonly believed that in the greek profile the frontal line is a continuation of that along the bridge of the nose, and hence we frequently meet with commemorative medals, etc., bearing the monstrous profile shown in no. , with pronounced prognathism and receding forehead. the true _greek_ profile is shown in no. , but we can better analyse it by studying the profile of the discobolus (fig. ) and of antinoous (fig. ). [illustration: fig. .] [illustration: fig. .--head of pauline bonaparte borghese (rome, borghese museum).] [illustration: fig. .--profiles of microcephalics.] the lines of the facial angle have been traced upon the profile of the discobolus, but the profile of antinoous has been left untouched, in order that we may trace the same lines upon it in imagination, and thus judge of its perfect beauty (facing page ). let us first examine these two greek profiles, without stopping to analyse their separate characteristics, but considering them from the more general point of view of the facial profile in general. reverting, instead, for our analytical study to the schematic figure shown in fig. , we see that it also shows the line of the facial profile, that of orientation and the vertical, and that these lines form certain right-angled triangles; the right angle _mpa_ is not the facial angle, any more than the corresponding angle shown in the discobolus is the facial angle. it is said that greek art considered the right angle as the perfect facial angle; but that is not true. in order to obtain the facial angle it is necessary to draw a third line (_ms_) which extends from the metopic point to the point of attachment of the nasal septum to the upper lip; this is the line of the facial profile, and the angle _msa_ is the facial angle. it is never a right angle (see the discobolus), but it approaches very closely to a right angle. let us examine the triangle _mps_, bounded by the vertical, the line of profile and the line of orientation; it is right-angled at _p_. hence, the sum of its other two angles must be equal to one right angle; but the upper angle, corresponding to the nasal aperture, is of only °, and consequently the facial angle is °. the facial angle of the discobolus also, like that of antinoous, like that of the _normal human visage_, is °. [illustration: fig. .] examine further this fig. ; in it the line of the facial profile, extending from the metopion to the septo-labial point also passes through the point corresponding to the attachment of the base of the nose (nasion). the figure is schematic; but anyone who will trace it in imagination upon the profile of cavalieri, or on that of the seated woman in the group of neopolitan peasants, or on any of the classic profiles known in art as the roman profile, will find that the nasal line, connecting the supra- and subnasal points, coincides with the line drawn from the subnasal point to the metopion. but if we observe the greek profile of the discobolus, we shall find that the line of profile does not coincide with the base of the nose, but passes behind it. this is the real characteristic difference between the _roman_ and the _greek_ profile: in the greek profile, the root of the nose is attached further in front of the metopico-subnasal line, and this is due to the special form of the greek forehead, which, instead of being slightly flattened at the glabella, as in the equally beautiful roman forehead, is rounded to such a degree that the transverse section of the forehead follows a circular line. hence, it results that the metopic region of the forehead is more prominent and the nose straight, and hence also the line of the forehead is a perceptible continuation of that of the nose (compare the antinoous). this unique and essential difference between the greek and the roman profile has not hitherto been pointed out, so far as i am aware; it is indicated by just one of the facial lines, the one which forms an angle of ° with the line of orientation. i had an opportunity to observe these differences in my study of the women of latium, which i pursued side by side with a study of the statues in the museums of rome, under the guidance of distinguished art specialists; nevertheless, they had none of them ever defined by mathematical lines the sole difference between the two classic types. the habit of tracing these imaginary lines renders us far more keen in recognising any and every degree of prognathism, even the least perceptible, and any other imperfection of the profile, than the most complicated system of goniometry would make us. for instance, examine the profile of pauline borghese; it is certainly not prognathous, since the vertical line reveals a most impeccable orthognathism. but let us trace the nasal line: it meets the vertical line before reaching the metopic point; in order to meet it at this point, the nose would have had to be narrower from front to back; in that case the profile of pauline borghese would have been a perfect roman profile; but the imperial stigma of the napoleonic house deprived the beautiful princess of the privilege of perfect classic beauty. in my studies of the women of latium, in addition to the greek and roman forms of profile which are very frequent (the former distinguished by the morphological peculiarity of having no definite naso-frontal angle nor metopic flattening of the forehead) i found a third profile, less frequent yet quite characteristic, among the representatives of the mediterranean (eurafrican) race. it is worthy of note (figs. , ). first of all, the forehead has a slight transverse depression along its middle line, and the mandible is slightly elongated; but if we draw our imaginary vertical line from the extreme forward point of the brow, we find that none of the forms of prognathism is involved, and that the auriculo-subnasal line is horizontal. this is the type that has been described by sergi as egyptian; and the young woman, shown in profile, really does suggest a reincarnation of the proud beauty of the daughters of pharaoh; the somewhat fleshy lips and the form of the eyes, not almond-like, but very wide and horizontal, complete the characteristics of the type immortalised in egyptian art. in the normal profile two forms can be distinguished which are associated with the two general forms of leptoprosopic and chameprosopic face, and hence also with the dolichocephalic and brachycephalic forms of cranium. in the one case, the features are more elongated and seem to be more depressed laterally, with the result that the profile is more refined, the visage narrower, along the longitudinal line; in this case the profile is _proopic_ (as, for example, in the aforesaid egyptian profile and in the elongated ovoidal english face, fig. ); aristocratic faces of the finer type are proopic. on the other hand, broad faces are anteriorly flattened to such an extent that the flatness shows even in the profile: _platyopic_ _profile_. [illustration: fig. .--the discobolus by miron (rome, vatican museum).] [illustration: fig. .--head of statue known as the _capitoline antinoous_ (rome, capitoline museum).] [illustration: fig. .] [illustration: fig. .] these general forms are associated with certain special forms of the separate organs. thus, for example, in proopic faces the palate is narrow, long and high; in platyopic faces, on the contrary, it is broad, low and flat; and the teeth corresponding to them may present a widely different appearance (long, narrow teeth; broad teeth). _low types and abnormal forms._--low types, as we have already noted, depend upon the development of the face in its least noble parts (those of mastication); prominence of the cheek-bones and maxillary angles, great development of the upper and lower jaw (prognathism). these conditions are frequently accompanied by a low, narrow, or receding forehead, indicating a scanty cerebral development. lombroso found a great prevalence of similar forms among criminals; but recent studies have disclosed the fact that such forms of facial development are in some way related to the environment in which the individual has developed, so much so that, on the basis of these morphological characteristics, we might almost succeed in delineating the physiognomies distinguishing the different _social castes_. in fact, while the aristocratic face is ellipsoidal and proopic, that of the peasant is characterised by a pronounced wideness between the cheek-bones, and that of the city labourer by a peculiar development in the height of the mandible. thus the peasant has a broad face, and the city workman a somewhat elongated face, with very pronounced maxillary angles. a real and important abnormality which indicates a deviation from every type of race or caste is _facial asymmetry_ or _plagioprosopy_, analogous to plagiocephaly, and frequently associated with it. it is necessary, however, in the case of the face, to distinguish instances of _functional asymmetry_, due to unequal innervation of the muscles in the two sides of the face; either from some cerebral cause, or from some local cause affecting the facial nerves. in such cases, the trophic state of the muscles and their contractibility being unequal, there is a resultant asymmetry, especially evident in the play of facial expression. this form of asymmetry must necessarily be limited to the soft tissues and be due to a pathological cause; consequently it should not be confounded with the asymmetry due to a different skeletal development of the two sides of the face, an abnormality analogous to plagiocephaly, which is met with among degenerates as a stigma of congenital malformation. we owe to brugia a most admirable method for demonstrating the high degrees of facial asymmetry which sometimes reach such an extreme point as to give the two halves the appearance of having formed parts of two different faces. this is precisely what brugia shows by the aid of photography, uniting each half with a reversed print of itself, making the two prints coincide along the median line. the result is that every asymmetric face gives two other faces formed respectively from one of the two inequal halves, and presenting profoundly different aspects. other abnormalities are revealed by the _facial profile_. they are due either to total or partial prognathism (already analysed), or to orthognathism, where the facial angle equals or exceeds a right angle; such a profile occurs in cases of _hydrocephaly_ or of _macrocephaly_ in general, usually resulting from infantile arrest of development. _the evolution of the face._--the human countenance, that is so marvellously beautiful in our superior hybrid races, passes, during its embryonal life, through many forms that are very far removed from such perfection. figures , , and represent the evolution of the face in animals and in man: and the complete evolution of a woman's face from the embryo during the first weeks of its formation to the attainment of old age. the embryonal face, as may be seen even better in animals than in man, is surmounted by the brain divided and differentiated into its superimposed primitive vesicles; furthermore, it consists of one single, widespread cavity, at the sides of which may be discerned two diminutive vesicles or bulbs, which are offshoots of the brain and constitute the first rudiments of the eyes. in studying a more advanced stage of development, we may note in what constitutes the upper lip of this wide facial cavity, two _nasal ducts_ or furrows, which are the first indications of the nose. the principal differentiation which takes place in the face consists of the development from its two lateral walls on left and right, of two thin plates or laminæ that advance across the cavity itself, in its anterior portion, and proceed to unite in a median ridge, the _raphe palati_; this constitutes the formation of the palatine vault, which is destined permanently to divide the single cavity into two cavities--an upper or nasal, and a lower or buccal cavity. if this process of formation is not completed, the result is a grave abnormality, the cleft palate, popularly known in italy as a "wolf's throat," and consisting in the fact that the nasal and buccal cavities to a greater or less extent open into each other; this abnormality, due to an arrest of embryonic development, is almost always accompanied by a hare-lip. simultaneously with the formation of the palatine vault, another and vertical septum is formed, which divides the upper cavity into two halves, right and left. this division, however, is limited to the anterior portion; the three cavities thus formed have no such division in the rear, but all three open into the gullet or oesophagus, which represents the only relic of the single original cavity. the maxillary bones are formed in a manner analogous to that of the nasal and palatal septa, through extroversions destined to become ossified. it is not until later that the _external nose_ is formed (middle of the second month of embryonal life). after this, the evolution of the embryo becomes evidently a _perfectionment_ and a _growth_, rather than a transformation. in the _new-born child_ the face is extremely small in comparison with the cerebral cranium. if we compare the head of an adult with that of an infant, and draw the well-known line of separation between the facial and the cerebral cranium, the difference in the reciprocal proportions between the two parts at once becomes apparent. the infant's face seems like a mere _appendix_ to its cranium; and the mandible is especially small; in fact, very young children remain much of the time with their mouth open and the under lip drawn back behind the upper. [illustration: fig. .--face of inferior type. prominence of angles of jaw (gonia).] [illustration: fig. .] [illustration: fig. . fig. . _a_, eye; _v_, anterior brain; _m_, middle brain; _s_, frontal process; _h_, nasal septum; _o_, _u_, _h_, _d_, _r_, primitive embryonal formations, explained as being _branchial_ (_i.e._, gill) arches; _z_, tongue; _g_, auditory fissure. note the analogy between the different parts of the head in animals and in man; every species, however, has special embryonal characteristics.] consequently, the growth of the face obeys laws and rhythms differing from those of the cranium, in comparison to which the face is destined to assume very different proportions by the time that the adult age is reached. the face grows _much more_ than the cranium. in its characteristic infantile form, the face is quite round (short and broad), and, when the child is plump, it often happens that at birth the face is broader than it is long. seen in profile it is _orthognathous_, and this orthognathism endures throughout early infancy, because the profile still remains in retreat behind the plane of the protruding forehead; i.e., the facial angle exceeds a right angle, and the mandibular region is further back than the nasal (compare profile of infant). in the course of growth it may be said in a general way that the facial index diminishes; that is, the numerical proportion between width and height becomes lowered as the face lengthens; while the facial angle changes from somewhat more than a right angle to a right angle, and finally to an acute angle of °. in order to obtain an exact idea of the transformations of the face, children should have their pictures taken, full face and profile, on every birthday, as is already customary in england for the purposes of the _carnet maternel_, the "mother's note-book." in the illustrations facing this page we have portraits of the same person taken at successive ages (figs. , , , ), _i.e._, at the age of six months, one year and a half, seven, and lastly twelve years; it will be seen that the face has steadily lengthened. in this case the individual happens to be noticeably leptoprosopic; but observe the rotundity of the infantile face at the age of six months. an analogous observation may be made in the case of the girl represented in figs. and , at the age of ten months and thirteen years respectively. even in the case of abnormal children the same law holds good; an examination of the three pictures of an incurable idiot boy, taken at the ages of six, eleven, and sixteen years (figs. , , facing page ), shows that the face, from being originally rotund has become elongated.[ ] we owe to binet the most exact and complete studies that exist in anthropologic literature on the subject of the growth of the face. he has made a great number of facial measurements, both of children and young persons of the male sex, from four to eighteen years of age, taking the measurements at intervals of two years. the measurements chosen by binet are all the possible distances that will serve to give the various widths of the face, the distance of the ear from the various points of the profile, and the heights of the various segments; namely (for an exact understanding of these measurements, see section on _technique_), auriculo-mental diameter, auriculo-nasal diameter, auriculo-subnasal diameter, auriculo-ophryac diameter, auriculo-metopic diameter, frontal diameter, biauricular diameter, bizygomatic diameter, length of nose, length of chin, subnase-mental distance, height of forehead.[ ] binet's conclusions are as follows: the growth of the whole head may be divided into three rhythms: that of the cerebral cranium, that of the face apart from the nose, and that of the nose. if the total development of the cerebral cranium from the fourth to the eighteenth year shows a proportion of per cent., the facial development shows an increase of per cent. and that of the nose per cent. consequently the face increases twice as much as the cranium, and the nose three times as much. in the growth of the face, however, the transverse dimensions must be distinguished from the longitudinal dimensions, because the _facial index_ varies greatly according to the age. the width of the face follows very nearly the same rhythm as the cranium, never exceeding the latter's proportional increase; the length of the face, on the contrary, follows the special rhythm of the growth of the face, which lengthens far more than it broadens. if we consider the distances of the various points in the profile from the auricular foramen, we find that these distances show a greater increase in proportion as the points in question are further from the forehead and nearer to the chin. the central section (the nose) and the mandible are the portions which contribute most largely to the increase in length of the face. while in the case of the cranium there is a _very slight_, and often imperceptible puberal acceleration of growth, the puberal transformations of the head are, on the contrary, most notable in respect to the face. the entire region of the upper and lower jaws, but more especially the lower, undergoes a _maximum increase during the period_ _of puberty_. in regard to the nose, its rapid growth begins at the time immediately preceding puberty; that is, it undergoes a _prepuberal_ _maximum increase_. when a boy is about to complete his sexual development, the nose begins to gain in size. the puberal growth of the mandible has long been a familiar fact, and bears a relation to the development of the sexual glands. a special characteristic noted by binet and by myself is that the height of the lower jaw in boys who have reached the prepuberal stage is greater in the boys who are least intelligent; just as in the case of these boys the nose is less leptorrhine and the face less broad. this means that at the period of puberty the most intelligent boys not only have a greater development of head, but also certain distinctive facial characteristics. they should have, for instance, a more ample forehead, a broader face, especially in the bizygomatic diameter (between the cheek-bones), and a leptorrhine nose (infantile leptorrhine type). the backward boys, on the contrary, have a longer face, accompanied by a higher mandible and a flat or "snub" nose. here are the comparative figures: [illustration: fig. .--a child at six months.] [illustration: fig. .--the same child at a year and a half.] [illustration: fig. .--a seven-year-old boy.] [illustration: fig. .--the same boy at the age of twelve.] facial measurements binet children from the elementary schools of paris from to years of age montessori children from the elementary schools of rome from to years of age --------------+--------------------------+-------------------------- | binet's figures | montessori's figures +---------+--------+-------+---------+--------+------- measurements |brightest|backward|differ-|brightest|backward|differ- | pupils | pupils | ence | pupils | pupils | ence --------------+---------+--------+-------+---------+--------+------- minimum | | | | | | frontal | | | | | | diameter | | | | | | height of | | | | | | forehead | | . | . | | | mento-subnasal| | | | | | distance | | . | . | | | bizygomatic | | | | | | diameter | . | . | . | | | bigoniac | | | | | | diameter | . | . | . | | | --------------+---------+--------+-------+---------+--------+------- comparative facial measurements obtained from the brightest and the most backward pupils in the schools of rome (montessori) ------------------------+-----------+----------+----------- measurements and indices| brightest | backward | difference in millimetres | pupils | pupils | ------------------------+-----------+----------+----------- height of mandible | mm. | mm. | mm. length of nose | mm. | mm. | mm. width of nose | mm. | mm. | mm. nasal index | mm. | mm. | mm. ------------------------+-----------+----------+----------- these results would seem to prove that there are high and low _infantile_ types of face, analogous, let us say, to types of social caste; and in school life they correspond to the castes of the _intelligent_ and the _backward_ pupils. intelligent children tend to preserve the infantile form of face more intact (broad and short) or rather, if we extend our researches to pupils who have reached the prepuberal age, we may conclude that intelligent pupils develop according to the normal laws--the growth is confined to the nose; backward children invert the order of growth--the lower jaw is already enlarged before the nose has even begun the acceleration of puberal growth. this difference remains permanent in the adult, and we have in consequence _low_ types of face characterised by a flat nose and heavy lower jaw. =facial expression.=--the study of the human face cannot be limited to a consideration of the form alone; because what gives character to it is the _expression_. internal thought, sensory impressions and all the various emotions produce responsive movements of the facial muscles, whose contractions determine those _visible phenomena_ corresponding to the inner state of mind. the teacher ought to understand facial expression, just as a physician must train himself to recognise the _facies_ corresponding to various diseases and states of suffering. the study of expression ought to form a part of the study of psychology, but it also comes within the province of anthropology, because the habitual, life-long expressions of the face determine the wrinkles of old age, which are distinctly an anthropological characteristic. the facial muscles may be divided into two zones: one of which comprises the frontal and ocular region, and the other the buccal region; corresponding to which are the two upper and lower branches of the frontal nerve. accordingly we may speak of a frontal or higher zone of expression and of an oral or lower zone. the expressions of pure thought (attention, reflection) group themselves around the forehead; those of emotion, on the contrary, call forth a combined action of both zones, and frequently irradiate over the entire body. but as a general rule the man of higher intelligence has a greater intensity of frontal expression, and the man of low intelligence (uneducated men, peasants, and to a much greater degree, imbeciles, idiots, etc.) have a predominance of oral expression. in children the frontal zone has slight mobility, and the oral zone has a preponderance of expression; infantile expression, however, is diffuse and exaggerated and is characterised by _grimaces_. undoubtedly there are certain restraining powers, which develop in the course of time and serve to limit and definitely determine the facial expressions. [illustration: fig. .--profile of a child.] [illustration: fig.-- . a child of ten months.] [illustration: fig. .--the same, years old.] as for the mechanics of expression, they consist of the facial nerve, and the surface muscles stimulated by it, which are: the _frontal muscle_, which covers the entire forehead and merges above into the epicranial aponeurosis; the _superciliary_ _muscle_ extending transversely along the superciliary arch and concealed by the _orbicular muscle of the eyelids_ (_m. orbicularis palpebrarum_), which surrounds the eye-socket like a ring; the _pyramidal_ muscle (_m. pyramidalis nasi_), which is connected with the point of origin of the frontal muscle at the inner angle of the eyebrow, and separates below into four symmetrical fasciæ, two of which are attached to the _ala_ or wing of the nose, and the other two to the upper lip. [illustration: fig. .--the muscles of the head and face.] a group of very delicate muscles controlling the sensitive movements of the wings and septum of the nose (_m. compressor narium_, _m. depressor aloe nasi_, _m._ _levator aloe nasi_, _anterior_ and _posterior_, and _m. depressor septi_) have their points of attachment around the nasal _aloe_ (just above the upper incisor and canine teeth). there is a great wealth of muscles surrounding the mouth; no animal, not even the anthropoid ape, is equipped with so many muscles; it is due to them that the human mouth is able to assume such a great variety of positions. the greater number of these muscles are arranged like radii around the mouth; and there is one which, unlike the rest, surrounds the oral aperture like a ring. the radiating muscles, descending from the sides of the nose down along the chin are: the levator muscle of the upper lip (_m. levator labii superioris_, starting from the bony margin below the infraorbital foramen); the levator muscle of the angle of the mouth (_m. levator anguli oris_, starting from the fossa of the upper maxilla); the large and small zygomatic muscles (starting from the anterior surface of the malar bones); the risorial muscle (_m. risorius_), the smallest of all the facial muscles, which has its origin in the soft surface tissues (aponeurosis parotido-masseterica); the depressor muscle of the mouth angle (_m. depressor anguli_ _oris_, or _m. triangularis_) originating on the lower margin of the maxilla; the depressor muscle of the lower lip or quadratus muscle of the chin (_m. quadratus labii_ _inferioris_ or _quadratus menti_, also originating on the lower maxilla); the levator muscle of the chin (_m. levator menti_) between the two _musculi quadrati_, also has its origin in the lower maxilla; the buccinator muscle, hidden beneath the preceding, has its origin behind the molar teeth in the alveolar process of the two maxillæ, and extends horizontally, terminating in the two lips, in such a manner that its two fasciæ; partly cross, so that the upper fasciæ of the muscle starting from the mandible extend to the upper lip, and the lower fasciæ of the muscle starting from the maxilla extend to the lower lip. consequently the contraction of this muscle stretches the angles of the mouth in a horizontal direction only; it is the most voluntary of all the muscles, and plays a greater part than the others in forced laughter; in consequence it robs this movement of its characteristic charm. lastly we must note the _orbicular_ muscle of the lips (_m. orbicularis oris_ or _sphincter oris_), which constitutes the fleshy part of the lips and surrounds the oral aperture like a ring. the contraction of these muscles produces antagonistic motorial action; for instance, the orbicular muscle tends to close the mouth into a circular orifice; the various muscles which radiate from the corners of the mouth (especially the buccinator) tend, on the contrary, to enlarge and stretch it in a transverse direction; certain muscles tend to raise the mouth, and others to lower it. accordingly, there results a _play_ between the muscles of expression and upon their continual antagonism depend the changing expressions of the human countenance. here are a few of the principal facial expressions, described in a masterly manner, and for the first time, by charles darwin:[ ] _expression of sorrow._--the muscles that are principally brought into play are the superciliary, the frontal and the triangular or depressor muscles of the lips; the eyebrows are furrowed, being drawn upward by the action of the frontal muscle; this, however, cannot contract completely because drawn downward laterally by the superciliary muscles, and hence the forehead wrinkles only at its middle point and together with the slanting eyebrows assumes a shape that suggests three sides of a quadrilateral. [illustration: fig. .--a six-year-old boy.] [illustration: fig. .--the same, eleven years old.] [illustration: fig. .--the same, sixteen years old.] simultaneously there is a drooping of the corners of the mouth, which, when exaggerated in infancy, forms the characteristic and charming _grimace_ of a child who is on the point of crying. accordingly, sorrow draws the frontal zone upward, and the labial zone downward; in other words, it _lengthens_ the face. _expression of pleasure._--on the contrary, _laughter_ and _happiness_ shorten the face; all the muscles are brought into play that stretch the corners of the mouth, as well as those which raise the upper lip, in consequence of which the upper teeth are disclosed. the frontal zone remains in repose; excepting that there is a contraction of the orbicular muscle of the eyelids, especially in its lower portion; the lower lid is drawn upward and the skin is puckered at the external angle of the eye; the lachrymal gland is compressed, the circulation of blood stimulated, as always results from every expression of joy, the secretion of the gland is increased, and consequently a few tears are readily shed. the eye, grown smaller and half hidden, shines brilliantly, because moistened from without and irrigated from within by an abundant flow of blood. _expression of various emotions_: _anger._--during _anger_ the superciliary muscles prevail in exceedingly energetic action, drawing the forehead strongly downward, wrinkling it vertically, and also producing transverse wrinkles on the nose. in the labial zone the orbicular muscle is intensely active, and the lips contract. when anger endures for a long time, the condition above described diminishes in intensity, leaving only a slight frown, while the closed lips protrude in tubular form. an expression usually described by the terms, to _sulk_ or _pout_. this is the way in which little children express their displeasure; and the pouting lips sometimes rise clear to the tip of the little nose, in sign of proud defiance. this form of grimace is common to the children of every race: it has been observed in the children of hottentots and chinese, as a sign of prolonged anger and ill humor. hence the contraction of the mouth is a characteristic sign of anger; and when the emotion is very strong, even the masticatory muscles may enter into play, causing a _grinding of the teeth_. _surprise._--in _surprise_, on the contrary, the entire labial zone is in repose, and there is complete and free contraction of one muscle alone, the frontal; consequently it produces longitudinal lines across the entire forehead, uplifting the eyebrows, which passively follow the elevation produced by the frontal muscle, forming two arches around which the wrinkles of the forehead form themselves in parallel lines. the eyes in consequence are stretched to their widest. the oral zone is so far relaxed that the lower jaw droops in obedience to gravity and the mouth gapes open: _bouche béanie_. sometimes a less intense degree of surprise fails to do away with the contraction of the orbicular muscle of the lips, which, without being actively contracted, but simply because relieved from the interference of antagonistic muscles, closes the mouth in a rounded or tubular aperture. this same facial expression, which is a very striking one, exists in all races. when children are still too young to contract the frontal muscle completely, they show surprise by a gaping mouth, and a puckering of the entire forehead, in place of the transverse furrows. _expression of thought._--in addition to the expressions of the emotions, the authorities describe those due to thought, and give special consideration to the expression of _external_ or sensory _attention_, and _internal attention_ (reflection, meditation). the young child is capable of intense sensorial attention, which is manifested especially in visual attention. i have been able to make many observations in the "children's houses," where children two or three years old take part in games that demand attention, comparison, and the exercise of reason, without tiring their minds or encountering any great difficulty. these children wrinkle their foreheads and hold their mouths slightly open. this is the expression also noted by darwin, and the one which notoriously produces those vertical lines in the middle of the forehead, known as the _lines of thought_. when these children are obliged to make an effort of thought or when they are for any reason troubled and anxious, slight contractions pass across their foreheads, like a continuous succession of broken shadows (darwin).[ ] it should be noted that in any case a contraction of the eyebrows during intellectual work denotes _effort_, a _difficulty_ to be overcome. pure thought, by itself alone, produces no such contractions. the contemplative man, absorbed in profound meditation, shows a face overspread with serenity, due to muscular repose; the gaze is fixed upon the void, and the head, as though no longer sustained by the relaxed muscles, is inclined forward. if his eyes retain steadfastly the same original direction, even after the body has dropped forward, they give the impression of being turned on high. such is the expression of the man sunk in profound thought, so long as his thought follows an uninterrupted course. but when a difficulty arises, see how he begins to knit his brow. it is the difficulty which has arisen, and not the course of his thoughts, that has produced this muscular reaction. the movement is similar to what occurs in the case of any difficulty to overcome, as, for instance, the threading of a needle. consequently the wrinkles of thought are the wrinkles of the _fatigue of thought_. the mystics, who are purely contemplative thinkers, and not solvers of difficulties, have a forehead without lines. similarly in art, the faces of the madonna or of the saints have an intense expression of thought in their gaze, but the serene countenance shows neither contractions nor lines. de sanctis[ ] has made some interesting observations regarding the facial expression of the mentally deficient. they have a singular difficulty in contracting the frontal muscle even at the age of eleven or twelve years; even when urged by example and command, they frequently do not succeed in contracting the forehead. labial expression, on the other hand, is much more developed, and frequently attention is indicated by a contraction of the orbicular muscle of the lips into a circle; and surprise is shown in the same way. in general, however, what characterises the face of the imbecile, the idiot, the epileptic, is its _immobility_: hypomimia or amimia. there are, however, frequent cases of cerebrophlegia (a progressive malady of the brain occurring during the early years of childhood), in which exaggerated contractions of the face occur as the result of the least mental effort. the french give the name of _grimaciers_ to children who show such symptoms; from pathological causes they exhibit a hypermimia that transforms their facial expressions into grimaces. furthermore, there are certain degenerate children in whom the muscular reactions do not correspond to the normal expression of their feelings; for example, they exhibit sorrow when they mean to show attention, etc. in such cases the play of the opposite and contradictory facial muscles has become perverted: _dismimia_. one of the most frequent occurrences among the abnormal is asymmetry of the facial expressions; the muscles contract more on one side of the face than on the other. this symptom, however, in a mild degree, is met with also in normal persons. from what has been said, it is evident that for the examination of the face we must depend, if not exclusively, at least far more upon anthroposcopy than upon anthropometry; and since the minute description required is too difficult and too lengthy a task, especially as regards the _facial expressions_ (which are so characteristic of the individual) it is necessary in pedagogic anthropology to resort to photography. the instantaneous photograph, in all progressive countries, is already within the reach of mothers. it ought also to form part of the equipment of our schools. the neck the neck is a part which is anatomically of much importance, but not of equal importance from the anthropological side. the skeleton of the neck is formed of the seven cervical vertebræ. notwithstanding that in all the higher vertebrates the neck is constituted of the same number of vertebræ, it can assume the most varied dimensions, all the way from the giraffe to the whale. similarly, at the different ages of man it is at one time barely indicated and almost wanting altogether, as in the new-born child, and again long and flexible, as in the lovely women of some of the higher races. godin has observed that the maximum increase of the neck takes place between the fourteenth and sixteenth year, _i.e._, at the epoch of puberty; but at the fourteenth year it undergoes such a rapid increase that it surpasses proportionally the puberal increase of the total stature. this is shown in the following table: proportion of length of neck to the stature reduced to age in years: - / - / - / - / - / proportions: consequently the proportion between neck and stature is a datum that tends strongly to remain a _fixed_ quantity. the result, however, is different if we study the proportion between the neck and the vertebral column as a whole. proportion of length of neck to the trunk reduced to age in years: - / - / - / - / - / proportions: accordingly it is about one-third of the trunk. the circumference of the neck is also taken, for it shows whether the neck is _slender_ or _thick_; and this often bears a relation to the degree of development of the thyroid gland. in my work upon the women of latium i have shown that the small, dark women have a longer and more flexible neck than those who are fair and of tall stature. therefore this is a racial difference, similar to the difference we have already noted for _types of stature_. the macrosceles have a long and slender neck, and the opposite is found in the case of the brachysceles; consequently, a very long neck is an indication of a weak constitution. footnotes: [ ] see the application to pathological surgery of this anatomo-physiological condition of the cranium, as given by tillaux, _anatomia topografica_. [ ] broca gives, not as mean averages, but as extreme limits, . for dolichocephalics (tasmanians) and for brachycephalics (natives of the sandwich islands). [ ] bonnifay, _on the development of the head from the point of view of cephalometrical_ _measurements taken after birth_. thesis, lyons, . [ ] montessori, _sui caratteri antropometrici in relazione alle gerarchie dei fanciulli nelle_ _scuole_, p. . ("anthropometric characteristics in relation to the grading of children in schools"). [ ] lombroso (who died while this book was in press) defended the principle of the innate inferiority of woman and regarded her, in comparison with man, as a case of infantile arrest of development. [ ] the above elucidation and illustrations of the face are taken from manouvrier, _cephalométrie anthropologique_. [ ] from thuliÉ, _le dressage des jeunes dégénérés_, page . [ ] binet, _le croissance du crâne et de la face chez les normaux entre et ans_. [ ] charles darwin, _the expression of emotions in man and animals_. [ ] charles darwin, _op. cit._ [ ] sante de sanctis, _la mimica del pensiero_ (the expression of thought). chapter iii the thorax we have already had occasion to point out, in connection with the _types of stature_, the importance of the thorax. the relation of the thoracic perimeter (circumference of the chest) to the total stature (see chapter on _technique_) was called by goldstein the _index of life_, in order to indicate that the organic resistance of any individual depends upon the proportional relation between the thorax and the whole body; whoever has a narrow chest is liable to pulmonary tuberculosis, and in his physiological entirety is a weakling (see chapter on _macroscelous and brachyscelous_ _types_). _anatomical parts._--anatomically the thorax is determined in height by the twelve dorsal or thoracic vertebræ, which are characterised by having a transverse apophysis, which articulates with the twelve pairs of ribs, forming the _thoracic cage_, or chest. the first seven pairs of ribs articulate in front, by means of cartilages, with the lateral margins of a flat bone, the sternum or breast-bone, which is formed of three pieces: the _manubrium_ uppermost, then the _corpus_, then, lowest of all, the _ensiform_ (sword-shaped) _process_. the manubrium and the corpus form, at their juncture, an angle more or less marked, according to the individual, and the lateral articulation of the second rib corresponds to this angle. in the new-born child the sternum is a cartilage with points of ossification arranged longitudinally like the beads of a rosary. the seventh vertebra articulates laterally at the point at which the ensiform process is attached to the corpus of the sternum. the next three ribs ( th, th and th) are articulated together and with the seventh by means of cartilaginous arches; the last two pairs of ribs ( th and th) are free or _floating_. at the top, the thoracic cage is reinforced by the _thoracic girdle_, which serves also to afford articulation for the upper limbs, and which consists of the _clavicles_, in front, and of the scapulæ, behind. the clavicles are long bones placed in an almost horizontal position above the thorax, and they determine the _width_ of the chest; at the inner extremity they articulate with the manubrium of the sternum and at the outer extremity they are attached to the acromial process of the scapulæ. the scapulæ are flat bones which are attached to the posterior surface of the thoracic frame, on which they are freely movable, covering a tract extending from the second to the seventh rib. at their upper and outer extremity they are provided with two bony processes; namely, the _acromion_, already mentioned, which contains the points of maximum width of the shoulders, and the _coracoid process_, which terminates anteriorly and, together with the acromion, overhangs the articulation of the humerus with the body of the scapula. powerful muscles clothe the thoracic frame, serving partly in the movements of respiration and partly in the movements of the upper limbs. it may suffice to mention, among the muscles situated posteriorly, the _cucullaris_, the great dorsal (_m. longissimus_ _dorsi_), the rhomboids of the scapulæ (_m. rhomboideus major_ and _minor_), and the _serratus posterior_ of the ribs; anteriorly, the large and small pectoral and the great _serratus_; beside which there are the intercostal muscles, extending from rib to rib and taking part in the movements of respiration. but the most important muscle is the _diaphragm_, which completely closes the thoracic cavity, rising into it in a convex vault and separating it from the abdomen; this constitutes the most active of all the muscles which participate in the movements of respiration. the thoracic cavity, thus determined, encloses the two most important viscera of vegetative life--the heart and the lungs. the heart is a muscle shaped like a pear or cone, having its base turned upward, and its apex or point turned downward and outward toward the left, corresponding to the fifth intercostal space; it is divided, as is well known, into four cavities, and constitutes the _great motor power_ of the circulation of the blood. the lungs are two in number, right and left, and surround the heart, completely filling the thoracic cavity. the lungs are divided into superimposed _lobes_, three in the right and two in the left lung; they are composed essentially of infinitely small ramifications of the bronchi, resolving into tiny series of chambers, the _pulmonary alveoli_ or air-cells. these alveoli, consisting of a single layer of extremely small cells, are surrounded by a dense network of capillary tubes, through which takes place the interchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. it has been calculated that if we should estimate and sum up the internal surfaces of the pulmonary alveoli, or, what comes to the same thing, if we should spread out and join together the alveolar walls of the lungs, they would have a superficial area of square metres. this area might be compared to the foliage of a great human tree (respiratory surface). _physiological and hygienic aspect._--the importance of the thorax is physiological, because it contains the highly important viscera of vegetative life; but this importance is especially associated with the lungs. the lungs are the organs that acquire the oxygen from the outside environment, and this oxygen, when taken up by the hemoglobin in the blood, will serve to oxygenate the tissues of the entire organism, and thus aid in the processes of cellular metabolism. a large supply of oxygen stimulates this interchange of matter, not only because the organism as a whole is enriched in the substance essential to this process (oxygen), but because the heart responds to the increased activity of the lungs by more energetic pulsations calculated to set the blood circulating in far greater quantities. it is no exaggeration to say that our whole physiological life is enclosed within the thorax, because the digestive system does nothing more than prepare a blood that is unfitted to irrigate the tissues for the purpose of supplying them with nutriment; it is only after this blood has passed through the lungs that it is transformed into _oxygenated blood_ and is adapted to assimilation. consequently the intestines prepare nothing more than the _raw material_, and it is the lungs which perform the service of perfecting it; while the heart drives it through its circuit into contact with all the tissues of the organism. whoever has inadequate lungs is for that reason alone a person who necessarily receives insufficient nutriment (thin and weak macroscele), and frequently is also a melancholiac. melancholia accompanies every form of physiological decadence. on the contrary, persons with ample lungs are generally serene of spirit and joyous. in fact, the emotion of joy is at the same time both the cause and the consequence of an active circulation of oxygenated blood (florid or ruddy complexion). certain experiments conducted with birds have proved that if free oxygen is introduced under an air-bell in which the birds have been enclosed, they gradually become more and more excited, singing and fluttering as if possessed by a frenzy of joyousness. it is a fact that we often rid ourselves of a fit of melancholy by taking a walk in the open air; persons possessed of good lungs feel within themselves a vital potentiality that perceptibly aids them to make what we call an "effort of will"; when sorrow befalls them, or overexertion has exhausted their strength, persons of this type feel some force spring up within them that seems to give them fresh hope and courage. it is their oxygenated blood, which neither weariness nor depression of spirit can stay in its luxuriant course; the man of weak lungs, on the contrary, is mentally depressed, because his physiological life has slowed down; and, instead of aiding him, it is his physiological life which demands of him a genuine effort of will to reestablish its equilibrium. accordingly, those persons who have a well-developed chest are certainly the healthiest and the happiest. but this is not the only pulmonary function; the lungs are also the _organs of speech_. in fact, while speech is manufactured in the brain and the cerebral nerves that stimulate the organs of the spoken word, it requires also its "driving power," that is to say, air, in order to obtain utterance; and it is the lungs to which singers and speakers alike owe the physical strength of their voice. even the respiratory rhythm has a great influence upon speech. the spoken word requires a most complicated mechanism, and among the details of this mechanism, by no means the least important are the acts of _inspiration_, by which the air is received into the lungs, and of _expiration_, by which it is expelled, simultaneously with all the other movements producing speech. indeed, we know that when speech is further complicated by the act of singing, it becomes necessary to _study special rules_ for breathing; in short, to _educate the voice_. now, why do we not also educate the voice for its ordinary task of the spoken language? speech is one of the marvels that characterise man, and also one of the most difficult spontaneous creations that have been accomplished by nature. through the voice, the lawyer defends the innocent, the teacher educates the new generations, the mother recalls her erring son to the path of virtue, lovers unite their souls, and all humanity interchanges ideas. if intelligence is the triumph of life, the spoken word is the marvellous means by which this intelligence is manifested. we trouble ourselves to educate the voice only for the purpose of singing, and neglect the spoken word. we do not stop to think that _singing_ appeals only to the senses and emotions, while speech appeals to the emotions and the intellect, and therefore charms and at the same time convinces. anyone who has heard that wonderfully gifted speaker, ofelia mazzoni, expounding our great poets to the labouring classes at the people's university in milan, rousing the slumbering intelligence of the working man, will understand what an immense educative force we are neglecting. in a century in which we speak of an intellectual reawakening and a brotherhood of man, we have forgotten the _voice_! yet in this new era of humanity that is learning brotherly love and striving for peace, the voice plays a part analogous to that of the trumpet-call in the centuries consecrated to war. as a matter of fact, our schools so far neglect defects of speech that it is not uncommon to hear a stammerer undergoing examinations for a degree in jurisprudence. the fact that an otherwise cultured man lisps or stammers is treated by us as quite an indifferent matter, just as among savage tribes a king may have unclean nails without anyone observing the fact. yet it is now known that stammering may usually be cured by a systematic training in the art of breathing. respiratory gymnastics ought to constitute one of the principal courses of instruction in schools for children. i have introduced it into the "children's houses," among children between the ages of four and six, combining it with a special instruction in written language (letters of the alphabet), designed to _educate_ _the movements_ of the organs of speech, without worrying or tiring the children, and this method has borne such good results that our little ones, by the time they are five years old, have lost nearly all their defects in pronunciation. =spirometry.=--the _pulmonary capacity_ may be measured directly by means of an instrument called the _spirometer_; the breath must be strongly expelled through a tube opening into a hollow cylinder, thus raising a graduated piston contained in it; and, by reading the figure indicated on the piston-rod, we learn the volume of air expelled from the lungs. such an instrument is better adapted for use by adults than by children; and if it should ever come to be introduced into the schools, it should not in any case be used below the elementary grades. the person who is going to measure the capacity of his lungs by means of the spirometer, begins by drawing in an unusually deep or _forced inhalation_; then, after holding his breath for a moment, he proceeds to expel into the rubber tube all the air in his lungs, in a _forced exhalation_. in an exercise of this sort, all the difficulties of respiratory gymnastics are successively surmounted--inspiration, respiratory pause, expiration. in fact, in accomplishing the _forced inspiration_, all the pulmonary alveoli must be dilated to the maximum extent, and at the same time the thorax must reach its _maximum dilation_. this is a very different matter from normal inspiration, which does not completely dilate the alveoli. as a matter of fact, the _tidal air_ or _air of respiration_, _i.e._, the air taken in and expelled in each normal respiration, is about cubic centimetres; but the sum total of air habitually contained in the lungs is made up of two quantities: first, that which may be emitted by a _forced expiration_, the _supplemental_ _or reserve air_, amounting to , cubic centimetres; and secondly, the air which cannot ever be emitted, because no amount of effort could completely expel all the air from the lungs; _residual air_ or _respiratory residuum_ amounting to , cubic centimetres. to recapitulate, the average pulmonary capacity is the sum of the following average quantities of air: _residual air, or respiratory residuum_ (which can never be expelled from the lungs) = cu. cm. respiratory reserve (which can be expelled by a forced expiration) = cu. cm. tidal air = cu. cm. complementary air (which can be drawn in by a forced inspiration) = cu. cm. accordingly, the total pulmonary capacity is about , cubic centimetres, or five litres. but in normal respiration, the capacity is less, _i.e._, about , cubic centimetres, the air due to a forced inspiration not being included. therefore, in each normal respiration a half litre of pure air (assuming that it is pure) is introduced and mingled with the vitiated air already within the lungs; and since, in expiration, a third only of this cubic centimetres is eliminated, it follows that cubic centimetres are mingled with the , cubic centimetres; in other words, that only one-tenth of the air is renewed in each _normal_ act of respiration. a very energetic forced _inspiration_ may draw into the lungs, in addition to the customary cubic centimetres, an additional , cubic centimetres of pure air, _complementary air_. in this case the lungs contain upward of , cubic centimetres of air. the _forced expiration_ which follows upon this extra deep inhalation _purges_ the lungs of the vitiated air which has formed there. in this way we complete an exercise that is eminently hygienic. now, these spirometric movements are fraught with difficulties: . the forced inspiration, deep enough to extend the alveoli, may be more or less complete. if a cloth wrung out in cold water is laid across the shoulders, the _inspiration_ which follows as a result of reflex action is far deeper than that produced by an act of will; this proves that the lungs can be dilated to a point beyond that which seems to us to be the extreme limit, and therefore that _with_ _practice_ we may learn to dilate our lungs still further. . when the attempt is made to _hold the breath_ after a forced inspiration, almost everyone at the first trials will allow more or less of the air to escape; that is, they will discover themselves incapable of controlling their own organs of respiration; therefore, a gymnastic exercise for acquiring such control is necessary. this is the exercise which will make us masters of the movements required to produce vocal sounds at pleasure. . a slow expiration so controlled as to give time for the air to penetrate into the spirometer, is accomplished, though somewhat unevenly, the first few times, and is perfected with practice. it results from the above that: . we take in less air than we are able to take in; . part of this air is lost outside the spirometer; consequently the spirometer registers a pulmonary capacity below that which the lungs actually have; and we shall find that, with _practice_, the volumetric figure will successively augment. but the pulmonary capacity has not augmented in proportion; it is only that _practice has perfected_ the respiratory movements. accordingly, the spirometer may serve as an instrument to test the progress made in respiratory gymnastics, and, in the case of those who have already become _skilful in its use_, it becomes a really valuable instrument for measuring the respiratory capacity. when we remember that a portion of the air, _i.e._, , cubic centimetres, never issues from the lungs, it follows that the _respiratory_ _capacity_ is less by , cubic centimetres than the _pulmonary_ _capacity_, which, as we have seen, is on an average upward of , cubic centimetres ( , ) in the adult man. hence, the spirometer directly measures the _respiratory capacity_, and only indirectly the pulmonary capacity. when women measure their lungs by means of the spirometer, they have difficulty in registering , cubic centimetres, and men have difficulty in attaining , cubic centimetres. instead of which, a man ought to be able to register between , and , cubic centimetres. what keeps the lungs healthy is an abundant aeration with air rich in oxygen, and not impure with carbon dioxide and other poisonous gases. when the pulmonary air-cells are insufficiently dilated, they are predisposed to attack by the bacillus of tuberculosis. indeed, pulmonary tuberculosis usually begins at the _apexes of the lungs_, which are less thoroughly aerated, and also usually attacks persons with narrow chests. the _treatment_ of tuberculosis is eminently a _fresh-air treatment_; tuberculous patients may be benefited and even cured in a remarkable percentage of cases ( per cent.) if they are exposed day and night to the open air. in this way the relation between free respiration and pulmonary health is demonstrated. in america at the present time the hygienic rule of sleeping at night, winter and summer, with the windows open, is gaining ground, and even the practice of sleeping in the open air. and the various forms of _sport_ also have the beneficial effect of bringing those who indulge in them into a healthy contact with fresh air, which civilised man has shown a fatal tendency to abandon. the same exercise which dilates the lungs (the contents) also dilates the thorax (the container). the result is that man ends by acquiring the thorax corresponding to his vocation, or in other words, a thorax corresponding to the life that he leads in consequence of the form of work to which he devotes himself. shepherds in mountain districts and mountain peasants have the largest thorax, notwithstanding, as we have seen, that they are more scantily nourished. in cities, the maximum average circumference of chest is found among the cart-drivers, and the minimum among university students and in general among those who have grown up in an inclosed environment, with the thorax artificially cramped by the position assumed while writing or reading at a desk; yet this is the class of persons who have abundant nutriment. consequently, we find a division of air and bread between different social castes; those who have air, do not have bread, and they possess large lungs, out of proportion to bodies which, being underfed, have been unable to grow; and those who have bread do not have air, and they possess lungs that are insufficient for the needs of bodies that have grown under the influence of abundant nutrition. consequently, all civilised men are physiologically out of equilibrium, and their physical health is lessened. but those who suffer most from this loss of equilibrium are the _studious_ class, who have nourished themselves upon hopes and opened their minds to great ideas, and deluded themselves into undertaking big enterprises; but in real action they find that they are weak, and that they easily fall into discouragement and depression, and when their will-power forces them onward, their organism responds with nervous prostration and melancholia. it is a sad fact that at the present day the best energies of man reach maturity possessed of insufficient lungs, and consequently liable to break down in health, energy and strength. a large part of the _studious_ class, such, for instance, as the teachers, are at the present day devoting themselves to a form of work which is not a pulmonary exercise, but pulmonary _destruction_. we must remember that healthy exercise of the lungs should take place in the open air, and consists of indrawn breaths deep enough to _dilate_ the air-chambers. instead of this, the teacher _speaks_, which means that he makes _forced expirations_, during many hours in an enclosed environment and in an assemblage of persons who, for the most part, are far from clean. the bacillus of tuberculosis finds in the teacher its favourite camping-ground. in fact, statistics indicate that the maximum mortality from tuberculosis is among teachers; higher even than among nurses. it is really distressing to think of the ignorance of hygiene in which our schools are even yet steeped, so that they seem forgetful of the body, in their pursuit of a spirit that eludes them and that, as a matter of fact, is not being educated in anything approaching a rational manner. when we enter a class-room, we see rows of benches constructed like orthopedic machines, to the end that the vertical columns of the pupils shall not be distorted during their enforced labour; and the thought arises: this is the spot in which the teacher becomes a consumptive for the sake of transforming the children into hunchbacks. what is the reward of so great a sacrifice? what sort of a preparation in ideals and in character are they giving to the new generations through such disastrous means? what are the obstacles which they are being taught, through so much suffering, to surmount and to conquer? what, in short, is the spiritual gain achieved at the cost of so great an impoverishment of the body? the answering silence that greets these questions indicates that we have a great mission to accomplish. anthropological studies made upon pupils have demonstrated that school-children rarely attain a sufficient chest development. i also have made my modest contribution, proving that the brightest scholars, the prize-winners, etc., who, as a general rule, also enjoy an advantage in social position, have a _narrower chest measure_. among the children that are recognised as the brightest in their classes, i have been able to distinguish two categories: those who are exceptionally intelligent, and those who are exceptionally studious; the former have a better chest development than the latter. signorina massa, one of my pupils at the university, in the course of kindred studies made among pupils of a uniform social grade (the poorer classes) observed that the _best_ and _brightest_ scholars, etc., have a chest circumference and a muscular strength notably inferior to the children who are not studious. there can be no doubt that an assiduous application to the study table impoverishes the organism and above all impedes the normal development of the thorax. this fact has a really overwhelming importance. study the tables of mortality in italy for infective diseases, _i.e._, those diseases in which mankind meets the assault of the microscopic invader either with a strong constitution, or with one already predisposed to defeat. the most dreaded diseases, such as diphtheria, typhoid, measles and scarlet fever are all grouped together under a mortality oscillating between five and twenty-five thousand deaths a year. but bronchitis and pneumonia each cause a mortality that ascends to between seventy and eighty thousand deaths; in this group it is evident that we must take into consideration, not only the infected environment, but also the organic predisposition. every man and woman has been prepared, by their years in school, to have in the form of a narrow chest and an insufficient development of the organs of respiration, a _locus minoris resistentiæ_. whoever talks of the _war against tuberculosis_ ought first of all to investigate the school and its pedagogic methods. =anthropological aspect.= _growth of the thorax._--in the course of its growth the thorax undergoes an evolution, not only in itself, but also in its relation to the vertebral column. [illustration: fig. .] the nature of the transformations undergone by the skeleton of the trunk in relation to its different parts is substantially as follows: in the child at birth the vertebral column is straight, and the thorax is higher up than in the adult; the pelvis, on the contrary, slants forward and downward. in the adult the vertebral column is curved in the form of an s, showing the two-familiar dorsal-lumbar curves, and the axes of the thorax and pelvis are more perceptibly horizontal; in short, in the course of growth a _descent of the thorax_ has taken place, together with a _rotation_ of the pelvis (fig. ). a. _descent of the thorax._--this is the chief of these characteristics: the thorax descends in the course of its growth. in the new-born child the upper edge of the manubrium of the sternum is in juxtaposition to the body of the first dorsal vertebra, while in the adult it is situated on a level with the lower edge of the second vertebra. even the tendinous arch of the diaphragm has shifted, being lowered by the space of a vertebra; it is situated between the eighth and ninth vertebræ in the child at birth, and between the ninth and tenth in the adult. the outside characteristics are in correspondence with this fact; the shoulders descend in the course of growth. in the adult, the acromia or points of the shoulders are on a lower level than the incisura or cleft in the sternum (which is visible at the anterior base of the neck, and may be felt as an indented half-moon); while in the new-born child, on the contrary, the shoulders are higher up than the upper extremity of the sternum. another external characteristic of the descent of the thorax is the change in position of the nipples at successive ages; the mammary papillæ of the adult correspond to the level of the lower extremity of the sternum, and are situated respectively at the central points of the two halves of the thorax; in the new-born child, on the contrary, the mammary papillæ are further apart and higher up. [illustration: fig. .--a = vertex of triangle; b b' = extremities of base, corresponding to the two nipples.] these characteristics of the _descent_ of the thorax are fully established in the period of puberty and are of great importance, since, if not completed, they indicate cases of arrest of development or _infantilism_. quétélet has made a study of the _triangulation_ of the thorax (fig. ). if the two nipples and the sternal incisura are connected by straight lines inclosing an isosceles triangle _abb´_, the length of the base in the new-born child is millimetres, and that of the sides _ba_, _b´a_ is millimetres, and the height millimetres. in the adult the dimensions are as follows: _bb´_ = millimetres; _ab_, _ab´_= millimetres; and the height = millimetres. comparing the measurements of the child at birth with those of the adult, we find that the base in the adult is . times, and the side . times that of the child; in other words, the sides of the triangle increase far more than the base, and its height in the adult (representing very nearly the entire height of the sternum), is . times that in the new-born child. consequently, in the course of its transformation the thorax not only descends, but it is also lengthened in the adult, as compared with the form that it had at birth. b. _dimensions of thorax in relation to stature._--besides its _descent_, there is a second transformation of the thorax, in regard to its volumetric relations to the rest of the body. the perimeter of the thorax and the circumference of the head are pretty nearly equal in the new-born child; if anything, the circumference of the thorax is a _trifle less_ than that of the head; but when it equals it, this is a sign of _robustness_. in the majority of cases it is not until the second year or thereabouts that the two circumferences become equal. if, however, such inequality should still persist after the child had entered upon the third year, it would constitute a sign of _rickets_ (head too large, chest too narrow). as to the relations between the thoracic circumference and the stature, it is found that in the child at birth the thoracic circumference exceeds one-half the stature by about centimetres. if the difference is less than centimetres it is a sign of feeble constitution, if it is greater than (for instance, centimetres) it is a sign of great robustness. this difference disappears little by little; at the age of five years it is already reduced to between and centimetres; at the age of fifteen, the period of puberty, it has wholly disappeared, and the well-known relation between the stature and the circumference of the thorax has become established; the thoracic circumference is equal to one-half the stature (see chapter on _form_), and this constitutes goldstein's _vital index_: _vi_ = ( ×_tc_)/(_s_) as early as , pagliani published some studies of children, which reveal the _physiological_ importance of the dimensions of the thorax; watching the lives of infants whose measurements he took at the foundling asylum, he observed that the _mortality_ of infants is quite rare when they exceed the above proportions between circumference of chest, head, and stature. from a study of infants, fraebelius has drawn the following conclusions: i. mortality per cent.; circumference of thorax greater than half the stature by . centimetres; circumference of thorax less by . centimetres than perimeter of cranium. ii. mortality . per cent.; circumference of thorax greater by centimetres than one-half the stature; circumference of thorax less by . centimetres than circumference of cranium. iii. mortality . per cent.; circumference of thorax greater by . centimetres than one-half the stature; circumference of thorax less by . centimetres than the cranial circumference. the thorax in children of five years and upward ought to be larger by a few centimetres (not more than from to ) than one-half the stature. _c. transformations of the thorax considered by itself: alterations_ _in shape._ _thoracic index._--lastly, the thorax changes its shape in the course of growth. in the new-born child it is very prominent in front, and narrow laterally; in the adult, on the contrary, it is more flattened in its antero-posterior dimension and wider transversely. consequently the transformation consists in a notable difference in the proportion between the width and depth of the chest, that is, between the antero-posterior and the transverse diameters (see chapter on _technique_). this proportion constitutes the _thoracic_ _index_, which is expressed by the following formula: _ti_ = ( a-_pd_)/_td_ and this formula gives an idea of the _shape_ of the thorax. in the child at birth the antero-posterior diameter is very nearly equal to the transverse; accordingly, the index, at birth, oscillates between and . in the adult, however, the thoracic index is on an average ; the transverse diameter therefore increases much more than the antero-posterior diameter. according to quétélet, while the transverse diameter multiplies threefold in the course of its growth, the antero-posterior merely doubles ( . ); in addition to this the thorax also lengthens, as we have already seen. _proportion, shape and dimensions of the thorax._--in the adult normal man we find the following proportions: the distance between the mammary papillæ is about equal to the antero-posterior diameter of the thorax (hence the papillæ indicate the depth of chest) and is also perceptibly equal to one-half the breadth of the shoulders (measured between the two acromia), which, by the way, is the maximum transverse dimension of the skeleton. this maximum dimension (the biacromial distance) may be regarded as an index of the skeletal development; and godin takes its proportion to the _transverse thoracic diameter_ (the horizontal distance between the two vertical lines drawn from the arm-pits, in the plane of the mammary papillæ, see chapter vii, _technique_) in order to estimate the proportional relation between the skeleton and the organs of respiration. since in the course of growth the thorax _broadens_, that is, the transverse diameter increases more than the antero-posterior, we should expect to find that in the course of evolution, the difference between the transverse development of the skeleton and the lateral development of the thorax steadily diminishes. it happens, on the contrary, that from the age of ten years onward, during the whole puberal development, the transverse diameter of the thorax steadily becomes less, as compared with the breadth of the shoulders, so much so that if the difference was at first millimetres, it becomes finally millimetres. according to godin, this indicates that the thorax does not obey the harmonic laws of the development of the skeleton as a whole, but that, owing to causes of adaptation (the school!) it remains definitely inferior to the development which it might have attained, and consequently results in throwing the organism _out of its physiological equilibrium_. in fact, if we make men raise their arms, especially men of the student class, a certain hollowness, which is æsthetically displeasing, is revealed along the sides of the thorax. this deficiency is corroborated, according to godin's studies, by his observation of another correspondence in the measurements of the thorax. in addition to the customary measurements, godin introduced, besides the well-known and classic _thoracic perimeter_--which is the circumference taken in the horizontal plane passing through the nipples--two other circumferences: one of them higher up, the _subaxillary circumference_, which includes a large proportion of the pectoral and dorsal muscles; and the other lower down, the _submammary circumference_, which determines solely the measurement of the thoracic skeleton, since the intercostal muscles are practically the only ones which descend to this level. these two circumferences are to be considered together, according to godin, as expressing the relation between the organs of respiration and the muscular mass. in complete repose, the subaxillary circumference is much greater than the submammary; but at the moment of _maximum inspiration_ the latter should become equal to the former; hence, the difference between the submammary circumference in repose and during inspiration furnishes an indirect index of the _respiratory capacity_, and the subaxillary circumference is a test of individual capacity. godin notes that inspiration _almost never_ succeeds in attaining an equality between the two circumferences. _shape of the thorax._--in regard to the shape, which stands in relation to the _thoracic index_, it is found to vary according to individual _types_; in fact the index itself, although showing a mean average of , oscillates between the extremes of and . as a general rule, the brachycephalic races have a deeper thorax, _i.e._, having a cross-section of more rounded form; the dolichocephalics, on the contrary, have a more flattened thorax in the antero-posterior direction (these races, such as the negroes, are more predisposed to contract pulmonary tuberculosis). consequently there is a correspondence in _type_ between the head and the thorax. in the measurements taken by me among the women of latium the results show that the brachycephalics had an average depth of thorax amounting to millimetres and the dolichocephalics only millimetres, while the transverse diameters were very nearly equal: millimetres in the brachycephalics, and millimetres in the dolichocephalics. hence, the resultant thoracic index of for the brachycephalics and for the dolichocephalics. such differences in the index indicate also differences in the formation of the thorax: that it is more or less flattened in the dolichocephalics, and more prominent in the brachycephalics. there is a corresponding diversity of form in the breasts of the women: the dolichocephalic races have more elongated breasts (pear-shaped), the brachycephalics more rounded. the shape of the thoracic section is at the present time taken into careful consideration, especially in medicine, because it is apt to reveal predispositions to diseases. it may be obtained by the aid of the cyrtometer (see chapter on _technique_). at the present day, however, exceedingly complicated instruments have been constructed, which, by the aid of recording indexes, give a direct representation of the shape of the thoracic perimeter, together with its modifications and respiratory oscillations. since these instruments are, for the present, very far removed from widespread practical use, we may adopt as an excellent method for determining the shape and, at the same time, the dimensions of the thorax, that of maurel, in his research regarding "the square surface of the thoracic section." having determined the anthropometric points, maurel passes strips of metal (stiff enough to retain the shape given them) around the thorax, after the fashion of a tape-measure, first around one half, and then around the other. next he places these metal strips (_still retaining the shape given_ _them_ by contact with the thorax), upon a sheet of especially prepared paper, marked in squares, and traces upon it the _inner outline_ _of the strips_. the two halves must be made to coincide in such a manner as to reproduce faithfully the thoracic section, both in form and in dimension. by adding up the squares contained within the outline we obtain the area of the section. [illustration: fig. .] this method is the only really rational method for studying the thorax; and its simplicity, practicality and graphic representation recommend it as a valuable aid to pedagogic anthropology. there is, for example, an abnormal form of thorax, which i have very often met with in deficient children. it consists in an exaggerated curve of the posterior costal arches, which consequently form a very sharp angle with the vertebral column, which is notably indented, while the sternum is also depressed in a groove, and occupies a plane posterior to that of the ribs. the section of the thorax, in this case, approaches the form of a figure ; and the thoracic perimeter would not represent the true measurement because it would include the empty spaces left by the front and back depressions. the thoracic index would also give a false idea of the facts, because the antero-posterior diameter would be nowhere so short as at the centres of measurement for this diameter. the only method for representing the true shape and area of this type of thorax is that employed by maurel. _anomalies of shape._--in addition to the preceding anomaly, very frequent in degenerates, and associated with a _deficient development_ _of the lungs_ and with physical weakness, there are numerous other anomalies. among others, those that principally deserve attention are the funnel-shaped or _consumptive thorax_, in which the longitudinal diameter is excessive; the thoracic frame is greatly elongated and the ribs descend to a very low level; this type of thorax is frequent in neuropathic women, and, according to féré, is associated with degeneration. the opposite form is the _barrel-shaped thorax_, in which the prevailing diameter is the antero-posterior; it is very prominent and is frequently met with in persons who are subject to forms of asthma, maladies of the heart, etc. the _bell-shaped_ thorax is similar to the preceding, but is characterised by an accompanying exceptional brevity of the longitudinal diameter, which causes it to resemble the infantile thorax (arrest of morphological development). the _grooved_ thorax is the one described above as common among the mentally deficient. a considerable importance attaches to a form of thorax distinguished by the _shortness of the clavicles_, in consequence of which the chest remains flat, paralytic or _flat thorax_ (_habitus phthisicus_). the flattened appearance is due to the fact that the chest cannot rise in front, and the shoulders, being cramped by the shortness of the clavicles, curve forward, while the scapulæ stand out from the plane of the back and spread themselves like wings (scapulæ alatæ). i have met with this form in deficients, accompanied by such _laxity of articulations_, that it was possible to grasp the points of the shoulders and draw them together until they very nearly met in front. this form of thorax is characteristically predisposed to pulmonary tuberculosis, and is frequently met with in the macroscelous types. the commonest deformities of the thorax are those associated with _rachitis_. one of the forms regarded as being rachitic in origin is the _keel-shaped_ _thorax_, in which the sternum is thrust forward and isolated along its median line, like the keel of a boat. but the thoracic deformities due unquestionably to rickets are of the well-known types that go popularly under the name of _hunchback_, and are accompanied by curvatures of the vertebral column. the first admonitory symptoms are shown by the so-called _rachitic rosary_, _i.e._, by the small swellings due to enlargement of the ends of the ribs at their point of attachment to the sternum. subsequently, the softened ribs become misshapen in various ways, especially from the fourth rib downward, the upper ribs being fastened and sustained by the thoracic girdle and by the muscles. the curvatures of the vertebral column which accompany rickets are _scoliosis_ or lateral deviation (frequent in school-children) and _kyphosis_, or deviation in a backward curve; for the most part these two curvatures occur together, so that the vertebral column is thrust outward and at the same time is twisted to one side: _kyphoscoliosis_. =pedagogical considerations.=--the following considerations are the natural sequence of what has been said above. deficiency of the thorax is one of the _stigmata_ left by the school, which in this way tends to make the younger generations feeble and physiologically unbalanced. the exaggerated importance which is given to the _school_ _benches_ for the purpose of avoiding deformities of the vertebral column deserves to be put aside and forgotten, as an aberration of false hygiene. the bench will not prevent restriction of the thorax; before reaching the critical point which the improved school bench is intended to prevent, many impoverishments of the organism, fatal to robustness and health, and often to _life itself_ (predisposition to tuberculosis!) have been incurred; and there is no other remedy to obviate them than a _reform in pedagogic methods_. the admonitory fact that neglected, despised, half-starved children have an enormous _advantage_ in the development of the thorax over the more intelligent children who are well-fed and carefully guarded, and solely because the former are free to run the streets, ought to point the direction in which we should look for means of helping the new generations hygienically. they have need of free movement and of air. the recreation rooms which tend to keep the children of the street shut up indoors even during recess are taking from the children of the people the sole advantage that still remained to them. try to realize that these children are obliged to sleep in dark, crowded environments, and that every night, during the period of sleep, they suffer from such acute poisoning by carbon dioxide that they frequently awaken in the morning with severe pains in the head. the life of the streets is their salvation. we condemn children to death, under the delusion that we are working for their moral good; a perverted human soul may be led back to righteousness; but a consumptive chest can never again become robust. let those who talk of education and morality and similar themes be sure that they are benefactors and not executioners, and let those who wish to do good seek the light of science. curvatures of the vertebral column, such as lordosis and kyphosis, cannot be considered solely in relation to the thorax, but in relation to the pelvis as well, because, especially in lordosis, the lumbar vertebræ are also involved, while the pelvis also suffers a characteristic deformity. chapter iv the pelvis _anatomical note._--the five lumbar, the five sacral and the four coccygeal vertebræ constitute the lumbar and sacro-coccygeal section of the vertebral column. [illustration: fig. .--skeleton of pelvis, seen from above.] the _sacrum_, formed by the union of the five sacral vertebræ, appears in the adult in the form of a bone that narrows rapidly from above downward in a general curve whose convex side is turned inward. the coccyx has the importance of being a real and actual caudal appendage, reduced in man to its simplest anatomical expression. on each side of the sacrum the two ossa innominata or hip-bones are attached, constituting a sort of massive girdle (cintura pelvica), serving as point of attachment for the lower limbs, while at the same time it sustains the entire weight of the body and the abdominal viscera. these two bones are made up of three separate parts: an upper part, very broad and rather thin (the ilium, which constitutes the flank or hip), one in front (the os pubis), and a third behind, quite massive, and shaped like the letter v (the ischium). the two ossa innominata and the os sacrum form the pelvis or pelvic basin, a broad cavity with bony walls that are by no means complete, within which are a portion of the digestive organs and a considerable part of the organs belonging to the genito-urinary system. the pelvis supports the vertebral column and is in turn supported by the lower limbs, in quite marvellous equilibrium. the maximum sexual differences of the skeleton are in relation to the pelvis; in woman the iliac bones form a far ampler basin; in man, the pelvis is higher and more confined and formed of more solid bones; but it is not broader. but where the difference is most apparent is in the pelvic _aperture_ (see fig. ) which divides the pelvis into two parts, the upper or great pelvis and the lower or small pelvis. this aperture has distinguishing marks that differ widely between the sexes; in woman it is rounder, in man it is more elongated from front to back and is narrowed toward the pubis. one of the most important points of measurement in anthropology and in obstetrics is the extreme anterior apex of the superior border of the ilium or _crista iliaca antero-superior_. the woman in whom this dimension (the bis-iliac) is less than millimetres cannot give birth naturally; similarly the woman who has a prominent os pubis (due to rachitis) will owe the attainment of maternity to the intervention of surgery, and perhaps even of the cæsarean operation. there are also many ethnical differences in the pelvis: brachycephalics (the mongolian race) have a broader and shallower pelvis than the dolichocephalics, who, on the contrary, have a deeper and narrower pelvis (the negroes). the same thing is met with, notwithstanding its intermixture, in our own race: blond, brachycephalic women have a wider pelvis than brunette, dolichocephalic women. accordingly, cranium, thorax and pelvis correspond in one and the same ethnic type. the abdomen extends from the arch of the diaphragm to the lower extremity of the pelvis. it contains all the viscera of alimentation: the digestive system together with the glands belonging to it; the liver and pancreas, besides the renal system and, in women, the organs of generation (uterus and ovaries). the diaphragmatic arch, having its convex side uppermost, enters the thoracic frame as far as the first dorsal vertebra. the intestinal mass is more noticeable and prominent in persons having a narrow pelvis; in children, for example, the abdomen is very prominent. _growth of the pelvis._--in the skeleton of the new-born child the pelvis differs from that of the adult in two particulars: _height_ and _direction_. the pelvis is low in the new-born child and higher in the adult. the central axis is more oblique from front to back (in the higher mammals the axis of the pelvis is almost central); in the adult, on the contrary, this axis tends to straighten up, to the point of becoming nearly vertical, in relation, that is, to the erect position of man. hence in the course of growth the pelvis not only becomes proportionally higher, but it undergoes a rotary movement around the cotyloid axis; this movement has the effect of elevating the pubis and bringing the ischium forward. [illustration: fig. .] the vertebral column rests upon the sacrum, which is the retro-cotyloid portion of the pelvis, and its pressure tends mechanically to straighten the pelvis (see diagram, fig. ). this process of straightening has certain limits, and is dependent upon the _form of curvature_ of the vertebral column; if this is exaggerated, as in lordosis, the weight is thrown further forward, almost over the cotyles; consequently, the elevation of the pelvis is not properly accomplished (low pelvis found in lordotics). if, on the contrary, the lumbar curvature is wanting or reversed (kyphosis), the pressure of the column is thrown backward and the straightening up of the pelvis is exaggerated (high pelvis found in kyphotics). independently of pathological deformities, there are various forms of lumbar curvature in the vertebral column that are normal oscillations, or oscillations acquired through adaptation. an exaggerated lumbar curvature or saddle-back is found in children accustomed to carry heavy loads upon their shoulders; a diminished curvature is found in children constrained to remain in a sitting posture for many hours a day. the sitting posture tends to cancel the lumbar inward curve; consequently, while children are in school they are promoting the elevation of their pelvis. the elevation of the pelvis proceeds rapidly at the fifteenth year, during puberty, when the muscular masses become more solid. a woman is not fitted for motherhood, even if physically developed, so long as her pelvis has not rotated normally. but if the rotation is exaggerated (due to prolonged sitting posture during years of growth), this is very unfavourable to normal childbirth. in rickets, associated with kyphosis, there is a form of exaggerated rotated pelvis (pubis high). the laborious "modern" childbirth, and the dangerous childbirth in the case of women who have devoted much time to study, must be considered in connection with these artificial anomalies. _free movement_ and gymnastics have for this reason, in the case of women, an importance that extends from the individual to the species. chapter v the limbs the study of the limbs is of great importance, because, although it is the special province of the bust to contain the organs of vegetative life, it is the limbs which render it useful. in fact, it is the lower limbs which control our locomotion and the upper limbs which execute the labour of mankind. one characteristic of man, equally with that of standing in an erect position, supported only on the lower limbs, is the independence of the upper limbs, which are raised from the ground and relieved of the function of locomotion--a function that still continues in all other mammals, excepting the anthropoid apes, whose upper limbs are extremely long and barely escape the earth, and serve the animal merely as an aid and a support in walking. the birds, although supported on their hind limbs alone, nevertheless have their fore limbs assigned to the sole office of wings for the transportation of their bodies. consequently, the free and disposable upper limb, peculiar to mankind, would seem to mark a new function in the biologic scale--human labour. _anatomy of the skeleton of the limbs._--in contrast to the bust, the limbs have an internal skeleton, adapted solely to the function of support (not of protection). the bones are covered with masses of striped muscles, which have as their special function voluntary movement, that is to say, obedience to the brain. the upper and lower limbs correspond numerically, and the arrangement of the bones is analogous; and this holds true for all the higher vertebrates. the nearest bones, those that are attached to the trunk, are single in all four limbs. then, just as though branching out, they next double in number, and then multiply successively as we approach the extremities of the limbs. thus the forearm and the lower leg have two bones, and the hands and feet have many. in the upper arm we have the humerus, in the thigh the _femur_, in the forearm the _ulna_ and _radius_ (the ulna is situated on the same side as the little finger and the radius on that of the thumb), in the lower leg the _tibia_ and _fibula_. then come the many short bones (eight in the carpus and seven in the tarsus) which in the hand form the wrist or _carpus_, and in the foot the ankle or instep, the _tarsus_. these are followed by other long bones (five in the hand and five in the foot), which constitute the _metacarpus_ and _metatarsus_, and these in turn by the long bones of the _phalanges_ (fingers and toes), which grow successively smaller toward the extremities and are successively named _proximal_, _middle_ and _distal_ _phalanges_ (_phalangettes_). these last are missing in the thumb and the big toe. in conjunction with the last phalanges, the fingers and toes are protected by nails. _the growth of the limbs._--recent studies, conducted principally by godin in france, author of the classic work upon growth, have demonstrated that the long bones of the limbs obey certain special laws of biologic growth. while a long bone is growing in length it does not grow in width or thickness, and while it is increasing in thickness it does not gain in length; hence the lengthening of the bones takes place in alternate periods; during the period of repose relative to growth in length, the bone gains in thickness. i have already explained, in connection with the stature, that we owe the growth of the long bones to a variety of formative elements, the cartilages of the epiphyses, which control the growth in length of the long bones, and the enveloping membrane of the body of the bone, the periosteum, which presides over the growth in thickness. the above mentioned alternation in the growth of the bones must therefore be attributed to an alternation in the action of these various formative elements of the bones. in the case of two successive long bones (for example, the humerus and radius, the femur and tibia, the metacarpus and phalanges, etc.), they alternate in their growth; while one of them is lengthening, the other is thickening; consequently the growth of a limb in length is not simultaneous in all the bones, but takes place alternately in the successive bones. during the time when the growth devolves upon the longest bone, the limbs show the greatest rate of increase in length, and when, on the contrary, it devolves upon the shortest bone, the growth is less; but in either case it continues to grow. the growth of the long bones of the limbs proceeds by alternate periods of activity and repose, which succeed each other regularly. these periods of activity and repose occur inversely in each two successive bones. the periods of repose from growth in length are utilised for gain in thickness, and reciprocally. the long bones lengthen and thicken alternately, and not simultaneously. it is only at the age of puberty (fifteenth year) that a complete simultaneity of growth takes place, after which epoch the growth in stature and length of limb diminishes, yielding precedence to that of the vertebral column. when the complete development of the bodily _proportions_ is attained (eighteenth year), the length of the lower limbs is equal to one-half the stature. when the upper limbs are extended vertically along the sides of the body, the tip of the middle finger reaches the middle point of the thigh, while the wrist coincides with the ischium (hip-bone). the total spread of the arms is, on an average, equal in length to the stature. the proportions between the lower limbs and the bust, resulting from the attainment of complete individual development, determine the types of stature: _macroscelia_ and _brachyscelia_. since the order of growth as between the two essential portions of stature is now determined, we are able to interpret macroscelia as a phenomenon of infantilism (arrested development of the bust). _malformations. excessive development of the nearer and remoter_ _segments._--but there are other proportions that are of interest to us, within the limbs themselves. even between the nearer and remoter portions of the limbs there ought to be certain constant relations (indices) that constitute differential characteristics between the various human races and between man and the ape. if the humerus or upper arm is taken as equal to , the radius or forearm is equal to in the european, while in the negro it is equal to about . furthermore, it is a well-known fact that excessive length of the forearm is an ape-like characteristic. consequently, the measurement of the segments of the limbs is important, and it is made with a special form of calipers; when the index of the segments deviates from the accepted normal figure, this constitutes a serious _anomaly_, frequently found in degenerates, and it often happens that an excessive development of the remoter segments, the bones of the extremities, explains the excess of the total spread of the arms over the stature, unassociated with the macroscelous type. _absence of calf._--in addition to this fundamental deviation from normality, there are other malformations worthy of note that may occur in the limbs. such, for example, is a deficiency or absence of the calf of the leg. the well-turned leg, which we admire as an element of beauty is a distinctive human trait most conspicuous among the races that we regard as superior. among the more debased negro races the leg is spindling and without any calf; furthermore, it is well known that monkeys have no calves, and still less do they exist among the lower orders of mammals. _flat feet._--another important malformation relates to the morphology of the feet. everyone knows the distinctive curve or arch of the foot, and the characteristic imprint which it consequently leaves on the ground. sometimes, however, this arch is missing, and the sole of the foot is all on the same plane (flat foot). the dark-skinned natives of australia have flat feet as one of their racial characteristics; in our own race it constitutes an anomaly that is frequent among degenerates. flat feet may also be acquired as the result of certain employments (butler, door-keeper, etc.), which compel certain individuals to remain much of the time on foot. but in such cases the deformity is accompanied by a pathological condition (neuralgic symptoms and local myalgia). like all malformations, this may have special importance in connection with infantile hygiene (the position of the pupil, the work done by the children, etc.). _opposable big toe._--another malformation combined with a functional anomaly, that is never met with as a deformity resulting from adaptation, is the opposable big toe. sometimes the big toe is greatly developed and slightly curved toward the other toes, and capable of such movement as to give it a slight degree of opposability; hence the foot is prehensile. this characteristic, regularly present in monkeys, is so far developed in certain degenerates as to make it possible for them to perform work with their feet (knitting stockings, picking up objects, etc.); so that this class of degenerates, who are essentially parasites, solve the problem of supporting themselves by trading on the curiosity of the public, so that, by straining a point, we might bestow upon them the title of _foot labourers_. _loose and stiff joints._--anomalies may also occur in connection with the articulation of the joints. it sometimes happens that they are extremely loose and weak, and allow the bones an excessive play of movement; and, if the lower limbs are thus affected, it increases the difficulty of maintaining equilibrium when standing erect or walking. on the other hand, it may happen that the articulations are too stiff, and consequently render many movements difficult, especially if through an anomalous development of the outer coating of the bone, it results in congenital ankylosis. _curvature of the legs._--a special importance attaches to certain alterations undergone by the heads of the bones which contribute to the formation of the knee, because of the curvature of the leg which results from them (rachitis, paralysis). the leg may become bowed outward or inward; when it is bowed inward (knock-knees, _genu valgum_), the knees strike together in walking; when, on the contrary, it is bowed outward, the result is bow-legs (_genu varum_), known popularly in italy as "legs of hercules," a deformity which in a mild degree may also result from the practice of horse-back riding. _club-foot (talipes)._--other deviations from the normal position occur in connection with the foot. certain paralytic children (little's disease) walk on the fore part of the foot (_talipes equinus_, "horse's foot"); in some cases the foot is also turned inward, and consequently such children cross their legs as they walk (_talipes_ _equino-varus_). the hand _chiromancy and physiognomy. the hand in figurative speech._ _the high and low type of hand._--the hand is in the highest degree a human characteristic. it is man's organ of grasp and of the sense of touch, while in animals these two functions are relegated to the mouth. the hand has always claimed the attention not only of scientists but of all mankind without distinction. attempts have been made to discover the secrets of human personality from the hand, and a whole art has been built up, called _chiromancy_, which endeavours to read from the hand man's destiny and psychic personality, just as _physiognomy_ was the art of interpreting the character from the face. chiromancy was an accredited art as far back as the days of ancient greece, and it also had a great vogue in the middle ages; while to-day it is out of date and superseded, or perhaps is destined to rise again in some new form, just as physiognomy has risen again in the study of "expressions" of the face and the imprints which they leave behind them. scientists also have made the hand the object of their careful consideration; and the result of their researches shows that the hand really does contain individual characteristics that are not only interesting but, up to a certain point, are revelations of personality. a written word, a clasp of the hand, may furnish documents for the study of the individual. graphology, for instance, is naturally related to the functional action and to the characteristics of the hand itself. gina lombroso has recently made a study of the _hand-clasp_ in its relation to character; when a haughty person offers his hand, he has the appearance of wishing to thrust you from him; the miser barely offers the tips of his fingers; the timid man yields a moist and chilly hand to your touch; the loyal friend makes you feel the whole vigor of his hand in its cordial pressure. in the gesture we have an individual form of linguistic expression. consequently, man reveals himself, not alone through his creative part, the head, but also through its obedient servant, the hand. "the hand is gesture, gesture is visible speech, speech is the soul, the soul is man, the soul of man is in the hand." furthermore, we can judge from the hand whether a man is fitted for work or not; and it is to work that the hand owes its human importance. the first traces of mankind upon earth are not remains of skeletons, but remains of work--the splintered stone. the whole history of social evolution might be called the history of the hand. to say that the hand is the servant of the intelligence is to express the truth in too restricted a way, because the intelligence is nourished and developed through the products of the hand, as by degrees the work of the latter transformed the environment. hence, the history of our intellectual development, like that of our civilization, is based upon the creative work evolved by the collaboration of hand and head. and so, in the orphan asylums, we have the children sing the hymn to the hand, which is a hymn to labour and to progress: "our hand is good for every task." all the solemn acts of life require the cooperation and sanction of the hand. we take oath with the hand; marriage is performed by uniting the hands of the bridal pair; in proof of friendship or to seal a compact, we clasp hands. the word hand has come to be often used in a symbolic sense in many expressive phrases possessing a social and moral significance: "take heed that the hand of the lord does not fall upon you;" "pilate washed his hands;" "to put oneself into another's hands;" "to have a lavish hand;" "to sit with idle hands" or "with the hands in the pockets;" "one hand washes the other;" "to have a hand in the pie;" "to turn one's hand to something;" "to lend a final hand;" "to speak with the hand on the heart;" "to believe the evidence of one's hands," etc. and this high and symbolic significance given to the hand dates back even to bible times: solomon says: "the length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour" (_prov._ , ). and moses: "therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your soul and bind them for a sign upon your hand" (_deut._ , ). attempts have recently been made to describe the "psychological types" of the human hand. zimmermann, for instance, studies two types of hand: the _high type_, delicate, small, slender, with rounded, tapering fingers, and convex nails; a hand which would indicate a fine sensibility, delicate and refined sentiments, a well balanced mind, a high degree of intelligence, a strong and noble character. and there is the _low type_, coarse, short and stocky, with thick fingers and flat nails; an index of sluggish sensibilities, vulgar sentiments and a low order of intelligence, a weak will and apathetic character. in accordance with the theories of mechanics, the type of hand has been considered in relation to its organic use and morphological adaptation. in general, the hand used in the coarser forms of work is of the low type; the high type of hand is that required for nimble and fine movements, in which there is need of the successive concurrence of all those delicate little groups of muscles which are able to act independently and thus give to this organ the marvelous and subtle variety of movements which distinguish it. in regard to dimensions, the large, heavy hand would betoken use, and the little hand _disuse_. therefore, the small hand may be considered as a stigma of parasitism, a distinction which at the present day has lost its nobility. excepting in so far as the "brain workers," who make themselves useful without employing their hands, may still show a distinctive smallness of these members. we should not, however, adhere solely either to the psychological theory of the hand, or to the theory of adaptation; it is necessary to consider the characteristics of the hand from several different points of view. _dimensions._--the dimensions of the hand bear a constant relation to the stature and to certain partial dimensions of the body, while the various parts of the hand preserve constant reciprocal proportions. as far back as in the time of vitruvius it was known that the human hand is related to the stature in the proportion of to . this is a very important fact to know, because the proportion varies in the inferior races and in the anthropoid apes, the descent in the scale showing a corresponding increase of length of hand relatively to the stature. thus, for example, in the mongolian races the proportional length of the hand is . , and in the higher apes it equals . consequently too long a hand is in itself an anomaly that indicates a low type of man; it is to be classed with those anomalies that were formerly regarded as atavistic reversions, phenomena of absolute retrogression in the biological scale. _relations between the hand and the other dimensions of the body._--the closed fist, taking the extreme outside measurement between the metacarpophalangeal articulations, corresponds to the breadth of the heart. the length of the hand corresponds to the height of the visage, and also to the distance intervening between the sternal incisura and the auricular foramen; it is also equal to the distance between the two nipples, and therefore also corresponds to the depth of the chest. there may be hands which are either excessively large or much too small, and that are really marks of degeneration. an excessive volume of these members is called _megalomelia_, and an excessive smallness _oligomelia_. we may encounter an extremely small hand quite as often in the son of an alcoholic labourer as in the son of a degenerate aristocrat; frequently men whose parents were mentally deficient have small, delicate, almost effeminate hands. _the proportions between the various segments of the hands._--the length of the middle finger, measured from the digito-palmar _plica_ or fold, ought to equal the length of the palm. hence the index of the palm should be the proportion between the length of the palm itself and the length of the middle finger. this proportion is of importance because it has certain human characteristics; as a matter of fact, in the anthropoid apes the metacarpus is much longer than the fingers and the palm has a far lower index than that of man. in degenerates (thieves) the hand is frequently narrow and long. _the proportions of the fingers._--if the first and second articulations of the fingers are flexed, leaving the third extended, we find that the extremity of the middle finger reaches to the point where the thenar and _hypothenar_ eminences (fleshy prominences at base of palm) are nearest to each other. this basic point is only approximate and serves to tell us whether the middle finger is normal. the middle finger serves as a measure for the others, as follows: the _index-finger_ reaches to the base of the nail of the middle finger. the _thumb_, to the middle of the first phalanx of the middle finger. the _ring finger_, to the middle of the nail of the middle finger.[ ] the _little finger_, to the third articulation of the ring finger. it often happens that the development of the ulnar side of the hand--the little finger, or both little and ring finger together--is defective. sometimes the little finger is not only extremely small, but a special malformation renders it shorter still when the hand is open; the second phalanx remains flexed, and cannot be extended. combined with the shortness of such fingers there is also an extreme slenderness--_cubital oligodactylia_. it is a far rarer thing to find similar anomalies in the case of the index-finger. the thumb, on the contrary, is sometimes extremely short, in consequence of which it has slight opposability. _functional characteristics._--what characterises the functional action of the human hand is the opposability of the thumb. there ought to be a perfect movement of opposability of the thumb in respect to all the other fingers; but many imbecile children accomplish this movement imperfectly. the mobility of the thumb is associated with a group of muscles situated at its base which forms the great tenar eminence of the palm, opposite which, in corresponding relation to the little finger is the small hypothenar eminence. an insufficient development of these palmar eminences represents a serious malformation, which entails functional disturbances. the hand of the monkey is flat. _the nails._--we have already seen that in the high type of hand the nails should be convex and long, and that in the low type, on the contrary, they are short and flat. the normal nail should extend to an even level with the fingertip. manual labour should normally serve the purpose of keeping the nails worn down; but we, who are not hand-labourers, must use the scissors, in order to maintain the normal state. for, if they were not worn down, the nails would attain an enormous length, like the nails of certain kings of savage tribes, who as a badge of authority have such long nails that their hands are necessarily kept motionless; these kings must in consequence be waited on, even for the smallest need, and actually become the slaves of their own nails, which might be shattered by any sudden movement on the part of their royal possessor. long nails, therefore, are a sign of idleness, while at the same time they demand a great deal of attention. accordingly, let us repudiate the fashion of long nails. as a form of anomaly, we sometimes meet with nails of such exaggerated length that they have the aspect of claws--_onychogryposis_; or, again, an almost total absence of nails, which are reduced to a narrow transverse strip--this characteristic is often found in idiots, and is aggravated by the fact that from childhood such persons have had the habit of "biting their nails." sometimes the nails are exceedingly dense, or actually consist of several superimposed layers, so rich in pigment that they lose their characteristic transparency. this condition is due to trophic disorders of the nails. _teratology and various anomalies._--there are certain monstrosities that sometimes occur in connection with the hand, such as _hexadactylism_ and _polydactylism_, or hands with six or more fingers; or else hands with less than five fingers--_syndactylism_. there may even be a congenital absence of a phalanx, with a consequent notable shortness of the finger--_brachydactylism_. another sort of anomaly frequently found in deficients consists of an excessive development of the interdigital membrane, to the extent of giving the hand the appearance of being web-fingered. an anomaly of minor importance consists in a distortion of the fingers; the little finger has one of its phalanges turned backward. all the fingers ought to be in contact throughout their whole length, and not leave open spaces between them. _lines of the palms._--the lines of the palms, which used to be of so much importance in chiromancy, are now taken into consideration even in anthropology, being studied in normal and abnormal man, and also in the hands of monkeys. the lines of the palms are three in number. the one which follows the curve of the tenar eminence is known in chiromancy as the line of life, and, if long, deep and unbroken, was supposed to denote good health and the prospect of a long life; in anthropology it is called the _biological line_. the second crease, which ought to meet the former between the thumb and the index-finger, is the line of the head, or _cephalic line_, and in chiromancy its union with the line of life was supposed to denote a well-balanced character. the line highest up, which begins between the index- and middle finger and extends to the extreme margin of the palm, is the line of the heart or the _cardiac line_, which in chiromancy is supposed to indicate the emotional development of the individual. these lines taken together form a semblance of the letter m, and are characteristically and gracefully curved. it is considered as an anomaly, to be met with among degenerates and even in mongoloid idiots, to lack any of these lines (numerical reduction) or to have their arrangement distinctly horizontal, and reminiscent of the hand of the monkey. if we trace backward in the zoological scale, we find as a matter of fact that to begin with, there were no lines in the palms, and then there appeared a single crease high up, such as we still find in the cebus. in the human hand carrara has recently made a study of these anomalies, distinguishing several types. in the first type there is a single transverse furrow. in the second type there are two furrows which, however, follow a definitely straight and horizontal direction and consequently are parallel. in a third type a single transverse furrow is associated with a very deep longitudinal furrow running from the carpus to the base of the index- and middle finger--a form that carrara has found only in criminals. nevertheless, many idiots exhibit a similar longitudinal furrow, due to a peculiar development of the palmar aponeurosis. [illustration: fig. .--imprint of human hand, showing papillary lines on palm and fingers.] the disposition of the furrows in the palm is not strictly symmetrical in the two hands; in fact, it is said in chiromancy that the right hand represents our natural character, and our left hand the character which we have acquired in the course of living. _papillary lines._--for some time past the papillary lines have been attracting the attention of students, in regard to their earliest appearance (in the zoological scale), their disposition and complications. they were already spoken of by malpighi and purkinje. alix has investigated the first appearance, in the animal scale, of these lines in the thoracic and pelvic limbs, and concludes: "the greater or lesser development of the papillary lines seems to bear a relation to the higher or lower position of the group to which the animal belongs, the perfection of its hand and the degree of its intelligence." morselli has studied the disposition of these lines in monkeys. we know that the papillary lines bear a relation to the exquisite delicacy of the sense of touch. the primates (higher apes) have on their finger-tips patterns that are far simpler than our own, resembling geometric figures, among which the principal ones are the triangle, the circle, and forms resembling the cross-section of an onion. in the normal human hand, on the contrary, it should be impossible to distinguish any closed figure. the resulting designs, which are very fine and complicated, are not uniform on all the fingers, but differ from finger to finger in proportion to the degree of evolution in a given hand. for example, there is a certain uniformity of design in cases of arrested mental development (imbeciles, epileptics, etc.). this variety of designs produces individual characteristics which are utilized in criminal anthropology for purposes of identification; hence, it is highly important to be able to take impressions of the papillary lines. professor sante de sanctis has quite recently invented a practical method of preserving papillary imprints by the aid of photography. footnotes: [ ] many authorities maintain that the normal relation between the index and ring finger is the reverse of that given above; abundant examples occur in favor of each of these views. chapter vi the skin and the pigments _pigmentation and cutaneous apparatus._--the outer covering of the body possesses an importance that is not only physiological, as a defense of the living animal, but biological and ethnical as well. in fact, the covering of the body frequently constitutes a characteristic of the species, and we may say that it constitutes to a large extent the æsthetics of coloration, supplementing that of form. in the covering of the body there are in general certain appendages which include the double purpose of defense and attraction, as, for example, the scales of fishes, the quills of the porcupine, the marvellous plumage of certain birds, the furry coat of the ermine. man, on the contrary, is almost completely deprived of any covering of the skin, and is conspicuous among all animals as the most defenseless and naked. consequently, the characteristics of the skin itself, quite apart from any covering, assume in man a great ethnic importance, especially as regards his pigmentation. in fact, it is well known that the fundamental classifications of the human races due to blumenbach and linnaeus are based upon the cutaneous pigmentation (white, black, yellow races, etc.). this is because it is a recognised fact that the pigmentation is biologically associated with race, and hence inalterable and hereditary, in the same way, for example, as the cephalic index; although we must not forget the modifications of pigment through phenomena due to adaptation to environment. this would lead us into scientific discussions which would here be out of place, since they have no immediate importance to us as educators. it may suffice to indicate that the distribution of racial colour should not be studied in relation to temperature and the direction of the sun's rays, but rather in connection with the history of human emigration; because, while as a matter of fact it is true that there are races at the equator which are darker and races near the poles which are fairer, it is also true that the esquimaux, for instance, are a dark race, while in lybia there are types of ashen blond, which is the palest blond in the whole range of human pigmentation. the pigment is distributed throughout the skin, the cutaneous appendages and the iris. in the skin, the distribution is not uniform, there being some regions of the body that have more, and some that have less; it is localised in the malpighian mucous layer, _i.e._, the granular, germinative layer of the epidermis, which rests directly upon the papillæ of the derma or corium. the derma, being abundantly supplied with blood-vessels, if seen by itself would appear red; but this color, due to the blood, is concealed to a greater or less extent by the epidermis, according as the latter contains more or less pigment. in the iris of the eye and in the piliferous appendages of the skin, among which we must, from the anthropological point of view, give chief place to the hair of the head, the pigment tends to accumulate, producing a constantly deeper shade. pigmentation constitutes an eminently descriptive characteristic, and consequently, in all attempts to determine it, must be subject to all manner of oscillations in judgment on the part of the observer; yet, because it also constitutes an ethnical characteristic, it deserves to be determined with precision. to this end we have in anthropology _chromatic charts_, corresponding not only to the various shades of the skin, but also to those of the piliferous appendages and of the iris. they consist of a graduated series of colour-tones extending over the entire possible range of the real colours of pigmentation in human beings; and every gradation in tone has a corresponding number. when we wish to use the charts practically, for the purpose of determining accurately the precise degree of pigmentation of a given person's hair, we need only to compare the tone of the hair with the colours of the chart, and, having identified the right one, to note the corresponding number. for instance, we may record: "pigmentation of hair = br. (_i.e._, no. in broca's table). or, again, if we are making a more complex study of all the children in a certain school, we may say: "the chestnut tones ( , , br.) constitute per cent., the remaining percentage consists of the blond shades ( , , br.). and in the case of the skin and the iris the procedure is analogous. by this means the investigation is objective and accurate. as a rule, the three pigmentations are determined in accordance with a reciprocal correspondence. the light colourings, as well as the dark, generally go together; _i.e._, a person having blond hair has also light eyes and a fair skin, and _vice versa_--in other words, the entire organism has either a greater or less accumulation of pigment in all its centres of pigmentation. furthermore, these anthropological characteristics are accompanied by others of equal ethnical importance, such as the stature, the cephalic index, etc.; and all of them combine to determine an ethnic type in all its complex morphology. in this, as in all other anthropological data, it is necessary to determine the limits between which it may oscillate. in the races of mankind, the colour of the skin ranges from a black brown to a gray brown, to brick red, to yellow, and to white; but among the population of italy, and among europeans in general (excepting certain localised groups, like the lapps, etc.), the variation is confined within the limits of the so-called white tones, that is, from brunette to a sallow white, a rosy white, or a florid red, with each of which tints there are special corresponding grades of pigmentation for hair and eyes, and also, on broad, general lines, different ethnical characteristics oscillating within our normal limits of stature and cephalic index. all of which may be summarised in the following table: -------------------------------------------------------------------- pigmentation | | ------------------------------------| stature | cephalic index skin | hair | iris | | --------------+----------+----------+--------------+---------------- brunette | black |black |medium or low |dolichocephalic, yellow-white }| light |chestnut |medium or high|brachycephalic pink-white }| chestnut| and blue.| | }| & blond.| | | florid red | red |gray |(outside of ethnical | | |characteristics: the red colour | | |of the hair is abnormal) -------------------------------------------------------------------- in which we have also included the abnormal colour of red hair, which plays a part in the actual colour scale of italian pigmentation: not, however, as a racial characteristic, but rather as a deviation. in addition to the oscillation of limits, we should also study in any given population the geographic distribution of a definite anthropological datum. this must also be done in the case of the pigments. among livi's splendid charts, there is one regarding the distribution of the brunette type in italy. from this it appears that the greatest prevalence of the brunette type is in sardinia and calabria, and that in general there is a prevalence of the dark types in the southern districts; while the lowest percentage of brunettes is found in piedmont, lombardy and venetia, and in general the number of brunettes is less in northern and central italy. the relative distribution of other ethnical data should be noted, such as the stature and the cephalic index, in the corresponding charts. by combining these results, we find that in the north of italy the prevalent type is blond, brachycephalic, and of tall stature; while in the south it is a dark, dolichocephalic type, of low stature. this is what i succeeded in showing in my work upon the women of latium, in which i sought to complete the details of these two ethnic types. in latium there is a prevalence of the dark, dolichocephalic type of low stature, a type that is still almost pure at castelli romani; this type is fine, slender and delicate in formation, and corresponds to sergi's mediterranean stock, to which are due the great egyptian and græco-roman civilisations. the other race is blond, tall and brachycephalic, and has only a scanty representation in southern latium, but is prevalent in an almost pure form in the neighborhood of orte. this type is much coarser and more massive in its formation, with a euriplastic skeleton, and corresponds to sergi's eurasian race that immigrated from the continent. * * * * * in general, we may say that it is foreordained in our biological destiny not only what form, but also what colouring we ought to attain in the course of our individual evolution, when we finally arrive at mature development. _the pigments during growth._--in the course of individual evolution, it is not only the form that becomes modified, but the pigments as well. we know, for example, that children are more blond than adults. transformations in regard to the pigments occur, however, more especially at the period of puberty. _pigmentation of the hair._--the colour of the hair becomes darker in the course of growth, changing from light chestnut to dark, from blond to light chestnut, from dark to black, from light auburn to fiery red. sometimes this darkening of the hair is accompanied by a change in tone (from blond to chestnut); at other times it consists in an _intensification_ of the original colour through an increase of pigment, which _fixes_ and _defines_ a colour that was previously indefinite. in children who were ill or ailing during their early years, in other words, weakly children (through denutrition, exhausting illnesses, overexertion), this phenomenon is imperfectly achieved, just as their growth as a whole is imperfectly achieved. the consequence is that these weaklings retain a paler and less decided pigmentation, which explains the fact that statistics show a greater proportion of frail, rachitic, tuberculous and mentally deficient persons among the blonds than among the brunettes; but it is among that class of blonds whose light colour represents an arrest of development (suppressed brunettes). social conditions also exert an influence upon the colour of the hair; a larger number of blonds and of lighter and more indefinite blonds are to be found in the schools for the poor than in those for the rich; also a larger number in country schools, where the poverty is greater, than in city schools. consequently we may conclude that there are two classes of blonds: that which is associated with a racial type, and that which is the consequence of arrested development. the first type has a vivid, uniform and decisive colour tone, accompanied by physiological robustness; the second is indefinite in colour tone and lacks uniformity--for example, the more exposed parts of the body are paler, and the hair varies in tone, some locks showing greater intensity of colour than others. this is especially noticeable in frail young girls from the country, where the sun discolours the surface layer of hair. in this connection it should be remembered that in those geographical regions where the rays of the sun are most nearly perpendicular, the pigments are, on the contrary, darker and that the skin becomes bronzed under the ardent kiss of the sun. but while the sun intensifies the tints that are strong with life, it destroys those that are weak and moribund, just as it does in the case of lifeless fabrics, which become bleached out by the action of the solar light. accordingly the pigments give us an important test for judging the robustness of the body; the blonds who are the product of arrested development of brown tones that have not been attained because of weakness, are frail in health and physical resistance, which is the basis of the popular belief that vigorous wet-nurses must be brunettes. as a matter of fact, in our own population of latium the brunette type prevails over the blond by a percentage of per cent.; and it may be that a blond roman wet-nurse is a weakly creature, just as a roman red wine is in all probability a white wine that has been coloured. * * * * * _pigmentation of the iris._--in regard to the coloration of the eyes, a change often takes place at puberty which is the opposite to that already noted in regard to the hair: _the eyes become more_ _uniformly light_; this happens in the majority of cases. in the coloration of the eyes it is necessary to distinguish two factors, the _uvea_ and the _pigment_. the iris has a fundamental and uniform light colour (due to the _uvea_) which oscillates, according to the individual, between blue and greenish. in this layer the pigment is deposited; it may be more or less intense in tone, shading from yellow to a dark maroon. when the pigment is wanting or is very scant, the fundamental blue or greenish colour of the uvea is apparent. in little children the pigment is distributed over the uvea in a manner by no means uniform, in little masses or spots that are usually of a mixed colour, so that the colour of the iris in infancy may be uncertain. at puberty a uniform distribution of the pigment already accumulated takes place; but rarely an intensification. hence the colour becomes more decided, but not deeper, as godin has recently succeeded in proving. _pigmentation of the skin._--in the colouring of the skin it is necessary to distinguish between that which is due to the blood and that which is due to the pigment. the blood, whose colour shows transparently through the layers of the epidermis, produces the various pinkish tones. the pigment, deposited in all races of mankind under the malpighian layer, produces the various brownish tones. the quantity of cutaneous pigment is a constant _racial_ factor--a hereditary factor. nevertheless, in certain individuals, it may be influenced by external agents (sunshine, heat) which tend to cause it to vary; such alterations produce _individual varieties_, and also variations in coloration of the skin between the covered parts of the body and those exposed to the sun or to atmospheric action in general; these variations, one and all, are not hereditary. at puberty the pigment is increased in certain portions of the body in connection with the generative functions which become established at that time. besides this, the general pigmentation is intensified; children are whiter than adults. _the skin and the hair during the evolution of the organism._--in the case of the hair also, the pigment does not remain a constant quantity throughout the different periods of life. grey hair is a normal sign of the decadence of an organism which has entered upon its involution. as is well known, the hair of the head, the beard, and in general all the piliferous appendages turn white, beginning in the regions where the hair is most abundant, _i.e._, on the head. in some men, however, the hairs of the beard are the first to turn grey; this is not perfectly normal, it is an _inferior_ manner of growing old. a german proverb says, that he who works much with the head (the thinking class) turns grey first in his hair, and that he who works much with his mouth (the hearty eater) turns grey first in his beard. the skin also gives manifest signs of decadence in the form of _wrinkles_. these serve up to a certain point as documentary evidence of the life which the individual has led and the _high_ or _low_ _type_ to which he belongs. just as in the case of grey hair, it is the class of thinkers who have the most wrinkles on their forehead; those who were given over to baser passions, such as called for labial rather than frontal expression, have on the contrary, more wrinkles around the mouth. we know how the peasant class has a veritable halo of wrinkles around the mouth. thinkers, on the contrary, have a single vertical furrow in the middle of the forehead: the line of thought. the transverse lines on the forehead are parallel and unconnected. faces with precocious wrinkles may be met with, even in children (denutrition, mental anxiety, dystrophic conditions); and conversely, there are faces which have been preserved unwrinkled up to an advanced age (especially in the case of women of the aristocracy, in whom it may happen that neither suffering nor mental effort has left its traces on their lives). _pigmentation of the hair._--this anthropological datum merits special consideration, since it plays so large a part in the æsthetics of the human body; and also preserves certain constant characteristics that serve to differentiate the races. in a study of the hair it is necessary to consider the _quantity_, the _disposition_ and the _form_. abundant, strong, sleek hair is in physiological relation to robustness of body. thin hair, on the contrary, or hair that is easily extirpated at the slightest pull, or dry hair, indicate insufficient nutrition, which may also be connected with dystrophic or pathological conditions (hereditary syphilis, cretinism). the normal disposition of the hair is characteristic, but it may assume a number of individual variations, as has recently been shown by dr. sergio sergi, son of our mutual instructor giuseppe sergi (sergio sergi, _sulla disposizione dei capelli intorno_ _alla fronte_--"the disposition of the hair upon the forehead"--acts of the società di antropologia, vol. , no. ). the hair, after forming a single whorl or _vortex_, corresponding to the _obelion_, flows over the forehead in either two or three divisions, the _lines of the parting_ (either lateral lines or a single central line) corresponding to the natural divisions of the flowing hair. across the forehead the hair ceases at the line of _the roots_, which crowns the face cornice-like; it is a sinuous line and rises at the sides in two points, corresponding to the natural partings of the hair. the hair stops normally at the boundary-line of the forehead, which together with the face forms the _visage_, leaving bare that part which in man corresponds to that portion of the frontal bone that rises erect above the orbital arches, _i.e._, the human portion of the forehead. the form of the hair is an ethnical characteristic. among our european populations the extreme forms are wanting, namely, _smooth_ hair (stiff, coarse, sparse hair peculiar to the red and yellow races, such as the american indian, esquinaux, samoyed and chinese), and _kinky_ hair (wooly hair, curling in fine, close spirals, such as is found in all its variations among the australians and the african negroes). consequently, we cannot use the words _smooth_ or _kinky_ for the purpose of qualifying the forms of hair found in our populations. we may, however, meet with _straight_ hair (not _smooth_), or _curly_ hair (not _kinky_). in addition to these forms, which among us represent the extremes, there are also two other forms--namely, _wavy_ hair (in ample curves) and _spiral_ hair (forming much narrower curves, the so-called ringlets). corresponding to these various qualities of hair, there are essential differences in the physical structure of the stem or shaft of the hair itself. if we make transverse sections of hair and examine them under the microscope, we find that the resulting geometrical figures are not all equal: the forms of the sections oscillate between rounded and ellipsoidal forms. furthermore, there are races in which we may find hair having a circular section (_smooth_ hair) and there are others in which we may find, on the contrary, an extremely elongated elliptical section (_kinky_ hair); in the first case the hair is a long, bristly cylinder; in the second, it is a ribbon with a tendency to roll up. [illustration: fig. .] in general, the straighter the hair is, the nearer its cross-section approaches a perfect circle; and the more curly it is, the nearer its cross-section approaches an elongated ellipse. the accompanying examples are drawn from the results of my own study of the women of latium; they represent five microscopic preparations. the figure in the middle (no. ) represents _straight_ hair; the two figures, no. and , are from curly hair; no. is wavy hair, and no. , close-curled hair, or ringlets. thus we see how widely the sections of hair differ according to the relative degree of curliness; and conversely, how identical the two sections, nos. and are, both of them taken from equally curly hair, although from different heads. straight hair has an almost circular section, although, slightly elliptical; this proves that really straight hair does not exist; in fact, even when it attains the maximum degree of smoothness, it retains a tendency to curl, which is shown, if in no other way, by the readiness with which it acquires a waviness, if habitually kept braided. there is no other section so perfectly circular as that of the red races, thus demonstrating the bristle-like rigidity of the smooth type of hair. wavy hair is that which, in the form of its section, approaches most nearly to straight hair; it is a slightly elongated ellipse (no. ). _anomalies relating to the pigment, the skin and the piliferous_ _appendages: pigment and skin._--there are certain congenital anomalies of the skin, occasionally to be met with, among which i make note of the following principal ones: _a. anomalies due to hypertrophy of the pigment and the corium:_ _ichthyosis._--the surface of the skin presents large, raised, irregular patches of various dark colours tending to maroon. _b. anomalies due to hypertrophy of the pigment_: . _nævi materni_: dark isolated spots (moles, birth-marks). . _freckles_: small, light brown spots, no larger than the head of a pin, scattered over the body, principally on the chest and face. . _melanosis_: the entire skin has a dark appearance, similar to that of the lower races of mankind, but especially on the face and hands. _c. anomalies due to atrophy of the pigment. albinism._--the skin presents an appearance of milky whiteness; even the hair is white, and the iris of the eye is red. _wrinkles._--the wrinkles of the face are deserving of attention, as being a detail of noteworthy importance. in regard to wrinkles, two points should be noted; a. precocity; b. anomalies. _a. precocity of wrinkles._--this is an indication of rapid involution, and is frequently met with in degenerates. idiotic children often show a flabby, shrivelled skin, overstrewn with a multitude of wrinkles that give them the aspect of little old men. _b. anomalies_: the following are to be specially noted: . transverse wrinkles on the nose, frequent in flat-nosed idiots. . wrinkles on the forehead; in normal persons these are interrupted and broken, they are not quite parallel, nor perfectly horizontal, nor very deep. in degenerates it is frequently noticed that the wrinkles on the forehead form one continuous horizontal line, extending completely across it; sometimes it is so deep that it seems to divide the forehead transversely into two parts. the various wrinkles, straight and unbroken, are quite parallel. . the zygomatic (cheek-bone) wrinkles and the wrinkles around the mouth are extremely deep in mentally defective adult and aged persons, and also in criminals, whose facial expression is especially active in the region of the nose and mouth, which constitute the least contemplative portion of the face. _anomalies of the hair.-- . quantity._--the quantity of hair may be excessive--_polytrichia_, a mark of degeneration easily to be met with among delinquents and prostitutes; or there may be a scarcity of hair--_atrichia_, among neuropaths, feeble-minded and cretins. sometimes, precocious baldness occurs, as a result of defective nutrition of the skin. [illustration: fig. .--showing various types of the line of roots of the hair.] _ . disposition._--we should note: a. the line of roots of the hair; b. the vortices. _a. line of roots._--this may be situated _too_ _far down_ upon the forehead, in which case it gives a false impression of a low forehead, or _too far back_, in which case it gives a false impression of a high forehead. note in addition the form of the line of roots; it ought to be, as we have already said, sinuous; sometimes, on the contrary, this line is straight, and forms a uniform curve, without sinuosity, across the forehead (imbeciles); at other times it descends in a peak at the middle point of the forehead. _b. vortices._--normally, there ought to be one central whorl or vortex over the sinciput. abnormally it may happen: that the vortex is misplaced--above, below or laterally; that the vortex is double; that there are also vortices along the frontal line of roots, or near this line. _ . form._--it sometimes happens that we find in degenerates forms of hair that are normal in inferior races, _i.e._, smooth hair, or kinky, wooly hair. _grey hair._--sometimes in the case of degenerates or those suffering from dystrophy, a precocious greyness occurs (grey-haired young men, children with white hair); or a partial congenital greyness (clumps of white hair). no form of grey hair, however, should be confused with albinism. _anomalies relating to the eyebrows and the beard. the eyebrows._--various anomalies may occur, in respect to the quantity of hair, and the form of the eyebrows. the hairs may be too abundant or too scanty. the form may be _oblique_, in degenerate mongoloid types. a notable anomaly consists in a union of the eyebrows, which meet and form an unbroken line across the region of the glabella. the "united eyebrows" constitute a grave sign of degeneration, and are popularly regarded in italy as a mark of the "_jettatura_" or "evil eye." _beard._--it may be very thick or very thin. too thick a beard is important, especially if the hairs are also abundant on the cheeks and even on the forehead, a characteristic that is frequently accompanied by an abundant growth of hair over the entire body (general hypertrichosis). a thin beard and moustache may constitute a normal characteristic in certain races, such as the kaffirs and other african negro tribes; as also in the chinese. in our own race, on the contrary, it is an abnormal characteristic, which has been interpreted as a sexual inversion (feminism) and is met with frequently among thieves. morphological analysis of certain organs (stigmata) in our morphological analysis of certain organs, we shall have occasion to enumerate a number of separate _malformations_, to the study of which criminal anthropology has devoted much attention. since many of these are met with in children, we will make a rapid enumeration of them, but must keep in mind that the ability to distinguish the abnormal form from the normal requires practice in the actual observation of subjects, while mere verbal descriptions may lead to false and confusing impressions. synoptic chart { position { rima palpebrarum / high type { or eye-slit \ low type eyes { size of eye-ball { macrophthalmia { microphthalmia { exophthalmia { sclerotic coat { { miosis { foramina (pupils) { mydriasis \ anisocoria { asymmetrics / position { \ form ears { { wildermuth's ear { { embryonal ear { malformations { morel's ear { handle-shaped ear { crumpled ear \ canine ear, etc. / leptorrhine { types { platyrrhine nose { \ mesorrhine { / flat { anomalies { crooked \ trilobate / simian mouth { lips { negroid mouth { \ hare-lip, etc. { / number buccal { { dimensions apparatus { teeth { form { { diastemata { \ irregular position { tongue / macroglossia { \ microglossia { palate / ogival (pointed arch) \ cleft _generalities._--passing on to a more minute study of form, we shall have to invade the field of human æsthetics. the proportions of the body are all determined, in respect to their harmony; and especially admirable is the harmony existing between the principal parts of the human physiognomy. artists know that in a regular face the length of the eye is equal to the interocular distance, or to the width of the nose, while the latter stands to the width of the mouth in a ratio of to . the length of the external ear remains, at all ages, exactly equal to the sum of the width of the two eyes. the eyes and the external ears grow but little, consequently they are relatively quite large in children. the nose and mouth, on the contrary, grow much more, and hence appear quite small in infancy. the growth of the face, like that of the whole body, is an evolution. among all the harmonies of the human body, that which can undergo the greatest numbers of alterations in the course of its evolution is the reciprocal harmony between the parts of the face. there are more children than grown persons with beautiful faces, because the efforts of adaptation to environment, or congenital biological causes, or pathological causes may easily alter the evolution of the face. we will take a rapid glance at the principal morphological anomalies likely to be encountered in connection with the face. all the malformations that we are about to enumerate are still included under the generic name of _stigmata_, and they may be _degenerative stigmata_ (congenital anomalies), _pathological stigmata_ (acquired through disease), or _stigmata of caste_ (caused by adaptation to environment). _anomalies relating to the eye._--the eyes may be too far apart (usually in broad, square faces of the mongolian type), or too near together (for the most part in long narrow faces, with a hooked nose). _rima palpebrarum (eye-slit)._--a straight, narrow slit (low type); an oblique slit (mongolian eye). _size of eye-ball._--the eye-ball may be too large (_macrophthalmia_) and hence often protrudes from the socket (_exophthalmia_); or it may be too small and deep-sunken (_microphthalmia_), or asymmetrical in size (one eye-ball larger than the other). _direction.--strabism_ (inward, outward, mono-lateral, bilateral). _sclerotic coat._--it may be injected with blood (delinquents), or partly covered over by an abnormal development of the semilunar _plica_ or fold of the palpebral conjunctiva. _pupillary foramina._--the two foramina of the pupils ought to be equal in size, circular and with a clearly marked contour. but under various conditions of age and ill health the size as well as the equality of the pupils may vary. as regards the size of the pupils: when the pupillary foramina are too small, this constitutes _miosis_--a condition frequently found in certain serious nervous diseases (locomotor ataxia, paralytic dementia), and in chronic opium poisoning; it is frequent in meningitis. in old persons miosis is a normal condition. when, on the contrary, the foramina of the pupils are too large, this constitutes _mydriasis_ (poisoning from atropine, intestinal diseases, etc.). in addition to these, there is _anisocoria_, when the two foramina are unequal (neurasthenia, chronic alcoholism, first stage of paralytic dementia). _form of the pupillary foramen._--it is not always round, sometimes it is oval (cat's-eye). frequently the form of the pupil is permanently altered as the result of a surgical operation. thus, the contour of the pupil may be broken instead of clear cut; in verifying this phenomenon it is important to inquire whether the subject has suffered from any progressive disease of the iris, such as might produce the same condition. _anomalies of the ear._--while in the case of animals the external ear is greatly developed, movable and detached from the cranium, in man it is reduced in size, immovable and attached to the cranium. two measurements are taken of the ear, the length and the width, and by means of the usual formula we obtain the index of the ear, which for the european race is about per cent. this index has a certain importance because we find that the proportion of width to length steadily increases as we descend through the inferior human races, down to the ape, and the same increase continues if we descend through the different grades of the simian order. this is to a large extent a result of the fact that, in the descent from man to ape, the lobule of the ear, which is essentially a human form, steadily diminishes, until it finally disappears. from this it may be concluded that there exist minute zoological differences other than generic between man and animals. as to malformations of the human ear, which may consist of shortness or absence of the lobule (formerly interpreted as a simian inheritance) they are to-day attributed to physiological causes. an abundant circulation produces an ample and _fleshy_ lobe; in oligohæmic constitutions (deficiency of blood) the lobe is delicate, pale and even atrophied. brachysceles often have a big lobe, and macrosceles, predisposed to phthisis, often have no lobe. in regard to the external ear we should observe: . _symmetry._--the ears should be symmetrical: a. in respect to their position. b. in respect to the more or less pronounced divergence of the ears from the cranium. c. in respect to their form. a. _position._--we must look for this form of asymmetry by observing the cranium according to the occipital norm. the asymmetry may be caused by one of the ears being placed _too high up_ or _too far back_ in respect to the other, or both asymmetries may occur together. b. the asymmetry due to divergence is observed from two norms, the facial and the occipital. c. asymmetry of _form_ is perceived by observing successively the two external ears according to the lateral norms; their morphological aspect should correspond on the two sides. . _anatomy and malformations of the external ear._--a preliminary anatomical note is necessary. the external ear consists of various parts, which were first studied and named by fabricius of acquapendente: . _the helix._--this is the outermost fold of the ear; it takes its origin above the auricular foramen in a root starting from the inside of the concha and rises upward, to descend again describing a regular helix; and it terminates in the _lobule_. at the point where the helix bends downward to form the descending branch, a small cartilaginous formation can be discerned by the sense of touch; this is the _darwinian tubercle_. . the _antihelix._--this originates in two roots under the ascending branch of the helix and terminates in the _antitragus_; it is a cartilaginous formation. . _the auricular fossa._--this divides the helix from the antihelix. . _the tragus._--this is a little triangular cartilaginous formation situated in front of the auricular foramen. between the tragus and the antitragus is the _intertragical fossa_. . _the concha._--this is the concavity, the internal fossa of the auricle, which leads to the channel of the internal ear. instances may be found of _malformation_ of each and all of these various parts of the ear, which may be excessively developed, or almost wanting, or altered in form. _the helix._--the over-folding of the cartilage may be wanting, leaving the margin of the auricle straight; this form is met with in the mongolian race, but among us it is a malformation (morel's ear). it is a more serious malformation if it occurs combined with excessive development of the darwinian tubercle; in this case the auricle assumes a really animal-like aspect ("canine ear"). the helix may originate within the concha from a root so prolonged that it divides the concha itself into two parts, an upper and a lower. the helix may be greatly developed and sharply divergent from the cranium--handle-shaped ear; or it may be bent at an angle at the upper outer margin--_embryonal_ _ear_. the _lobule_ is, as we have already said, an essentially human formation, and as though man were conscious of this fact and proud of it, it is customary in all races to adorn it with ear-rings, to such an extent that in india and in cochin-china the lobe is burdened with ornaments of great weight, in consequence of which it has continued to develop until it almost touches the shoulder. the lobule may be attached to the cheek (sessile lobule). the antihelix may be so developed as to rise in front of the helix--_wildermuth's_ _ear_. another important malformation connected with the ear, which is commonly found in idiots, is a prolongation and restriction of the intertragical fossa into a fissure (_fissura intertragica_). the tragus ought normally to exceed the antitragus in dimensions. _anomalies of the nose._--the nose presents very numerous individual varieties, even among normal individuals. in the european race we distinguish the straight nose (italian), the aquiline, the retroussé (french), the sinuous, etc. but in all these forms one characteristic remains more or less constant: the aperture of the nostrils is long and narrow, or rather its length exceeds its width (the nostrils are thin and mobile, the skeleton of the nose projects above the plane of the face). in the other races of mankind, on the contrary, two other types of nose are distinguished in respect to this characteristic: . the aperture of the nostrils is round (the nostrils themselves are fleshy, the base of the nose somewhat flattened)--_mesorrhine nose_, characteristic of the mongolian race, and found repeatedly in mongoloid idiots; . the aperture of the nostrils is broadened, _i.e._, the width exceeds the length (the nose is flattened and almost level at the base, and furrowed for the most part with transverse wrinkles, the nostrils are exceedingly fleshy and immobile)--_platyrrhine nose_, peculiar to the african and australian races. corresponding to the external form of the nose there is also a difference in the skeleton in relation to the _piriform aperture_ and the naso-labial duct; the external form of the nose is really dependent upon the skeleton consequently, the above-mentioned nomenclature applies also to the piriform aperture of the cranium (see _skeleton of the face_). the flat nose is found as a malformation in idiots, and is usually accompanied by prognathism. other important malformations relating to the nose are the development of a tubercle at the tip--_trilobate nose_, frequent in _low types of idiots_; and the _tip of the_ _note bent sideways_ (usually toward the left); this form occurs in leptorrhine noses and is considered to be a stigma of criminality (thieves). _anomalies relating to the buccal apparatus._--malformations occur in relation to the lips, the teeth, the tongue and the palate. _the lips._--the european type of lips is well known both as regards their proportions and their lines of contour which determine the distinctive form. sometimes this graceful modeling is wanting; the contour of the lips is formed of almost horizontal lines, the oral aperture is very wide, and has the appearance, especially when laughing, of being edged by a perfectly uniform, narrow line, thus resembling the mouth of a monkey. at other times we meet with thick, fleshy lips, slightly pendulous, like those of the black races, especially the hottentots and australians; it is a malformation frequent among idiots, and occurs together with prognathism and the flattened nose. another notable form is that in which the lips are not only thick and fleshy, but the internal tissues are so abnormally developed that they protrude from the oral orifice in a slight prolapsus; this form of lips is quite characteristic of myxedematous idiots. finally, we may meet with the so-called hare-lip, or lip divided in the middle, signifying an arrest of embryonal development and frequently accompanied by a cleft palate and a double uvula (see _development of the face_). _the teeth._--there is nothing new to tell of the characteristic forms of the teeth--the incisors, the canines, the premolars, and the molars--nor of their regular placement in a single row corresponding to the curve of the maxilla and the mandible. i shall therefore merely give the two dental formulæ corresponding to the two dentitions of man. first dentition, or "milk teeth": -- -- -- -- -- -- = teeth incisors canines premolars second or final dentition: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- = teeth incisors canines premolar molars in relation to the teeth there are a great number of anomalies which may occur, in number, in position, in size and form, and these anomalies are so frequent that we may say the _smile_ stigmatizes the degenerate. frequently it is the most evident stigma of the whole face; so much so that this same smile which adds so much charm to the normal human countenance becomes ugly and repulsive in degenerates. _anomalies in number of teeth._--sometimes there are more than teeth, owing to the presence of certain _supernumerary teeth_; these will be found to occur most frequently in the case of the canines, next in that of the incisors, and lastly in that of the premolars. [illustration: fig. .--mongolian eye.] [illustration: fig. .--embryonal ear.] [illustration: fig. .--decayed teeth.] [illustration: fig. .--worn-down teeth.] [illustration: fig. .--example of a worn-down tooth.] [illustration: fig. .--handle-shaped ears.] sometimes the number of teeth is less than , in which case it is necessary to distinguish two cases of very different significance: first, the last molars ("wisdom teeth") may be wanting; secondly, some of the other teeth may be wanting (incisors, canines, or premolars). the last molar is of no use whatever to man, because it does not enter into the service of mastication, and it is tending to disappear. we may even predict that the day is coming when mankind will no longer have wisdom teeth, and the human dental formula will be as follows: -- -- -- -- ---- ---- ---- ---- = teeth -- -- -- -- incisors canines premolar molars the absence of useful teeth, on the contrary, is a grave sign of degeneration, and one which leaves wide spaces between two adjacent teeth (wide diastemata). the _diastema_, or space left between adjacent teeth, is of great importance. there are various causes for this stigma. besides the one already mentioned, due to congenital absence of a tooth (broad diastema), another recognized cause is an _anomalous placing_ of the teeth (narrow diastema). the significance of this is not always the same: for example, the diastema between two upper incisors indicates a very slight anomaly of embryonal development, and, some people think, gives a sympathetic charm to the smile. on the contrary, a diastema occurring at the side of a canine tooth signifies a congenital malformation. at other times such anomalous spaces may be due to the fact that the teeth have remained small, or happen to have worn away laterally and present an almost filiform or thread-like aspect (diastemata due to microdontia resulting from syphilis or various dystrophic conditions). the _form_ of the teeth demands consideration next in order of importance. sometimes we encounter cases of teeth that are all nearly alike in form; they have lost that morphological differentiation which already existed in the anthropoid apes; there is an insensible transition from the incisors, all exactly equal in form and dimensions, to the premolars, which also present the same appearance, passing over a tooth which it would be difficult to define either as incisor or premolar (the canine tooth). usually in such uniform dentition there are slight diastemata. this condition, however, is not frequently met with; it is much more usual to find this anomaly occurring only in part; the incisor teeth are all equal, or else the canine resembles an incisor or a premolar. in combination with this characteristic, it often happens that there is a diastema next to the canine. in regard to size, the teeth may be too large, _macrodontia_, or too small, _microdontia_. microdontia may be due to a true and actual arrest of development of the teeth (white teeth, small and narrow, often all very much alike), or to a kind of _corrosion_ of the teeth due to congenital dystrophism (syphilis). in this case the teeth are ground down and _worn away_ either horizontally or laterally (filiform teeth), or again the cutting edge of the tooth is not horizontal in the two upper canines, but oblique, so that the teeth have the appearance of being broken. often the teeth are furrowed transversely with yellow streaks corresponding to a lack of development of the enamel. finally, the teeth may present various anomalies of position, which may be grouped under three heads: a. narrow teeth, so placed as to leave slight intervals between them. b. isolated teeth, planted outside the common line, or else transversely instead of horizontally. c. the dentition does not follow the regular curved line, but shows various sinuosities, usually bending in at the point corresponding to the canine tooth. _the tongue._--the tongue may present morphological anomalies of great importance, since they are the cause of many defects of speech. sometimes the tongue is too big--_macroglossia_, in which case it cannot move freely within the buccal cavity and even finds difficulty in remaining within the mouth, but projects between the lips, contributing in no small measure to giving the face an imbecile expression. at other times it is too small--_microglossia_. a deficient or excessive development of the lingual frenulum may also interfere with the movements of the tongue (tongue-tie). _the palate._--it is a frequent experience to meet with idiots having an _ogival_ or gothic-arched palate, with the vault much curved and narrow, such as is met with in animals and similar in section to a gothic window. a special bony ridge or crest may also occur along the _raphe_ or median line. lastly, the palatine vault may be divided in two (cleft palate), a form frequently accompanied by a double uvula; this stigma may also be one of the causes of defective speech, so frequently met with in deficient children. the palate normally presents a diversity of forms: narrow and high, or broad and low--forms associated with the general type of head (dolichocephalic, high palate; brachycephalic, low palate) and especially with the type of face, as we have already seen in treating of the latter. =importance of the study of morphology.=--the study of morphology is of high importance in biology, and even more so in anthropology. and since the organism is a harmonic whole, in which the parts and their functions are closely interrelated, any external anomaly leads us to assume that there are corresponding anomalies of the internal organs, and hence, functional anomalies; hence also, in man, psychic anomalies. and conversely, if perfection of form has been attained, it leads us to assume that the entire organism is perfect in its internal organs as well, and in its complex physical and psychic functional action. "assure yourselves and one another," says lelut in his _cadre_ _de philosophie et de l'homme_, "that wherever you see a change in the body, you will have to search for a corresponding change in the intelligence. assure yourselves that you will have to establish this correlation throughout the entire scale, from the lowest degradations of imbecility to the highest achievement of genius, from the clearest and strongest mentality to that which is most profoundly and irremediably disordered." this correlation between the morphological and the psychic personality must be sought throughout the entire scale of human variations, from the genius to the most degraded of imbeciles, from the strongest and most upright character to that which is most profoundly perturbed. hence morphology constitutes a fundamental part in the study of human personality. the principle of this aforesaid correlation was at first exemplified in the field of biological science only by abnormal persons, whose noticeable deviations from the customary limits, both in the external form of the body and in their psychic manifestations, gave proof of the phenomenon by exaggerating it. in his classic work, _traité des dégénérescences_, morel asserts that "the study of physical man cannot be isolated from the study of moral man." but in our own day, the theory has been marvellously illuminated and popularised by cesare lombroso, and precisely on its pathological side. the lombrosian theories were so rapidly popularised even before they were fully matured, that it seemed as though the spirit of the times was ripe to receive them, and had awakened to greet the new order of thought, after having long slumbered over the old; thus they wrought a revolution in the field of law and morality, and even laid a foundation for the erection of a new pedagogy. or to state it better, they again brought to light certain principles of truth that had been understood even from the most ancient times. for the principles proclaimed by lombroso are in their general line certainly nothing new nor suddenly derived from a study of modern civilization; the belief that a physical stigma represents a moral stigma is exceedingly ancient. in the bible we find solomon saying: we may read the heart in the face. homer describes the malignant thyrsites as having a narrow forehead and ferret-like eyes. caesar feared only those conspirators who were pale and lean. in the middle ages there was a law which held that in case of doubt as to which of two men was guilty, the uglier looking one should be hanged. and this same principle has been established from time immemorial in the current wisdom of the people, as is demonstrated by proverbs, which are like laws graven upon stone, and have been gathered experimentally through the repeated observation of successive generations. the proverbs tell us of the physical stigmata of the wicked: "beware of those who bear the mark of god;" "the bristles prove the brute." even in art, degenerative stigmata are introduced to represent the malevolent. the satyrs are represented as being of the microcephalic type. the devil was formerly represented as having goat's feet and a tail; michelangelo pictures him with a narrow, receding forehead and pointed ears. to-day all this is shown to be true. the truth, and sometimes the intuitive semblances of truth in their relation to outward phenomena, have the most ancient and diffuse history, because, since they always existed, they were analogously interpreted by the intelligence of man. and this is proved by the glorious discoveries of positive science, which we may trace back to far distant foreshadowings; what was in danger of being lost has been born again with an overpowering fertility. the great theories of darwin regarding evolution were already perceived by herodotus. the cycle of indestructible material, proclaimed by greek philosophy, formed the palpitating heart of the teachings of giordano bruno; and in our day it formed the fascinating halo of materialism which illuminated the face of my own teacher, jakob moleschott. now, the fact that it is not new demonstrates that the lombrosian theory explains phenomena which really exist, since they came under the observation of man from the earliest times. and the fact that this theory has become popularised tells us that the times were ripe to fertilise its renovating principles into practical action. for where is it that we find the triumphant success of science? the attainment of its most profound purposes? we find it wherever science achieves something that is practical and useful for all mankind. because, so long as anything is merely perceived or looked into, or even deeply studied, it never attains the apogee of its scientific glory and dignity unless it finds some means of benefiting and ameliorating humanity. lombroso grasps a principle and turns it into a benefit; and he sends it broadcast throughout human society, to purify society of the spirit of personal vengeance. garibaldi redeems an oppressed people and saves the oppressors from the burden of being unjust and tyrannical, through a work of humanity which has no national boundary; lombroso, by means of his new scientific and moral principle, effects a world-wide redemption of a despised and outcast class, and saves us from the iniquitous burden of social vengeance. two great deeds of heroism, one of the heart and the other of the brain; two great works of redemption. nevertheless, the principle of a morphological and psychic relationship was not wholly wanting in examples of practical application. not, however, in the case of man; but in regard to animals it had been utilised for a long time back. for instance, when a horse cannot be broken by ordinary methods, the veterinary is called in, and he either discovers some ailment and prescribes a treatment, or else be studies the conformation of the forehead and the nasal bones, and if they are abnormal, he declares that the horse is absolutely untameable. in india the natives are afraid of the solitary elephant with a narrow forehead, for they know that he is ferocious. to-day we know that many children who can be taught nothing in the public schools are really sick children, in whom anomalies of character coincide with morphological anomalies; and we are beginning to replace the old custom of blind and brutal punishment with a personal interest that leads us to invoke the aid of the physician and to establish special schools for the mentally deficient. we may say that this new and reforming principle of pedagogics and the school, which transforms punishment into medical care and creates special educational institutions which are at the same time sanatoriums, constitutes the pedagogical application of the lombrosian theories and accomplishes that social task which was foreordained to emanate from the lofty brain of lombroso. in its special application to pedagogics, anthropology aids in the difficult task by its diagnosis between the _normal_ and the _abnormal_ child. but the contribution of anthropology to pedagogics is vastly wider than this. in this restricted sense of diagnosis, it accomplishes, to be sure, a complete reform of the penal sciences, but it is very far from doing like service to the science of pedagogy. scientific pedagogy must concern itself before all and above all, with _normal_ individuals, in order to protect them in their development under the guidance of biological laws, and to aid each pupil to adapt himself to his social environment, _i.e._, to direct him to that form of employment which is best suited to his individual temperament and tendencies. in this new task, anthropology not only studies the individual, but also gives real and personal contributions to the solution of many pedagogic problems; among others, that relating to study after school hours; to rewards and punishments; to physical training, elocution, etc.; while, by regarding the children as the _effects_ of biological and social causes, it establishes new and enlightening standards of morality and justice, and reveals to educators responsibilities not hitherto conceived. it will suffice to call to mind the fact that the most studious children, and therefore those who receive the greatest amount of praise and prizes, show a deficiency in weight, in chest development, and in muscular force; consequently, a physiological impoverishment the blame for which must be attributed to an ignorance of hygiene and of anthropology, such as still persists throughout the whole field of pedagogy; an ignorance which leads the teacher to encourage by his praises the impoverishment of the best forces that reveal themselves in the school (the most intelligent and studious children) in an age when social industries, multiplied and grown to a giant size, demand the cooperation of a vigorous race, and to inspire by rewards and praise a sentiment of superiority and of vanity in an age that is dominated by the sentiment of universal equality and brotherhood. the teacher ought, on the contrary, to appoint himself the defender of the race, and to demand, among his other rights, that of making such social reforms and such reforms in the school and in pedagogies as may be necessary to the accomplishment of his purpose, which is the attainment of the highest degree of civilisation and of prosperity. but this subject would lead us to repeat principles on which we have already insisted; it will suffice to reassert that the tendency of anthropology is undoubtedly toward a reform in the school and the opening of a new era in pedagogy. _the significance of the so-called physical stigmata of degeneration._--we have studied so many congenital malformations and pathological deformations that a synthetic statement of their significance becomes necessary. all the more so, because certain principles in this connection, already widely circulated among the general public, have now been rejected by science. one of these principles refers to the so-called _atavism_ and formed part of the original lombrosian doctrines: but blessed is the scientist who is obliged to correct himself, for that means that his brain is still fertile. certain morphological anomalies call to mind forms of the inferior races and species, from which, according to the original darwinian doctrine of evolution, the human species had descended in a direct line: hence the term "_atavistic survival_." it will suffice to mention the receding forehead that calls to mind the neanderthal cranium, the long simian arms, the prognathism distinctive of the inferior human races and of animals, microcephaly which suggests the crania of anthropoid apes, the mongoloid eyes and protruding cheek-bones, which recall the yellow races; the "canine" ear, the wooly or smooth hair, polytrichia, the dark skin, etc. now, all this assemblage of stigmata which went under the name of _atavistic_, or _absolute retrogression_, were held to be in almost direct relation to _degeneration_. degeneration was supposed to revive in us forms that had been superseded in the course of evolution, and hence also psychic states that had also been superseded in the history of the human race; it is well known that, according to lombroso, a criminal might be defined as a savage, a barbarian born among us, yet still having within him his particular instincts of theft and slaughter. to-day, since the original interpretation of the darwinian theory has been discarded, with it have fallen all those deductions which medicine and sociology were in too great haste to draw, in order to make scientific application of them. in conclusion, the principle remains firmly established of a correlation between physical and psychic anomalies, which forms the very essence of the lombrosian theory. what science wishes to-day to correct is the _atavistic_ interpretation of stigmata and of types of degenerates. this takes nothing away from the brilliant record of lombroso, who interpreted biological and pathological phenomena in the selfsame light that shed glory upon ernest haeckel, namely, the darwinian theory. in the first enthusiasm of that luminous flame which had wrought a reawakening of thought throughout all europe and the civilised world lombroso tried to explain _according to the letter_ what could properly be explained only according to the spirit; that is to say, in accordance with a very broad principle (evolution and the successive formation of species) which had been divined but not yet demonstrated. we ought to have recourse, in interpreting congenital (degenerative) malformations to explanations analogous to those in the case of acquired deformations, _i.e._, to pathological explanations. we find ourselves in all these cases in the presence of pathological phenomena affecting either the _species or the individual_. on the strength of analogies shown by certain malformations, the tendency to-day is to consider them as "_arrests of development_" or phenomena of _infantilism_, such, for example, as macrocephaly, macroscelia, nipples or shoulders placed too high, nose tending to flatness, handle-shaped ears, etc.--a whole series of stigmata which go by the name of _stigmata of relative retrogression_. meanwhile there are other malformations which merely deviate from the normal form (morselli's "simple deviation"), and they may deviate either in the way of an excess (hyperplasia), or of a deficiency (hypoplasia), as, for example, macroglossia, microdontia, macro- and microphthalmia, etc.; or they may deviate in a true and actual sense (paraplasms), as, for example, in the various asymmetries (plagiocephaly, plagioprosopy, etc.). this whole group of above-mentioned stigmata, which seem to have a congenital origin, or, rather, to be connected in a general way with growth itself, are called _malformations_, to distinguish them from _deformations_, which evidently have an acquired origin, especially from pathological causes, such, for instance, as rachitis and forms of paralysis which arrest the development of a limb, etc., resulting in functional and morphological asymmetry. distribution of malformations malformations (associated, as we have said, with individual development) may be found in all individuals who, through various causes (degeneration, disease, denutrition, defects of adaptment), have undergone any alteration in development. and, since we have not yet acquired a recognised standard of _morality_ _of generation_, and the social environment, including the school, weighs heavily upon humanity in the plastic state, who is there without malformation? complete normality is a _desideratum_, an ideal toward which we are progressing, and, we might add, it is the battle-flag of the teacher. accordingly, all men have malformations. it is interesting to see how they are affected by variations in age and social condition, and how they are distributed among normal persons and degenerates, in order to measure the extent of their contribution to the diagnosis between normal and abnormal man. [illustration: fig. .--percentage of stigmata among the peasantry, the labouring class and the wealthy class, for children and adults.] on the basis of notes taken from an important work by rossi,[ ] i have drawn up the following table, relating to malformations based upon a comparative study of children and adults, grouped under three different social conditions--peasants, city labourers and persons of the wealthy class. at the further extremity of the horizontal lines will be found the figures recording the number of times that any one anomaly occurs in a hundred instances. the other indications are explained in the figure itself. from this it is apparent that anomalies of the cranium are much more rare than those of the face, both in children and in adults. but in children the anomalies of the cranium (and this includes the cases of plagiocephaly), are much more frequent than in adults in all social classes; this shows that in the course of growth the malformations of the cranium have to a great extent disappeared. in regard to the face, on the contrary, or, at least, in regard to certain malformations of the face, the opposite holds good; the mandible and the zygomata, or, in general, that part of the face which grows rapidly during the period of puberty, show more anomalies in the case of adults than in the case of children. this shows us that a face which is still beautiful in childhood may acquire malformations in successive periods of growth. in simpler words, the facts may be expressed as follows: that the cranium _corrects_ itself and the face _spoils_ itself in the course of growth. but in the case of facial asymmetries the same thing occurs that we have already seen in regard to plagiocephaly; it is more frequent in children, hence asymmetries are infantile stigmata. [illustration: fig. .--two small examples of morel's and wildermuth's ear.] some important characteristics are to be noted regarding the handle-shaped ear; all children have ears proportionally larger than those of adults and the _handle-shaped_ form is very frequent in normal children, regardless of the social condition to which they belong. this malformation _corrects_ _itself_ in the course of growth, being far less frequent in adults of the wealthy class and even among the labouring classes; but among the peasantry it remains permanently, almost as though it were a _class stigma_. although the mechanical theories are in disrepute as an interpretation of morphological phenomena, nevertheless it is worth while to note the singular frequency of this stigma in peasants, in connection with the habit of straining the ear to catch the faintest sounds, distant voices, echoes, etc., for which the _senses_ of peasants are extremely acute. the greater frequency of prominent superciliary arches in adult peasants and labourers may also be considered in relation to a defective cerebral development, connected, perhaps, with illiteracy, etc.; furthermore, the superciliary arches, together with a more than normal development of the jaw bones, are stigmata which usually occur together as determining factors of an _inferior_ _morphological type_. the fact also that an excessive development of the mandible, unlike other malformations, is found with the same frequency among adults of the peasantry and the labouring class, gives to this anomaly the significance of a _stigma of the poorer_ _classes_. it should be remembered that children of inferior intelligence have a deeper mandible. what is quite interesting to know, in addition to the frequency of stigmata at various ages and in the various social conditions, is the _number_ of them that may coexist in the same individual. it was already asserted by lombroso that a single undoubted malformation was not enough to prove degeneracy, but that it depended upon the number of stigmata existing simultaneously in the same individual. now, confining our attention to _normal individuals_, we find, according to rossi, that the individual number is less among the well-to-do than among the poor; and that it is less among the peasantry than among the working class. the working class in the cities are accordingly in the worst condition of physical development. furthermore, children always show a greater number of individual malformations than adults. individual number of morphological anomalies +---------+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+ | | adults: to every | children: to every | |number of| individuals | individuals | +anomalies+---------+--------+----------+---------+--------+----------+ | |labourers|peasants|well-to-do|labourers|peasants|well-to-do| +---------+---------+--------+----------+---------+--------+----------+ | ... | | | | ... | ... | | +---------+---------+--------+----------+---------+--------+----------+ | - | | | | | | | +---------+---------+--------+----------+---------+--------+----------+ | - | | | | | | | +---------+---------+--------+----------+---------+--------+----------+ | - | | ... | ... | | | | +---------+---------+--------+----------+---------+--------+----------+ from which it appears that only per cent. of the labouring class are without malformations, while the peasantry and the well-to-do have from to per cent. among normal adults there is a preponderance of persons having - stigmata; while those having - stigmata are more frequent than those without any at all. excepting for a few labourers, there are no normal persons with - malformations; in fact, this is the number of coexisting malformations that is held to be the _test of degeneration_, the sign of an abnormal morphological individuality. among children, on the contrary, this individual number of malformations ( - ) occurs, _even in the wealthy classes_, so that the child and the adult cannot be judged by the same standards. the prevailing number of stigmata among children is - . therefore, in the course of growth, many of these malformations are eliminated. it should be noted that children without malformations are found only among the prosperous classes and in a rather small percentage ( per cent.). accordingly, social conditions bring about a difference not only in robustness, stature, etc., but also in the degree of beauty which the individual is likely to attain. the social ideal of the establishment of justice for all mankind is consequently at the same time a _moral_ and _æsthetic_ ideal. another parallel that it is interesting to draw is that between the most unfortunate social class (the working class) and the degenerates. we have seen that the working class has the highest individual number of stigmata. rossi compares them with two other categories of persons who are strongly suspected of being degenerates, or who at least must include a notable proportion of degenerates among their number, namely, _beggars_, as regards the adults, and _orphans_, as regards the children. these classes differ in the general frequency of malformations; in fact, the chronic anomalies, taken collectively, give per cent. for the labouring class and per cent. for beggars. but the difference becomes strikingly apparent when we come to consider the _individual number_ of stigmata. +---------+---------------------+-------------------+ |anomalies|labourers (per cent.)|beggars (per cent.)| +---------+---------------------+-------------------+ | - | | | +---------+---------------------+-------------------+ | - | | . | +---------+---------------------+-------------------+ and still greater is the difference between the children of labourers and the orphan children. frequency of anomalies in children (percentage) anomalies labouring class, orphans, degeneration pauperism cranial anomalies in general forehead very low . alveolar prognathism enlarged mandible plagiocephaly . prominent cheek-bones . facial asymmetry . anomalies of teeth . we see therefore that _degeneration_ exerts a most notable influence upon morphological anomalies; it is far more serious than external (social) conditions. dr. ales hrdlicka, studying the distribution of malformations and deformations among poor children who were inmates of a large new york orphan asylum ( males and females) distinguishes the morphological anomalies into three categories: those that are congenital (degeneration); those acquired through pathological causes (diseases), and those acquired through the circumstances of social adaptment, or, as the author expresses it, through _habit_. and to these he adds still another category of stigmata the causes of which remain uncertain. if we examine the following extremely interesting table, we see at once that in the case of children the anomalies of form are associated with _degeneration_ and with _disease_, because the anomalies _acquired_ individually by the child as the result of personal habits are comparatively so few in number as to be quite negligible, and all of them are exclusively in reference to the trunk; in other words, a result of the position assumed on school benches. as between degeneration and disease, the proportion of anomalies caused by the former is considerably more than double. hence, the great majority of malformations have their origin, so to speak, _outside of the individual_, the responsibility resting on the parents. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- organs | anomalies in +-------------------------------+------------------------------- regard to | males | females which +-------+-------+--------+------+-------+-------+--------+------ the |congen-|patho- |acquired|cause |congen-|patho- |acquired|cause anomalies | ital |logical|through |uncer-| ital |logical|through |uncer- occur | | |habit | tain | | |habit | tain ------------+-------+-------+--------+------+-------+-------+--------+------ head | | | | | | | | periosteum | | | | | | | | hair | | | | | | | | forehead | | | | | | | | face | | | | | | | | eyes | | | | | | | | ears | | | | | | | | teeth | | | | | | | | gums | | | | | | | | palate | | | | | | | | uvula | | | | | | | | body (bust) | | | | | | | | limbs | | | | | | | | genital | | | | | | | | organs | | | | | | | | ------------+-------+-------+--------+------+-------+-------+--------+------ totals | | | | | | | | percentage| | | | | | | | the greatest number of anomalies due to degeneration occur in connection with the _ear_, and the _genital organs_, and next in order come those of the _palate_, the _teeth_ and the _limbs_. the maximum number of anomalies due to _pathological causes_ are in connection with the _head_, and principally with the _face_; after that, with the _palate_, and then with the _bust_. the anomalies most difficult to diagnose seem to be those relating to the gums, the palate and the uvula, in regard to which it is not easy to determine whether they are due to degeneration or to disease. in order that we may have a clear understanding regarding _malformations_, it is well to insist upon still another point: malformation does not signify _deviation_ from a type of ideal beauty, but from _normality_. now, there are normal forms which are very far from beautiful and which are associated with race. for instance, prognathism, ultra-dolichocephaly, a certain degree of flat-foot, prominent cheek-bones, the mongolian eye, etc., are all of them characteristics which are regarded by us as the opposite of beautiful, but they are normal in certain races (therefore practical experience is indispensable). these principles which, when thus announced, are perfectly clear, must be extended far enough to include that sum total of individuals whom we are in the habit of calling _our race_. that we are hybrids, still showing more or less trace of the racial stocks which originally concurred in our formation, is well known, but not clearly enough. the _primitive races_ are more or less evident in different centres of population; for instance, in the large and promiscuous cities, hybridism tends more or less completely, to _mask_ the _types_ of race, producing individual uniformity through an intermixture of characteristics that renders all the people very much alike (civilised races). these are the individuals who form the majority of the population, and whom we are in the habit of regarding as being _normally formed_. but when we get away from the big centres it may happen, and indeed does happen, that the primitive racial forms or types become more apparent; thus, for example, i found in latium almost pure racial types at castelli romani (dolichocephalics, brunette type, short stature), and at orte (brachycephalics, blond type, tall stature); the nuclei of population at castelli were especially pure. now, as a result of a highly particularised series of observations i found _normal forms that were not_ _beautiful_ in each of these races; thus, for example, in the brunette race, while the face is extremely beautiful and delicate, the hands are coarse, the feet show a tendency toward flat-foot, the breasts are pear-shaped, pendent and abundantly hairy; in the blond type, on the contrary, while the facial lineaments are coarse and quite imperfect, the hands, feet and breasts are marvellously beautiful. accordingly, the marks of beauty are distributed in nature among the _different_ _races_; there is no race in existence that is wholly beautiful, just as there is no individual in existence who is perfect in all his parts. furthermore, since there is for every separate characteristic a long series of individual variations, both _above_ and _below_ (see chapters on _biometry_ and _statistical methodology_), it is very easy to assume that we are on the track of a malformation, when it is really a matter of racial characteristic. and this is all the more likely to constitute a source of error, because the school of lombroso promulgated the morphological doctrine that a degenerate sometimes shows an _exaggeration_ of ethnical characteristics. thus, for example, we meet with ultra-brachycephalics and ultra-dolichocephalics among the criminal classes. let us suppose that a teacher who has made a study of anthropology receives an appointment in one or another of the castelli romani. among the _normal_ individuals studied by me, certain ones showed a cephalic index _of_ . now, a teacher accustomed to _examine_ the crania of city children and to find that the limits range more or less closely around mesaticephaly, would be led to assume that he was in the presence of an _abnormal_ individual. now, in the places where morphological characteristics of race are most persistent, the _social forms_ are primitive, and so also are the sentiments, the customs and the _ethical level_, because _purity of race_ means an absence of hybridism, _i.e._, an absence of intimate communication with human society evolving in the flood-tide of civilisation. consequently, in addition to the above-mentioned characteristic (ultra-dolichocephaly), the individual would probably show an intellectual inferiority, an inferiority of the ethical tense, etc., and this would serve to strengthen the teacher's first impression. but the normal _limits of growth_ for a given age, the absence of real and actual malformations (for instance, in this case there is probability of facial beauty, etc.), would cause him very quickly to correct his first judgment with a more thoughtful diagnosis. therefore a study of local ethnical characteristics would be very useful as a basis for pedagogical anthropology, as i have tried to show in one of my works (_importanza della etnologia_ _regionale nell'antropologia pedagogica_, "the importance of regional ethnology in pedagogical anthropology"). and this also holds good for the interpretation of true malformations. we have hitherto been guided in our observation of so-called stigmata by analytical criteria, that is, we have been content with determining the single or manifold malformations in the individual without troubling ourselves to determine their _morphological genesis_ or their _genesis of combination_. for example, the _ogival palate_ is a well-known anomaly of form, but in all probability it will occur in an individual whose family has the _high and narrow_ _palate_ that is met with, for instance, as the normal type among the dolichocephalics of latium; the same may be said in regard to flat-foot, etc. multifold diastemata and macrodontia will, on the contrary, be more easily met with in families whose palate is wide and low (brachycephalics). and just as certain normal forms or characteristics are found in combination in a single individual (for instance, brachycephaly, fair hair, tall stature, etc.), so it is also in the case of stigmata, which will be found occurring together in one individual, not _by_ _chance_, but according to the laws of morphological combination, and probably as an _exaggeration_ of (unlovely) characteristics which belong, as normal forms, to the family or race. there are already a number of authorities on neuropathology, de sanctis among others, who have noted that there is an _ugly family type_ which sometimes reproduces itself in a sickly member of the family, in such a way as to exaggerate pathologically the unlovely but normal characteristics of the other members, and furthermore, that an exaggeration of unlovely characteristics may increase from generation to generation, accompanied by a disintegration of the psychic personality. consequently, a knowledge of the morphological characteristics which in all probability belong to the races from which the subjects to be examined are derived, has a number of important aspects. the literature of anthropology is certainly not rich in _racial_ studies, consequently, i feel that it will not be unprofitable to summarise in the following table the characteristics that distinguish the two racial types encountered by me among the female population of latium. table of the differential characteristics of the two racial types _brunette dolichocephalics and blond brachycephalics_ ---------------+---------------------------+-------------------------- organs to |dolichocephalic, brunette |brachycephalic, blond type which the |type of low stature |of tall stature characteristics| | refer | | ---------------+---------------------------+-------------------------- visage. |elongated ellipsoidal or |rounded, broad; coarse |ovoidal; fine, delicate |features; contour |lineaments, rounded |frequently angular, |curves, softly modeled. |especially around the | |cheek-bones. | | eyes. |large, usually |not so large, the form |almond-shaped; |frequently tending to the |pigmentation brown, |oblique; the contours of |shading from black to |the inner angle of the |chestnut. |eye less clear-cut, owing | |to the plica epicantica. | |pigmentation light gray, | |blue. | | nose. |very leptorrhine; nostrils |leptorrhine, tending |delicate and mobile. |toward mesorrhine; | |sometimes the nose is | |fleshy, nostrils thick and | |slightly movable only. | | mouth. |labial aperture small, |labial aperture wide, lips |lips finely modeled and |frequently fleshy, and not |very red |well modeled. | | teeth. |small, with curved |teeth large and flat, |surface, gleaming, almost |enamel dull; difference |as wide as long, not |between incisors, canines, |greatly dissimilar, "like |etc., sharply marked. |equal pearls." | | | palate. |very high and narrow |flat and wide. |(ogival). | | | profile. |proopic. |platyopic. | | ear. |finely modeled, small, |often irregular, large, |delicate. |thick. | | frontal line |very distinct; forehead |indistinct; forehead of roots of |small. |protuberant. hair. | | | | neck. |long and slender, flexible.|short, more or less stocky. | | thorax. |flattened in |projecting forward. |antero-posterior direction.| | | breasts. |position low, form tending |position high, breasts |to pear-shape; nipples |round; nipple prominent, |slightly raised, aureole |aureole small and |broad; often hairy between |rose-colored; always |the breasts. |hairless. | | pelvis and |high and narrow; the |low and broad; the abdomen abdomen. |abdomen becomes prominent |does not become prominent. |toward the thirtieth year, | |even in unmarried women. | | | lumbar curve. |slightly pronounced; |quite pronounced; position |position of buttocks low. |of buttocks high. | | limbs. |distal portion slightly |distal portion slightly |shorter (as compared |longer (as compared with |with the proximal) limbs |the proximal); limbs well |slender. |endowed with muscles. | | hands. |coarse; palm long and |delicate, palm broad, |narrow; fingers short. |fingers long. | | fingers. |short, thick, with |long, tapering; nails with |flattened extremities; |deep placed quicks, rosy |nails flat, not very pink |and shinning. |nor very transparent. | | | palmar and |coarse; frequently with |very fine, rosy and with digital papillæ|geometric figures on the |open designs. |finger tips; pallid. | | | feet. |big; form tending to |small, much arched. |flatness. | | | body as a |slender; slight |beautiful; strong muscle. whole. |muscularity. tendency |no tendency toward too |toward stoutness in old |much flesh. furthermore, |age with deformation of |the body preserves its |the body. |contours. | | complexion. |brunette and dark. |white. | | color of hair. |black to chestnut. |blond. | | form of hair. |short, always wavy |long, straight, section |or curly, fine with |slightly elliptical and |ellipsoidal section. |sometimes almost round. | | hair on body. |growth of hair sometimes |the surface of the body is |found on thorax and on the |hairless. |legs. | ---------------+---------------------------+-------------------------- =the origin of malformations during development.=--malformations are a morphological index, and we have already shown that there is a relation between the physical and the psychical personality. a defective physical development tells us that the psychic personality must also have its defects (especially in regard to the intelligence). not only degenerates, but even we normal beings, in the conflict of social life, and because of our congenital weaknesses, have felt that we were losing, or that we were failing to acquire the rich possibilities latent in our consciousness, and that vainly formed the height of our ambition. and when this occurred, the body also lost something of the beauty which it might have attained, or rather, it lacked the power to develop it. in the words of rousseau, "our intellectual gifts, our vices, our virtues, and consequently our characters, are all dependent upon our organism." nevertheless, this interrelation must be understood in a very wide sense, and is modified according to the period of embryonal or extrauterine life at which a lesion or a radical disturbance in development chances to occur. in a treatise entitled _the problems_ _of degeneration_, in which the most modern ideas regarding degeneration are summed up, and new standards of social morality advocated, brugia gives a most graphic diagram, which i take the liberty of reproducing. [illustration: fertilized ovum embryo foetus and new-born child child] from the little black point to the big circle are represented the different stages of embryonal and foetal development, until we reach the child. in a we have the fertilized ovum. here it may be said that the new individual does not yet exist; we are at a transition point between two adults (the parents) and a new organism, which is _about to develop_. now comes the embryo, which may be called the new individual in a _potential_ state; then the foetus, in which the human form is at last attained; and lastly the child, which will proceed onward toward the physical and spiritual conquests of human life. but so long as an individual has not completely developed, deviations may occur in his development; but these will be just so much the graver, in proportion as the individual is in a more plastic state. we should reserve the term _degeneration_, real and actual, to that which presupposes an alteration at a, _i.e._, at the time of conception. an alteration all the graver if it antedates a, that is to say, if it preexisted in the ovum and in the fertilizing spermatozoon, _i.e._, in the parents. in this case, there is no use in talking of a direct educative and prophylactic intervention on behalf of the individual resulting from this conception; the intervention must be directed toward all adult individuals who have attained the power of procreation. and in this consists the greatest moral problem of our times--sexual education and the sentiment of responsibility toward the species. all mankind ought to feel the _responsibility_ toward the posterity which they are preparing to procreate and they ought to lead a life that is hygienic, sober, virtuous, and serene, such as is calculated to preserve intact the treasures of the immortality of the species. there exist whole families of degenerates, whose offspring are precondemned to swell the ranks of moral monsters. these individuals, who result from a _wrongful conception_, carry within them malformations of the kind known as degenerative, and together with them alterations of the moral sense that are characteristic of degenerates, that is to say, they will be unbalanced (through inheritance) in their entire personality. something similar will happen if such a lesion befalls the embryo, _i.e._, while the individual is still in the potential state (lacking human form). in the foetus, on the contrary, _i.e._, the individual who has attained the human form but is still in the course of intrauterine development, any possible lesion, and more especially those due to pathological causes, while they cannot alter the entire personality, may injure that which is already formed, and in so violent a manner as to produce a _physical_ _monster_, whose deformities may even be incompatible with life (_e.g._, cleft spine or palate, hydrocephaly, little's disease, which is a form of paralysis of foetal origin, and all the teratological (_i.e._, monstrous) alterations). that is to say, in going from a to c we pass from _malformations_ to _deformations_; from simple physical alterations of an æsthetic nature to physical monstrosities sometimes incompatible with life itself; while in regard to the psychic life, we find that the remoter lesions (in a) result for the most part in anomalies of the moral sense, while those occurring later (b, c) result for the most part in anomalies of the intellect. so that at one extreme we may have moral monsters, with malformations whose significance can be revealed only through observation guided by science and at the other extreme, physical monsters, whose moral sense is altered only slightly or not at all. those who suffer injury at a may be intelligent, and employ their intelligence to the malevolent ends inspired by moral madness; those who suffer injury at c or d are harmless monsters, often idiots, or even foredoomed to die. the peril to society steadily diminishes from a to c, while the peril to the individual steadily augments. over all these periods so full of peril to human development and so highly important for the future of the species, we may place one single word: =woman.=--throughout the period that is most decisive for its future, humanity is wholly _dependent upon woman_. upon her rests not only the responsibility of preserving the integrity of the germ, but also that of the embryonal and foetal development of man. the respect and protection of woman and of maternity should be raised to the position of an inalienable social duty and should become one of the principles of human morality. to-day we are altogether lacking in a sense of moral obligation toward the species, and hence lacking in a moral sense such as would lead to respect for woman and maternity--so much so, indeed, that we have invented a form of _modesty_ which consists in concealing maternity, in not speaking of maternity! and yet at the same time there are sins against the species that go unpunished, and offenses to the dignity of woman that are tolerated and protected by law! but even after the child is born and has reached the period of lactation, we should still write across it the words _woman_ and _mother_. the education and the responsibility of woman and of society must be modified, if we are to assure the triumph of the species. and the teachers who receive the child into the school, after its transit through society (in the form of its parents' germs) and through the mother, cannot fail to be interested in raising the social standards of education and morality. like a priesthood of the new humanity, they should feel it their duty to be _practitioners_ of all those virtues which assure the survival of the human species. _moral and pedagogic problems within the school._--children when they first come to school have a personality already outlined. from the unmoral, the sickly, the intellectually defective to the robust and healthy children, the intelligent, and those in whom are hidden the glorious germs of genius; from those who sigh over the discomforts of wretchedness and poverty to those who thoughtlessly enjoy the luxuries of life; from the lonely hearted orphan to the child pampered by the jealous love of mother and grandmother:--they all meet together in the same school. it is quite certain that neither the spark of genius nor the blackness of crime originated in the school or in the pedagogic method! more than that, it is exceedingly probable that the extreme opposite types passed unnoticed, or nearly so, in that environment whose duty it is to prepare the new generations for social adaptation. from this degree of blindness and unconsciousness the school will certainly be rescued by means of the scientific trend which pedagogy is to-day acquiring through the _study of the pupil_. that the teacher must assume the new task of _repairing_ what is wrong with the child, through the aid of the physician, and of protecting the normal child from the dangers of enfeeblement and deformation that constantly overhang him, thus laying the foundations for a splendid human race, _free to attain_ its foreordained development--all this we have already pointed out, and space does not permit us to expand the argument further. but, in conclusion, there is one more point over which i wish to pause. if the lombrosian theory rests upon a basis of truth, what attitude should we pedagogists take on the question of moral education? we are impotent in the face of the fact of the interrelation between physical and moral deformity. is it then no longer a sin to do evil and no longer a merit to do good? no. but we have only to alter the _interpretation_ of the facts, and the result is a high moral progress pointing a new path in pedagogy. there are, for example, certain individuals who feel themselves irresistibly attracted toward evil, who become inebriated with blood; there are others, on the contrary, who faint at the mere sight of blood and have a horror of evil. there are some who feel themselves naturally impelled to do good, and they do it in order to satisfy a personal desire (many philanthropists) thus deriving that pleasure which springs from the satisfaction of any natural need. in our eyes, all these individuals who act instinctively, though in opposite ways, deserve neither praise nor blame; they were born that way; one of them is physiologically a proletarian, the other is a capitalist of normal human ability. it is a question of birth. when the educator praised the one and punished the other, he was sanctioning the necessary effects of causes that were unknown to him: "but still, whence cometh the intelligence of the first notions man is ignorant, and the affection of the first allurements which are in you as instinct in the bee to make its honey; and this first desire merit of praise or blame containeth not." (dante, _longfellow's translation_.) the instinctive malefactor is not to blame, the blame should rest rather upon his parents who gave him a bad heredity; but these parents were in their turn victims of the social causes of degeneration. the same thing may be said if a pathological cause comes up for consideration in relation, for instance, to certain anomalies of character. analogously, he who is born good and instinctively does good deeds, deriving pleasure from them, deserves no praise. there is no vainer sight than is afforded by a person of this sort, living complacently in the contemplation of himself, praised by everyone, and to all practical intent, held up as a contrast to the evil actions of the degenerate and the diseased who act from instinct no more nor less than he does himself. the man who is born physiologically a capitalist assumes high moral obligations; he ought to discipline his nature as a normal man in order to make it serve the general good. and this is not to be accomplished through an _instinct_ to do good, which acts at haphazard, but through the _deliberate_ _will_ to do good, even if the requisite actions bring no immediate satisfaction, but even involve a sacrifice. society will be ameliorated and rendered moral through the harmonious efforts of good men, trained for the social welfare. man will become good only when his goodness costs him a voluntary effort. hence it will be necessary not to limit ourselves, as has been done in the past, to admiring the man who is born good, but to educate him so as to render him thoughtful, strong and useful; not to condemn the sinner, but to redeem him through education and through a sense of fellowship in the common fault, which is the scientific form of pardon. the degenerate, who succeeds in conquering his sinful instinct and in ceasing to do harm, the normal man who renders himself morally sublime by dedicating his splendid physiological inheritance to the collective good, will be equally meritorious. but what a moral abyss gapes open to divide them! because it is a short stride at best that the physiological proletariat can take, while for the soul of the normal man an untrammelled pathway lies open toward perfection. accordingly the new task of the teacher of the future is a multifold one. he is the artificer of human beauty, the new modeler of created things, just as the sublime chisel of greek art was the modeler of marbles. and he prepares for greater utilisation the physiological and intellectual forces of the new man, like a greek deity scattering broadcast his prolific riches. but above all he prepares the souls for the sublime sentiment which awaits the humanity of the future, glorying in the attainment of peace, and then indeed he becomes almost a redeemer of mankind. footnotes: [ ] rossi, _anthropological anomalies in their relations to social conditions and to degeneration_. chapter vii technical part in a book the technical part can serve only to point the way, because the acquirement of technique demands _practical experience_. the technique of anthropology consists, essentially, of two principal branches: . the gathering of anthropological data by means of measurements (anthropometry) and by inspection (anthroposcopy); . the formulation of laws based on these anthropological data. anthropometry requires a knowledge: a. of anthropometric instruments; b. of the anatomical points of contact to which the instruments must be applied. for beginners it will be found helpful to mark upon the subject the anthropometric points of contact by means of a dermographic pencil. in anthropology so large a number of measurements are taken, both from life and from skeletons, that a minute description of them all would demand a separate treatise. we shall limit ourselves to indicating such measurements as it has been found of _practical_ _utility_ to take in school. the form in the theoretic part of this work we emphasized the word _form_, representing the body as a whole and embodying the conception of relationship between the proportions of the body, tending to determine the morphological individuality. from the normal point of view the two individualities which are most interesting and worthy of comparison are those of the _new-born child_ and the _adult_ (see fig. and its eloquent testimony). in these two individualities the greatest possible prominence is given to those differences of proportion between bust and limb on which all the various measurements of the form depend: the _standing and sitting stature_; _the total spread of the arms_; the _weight_; the _circumference of the thorax_ (see "theoretic lessons on the form"). with the theory recalled to mind we may now pass on to the _practical procedure for obtaining these various_ _measures_. among them the most important is the _stature_, whose cycle is represented in fig. . the theoretic section of this book devotes special attention to the stature in a separate chapter following that on the form. it is well to have in mind the general principals before taking up the technique of the separate measurements. _stature._--the stature is the distance intervening between the plane on which the individual stands in an erect position and the top of his head. [illustration: fig. .--_new-born child_ and _adult man_ reduced to the same height and preserving their relative bodily proportions. the head of the new-born child is twice the height of that of the adult and extends downward to the level of the latters's nipples. the pubes of the adult correspond to the navel of the new-born child; and the pubes of the child to the middle of the adult's thigh.] _technical procedure._--it is necessary to know how to place the subject in an erect position, heels together and toes turned out, shoulders square, arms pendent, head orientated, _i.e._, occipital point touching the wall, gaze horizontal. in measuring the individual stature it is customary to use an instrument called an anthropometer (fig. ). it consists of a horizontal board on which the subject stands, a stationary vertical rod marked with the metric scale against which the subject rests his back, and another small movable rod perpendicular to the first and projecting forward from it; this is lowered until it is tangent to the apex of the cranium; and the scale upon the upright rod gives the number corresponding to the stature. [illustration: fig. .--diagram representing the cycle of stature of man (unbroken line) and woman (dotted line), from birth to the end of life.] certain anthropologists are now trying to perfect the anthropometer (mosso's school). and, indeed, how is it possible to bring the entire person posteriorly in contact with the vertical rod of the anthropometer? the rod is straight while the body follows the curves of the vertebral column and the gluteus muscles. accordingly, professor monti, an assistant to professor mosso, has proposed a new anthropometer which, in place of the single rod at the back, has a pair of rods, so that the more prominent portions of the body may occupy the intermediate space; a similar anthropometer was already in use for measuring kyphotics. [illustration: fig. .--anthropometer.] [illustration: fig. .--a square.] at the present day there are exceedingly complicated and accurate anthropometers which comprise, in addition, instruments for obtaining various other measurements, such as the thoracic and cephalic perimeters, etc. but these are very costly and not practical for use in schools. their use is confined chiefly to medical clinics, as, for example, viola's anthropometer, which is used in professor de giovanni's clinic. broca recommends to travelers an anthropometer consisting of a graduated rod with a movable index attached. by means of this a series of distances from the ground can be measured, and consequently various partial heights of the body, from the ground to the top of the head, from the ground to the chin, to the pubis, to the knee, etc., but grave errors may be committed and its use is not advisable so long as we have within reach a universal anthropometer. the universal anthropometer consists essentially of two planes perpendicular to each other; now we may say that in every room, in the meeting of two planes, the floor and the wall, we have an anthropometer. there is no reason why we should not make use of this simple means! placing the child in an erect position with the body touching the wall throughout its whole length, we place a perfectly horizontal rod tangent to the top of the head, we make a mark upon the wall, and then with a millimetric measure we take the distance between the mark and the floor, and this gives us the stature. two difficulties are met with, first, that of holding the rod horizontally on the top of the head, and secondly, that of measuring the distance in a perfectly vertical line. in the first difficulty a carpenter's square may help us or, if there is a school of manual training within convenient reach it is easy to have a little instrument constructed (fig. ) consisting of two planes perpendicular to each other, one of which should be held tangent to the head while the other is pressed against the wall (carpenter's square). as regards the vertical measurement, a plumb line may be used, but it is more practical to trace upon the wall that we mean to use for such measurements, a design consisting of a vertical line on which a mark may be made at the height of one metre from the floor in order to simplify the task of measuring. it is better if the millimetric tape is made of metal, so that it will not vary in length; but even a tailor's measure of waxed tape may answer the purpose if it is new and has been tested with a metallic measure or an accurate metre rule. the height of the stature is taken _without the shoes_, and it is necessary to state at what hour of the day the measurement is made, because in the morning we are taller (though by only a few millimetres) than we are in the evening. the stature may also be taken in a recumbent position (length of body), and in this case will be longer by about one centimetre. consequently in giving the measure of stature it is necessary to state in what position the subject was placed, by what method the measurement was taken (whether with an anthropometer or not) and at what hour of the day the measurement was made. it is not necessary to say that the subject was required to remove his shoes, since that is taken for granted. _sitting stature._--besides the stature taken on foot, the sitting stature (height of bust) is also taken by an analogous process. it is the distance between the plane on which the individual is seated and the vertex of his head. the subject should be seated upon a wooden bench having a horizontal plane and should place his back in contact with the wall; just as in the case of the preceding measure the shoes had to be removed, in the present case the clothing is discarded, leaving only the light underwear (fig. ). with the aid of the square we find the point corresponding to the vertex of the head and with the millimetric measure we obtain the distance on the wall between this point and the plane of the bench. [illustration: fig. --( ) sitting stature. ( ) standing stature. (method of taking measurements with the anthropometer.)] _index of stature._--we know that these two measures are extremely important for ascertaining the type of stature, _i.e._, _macroscelia_ and _brachyscelia_, determined by the proportion between the sitting stature and the total stature reduced to a scale of , that is, the relation of the bust to the total height of the individual. let us remember in this connection that the bust should be a d or d part of the total stature and that below down to , it is macroscelous, and that above , up to , it is brachyscelous. having obtained the two numbers corresponding to the two statures, _e.g._, stature . m., bust . m., how are we to find out the percentual relation between the two measurements? first, we form an equation: : = _x_: . from which we obtain _x_ = ( × )/ = this stature is of the normal average type, that is, it is mesatiscelous; but the mesatiscelia is high (in comparison with the other measurement that is also mesatiscelous, namely, ), in other words, it is _brachy-mesatiscelous_. note the formula which gives us the value of _x_. if we substitute general symbols in place of the concrete values, we may say that _x_ is equal to one hundred times the lesser measurement (_m_) divided by the greater measurement (_m_). if, in place of _x_, we substitute _i_, signifying index, we may draw up the following general formula of indices: _i_ = ( ×_m_)/_m_ this formula of relations between measurements is of wide application in anthropology and is fundamental. indices of every measurement are sought for. the one given above is the index of stature, and it determines the _type_ of stature. all the other indices are calculated by similar procedure. [illustration: fig. .--method of measuring the total spread of arms.] _total spread of the arms._--this measurement is taken quite simply. the subject must place himself with his arms outstretched in a horizontal direction and on a level with his shoulders. the measurement corresponds to the distance intervening in a horizontal line from the tip of one middle finger to the other (fig. ). a specially constructed anthropometer may be used for this measurement. it has a long horizontal rod adjustable perpendicularly, so that it may be placed on a level with the shoulders of the subject to be measured. this rod forms a cross with the other vertical rod with which the subject should be in contact. the arms are then extended along the cross rod which is marked with a millimetric scale. but this greatly complicates the anthropometer, and hardly any anthropometer possesses this attachment. this measure may be successfully taken with the very simple aid of the wall. the only difficulty offered is that of securing a perfectly horizontal position for the arms. for this purpose horizontal lines, which either happen by chance to be upon the wall or which may be drawn on purpose, will be of assistance. in order to have guiding lines suited to different statures, several horizontal lines may be drawn intersecting the vertical line already traced for guidance of the millimetric tape measure used in taking the stature. _thoracic perimeter._--the thoracic perimeter is taken on the nude thorax, in an erect position and with the arms hanging beside the bust, by applying the millimetric measure in such a way that its upper margin passes just below the nipples. the tape measure should completely encircle the thorax in a horizontal plane passing through the mammary papillæ. since the thorax is in constant motion, we must observe the oscillations of the tape measure and obtain the average; or else we may take the measurements during the state of expiration (repose). in giving the figure it is necessary to specify the procedure followed. _vital index. index of life._--index of life is the name given to the proportion between the stature and the thoracic perimeter. it ought to be equal to , _i.e._, _tp_ = _s_/ _vi_ = ( ×_tp_)/_s_ = (normal). _weight._--the weight of an individual is taken by means of ordinary _scales_. in order to obtain the weight of the nude person, the clothing may be weighed separately and their weight subtracted from the total weight of the clothed person. the weight should be taken before eating, in order that unassimilated alimentary substances may not alter the real weight of the subject. if this method cannot be rigorously followed out, it should be specified how much clothing the subject retained, whether he had eaten, etc. _ponderal index._--stature and weight are the most synthetic and comprehensive measurements of the form. but we need a clear proportion between these two measures to tell us whether an individual weighs more or less _relatively_ to his _stature_. it may happen, for instance, that a stout person of short stature actually weighs less than another person who is tall and thin; but relatively to his stature he may on the contrary be heavier, that is, he may have a higher _ponderal index_. a robust and plump child will weigh in an absolute sense less than an adult who is extremely thin and emaciated; but relatively to the mass of his body he weighs more. now this relative weight or index of weight (ponderal index) gives us precisely this idea of _embonpoint_, of the more or less flourishing state of nutrition in which an individual happens to be. but linear measurements such as the stature cannot be compared with volumetric measurements, such as the weight. hence it is necessary to reduce the volumetric measure--the weight--to a linear measure, which is done by extracting the cube root from the number representing the weight. then the root of the weight may be compared to the stature reduced to a scale of . by forming a general proportion, in which _w_ represents the weight of a given individual, and _s_ the corresponding figure of his stature, we obtain: _s_:[*cube root](_w_):: :_x_ (where _x_ represents the ponderal index) hence _pi_ = ( ×[*cube root](_w_))/_s_ the application of this formula would necessitate some rather complicated calculations, which it would be inconvenient to have to repeat for a large number of subjects. but there are tables of calculations already compiled, which are due to livi, and which are given, together with other tables, in livi's own work, _anthropometry_ (hoepli). these are numerical tables, to be read in the same manner as tables of logarithms. at the top, in a horizontal direction, the stature is given in centimetres, while in the vertical column the weight is given in kilograms. the calculation of all the ponderal indices has been worked out, in relation to every possible stature and weight. if we look up the ponderal index corresponding to the figures already cited in illustration (see p. ), we find that for the adult the _pi_ = . , and for the child the _pi_ = . ; _i.e._, considered relatively the child weighs more in the given case. this is the true and accurate technical method of finding the relative proportion between weight and stature. accordingly, we have now learned to take all the measurements relative to the form, to calculate from them the more important indices (or proportions), such as the index of stature, the index of life, and the ponderal index. we have also learned to understand and to consult the tables of anthropological calculations. the cranium _the head and cranium._--let us bear in mind the fact that the word _head_ is used in speaking of a living person, and _cranium_, of a skeleton. the science which makes a study of the cranium is called craniology. the cranium and the head may be studied either by observing the external form--_cranioscopy_ or _cephaloscopy_; or else by taking measurements--_craniometry_ or _cephalometry_. craniology makes use equally of cranioscopy and of craniometry: in fact, if cranioscopy alone were used, certain anomalies might escape attention, because we can recognise them only by measuring the head; and conversely, if we confined ourselves to craniometric researches, we might miss certain anomalies of form, which we become aware of only by attentively observing the cranium. frequently craniometry serves to verify cranioscopy. for example, a cranium may appear to the eye too large or too small, but certainly if we measure the cranial circumference with a tape-measure we shall have an accurate decision of a case which may well be a simple optical illusion. indeed, we all know how easy it is to give an erroneous judgment, relying only on our senses; for the personal equation enters very largely into judgments of this sort. for instance, a person of low stature easily judges that other men are tall, and _vice versa_. to the eye of the italian or the frenchman, the hair of young english girls is a pale blond; to the scandinavians of the north it is a warm blond. if two men possessed of different æsthetic tastes and in different frames of mind wish to describe one and the same garden they will give two widely different descriptions which will reveal far more of their individual impressions and moods than of the actual characteristics of the garden described. it is easy to understand how important it is in scientific descriptions to exclude completely the influence of the observer's personality. in the cranioscopic study of a cranium, for instance, the precise characteristics of that cranium are what must be found and nothing else whatever, no matter who the student is nor in what part of the world he is working. but in order to achieve this result it is not enough to take observations; it is also necessary to know how to observe, and in observing to follow a scientific method. _cranioscopy._--cranioscopic methods require that the skull shall be observed from several sides. blumenbach, who studied crania by observing them from the vertex, divided them into ovoid, rhomboid, etc., while camper, on the other hand, studying them in profile, classified them as flat, elongated, etc., and the conclusions of the two scientists were irreconcilable. [illustration: fig. .--facial norm.] [illustration: fig. .--occipital norm.] [illustration: fig. .--lateral norm.] the cranium must be observed from above, from the front, in profile and from the occipital part; and in such a manner that the observer's glance shall fall perpendicularly upon whichever cranial side is under observation. hence it is said that the observation is made according to the norm, _i.e._, according to the perpendicular, and there are four _norms_ in cranioscopy--_vertical_, _frontal_, _lateral_, and _occipital_. in this way we may be sure that no anomaly of form will escape the eye. there are innumerable anomalies of form. we will indicate only the principal ones. in order to detect all the anomalies that may occur in a cranium it is necessary to observe it according to all the norms, each one of which may reveal a different set of anomalies. a. _vertical norm._--the word _norm_, as we have already said, has here the signification of perpendicular. to look at a cranium according to the vertical norm means to let our glance fall perpendicularly upon the vertex of the cranium. we may do this in one of two ways, either by raising our head above that of the subject of inspection, in such a way that our glance falls vertically upon it, or by bending back the head of the person to be observed until the crown of his head becomes perpendicular to our gaze. this norm is taken by placing oneself behind the person to be observed, who, if an adult, should be seated while the observer remains standing; and by taking the head to be examined between the two hands in such a way that the extended thumbs and index-fingers form a horizontal circlet around the cranial walls. this is the most important of the norms, not only because it reveals the most important normal forms already described in the text, but also the greater number of anomalies such as are indicated below. . _crania with rectilinear perimeter._--it may happen that the line bounding the cranial vault is not curved but formed of broken straight lines from which various geometrical figures result, producing crania known as trigonocephalic, pentagonoid, parallelopipedoid, etc. the most important among these and among all the abnormal forms is the trigonocephalic cranium, having the base of the triangle toward the occiput and the vertex toward the forehead. the result of such formation is that the frontal region is restricted, a circumstance of obvious gravity. the infantile cranium is normally pentagonoid; the persistence of this form in the adult is a sign of arrested development, but not serious. sergi does not admit this form among the anomalies when the nodules are but slightly emphasised. . _asymmetrical and plagiocephalic crania._--the sagittal plane divides the cranium into two unequal halves. the asymmetry may be either frontal, in which case one frontal nodule is more prominent than the other--anterior plagiocephaly, or else parietal, in which case one of the parietal nodules is more prominent than the other--posterior plagiocephaly. these are the two forms of simple plagiocephaly. it may happen that there is simultaneously an anterior and posterior asymmetry, and in such a case it generally happens that if the more prominent frontal nodule is on the right, the more prominent parietal nodule is on the left, so that the two more prominent nodules correspond in a diagonal sense. this is compound plagiocephaly. plagiocephaly is extremely common; if very apparent, it constitutes a grave defect, but not if only slight. for that matter, it would be difficult to find a cranium rigorously symmetrical, even among normal persons. . _crania with curved and symmetrical lines_, but in which the perimeter consists not of a single ellipsoidal curve, but of two curves. a. _clinocephalic cranium._--the coronal suture has a girdle-like furrow, in such fashion that there result an anterior and a posterior curve which together form a sort of figure . this anomaly may be perceived also from the lateral norm. b. _cymbocephalic cranium._--- there is a girdle-like furrow along the sagittal line, so that the cranium has the appearance of being divided into two pockets, one on the right hand and the other on the left. b. _lateral norm._--the observer must stand at the side of the subject to be observed and look at him perpendicularly to the profile. we remain standing while we look if the subject is an adult and is standing up, but we sit down if the subject is a child and is standing; and we determine the vertical position by moving the subject's head as the occasion requires. i note, as seen from this norm, two anomalies in which the ellipsoidal uniformity outlining the profile of the cranium is altered. a. _oxycephalic cranium._--the line of the profile is noticeably raised at the bregma, from which the anterior part of the cranium continues to rise, almost in the direction of the forehead, instead of curving backward. in its entirety this anomalous cranium has the form of a "sugar loaf." b. _acrocephalic cranium._--the line of the profile, on the contrary, is not raised until near the lambda. c. _occipital norm._--the observer places himself behind the subject and gazes perpendicularly at the occipital point. d. _frontal norm._--the observer stands in front of the subject and gazes at him on a level with the forehead. i may point out only one very important anomaly seen from this norm. a. _scaphocephalic cranium._--the lateral parts of the cranium are flattened to such a degree that the vault is extremely narrow along the sagittal line (see figs. and ). _craniometry._--the _volume_ of the cranium is of high importance because it bears a relation to that of the brain. in the studies which have been made relative to the correspondence between physical and intellectual development, the measurement of the cranial volume comes first in order. in measuring the cranium it is necessary to use: a. _the millimetric tape measure_, b. _the craniometric calipers_, c. _the compass with sliding branches_, d. _the double square_. in order to facilitate the task of measuring and to secure uniformity it is necessary first to locate the craniometric points to which it will be necessary to apply the instrument. these craniometric points are easily located on the cranium, where a great number of them have been studied. in the case of a living person, on the contrary, these points are reduced to a small number because of the difficulty of accurately locating them. the points on the vault of the cranium, along the sagittal line, are: . the _nasion_ (point of union of the nasal and frontal bones). . the _ophryon_ (middle point of the line tangent to the two superciliary arches, a line corresponding to the horizontal drawn transversely across the forehead and passing through the two points on the temporal lines which are nearest to the median line. this point lies in an important region of the forehead, situated between the two eyebrows--the glabella. the central point of the middle region of the forehead above the glabella is called the _metopion_). . the _bregma_ (point of juncture between the coronal and sagittal suture). . the _vertex_. . the _lambda_ (point of juncture between the sagittal suture and the occipital or lambdoid suture). . the _occipital point_. . the _inion_ (situated at a level midway between the occipital point and the occipital foramen). laterally we have these other craniometric points: . the _external orbital apophysis_ (formed from the frontal bone). . the _supra-auricular_ point. . the _auricular point_ (corresponding to a little depression which may be felt just below the tragus and in correspondence with the zygomatic arches). . the minimum _frontal point_ (a bony angle which may be felt about centimetre above the external orbital apophysis, along the temporal line). on a living person the following points can easily be located: along the sagittal line: . the _nasion_. . the _ophryon_. . the _vertex_. . the _occipital point_. laterally: . the _external orbital apophysis_. . the _supra-auricular point_. . the _auricular point_. . the _minimum frontal point_. now, with these points as guides it becomes practical to measure the various curves and diameters of the cranium. the curves are measured by means of the millimetric tape; the diameters by means of the calipers. there are various curves; we shall confine ourselves to considering only the following: the _maximum circumference_, which is obtained by passing the tape across the ophryon, the occipital points and the supra-auricular points, beginning to apply it at the ophryon. its measure varies from to mm. in man and from to mm. in woman, if taken from the skull. in the case of a living person mm. should be added. if we find a circumference greater than normal, we are beginning to enter upon the anomaly which goes by the name of _macrocephaly_. if, on the other hand, the maximum circumference is notably smaller, we are entering upon the anomaly of _microcephaly_. _measurement of diameters.--maximum antero-posterior diameter._--with the left hand place one branch of the calipers upon the glabella; the other extreme point is to be sought tentatively along a vertical line dividing the occiput in two halves. partially close the calipers by means of the screw and then make trial by raising and lowering the posterior branch. it ought to move with a slight friction. this is the classic diameter which measures the maximum length of the cranium and which, as we have seen, it is customary to compare with the width in order to obtain the cephalic index. in the adult man it normally oscillates between and mm. [illustration: fig. .--inspecting cranium (lateral and vertical norms).] _maximum transverse diameter._--this measures the width of the cranium. the investigator places himself in front of the subject in order to keep the compass quite horizontal through the guidance of the eyes. the maximum distance is found by experimenting. it normally corresponds very nearly to the supra-auricular points. in children this diameter is frequently situated higher up toward the parietal nodules; in men of tall stature, in whom the cranial vault is generally slightly developed, this diameter may be found, on the contrary, lower down, near the mastoid apophyses. if this diameter occurs similarly low down in children, a notable growth in stature may be prophesied (manouvrier); and if inquiry is made it will be found that the parents are very tall. this diameter measures, in the adult, from to mm. _vertical diameter._--this measures the height of the cranium from the occipital foramen to the bregma. this diameter cannot be measured directly excepting on a skull; in the case of a living person its projection is taken, which, though far from accurate, is given by the distance between the vertex and the external auditory meatus. it is necessary to use the double square. the horizontal branch is placed tangent to the vertex, its direction should be perceptibly parallel to the transverse orbital line, the graduated vertical branch should pass over the auricular foramen. the required number may be read, corresponding to the point of the tragus. the height of the cranium is exceedingly important; its variations produce variations in the physiognomy. in the first period of childhood, the cranium is very low in comparison to its width; this is also true of dwarfs. in these cases the width of the cranial vault is large in comparison to that of the base; a low cranium bulging above is distinctive of babies and dwarfs. in the adult this diameter measures from to mm. among the other measurements which an taken on the cranium, the following may be cited: the _antero-posterior metopic diameter_: from the metopic to the occipital point. in children it is sometimes the maximum longitudinal diameter. the _ophryo-iniac diameter_ from the ophryon to the inion. the _minimum frontal diameter_: between the two minimum frontal points. the _maximum frontal diameter_: between the two external orbital apophyses. the _bistephanic diameter_: between the two stephanic points. the _bitemporal diameter_: this is the greatest width of the cranium between the verticals passing through the base of the tragus. the _biauricular diameter_: the craniometrical points are in front of, and a little below, but very near to the upper insertion of the auricle. they are little depressions that can be felt, as we have already said, by applying the finger along the upper edge of the root of the zygomatic arch. _height of forehead_: from the ophryon to the roots of the hair. circumferences and curves: _anterior semicircle._--the tape is applied from one supra-auricular point to the other, passing through the ophryon; it corresponds to the anterior part of the maximum circumference. manouvrier measures it in correspondence to the verticals erected from the tragus. _posterior semicircle._--this is obtained by subtracting the anterior semicircle from the whole circumference. _vertical curve of the head._--the tape passes through a plane that is vertical to the orientated head, starting from the supra-auricular points or from the tragus, according to different authorities. _cephalic index._--this is the proportion between the _maximum_ _transverse_ and _longitudinal_ diameters. it is obtained by applying the familiar formula: _ci_ = ( ×_d_)/(_d_) in which _d_ represents the transverse diameter and _d_ the longitudinal. the index represents the percentual relation between the two diameters, and is obtained from the formula by reducing the greater diameter to a scale of , as follows: _d_: = _d_:_x_, _whence_ _x_ = ×_d_/_d_ instead of working out the calculations, we may find the required index in the tables already compiled. _volume._--the volume of the cranium cannot be taken directly, except in the case of a skull. after the various osseous foramina have been closed, the cranial cavity is filled through the occipital foramen with any one of a number of substances (millet, shot, water, etc.), which is afterward measured. the method of taking this measurement is practised on a facsimile of a cranium already calculated, and usually made of metal. but in the case of a living person the direct calculation of the volume is impossible. nevertheless various empirical methods have been sought for obtaining this measurement, even though imperfect and approximate. recently renewed use has been made, especially in france, of an approximate calculation made by means of broca's cubic index. the volume of the cranium is equal to half the product of the three diameters, divided by an index which varies according to age. this index is as follows: / men . adults from years upward. \ women . / men . young persons from to years. \ women . / men . young persons from to years. \ women . / - years . children of both sexes. { - years . \ years and below . an index of cranial development is afforded by the maximum circumference. the average volume of the normal adult cranium is about , cubic centimetres: _mesocephalic cranium_. when the cranium is much inferior in volume, it is called _microcephalic_ (from , down to cubic centimetres). when on the contrary it is much superior (from , up to , cubic centimetres), it is called _macrocephalic_ or _megalocephalic_. for the face, the following craniometric points should be noted: along a longitudinal line: . the _nasion_ (point of meeting of the nasal and frontal bones). . subnasal point (meeting of nasal septum with upper maxilla). . _upper alveolar point_ (between the two upper incisors at their point of insertion). . _lower alveolar point_ (point corresponding to the above, in the lower maxilla). . _mental point_ (middle point of the chin). the following craniometric points are situated laterally. . _auricular point_ (corresponding to the auricular foramen; in living persons it is situated on the tragus). . _malar point_ (on the malar bones). . _zygomatic point_ (corresponding to the zygomatic arches). . gonion or goniac point (angle of mandible). the face also may be studied by inspection--_prosoposcopy_; and by measurement--_prosopometry_. _prosoposcopy._--we proceed to inspection according to two norms: a. facial norm; b. lateral norm or norm of profile. a. _facial norm._--if it is a question of a living person, we make complete inspection of the visage, from the roots of the hair to the chin. first of all we direct attention to the forehead, which will give us an index of the development of the anterior region of the brain; next, we observe whether a plane passing longitudinally through the median line would divide the face into two equal halves (facial symmetry). from an æsthetic point of view, the three following vertical distances ought to correspond in length: _height of forehead_ (from the roots of the hair to the nasion). _length of nose_ (from the nasion to the subnasal point). _labio-mental height_ (from the subnasal point to the point of the chin). and in regard to width the three following horizontal distances ought, according to the æsthetic laws of art, _very nearly_ to correspond (especially in the female face): _width of forehead_, between the two external orbital points. _bimalar width_, between the two malar points. _bigoniac width_, between the two gonia. it should be remembered that the standards of _beauty_ do not necessarily coincide with those of _normality_. b. _lateral norm._--in observing the face according to this norm, three facts should be chiefly noted: . the relative volumetric development between facial and cerebral cranium. . the direction of the forehead, which, in the normal profile, ought to be vertical. . whether the facial profile protrudes or not beyond the extreme anterior limit of the forehead. _prosopometry._---many forms of measurements are taken on the skeleton of the face and many total and partial indices are obtained, such, for instance, as the facial index, the orbital index, the nasal index, etc. measurements of diameters and angles are also taken on the face of the living subject and indices are obtained. we, however, shall limit ourselves to indicating only those measurements which are taken most frequently in our special field of application. the diameters and the height of the face are obtained by the _craniometric calipers_ and _mathieu's compass with sliding branches_; the facial angle is measured in projection by means of the _double_ _square_; and directly, by the _goniometer_. one mode of measuring the facial angle in projection is that of drawing the facial profile with the help of special instruments; or else of taking a photograph in perfect profile and tracing and measuring the facial angle on the picture. _principal linear measurements:_ =total length of visage:= from line of hair root to point of chin. =total length of face:= from the nasion to the point of the chin. _length of the nose:_ from the nasion to the subnasal point. _height of mandible:_ from the upper edge of the lower incisors to the lower edge of mandible. _subnase-mental height:_ from the subnasal point to the point of the chin. =bizygomatic diameter:= between the two bizygomatic arches. _bimalar diameter:_ between the two malar points. =bigoniac diameter:= between the two gonia. _biorbital diameter:_ between the two external borders of the orbits. _gonio-mental distance:_ from the goniac point to the point of the chin. _auriculo-frontal radius:_ from the tragus or from the auricular point to the ophryon. _auriculo-subnasal radius._ _auriculo-mental radius._ (the last four measurements, if compared right and left, give an index of facial _symmetry_; the radii when compared together serve as an indirect measure of prognathism.) _width of nose_ between the external borders of the nostrils (the branches of mathieu's compass are placed tangent to the nostrils). (the index of the nose is obtained from the length and breadth, by applying the well-known formula of indices; the nose thereupon receives various names--leptorrhine, mesorrhine, platyrrhine). _width of orbit:_ from the inner extremity of the ocular _rima_ (eye-slit) to the external border of the orbit. _width of the ocular rima:_ between the two extremities of the _rima_. _width of the labial rima:_ between the two extremities of the _rima_. _length of the ear:_ from the highest upper edge of the auricle to the lower extremity of the lobule. _index of the ear:_ this is obtained, by the well-known formula, from the length and breadth. the normal index is ; the types of ear above are _low_ types. anthropologists obtain the facial index from the skeleton, especially for the purpose of determining the proportion of the face in human remains found in the geological strata. in such crania the mandible is wanting, and the teeth are wanting. consequently, there are several ways of computing the facial index, because, while the transverse or bizygomatic diameter, which is considered as the lesser diameter, always remains constant, the longitudinal, which is considered as the greater, varies. the longitudinal diameter is calculated sometimes from the ophryon to the chin, at others from the ophryon to the point of insertion of the two upper middle incisors. in the first case it is now less, and again greater than the bizygomatic diameter; in the second case, it is always less, and the resulting facial index is notably greater than . the most usual formula for the facial index is the following: _fi_ = (bizygomatic diameter× )/(ophryo-mental diameter) on the basis of which pruner bey gives the following mean averages according to race, for the general facial index: arabs . chinese . hottentots . tasmanians . laplanders . this index is not exact and constant, like that for the cranium; in fact, in case a person loses his teeth the index is altered. at the present day, especially in the french school, the anterior or total facial index is taken into consideration, in which the vertical diameter is measured from the vertex of the head to the chin (collignon), and, consequently, the index is always less than . the following is the nomenclature that results for the anterior facial index: leptoprosopics and below mesoprosopics from to chameprosopics and above if we take for the measure of _length_ that of the _visage_, _i.e._, the distance between the middle point of the frontal line of roots of the hair and the chin, we obtain indices that are higher by than those of the french school, namely: leptoprosopics and below mesoprosopics from to chameprosopics and above in many cases this index differs in the individual by as much as from the cranial index, as i proved in my work on the population of latium. consequently, anyone who has a cranial index of ought to have a _visage index_ of , etc. contrary to what happens in the case of the cranium, the index of the face varies according to the age, the face being very short in childhood, and much longer in the adult. _angles._--the angles distinguished by anthropologists are so numerous that it is impossible for us to take them all under consideration. in the case of a living person, the angles may be measured directly with the aid of broca's _goniometer_; the transverse branch passes across the subnasal point; the two antero-posterior branches are inserted, with the buttons with which they terminate, into the external auricular canals; the vertical branch, swinging on a hinge, is adjusted in such a way that the little rod which it carries at the end rests upon the ophryon. this complicated instrument resembles an instrument of torture and could not be applied to children; furthermore, it is difficult to adjust, and consequently the angles that it gives are inexact: every muscular contraction causes the angle to vary. for this reason the goniometer is impracticable. if, by means of an instrument we trace the projection of the facial profile, the facial angle may be taken on such a drawing; it may also be traced and calculated on a photograph taken in profile. broca's angle is that included between the auricular foramen, the subnasal point and the ophryon. camper's angle is that included between the auricular foramen, the point of insertion of the upper incisors and the metopic point. we, on the contrary, in _judging_ of the facial angle, or rather of the existence and degree of prognathism, have resorted to _inspection_, aided by certain facial lines, namely (fig. ): _a._ _vertical facial line._--if the subject holds his head level, with the occipital point in contact with a vertical rod, and his gaze fixed straight before him, then what we call the vertical line is the line perpendicular to the horizontal direction of the gaze, and tangent to the extreme anterior limit of the brain. this line, in the perfect human face, is perpendicular to the horizontal line uniting the auricular point with the subnasal point, and hence forms a right angle with it. _b._ _line of facial profile._--this is the line uniting the nasal point with the subnasal point. this line is never vertical, and therefore cannot form a right angle with the auriculo-subnasal line, but forms an angle that approximates more or less nearly to a right angle ( °): this is the _facial angle_. transversely there is only one line for us to consider, and it has already been noted: _c._ the _auriculo-subnasal line_, or _line of orientation_. _facial norm._--our attention should be directed, as we have already said: . _to the forehead._ this, if anomalous, may be: broad (if greater than mm.). narrow (if less than mm.). high (if over mm.). low (if under mm.). . _to the symmetry of the face._--if the face is notably asymmetrical, in respect to a plane dividing it longitudinally, the fact is at once perceptible. but a slight asymmetry may fail to be detected either by measurements (trago-mental diameters) or by inspection. consequently, it will be well to follow certain practical rules in making this observation. observe first of all the median line of the face: the bridge of the nose, the nasal septum, the upper labial furrow and the point of the chin ought all to lie in the same vertical line; very often a slight deviation of the nasal septum above the upper labial furrow will betray the asymmetry; furthermore, the two naso-labial _plicæ_ or folds should be noted, for they ought to be symmetrical in _direction_ and in _depth_; lastly, we must observe the symmetry of the zygomatic prominences. we shall often discover three concurrent facts: a slight deviation in the median line of the face usually corresponding to the nasal septum; a greater depth of one of the naso-labial plicæ; and a greater prominence of the zygoma and the cheek on the same side. our attention should next be turned to the correspondence required by æsthetics between the following three diameters: minimum frontal. bizygomatic. bigoniac. a very notable difference between these distances may also lead to the discovery of anomalies. sometimes we may discover, even by inspection alone, a notable narrowness of the frontal diameter, as compared with the other two. the _bizygomatic_ diameter may show an exaggerated development, and this is frequently accompanied by a hollowness in the temporal and upper maxillary regions and by a beak-like prognathism (prominence of the middle portion of the upper maxilla); at other times this degenerative sign calls our attention to the mongoloid type. the _bigoniac_ diameter may also show an exaggerated development due to the enormous volume of the mandible (criminaloid type--lombroso's assassin type). it is necessary to supplement our observation with the measurement of these three diameters, because it may very often appear to the eye that the minimum frontal diameter is below the normal, merely by comparison with the other two diameters which are overdeveloped; while when measured, it may turn out to be normal. or, conversely, the other diameters, the bizygomatic or bigoniac, although actually normal, may appear overdeveloped, because of the shortness of the minimum frontal diameter (see "faces of inferior type.") meanwhile we must not forget that the following are signs of grave degeneration: _a._ the minimum frontal diameter less than mm. (the gravity of this is increased if at the same time the other two diameters are found as described in _b_). _b._ the other two diameters greater than mm. (lombroso's born delinquents, assassin type). _lateral norm, or norm of profile._--our attention ought to be directed, as we have already said: . to the direction of the forehead. if abnormal, this may be: _a._ receding; _b._ _bombé_. the receding forehead is an indication of an incomplete or defective development of the frontal lobe of the brain; we find the forehead notably receding in the microcephalic type. the _bombé_ forehead is characteristic of hydrocephaly, but may occur also in the scaphoid cranium. when the forehead is bombé, the facial angle becomes equal to or greater than a right angle, because the face recedes beneath the extreme anterior boundary of the brain; in this case we have the opposite case to prothognathism, namely, _orthognathism_. . our attention should next be directed to the facial profile, in order to observe the form and degree of _prognathism_. the authorities distinguish three principal forms of prognathism: _a._ _prognathism_ properly so-called: prominence of the upper maxilla as a whole. _b._ _prophatnia._--prominence of the alveoli. _c._ _progeneism._--prominence of the mandible--the lower dental arch projects in front of the upper. measurements of the thorax principal anthropometric points: _acromial_ point; _sternal fossa_; _xiphoid_ point; _mammillary_ points. =measurements.=--_thoracic circumference._--already described among the measurements of the form. recording instruments are now made that are exceedingly complicated and quite costly, that register the movements of respiration; they are used in medical clinics, but would be of little practical use in our schools. _axillary and submammary circumference._--taken as above, but at different levels. _biacromial diameter._--this is taken by means of special calipers called a _thoracimeter_ or _pelvimeter_, because it is used to obtain the big measurements of the body (thorax and pelvis). the two buttons at the ends of the branches are applied to the acromial points, while the measurer occupies a position in front of the subject to be measured. _transverse thoracic diameter._--the buttons of the thoracimeter are applied on a level with the mammary papillæ, along the axillary lines (vertical lines descending from the centre of the arm-pits). _antero-posterior thoracic diameter._--this is also taken at the level of the nipples: the branches are applied anteriorly on the sternum and posteriorly on the vertebral channel. these two diameters serve to furnish the thoracic index: ti = ( ×_d_ (antero-posterior))/(d (transverse)) _spirometer._--the subject takes a maximum inspiration and retains his breath until he has exactly fitted his mouth to the apparatus; then he emits all his breath in a forced expiration. this causes the index to rise, and the amount may be read upon it. _sternal length._--from the xiphoid point to the sternal fossa. _bimammillary diameter._--distance between the two nipples. =abdomen.=--it would be really difficult to take measurements of the abdomen in the school. the principal anthropometric points to remember are the _umbilical_ point, the two _antero-superior_ _iliac_ points, the _pubis_. the distances which it would be useful to take are the following: _xipho-umbilical_ and _umbilico-pubic_ distances, which give an idea of the upper development (liver) and lower development (intestines) of the abdomen, and the _biacromial_ diameter which measures the width of the pelvis. [illustration: fig. .] _limbs._--in the case of the limbs also it is by no means easy or practicable to take many measurements. consequently it should be sufficient to indicate that there are a great number of different measurements for every different segment of the limbs. there are two principal instruments needed for this: a large compass with adjustable branches, for the long segments, and a small compass for the short segments. with the large compass we measure the length of the upper arm and forearm, the length of the thigh and shin, the length of the foot. with the small compass we measure the total length of the hand, its width, the length of the fingers and of the digital segments, etc. the circumference of the limbs is taken with the ordinary metallic tape. in order to fulfil the present-day scope of pedagogic anthropology, it is sufficient to take only a few measurements (the form and the head), but it is necessary to take them with great accuracy, and above all, to _verify_ one's personal ability as a measurer, so that everyone who wishes to try the experiment may have a reliable method of testing himself. to this end it is necessary to know how to calculate one's own special _personal error_. =the personal error= in anthropometry, a knowledge of the anthropometric points, the instruments to apply to them, their use and their interpretation, is not sufficient. there is need of prolonged experience in accordance with the accepted method and under a practical guide. as a matter of fact, the degree of accuracy with which a measurement is taken is always relative, no matter who takes it, but in the case of a person who has had no practice this relativity may present so wide a margin as to be practically useless. to obtain an approximate figure of a measurement means nothing, unless the figure is supplemented not only by a statement as to which of the _accepted methods_ was used in taking it, but also by a minute description of the manner in which this method was carried out. it is necessary to bear in mind: . that the ability to find the anthropometric points implies a certain knowledge of anatomy; it is a practical research, to be made under the guidance of a teacher, while the actual finding of the points as well as the taking of the measurements, should be left to the learner. . that the manner of applying the instruments is not without effect upon the resulting figure: for example, if the compass is held horizontally in measuring the frontal diameter, the result is different from what it would be if the instrument were held vertically. if the compass is held by the extremities of the branches, the diameter is slightly different from what it would be if the compass was held by the handle. accordingly, it is necessary to describe minutely how we are accustomed to hold the instruments. . that the resulting figure differs according to whether or not the screw has been turned, or whether it has been read _in position_, or by approaching the instrument to the eye. . that when an instrument is old, it registers different results from those it gave when new; consequently, it is necessary to _verify it_, before proceeding to take a series of measurements. hence it is proper to state not only precisely what instrument is used, but also that the precaution has been taken to verify it. but what is still more important is to find out one's own _personal_ _data_. if the same measurement is taken twice under precisely similar conditions, the same figure is hardly ever obtained both times; everyone, even the most experienced, has his own _personal_ _error_. by practice the amount of this error may be steadily lowered, but cannot be eliminated. constant figures are an evidence of dishonesty, of mere _copying_; they are almost certainly not authentic. it is important to know one's own _average error_. it is calculated as follows: let us suppose that successive attempts have resulted in the following figures relative to the same measurement: , , , , the mean average of these numbers is ( + + + + )/ = let us see how the values obtained differ in respect to : - , , + , + , - = differences from the mean average figure. we now take the average of these differences, disregarding the plus and minus signs: ( + + + + )/ = / = . = mean average error the personal mean error is a datum that it is necessary to know in order to give value to any measurements that we may wish to give forth. in taking the various test measurements for the purpose of calculating one's personal error, it is well to use the precaution of not taking them twice at the same sitting, but after an interval of time, not only so that all marks will have disappeared that may have been left upon the skin by the instrument in the act of measuring, but also that the preceding figure will have faded from our memory. accordingly, the measurements should be repeated on successive days and if possible under the same conditions of _time_ and _place_. it is well to make a careful choice of the time and place, because these also have their effect upon the figures. it will be observed that if the measurements are made in a well-appointed place, with a steady light, without noises, in short, without disturbing causes, the personal error is much more easily decreased, i.e., the measurements are more exact, because the measurer can better concentrate his attention. even the hour of the day has an influence upon the figures. it is known that none of us has the same ability to perform our various tasks at all the different hours of the day; for instance, it is not a matter of indifference whether we ask the pupils in a school to solve a problem at one hour of the day rather than at another. this is true of all occupations, and hence also of anthropometry; there are certain hours of the day at which fewer errors in measurement will be made, independently of the state of fatigue. consequently, it is well to know this individual datum, and to tell at what hour and in what environment the measures have been taken. the figures are of more value if they have been compared with the results of other observers; it is necessary, after we have found our own average error, to select, for the purpose of verifying our results, some other observer, of similar experience to our own, and whose personal error is also known. here it is necessary to take into consideration still another factor--one's personal susceptibility to suggestion. if we have confidence in the person through whom we verify our figures, we are inclined to obtain figures equal to his own. we have only to compare our earlier figures with those since we began to use him as a test, in order to see _whether_, and _to what extent_ we are influenced by suggestion. hence, to obviate this danger it is necessary to obtain our respective figures without communicating them to each other. it will also be necessary to take precautions not to be influenced by suggestion under any other circumstances. for instance, we are in hopes, while taking a series of measurements of school children, that we shall be able to prove that the heads of the more intelligent are larger than those of the less intelligent. in order that the figures shall be free from alterations due to suggestion, it is necessary that the measurer, while actually taking the measurements, shall be unaware which children are better and which are worse, from the intellectual point of view. the personal error cannot be calculated in regard to a single measurement and then applied to all the others, but it must be worked out anew for every separate measurement; it oscillates variously, as a matter of fact, in relation to the longer and shorter diameters, the cranial measurements, and the measurements of the trunk and the limbs. we are sufficiently skilled to take measurements when we have attained for measurements of cranial diameters a mean error of from to mm., for the vertical cranial diameter one of mm., and for the stature, one of from to mm. finally, in anthropometry, theory is of no value without a long and intelligent practice, constituting an actual and personal education in anthropometric technique. all anthropometric figures have a relative value dependent upon the extent of this education in the individual investigator. this is a case in which it may be said that the figures are worthless without the _signature_. chapter viii statistical methodology having taken measurements with the rigorous technical precision that is to-day demanded by anthropometry, we should know how to extract from these figures certain _laws_, or at least certain statistical conclusions. there are two principal methods of regrouping the figures:--_mean_ _averages_ and _seriations_. =mean averages.=--averages are obtained, as is a matter of common knowledge and practice, by taking the sum of all the figures and dividing the result by the number of data. the general formula is as follows: (a+b+c+d)/( + + + ) when comparative figures are given, as, for example, those recorded by quetélét for the stature, the diameters of the head, etc., such figures are always mean averages. such averages may be more or less general. we might, for example, obtain a mean average of the stature of italians, and this would be more general than the mean stature for a single region of italy, and this again more general than the mean stature for a city, or for some specified social class, etc. it is interesting to know how the mean will be affected, according to the number of individuals examined, because it is obvious that the mean stature of italians cannot be based upon measurements of _all_ italians, but upon a larger or smaller number of individuals. now, if we take various different numbers of individuals, shall we obtain different mean statures? and if so, what number of subjects must we have at our disposal in order to obtain a constant medial figure, and hence the one that represents the _real mean average_? it has been determined that a relatively small number will suffice to give the mean, if the measurements are taken with uniform method and from the same class of subjects (sex, age, race, etc.); for the cranium, subjects are sufficient, and for the stature, subjects. this method furnishes us with an abstract number, insofar as it does not correspond to any _real individual_, but it serves to give us the synthetic idea of an entirety. in anthropology we need this sort of fundamental synthesis before proceeding to individual analysis for the purpose of interpreting a specified person. now, it is evident that the figures representing the mean stature for each region in italy give us a basis for judging of the distribution of this important datum, while an accumulation of a hundred thousand individual figures would lead to nothing more profitable than confusion and weariness. the following table, however, is quite clear and instructive: mean stature in italy (according to departments) ------------------------------- departments |stature in |centimetres -------------------+----------- piedmont | . liguria | . lombardy | . venetia | . emilia | . tuscany | . marches | . umbria | . latium | . abruzzi and molise | . campania | . apulia | . basilicata | . calabria | . sicily | . sardinia | . ------------------------------- yet the interpretation of such a table is not simple; it is necessary to read the numbers, to remember them in their reciprocal relation; and it demands effort and time to acquire a _clear and_ _synthetic_ idea of the distribution in italy of this one datum, _stature_. on the other hand, we must lose as little time and spare our forces as far as possible. the value of positive methodology lies in the extent to which it accomplishes these two subjects. geographical charts serve the purpose of this desired simplification. let us take an outline map of italy, divide it into regions, and _colour_ these different regions darker or lighter, in proportion as the stature is higher or lower. the gradations and shadings in colour will tell us at a single glance, and without any fatigue on our part, what the table of figures reveals at the cost of a very perceptible effort. little squares must be added on the margin of the chart, corresponding to the gradations in colour, and opposite them the figures which they respectively indicate--after the fashion in which the scale of reduction is given in every geographical map. in this way we may _study_ these charts, and their examination is pleasant and interesting, while it successfully associates the two ideas of an "anthropometric datum" and of a "region," a result which a series of figures, pure and simple, could not achieve. we have seen livi's charts of italy, both for stature and for the cephalic index. analogous charts may be constructed for all the different data, for example, the colour of the hair, the shape of the nose, the facial index, etc. in the same manner we may proceed to a still more analytical distribution of anthropometric data among the different provinces of a single _region_. for example, i myself prepared charts of this sort for the stature, the cephalic index and the pigmentation of the population of latium. sometimes we want to see in one single, comprehensive glance, the _progress_ of some anthropological datum; for instance, in its development through different ages. quétélet's series of figures for growth in stature, in weight, in the diameters of the head, the cranial circumference, etc., offer when read the same difficulty as the similar tables of distribution according to regions. on the contrary, we get a synthetic, sweeping glance in _diagrams_, such as the one which shows the growth of stature in the two sexes. the method of constructing such diagrams is very simple, and is widely employed. when we wish to represent in physics certain phenomena and laws; or in hygiene, the progress of mortality through successive years, etc., we make use of the method of diagrams. let us draw two fundamental lines meeting in a right angle at _a_ (fig. ): _as_ is known as the _axis of the abscissæ_; _ao_, the _axis of the ordinates_. we divide each of these lines into equal parts. let us assume that the divisions of _as_ represent the years of age, and those of _ao_ the measurements of stature in centimetres; and since the new-born child has an average height of cm., we may place as the initial figure. from the figure _o_ (age) and from cm. (measure), we erect perpendiculars meeting at _a_, where we mark the point. at the age of one year the average stature is about cm., accordingly we erect perpendiculars from (age) and from (measure), obtaining the point _c_. since the stature at two years is about cm. the same procedure gives us the point _e_. since the stature at the age of three is about cm., i erect the perpendicular from a level slightly higher than half-way between and , obtaining the point _i_; and so on, for the rest. meanwhile we begin to be able to see at a glance that the stature increases greatly in the first year and that thereafter the intensity of its growth steadily diminishes. [illustration: fig. ] if we unite the points thus constructed, the line of representation is completed. the verticals _a_, _c_, _e_, etc., are the _ordinates_, and the horizontals _a_, _c_, etc., are the abscissæ of the line of representation; and since it is constructed along the intersections of these lines, they are for that reason collectively called _coordinates_. it is usual in constructing these diagrams to mark the coordinates in such a way that they will not be apparent, instead of which only the axes and the line representing the development of the phenomenon are shown (fig. ). sometimes a different method of representing the phenomenon graphically is followed, namely, by tracing the successive series of distances developed on the ordinates (fig. ); in which case the characteristic arrangement of the lines causes this to be known as the _organ-pipe_ method. [illustration: fig. .] [illustration: fig. .] the diagram for the growth in stature, given earlier in this volume, is constructed according to the method shown in fig. . when there are a great number of data to represent, which overlap and interweave, this method of graphic representation still lends itself admirably to the purpose; in such a case we shall have a number of broken lines, either parallel or intersecting, which may be distinguished by different colours or different methods of tracing (dots, stars, etc.), so that they may interweave without becoming confused, thus giving us at a glance the development of several phenomena at once (for example, total stature and sitting stature, length of upper and lower limbs, in one and the same diagram). for the purpose of practice, a graphic representation of the changes in ponderal weight through the different ages may be constructed in class. the figures for stature and weight at each age should be read aloud; one student can find the corresponding _ponderal index_ in the tables, while another constructs the graphic line upon the blackboard. in this manner we can see better than by reading the figures, how the ponderal index increases during the first year and becomes much higher during early infancy; and then how it diminishes up to the age of puberty, holding its ground with slight oscillations during the puberal period; after which it again increases when the individual begins to _fill out_ after the seventeenth year, and once again later when he takes on flesh, to fall off again during the closing years, when old age brings lean and shrunken limbs. seriation.--another method of rearranging the figures is that of _seriation_. let us assume that we are taking the average of a thousand statures, or of hundreds of thousands. we will try to find some means of simplifying the calculation. since the individual oscillations of stature are contained within a few centimetres and the individuals amount to thousands, large numbers will be found to have the same _identical_ statures. accordingly, let us rearrange the individuals according to their stature, obtaining the following result: ----------------------------------------------- stature in metres | number of individuals ---------------------+------------------------- . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | ------------------------------------------------ by multiplying the . by , . by , etc., and by adding the results, we shall have simplified the process for obtaining the sum total which must then be divided by the number of individuals. well, while doing this for the purpose of simplifying the calculation, we have hit upon the method of distributing the individuals in a _series_, that is, we have regrouped the corresponding figures according to _seriation_. seriation has been discovered as a method of _analysing_ the mean average, and it demonstrates three things: first, the extent of oscillations of anthropologic data, a thing which the mean average completely hides,--indeed, we have seen in the case of the cephalic index the mean averages oscillate between and , when calculated for the separate regions, while, in the case of individuals, the oscillations extend from to ; secondly, it shows the numerical prevalence of individuals for the one or the other measurement; third, and finally, seriation reveals a law, to us, namely, that the distribution of individuals, according to anthropological data, is not a matter of chance; there is a prevalence of individuals corresponding to certain average figures, and the number of individuals diminishes in proportion as the measurements depart from the mean average, equally whether they increase or diminish. i take from livi certain numerical examples of serial distribution: ------------------------------------------------ stature in inches | number of observations ---------------------+-------------------------- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------ although these figures are not rigorously exact, there is a certain numerical prevalence of individuals in relation to the stature of inches, and above and below this point the number of individuals diminishes, becoming very few toward the extremes. the lack of exactness and of agreement in serial distribution is due to the numerical scarcity of individuals. if this number were doubled, if it were centupled, we should see the serial distribution become systematised to the point of producing, for example, such symmetrical series as the following: , , , , , , --- , , , ----- ------ , , ----- , , , , , , this law of distribution is one of the most widespread laws; it ordains the way in which the characteristics of animals and plants alike must behave; and the statistical method which is beginning to be introduced into botany sheds much light upon it. [illustration: fig. .] this law may be represented graphically by arranging the anthropologic data on the abscissæ (_e.g._, those of stature), and the number of individuals on the ordinates. in such cases we have a curve with a maximum central height and a symmetrical bilateral diminution (fig. ): this is the curve of quétélet. or better yet, it is known as _quétlét's binomial curve_, because this anthropologist was the first to represent the law graphically and to perceive that its development was the same as that so well known in mathematics for the coefficients in newton's binomial theorem. newton's binomial theorem is the law for raising any binomial to the _n_th power, and is expanded in algebra as follows: (_a_+_b_)^{_n_} = _a_^{_n_}+ _na_^{(_n_- )}_b_+ (_n_(_n_- )/ )_a_^{(_n_- )}_b_^{ }+ ((_n_(_n_- )(_n_- ))/( . ))_a_^{(_n_- )}_b_^{ }+ ((_n_(_n_- )(_n_- )(_n_- ))/( . . ))_a_^{(_n_- )}_b_^{ }+ ((_n_(_n_- )(_n_- )(_n_- )(_n_- ))/( . . . ))_a_^{(_n_- )}_b_^{ }+ ... + _b_^{n} substituting for _n_ some determined coefficient, for example, , the binomial would develop, in regard to its coefficients, after the following fashion: (_a_+_b_)^{ } = _a_^{ }+ ×_a_^{ }_b_+ (( . )/ )_a_^{ }_b_^{ }+ (( . . )/( . ))_a_^{ }_b_^{ }+ (( . . . )/( . . ))_a_^{ }_b_^{ }+ (( . . . . )/( . . . ))_a_^{ }_b_^{ }+ (( . . . . . )/( . . . . ))_a_^{ }_b_^{ }+ (( . . . . . . )/( . . . . . ))_a_^{ }_b_^{ }+ (( . . . . . . . )/( . . . . . . ))_a_^{ }_b_^{ }+ (( . . . . . . . . )/( . . . . . . . ))_ab_^{ }+ _b_^{ }. whence it appears that, after performing the necessary reductions, the coefficients following the central one diminish symmetrically in the same manner as they increased: that is, according to the selfsame law that we meet in the anthropological statistics of seriations. indeed, here is the binomial theorem with the reductions made: (_a_+_b_)^{ } = _a_^{ }+ ×_a_^{ }_b_+ (( . )/( ))_a_^{ }_b_^{ }+ (( . . )/( . ))_a_^{ }_b_^{ }+ (( . . . )/( . . ))_a_^{ }_b_^{ }+ (( . . . . )/( . . . ))_a_^{ }_b_^{ }+ (( . . . )/( . . ))_a_^{ }_b_^{ }+ (( . . )/( . ))_a_^{ }_b_^{ }+ (( . )/( ))_a_^{ }_b_^{ }+ ×_ab_^{ }+_b_^{ }. and after calculating the coefficients, we obtain the following numbers in a symmetrical series: this is why the curve of quétélet is called _binomial_. let us assume that we wish to represent by means of quétélet's curves, two seriations, for instance in regard to the stature of children of the same race, sex and age, but of opposite social conditions: the poor and the rich. these two curves of quétélet's, provided that they are based upon an equal and very large number of individuals, will be identical, because the law itself is universal. only, the curve for the rich children will be shifted along toward the figures for high statures, and that for the poor children toward the low statures. [illustration: fig. .] at a certain point _a_ the two curves meet and intersect, each invading the field of the other: so that within the space _abc_ there are individual rich children who are shorter than some of the poor, and individual poor children who are taller than some of the rich: _i.e._, the conditions are contrary to those generally established by the curve as a whole. this rule also, of the intersection of binomial curves, is of broad application; whenever a general principle is stated, _e.g._ that the rich are taller than the poor, it is necessary to understand it in a liberal sense, knowing that wherever we should descend to details, the opposite conditions could be found (superimposed area _abc_). for all that, the principle as a whole does not alter its characteristic, which is a differentiation of diverse types (for example, the tall rich and the short poor). the same would hold true if we made a comparison of the stature of men and women; the curve for men would be shifted toward the higher figures and that for women toward the lower, but there would be a point where the two curves would intersect, and in the triangle _abc_ there would be women taller than some of the men, and men shorter than some of the women. the differences have reference to the numerical _majority_ (the high portions of the curves) which are clearly separated from each other, like the tops of cypress trees which have roots interlacing in the earth. now, it is the _numerical prevalence_ of individuals, in any mixed community, that gives that community its distinctive type, whether of class or of race. if we see gathered together in a socialistic assemblage a proletarian crowd, suffering from the effects of pauperism, the majority of the individuals have stooping shoulders, ugly faces and pallid complexions; all this gives to the crowd a general aspect, one might say, of physical inferiority. and we say that this is the type of the labouring class of our epoch in which labour is proletarian--a type of caste. on the other hand, if we go to a court ball, what strikes us is the numerical prevalence of tall, distinguished persons, finely shaped, with velvety skin and delicate and beautiful facial lineaments, so that we recognise that the assemblage is composed of privileged persons, constituting the type of the aristocratic class. but this does not alter the fact that among the proletariat there may be some handsome persons, well developed, robust and quite worthy of being confounded with the privileged class; and conversely, among the aristocrats, certain undersized individuals, sad and emaciated, with stooping shoulders and features of inferior type, who seem to belong to the lower social classes. for this same reason it is difficult to give _clear-cut_ limits to any law and any distinction that we meet in our study of life. this is why it is difficult in zoology and in botany to establish a system, because although every species differs from the others, in the salience of its characteristics and the numerical prevalence of individuals very much alike, none the less every species grades off so insensibly into others, through individuals of intermediate characteristics, that it is difficult to separate the various species sharply from one another. it is only the treetops that are separate, but at their bases life is intertwined; and in the roots there is an inseparable unity. the same may be said when we wish to differentiate normality from pathology and degeneration. the man who is clearly sane differs beyond doubt from the one who is profoundly ill or degenerate; but certain individuals exist whose state it would be impossible to define. now, while seriations analyse certain particularities of the individual distribution, by studying the actual truth, mean averages give us only an abstraction, which nevertheless renders distinct what was previously nebulous and confused in its true particulars. the synthesis of the mean average brings home to us forcibly the true nature of the characteristics in their general effect. the analysis of the seriation brings home to us forcibly the truth regarding this effect when we observe it in the actuality of individual cases. "when, from the topmost pinnacle of the duomo of milan or from the hill of the superga," says levi in felicitous comparison, "we contemplate the magnificent panorama of the alpine chain, we see the zone of snow distinguished from that free from snow by a line that is visibly horizontal and that stretches evenly throughout the length of the chain. but if we enter into the alpine valleys and try to reach and to touch the point at which the zone of snow begins, that regularity which we previously admired disappears before our eyes; we see, at one moment, a snow-clad peak, and at the next another free from snow that either is or seems to be higher than the former." now, through the statistics of mean averages, we are able to see the general progress of phenomena, like the spectator who gazes from a distance at the alpine chain and concludes that the zone of snow is above and the open ground is below; while, by means of seriation, we are in the position of the person who has entered the valley and discovers the actuality of the particular details which go to make up the uniform aspect of the scene as a whole. both aspects are true--just as both of those statistical methods are useful--for they reciprocally complete each other, concurring in revealing to us the laws and the phenomena of anthropology. chapter ix biographical history of the pupil and his antecedents the child, like every other individual, represents an _effect_ of multifold causes: he is a product of _heredity_ (biological product) and a product of society (social product). the characteristics of his ancestors, their maladies, their vices, their degeneration, live again in the result of the conception which has produced a new individual: and this individual, whether stronger or weaker, must pass through various obstacles in the course of his intrauterine life and his external life. the sufferings and the mistakes of his mother are reflected in him. the maladies which attack him may leave upon him permanent traces. finally, the social environment receives the child at birth, either as a favoured son or as an unfortunate, and leads him through paths that certainly must influence his complex development. all of the preceding and theoretic parts of this volume which took up each characteristic for separate consideration, have already explained all that it is necessary to know in order to interpret the characteristics present in a given individual, and the more or less remote causes which contributed to them. we may now _apply_ our acquired knowledge to individual study, by making investigations into the antecedents of the child and recording his _biographic history_. it forms a parallel to the _clinical history_ which is recorded in medicine: and it leads to a diagnosis, or at least to a scientific judgment regarding the child. although this biographic part is eminently practical, certain principal points of research may be indicated for the purpose of guiding the student. but no one will ever make a successful study of medical pedagogy unless he will _follow_ the practical lessons dedicated to the individual study of the scholar, and make a practice of personal observation. in the pedagogical school of rome, we provide _subjects_, taken from the elementary schools or from the asylum school of de sanctis for defective children. and we read their biographical history in regard to their antecedents, and then make an objective examination of them, frequently extending it to an examination of their sensibility and their psychic conditions and enquiring into their standard of scholarship. from these lessons based upon theory, profitable discussions often result; and they certainly are the most profitable lessons in the course. a biographical history is essentially composed of three parts: the _antecedents_, which comprises an investigation of the facts antedating the individual in question; _the objective examination_, which studies the individual personally; and the _diaries_, _i.e._, the continued observation of the same individual who has already been studied in regard to himself and his antecedents. the objective examination and the diaries cannot be considered solely in the light of anthropology, because they chiefly require the aid of psychology. but even anthropology makes an ample and important contribution, first, in the form of an objective morphological examination, the vast importance of which has already been shown; secondly, because it gives us a picture of the biologico-social personality which it is necessary to compare with the _reactions_ of the subject in question, with his psychic manifestations, his degree of culture, etc.; and upon this comparison depends the chief importance of the individual study of the pupil. accordingly, in addition to an examination of the individual, anthropology ought to concern itself also with the conditions antedating the individual; therefore, it traces back to the _origins_ (antecedents), while psychology reserves for itself the principal task of _following the psychological development_ of the subject in his school life (diaries); a task in which it will nevertheless go hand in hand with anthropology since the latter must follow at the same time the physio-morphological development of the subject himself. accordingly, the gathering of _antecedent_ statistics is the task of anthropology. the antecedent statistics may be called the _history of the genesis_ of the individual; the manner of collecting them is by means of _enquiries_ that are generally made of the child's nearest relations (the mother) or of the teachers who have superintended his previous education. the enquiries are conducted under the guidance of a certain system of which we give the following outline: anamnesis: / remote / ascendant { \ collateral biopathological { / conception { { pregnancy { / mother { delivery \ near { \ lactation { / dentition / first development of { locomotion { \ speech \ child { maladies incurred { / character { maternal opinions { intelligence \ of child \ etc. / vocation of parents sociological { their morality { their culture \ their care of their children school record { opinions of teachers, history of previous schooling. we may distinguish biopathological antecedents, which have regard to the organism of the child as a living individual; sociological antecedents, having regard to the social environment in which the child has grown up and which contributes to the formation of his psycho-physical personality; and scholastic antecedents or _scholarship_, regarding the previous schooling of the child under examination. the biopathological antecedents are certainly of fundamental importance. they are called _remote_ when we refer to the hereditary antecedents of the subject, and _near_ when we have reference to his personal antecedents. =remote antecedents.=--these include an investigation regarding the ancestors, the brothers and sisters, and the collateral relations. the age of the parents (since we know that too immature or too advanced an age, or a disparity in age between the parents may result in the birth of weak children). degree of relationship between the parents (since we know that the offspring of parents related to each other may be weak). maladies incurred by them or prevalent in their families, incidental vices of the parent (since we know that constitutional maladies, such as syphilis, tuberculosis, gout, pellagra, malaria, mental and nervous diseases, etc., _alcoholism_ or an irregular life of excesses, may lead to the procreation of degenerates). furthermore, since it is known that according to the laws of collateral heredity, maladies may reappear in nephews which previously occurred in uncles and not in the parents, information should be sought, so far as possible, from all members of the family. information regarding the brothers of the subject offers an interest of a very particular kind, because this gives us an insight into the generative capacity of the parents: for instance, if there were abortions, children who died at an early age of convulsions, meningitis, etc., this argues unfavourably for the normality of the subject. =near biopathological antecedents:= _mother, child._--our inquiries should centre first of all upon the mother, in order to know the conditions of conception, pregnancy, delivery and lactation, in the case of the child under examination, because we know that frequently an error at the time of conception may produce a degenerate or a weakling. for example, a child generated in a state of physical or mental exhaustion--_e.g._, after a long trip on a bicycle, or after passing an examination--may be born feeble, predisposed to nervous diseases (idiocy, meningitis), just as he may be born abnormal (epilepsy, anomalies of character, criminal tendencies) if generated by the father during an alcoholic excess, or by the mother while suffering from hypochondria, illness, etc. the history of the pregnancy is also of interest: whether it proceeded regularly to the close of the nine months, whether the mother suffered especially from mental anxiety, illness or received any blow on the abdomen. other causes which may affect the health of the child have reference to birth and to lactation. if the delivery requires an operation, it may, for instance, deform the skull; while a hired wet-nurse, or artificial feeding are more or less apt to cause deterioration in the child. having completed this first enquiry, we pass on to consider the child itself, from the time of birth onward, lingering especially over its early development and more particularly over the _cutting_ _of the teeth_, _learning to walk_ and _learning to speak_, which are the three first obstacles to infantile development. the healthy child overcomes them according to normal laws, while the child of tardy development shows the first characteristic anomaly in these three fundamental points of its early existence (tardiness of development, incomplete and defective development, development accompanied by diseases, etc.). usually a tardiness in the development of the teeth denotes general weakness and more especially skeletal weakness (rachitis, syphilis); tardiness in learning to walk may occur in connection with the above-named causes (weakness of the lower limbs); or with difficulty in attaining an equilibrium (of cerebral origin; witness the case of idiots who, without being paralytic, cannot walk, because they cannot _learn how to walk_); or with paresis, more or less partial or diffused, of the muscles controlling the act of walking (infantile paralysis, little's disease, etc.). a tardy development of speech is sometimes found together with a notable intellectual development and the child will not begin to speak until he can express thoughts and speak well; but more frequently such delayed development is due to partial _deafness_; or it originates in the association centres of the brain (the idiot child cannot _learn_ to speak). it will also be helpful to know whether the child was ever ill. it is very important in this connection to find out whether the child ever suffered from infantile eclampsia in early life (convulsions, or "fits" as the mothers of the lower classes call them). this is an indication of a cerebral malady which leaves behind it permanent alterations of the brain and of its functions. the child may be an idiot, or may belong to one of the various catagories of children who go under the name of defectives; or he may be abnormal in character (cerebroplegic forms). another important fact to record is nocturnal _enuresis_ (loss of urine during sleep subsequent to the normal age); this is considered by some authorities as a pre-epileptic state--that is, a child that suffers such losses may in the future become subject to epilepsy, and quite probably, if studied, will show various anomalies of the nervous system, such, for example, as too deep sleep, slowness of intelligence, etc. repeated attacks of _infective diseases_, even though they are survived, also denote organic weakness, with facile predisposition to infective agencies--in other words, deficient powers of immunity. prolonged intestinal maladies or typhus in the early months (denutrition from pathological causes, exhaustive diseases) may, in themselves, be the cause of the child's enfeeblement and its consequent arrest in development. but in the interpretation of such observations, the physician should be the guide and the direct judge. the most salient symptoms in regard to the child--intelligence, conduct, character, endurance, etc.--are, for the most part, expressed with great clearness by the mothers. prof. de sanctis, for example, has noted that the mother's first words might serve the purpose of a diagnosis; for instance, the mother says of an idiot child: "he doesn't understand," of a child retarded in development, "he is stupid," of an abnormal child, "he understands but he is bad." accordingly, prof. de sanctis begins his diagnostic researches by registering the _maternal judgments_, because the mother is _struck_ by the salient characteristics of her child; and even if she is uneducated she always finds concise and effective phrases to express her judgment. to the end of rendering the research into antecedents surer and more complete so far as regards the personal antecedents of the child, certain anthropological tablets are being introduced to serve as _maternal diaries_. in this way the mothers have a guide for studying their children, and this forms one of the first practical attempts toward the "education of the mothers." here is a form of chart for keeping a record of the dentition. the significance of the letters is as follows: _u. r._: upper right, _i.e._, the right half of the upper jaw. _u. l._: upper left. _l. r._: lower right. _l. l._: lower left. (the fact must be borne in mind that in the first dentition there are twenty teeth.) first dentition ------------------------------------------------------------- | dates | teeth |------------------------------------| observations | of first | of complete | of | |appearance | development | shedding | --------+-----------+-------------+----------+--------------- u. r. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | u. l. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | l. r. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | l. l. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------- in this way we have an analytical and exact chart of the development of the teeth. analogous tables are made for the second dentition, for the growth of the stature, for increase in weight, for certain physiological notes, etc. when the first period of growth is ended, the mother's note-books contain annual notes, like the following: year .... -------------------------------------------------------------------------- date |jan-|feb- |march|april|may|june|july|august|sept-|oct-|nov- |dec- |uary|ruary| | | | | | |ember|ober|ember|ember weight | | | | | | | | | | | | stature| | | | | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- special annual diaries are now employed for keeping a minute record of maladies incurred, symptoms, treatment, etc. these note-books, similar to those hitherto kept by ladies for their house accounts, or for sentimental notes, would be of great service and aid to pedagogic anthropology, even though their use could not be extended to all mothers (the mothers of the proletariat, immoral women, etc., either could not or would not give similar contributions). the institution of "children's houses," if more widespread, could easily facilitate the _education_ _of the mothers_ and the diffusion of "maternal note-books" throughout all grades of society. but at most these mother's diaries furnish us only with notes of the near antecedents and not of the remote, which are of extreme importance. =sociological antecedents:= _vocation, morality, culture._--before all else, in inquiring into the sociological antecedents, it is necessary to know in what sort of an environment the child has grown, and whether it is an environment favorable, or otherwise, to his physical, psychic, intellectual and moral development. this is an exceedingly important matter to determine for the purposes of a clinical history, since the child's moral conduct and the profit derived from study depend to a large extent upon the environment in which the child has grown and lived. to this end inquiries should be made into the economic circumstances of the child's parents, their vocation, moral standards and degree of education, and also into the child's mode of life, whether with the parents or other relations, or with persons not related to him, whether he plays in the street, keeps company with street children, etc. =school record:= _judgments of teachers._--this is the history of the pupil as made by his teachers, beginning with the first day that he enters school. the judgments of teachers, although not always so precise and so fair as those of mothers, nevertheless have an importance of their own. inquiry should be made into the child's conduct in school and the profit he derives from his studies. _illustrative cases._--there are, for example, certain families so infected with a degenerative or pathological taint that the remote antecedents are sufficient in themselves to stigmatise the biological condition of an abnormal subject. this may be seen in the genealogy of the misdea family (taken from lombroso's work): _grandfather_: michele misdea (not very intelligent, but very active) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | | | | st uncle nd uncle d uncle th uncle misdea the guiseppe domenico cosimo michele father (alcoholic, (imbecile) (eccentric (quick-tempered (semi-imbecile) spendthrift, married and killed in a to an hysterical violent) quarrel) woman, one | of whose brothers ------------------------------------------------------- was a brigand and | | | | another a thief). st cousin d cousin d cousin th cousin | (idiot) (madman) (imbecile) (imbecile) | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | st brother d brother d brother th brother th brother cosimo salvatore (sane) (alcoholic) (incorrigible) (obscene, misdea epileptic, drunkard, convicted of assault). | grandson (obscene) similarly extraordinary is the genealogy of ada türcker, an alcoholic, thief and vagabond, born in , a large part of whose numerous descendants it has been possible to trace. out of the individuals derived from this degenerate woman, the lives of no less than have been followed up, and among these are included mendicants, inmates of asylums, prostitutes, criminals, and murderers, who altogether cost the state upward of seven million francs! besides families like these there are others infected with a pathological taint, in which phthisis and gout alternate with epilepsy and insanity. then again there are other families in which the pathological taint is scarcely perceptible, as for example, the family of an epileptic child with criminal tendencies, personally studied by me; all the members of this family are long-lived and enjoy good health; the father alone is a sufferer from articular rheumatism. lastly there are families in which there is no sign of pathological or degenerative weakness; and in such cases we say that there is nothing noteworthy in the genealogy, and the near antecedents assume the highest degree of importance. the study of antecedents not only has a scientific importance, in so far as it contributes to a knowledge of anthropological varieties of mankind (due to adaptation); but it also has an immediate pedagogic importance through its useful application to the school. lino ferriani is the first jurist to investigate the antecedents of juvenile delinquents, by gathering notes not only regarding their parents, but also in regard to their own _school standing_ (by consulting the teachers in the schools where these juvenile criminals received their education!). i have extracted from his volume on "precocious and senile delinquency" the following statistics of the physico-moral condition of the parents: convicted of crimes against property , convicted of crimes against the person addicted to wine , women leading meretricious lives doubtful reputation , very bad reputation good reputation industrious , semi-idle , idle , sentenced for drunkenness , sentenced for offences against public morals alcoholics , confined in lunatic asylums mothers deflowered before the age of , couples separated through fault of the husband couples separated through fault of the wife couples separated through fault of both parties among these notes there is a numerical preponderance of _idlers_ (the idle and semi-idle: degenerates are weaklings who cannot work and who shun work; their only form of work is crime, which is an attempt to reap the fruit of other people's industry) and alcoholism (addicted to wine, alcoholics, and those sentenced for drunkenness; this also is a stigma of degeneration: weaklings have recourse to alcohol, because it gives them an illusion of strength). furthermore, the majority show, through crime and prostitution, that they belong to the class of social parasites. in regard to the psycho-physical characteristics of juvenile offenders, ferriani gives these principal notes: nervous , habitual liars , fond of wine and gluttonous , proud of delinquency , blasphemers , cruel to animals , excessive emaciation , long hands , unreliable workers , without interest in life , desirous of authority , scrofulous rachitic and syphilitic vindictive timid and cowardly obscene cruel to parents cruel to companions and now we come to the most interesting part of all, namely, the notes taken by teachers where these children went to school. _boys._--age from ten to twelve years. characteristic notes on children in regard to bad conduct: humiliating poorer companions absolute refusal to obey corrupting companions mutilating books of poor companions spirit of rebellion malicious and headstrong resentful of routine stealing food at expense of companions abnormally spiteful impertinent answers proud of inventing misdeeds stealing from companions and teacher (school stationary, etc.) calumniating companions desire to play the spy obscene writings in toilet room obscene writings in copy-books obscene actions in the school-room obscene writings on the benches violence with a weapon (pen-knife) bullying smaller boys feigning loss of speech for a month, to avoid reciting lessons blaspheming afraid of everything and savagely vindictive frequently absent from school, to play games of chance spirit of destruction spirit of contradiction _girls._--age from ten to twelve years. characteristic notes on children in regard to bad conduct: soiling the clothing of their companions abnormally spiteful intense envy frequent absence from school, to play games of chance tyranny immoderate vanity spirit of rebellion insolent answers absolute intolerance of supervision damaging the school furniture slandering the teacher slandering school-mates theft, limited to pens lascivious love-letters constantly speaking ill of her mother attempts to make school-mates unhappy unkindness toward animals unkindness toward old persons unkindness toward small children obscene writings in the toilet room harmful anonymous letters hatred of beautiful things spirit of contradiction corrupting companions thefts in school mutilating the clothing of companions the prevailing faults among the boys are: theft, obscene actions, tyranny over the weak; and among the girls: slander, extreme envy and lascivious love-letters. if we compare the notes regarding the parents with those relating to the children, we find a connection amounting to that of cause and effect. we might almost say that the phenomenon revealed to us in school through the teachers' notes concerns not so much the pupil himself as his past history. to keep this sort of record of misconduct, so damnatory to the pupils in question, would be worse than useless, if we were unable to trace back their source to the presumable causes which determined them. there is an intimate relation between the environment and the products of that environment. if we should read the notes relating to the children who receive prizes for good conduct, and who are held up as moral examples, we could trace back and find the cause of these notes in a favourable family environment; hence, the qualities which we praise in the child are not a merit peculiar to the child, but are due to causes, of which the pupil himself is merely the fortunate epilogue. and passing from studies taken from works of criminal anthropology to examples contained in works of pedagogic anthropology (these works all being based upon the same scientific standards), i am happy to cite a work which has even earned the praise of lombroso: _notes on infantile psycho-physiology_, written by professor calcagni. notwithstanding that this book of menotti calcagni's is inspired by the most advanced pedagogic conceptions, so that it well deserves to be cited in its entirety with much profit, i shall avail myself only of the part which particularly interests me at the present moment. it is the part containing the data collected and arranged by the author in a series of tables, in the form of a brief clinical history, of each pupil in the class studied by the author. i shall pass over the statistical tables concerning the personal examination of the pupils (anthropological, physiological, etc.), and confine myself to just two tables: one in regard to the examination into the pupil's antecedents (name and surname; day of birth; place of birth; age of father; age of mother; vocation of father; vocation of mother; conditions of home environment, hygienic, economic and moral; conditions of other members of the family; maladies and casualties incurred by the parents before and after the procreation of the child; defects and vices of parents, and details regarding their psychic constitutions; conditions and accidents during pregnancy, birth and puerperal period; illnesses incurred by the child); the other in regard to the pupil's previous school record (name and surname; pupils enrolled at beginning of the year; those transferred to other classes; those promoted without examination; those promoted after examination; those permitted a second trial; those not admitted to examination; those dropped from their class, and for how many different years). i select from these the notes referring to the children _promoted without_ _examination_ and those _not admitted to examination_; _i.e._, the privileged ones before whom an obstacle has been withdrawn which the majority must surmount before continuing on their path in life: go forward in peace, you favoured ones! and those who are not even allowed a chance to overcome the obstacle: turn back, you to whom the path of other men is closed! and i read these notes relative to those _promoted without examination_: "father shoemaker, mother dress-maker, home orderly, frugal and clean; brothers labourers;"--"f. professor of chemistry, m. housekeeping, condition of environment excellent, brothers studious;"--"f. assistant engineer, m. keeps house, conditions of environment good, deaths in family from acute diseases;"--"f. country tradesman, m. keeps house, conditions of environment excellent, very religious family;"--"f. man of means, m. housekeeping, conditions of environment excellent, brothers studious;"--"f. machinist, m. keeps the house, home somewhat damp because of adjoining garden; much anxiety on the part of the mother regarding the children, because her first husband was a consumptive, and the seven children she had by him all died. children of second marriage all healthy; but the pupil in question frequently had attacks of fever;"--"f. cab-driver, m. keeps house, economic and moral conditions satisfactory;"--"f. antiquarian, m. keeps house, condition good;"--"f. manager of a lottery office, m. keeps house, economic conditions of the very best, moral conditions good," etc. and here are a few notes on the pupils _not admitted to the examinations_: "father itinerant vendor, mother keeps house, home exceedingly dirty, utmost indifference regarding the children and their education. insufficient nutriment for the mother both before and after the child's birth;"--"f. cobbler, m. wash-woman, poverty, squalor, and indifference, dwelling gloomy and cramped;"--"f. mason, m. dead, dwelling gloomy and unhealthy, through lack of supervision, giacinto often runs away from home and goes to play on the banks of the tiber; the mother died of tuberculosis; the father is an alcoholic; the child was brought up by a wet-nurse, etc." to recapitulate: in the case of children promoted without examination there is an absolute prevalence of the most favourable social and biologico-moral conditions, while the opposite holds true of the children excluded from examinations. finally, in my own modest work on children adjudged to be the highest and the lowest in their classes, i arrived at some very eloquent conclusions. in the case of children who stand at the foot of their class, the prevailing conditions are not only an unhealthy home but an over-crowded one, with ten or twelve persons sleeping in a single room. on the contrary, in the case of the children standing at the head of their class, the homes are for the most part roomy, comfortable, well-aired and hygienic. in regard to nutrition, the children who have the lowest standing are those who go to school without their breakfast and who go from the school to the street without having had their luncheon. those who stand first, on the contrary, bring with them a luncheon that is sufficient and sometimes over-lavish; and after school, they return home, with the assurance that food, care and comfort await them. the parents of these leaders of their class belong nearly all of them to the liberal professions or the more favoured crafts and trades; consequently the pupils enjoy a more comfortable and respectable environment, a higher standard of culture, a mother who can aid them in their lessons, and who, equally with the father, watches with solicitous care over her children's education. the others, the dullest pupils, go at the close of school into the street, or else--although fortunately very few of them do so--return directly to the wretchedly cramped quarters that they call home. consequently it is not enough to recognise the fact that in school we have to deal with the more intelligent pupil and the less intelligent, with the moral and the immoral, the highest and the lowest; these are effects, the causes of which it is our duty to discover; and that is what the study of antecedents does for us. here begins the far-sighted task of the teacher, who no longer praises the pupil who is a product of fortunate causes, nor blames the unfortunate one heavily handicapped by a destiny which is in no way his fault; but he gives to all an affectionate and enlightened care, designed to correct and reform the reprobates and raise them to the level of the chosen few, thus working for the brotherhood and the amelioration of all mankind, and devoting special attention to those that need it most. the study of antecedents is what contributes most to the interpretation of personality. it is needful, however, that it should be sufficiently thorough; and to this end a certain order of interrogation should be followed. physicians are well acquainted with this order, from the habit they have acquired of taking the antecedents of the patient in their clinical practice; but for making biographic charts for schools, a _guide_ is needed for the use of whoever puts the questions. besides, the biographical history is based on different principles from those of the clinical history (_e.g._, the moral status of the parents, their degree of culture, etc., which are not taken into consideration, in treating a patient). consequently, the blank forms of biographic charts contain suggestions that are likely to prove helpful in conducting an inquiry into antecedents. among such models, i have selected that of pastorello, because it is one of the most complete, and also because it was compiled by an educator (see page ). nevertheless, the inquiry into his antecedents is only a preparation for the scientific study of the pupil in his present state; a study which should _follow_ the pupil through his daily life (diaries) and thus constitute his complete _biographical history_. having collected the antecedent details, we pass on to the objective anthropological and psychic examination of the pupil: beginning with the anthropological, which it is more important to secure first; since the psychic examination will produce better results after a _prolonged observation of the subject_ (diaries, school records). in the anthropological examination it is customary to begin by taking the principal measurements (total stature, sitting stature, weight, thoracic perimeter, perimeter of the head, and its two maximum diameters) which furnish the data needed to give a fundamental idea of the child's physiological constitution and racial type, and to determine the normality of his growth. many other measurements may be taken (spirometry, dynamometry), according to the custom of the school, and, in private schools, according to the object which the principal has in view, in the way of contributions to science. for instance, in a school for defectives the examinations as to general sensibility, speech, muscular strength have an importance of the first order, and equally important is the accurate and minute inspection of the different organs, for the purpose of discovering possible malformations. there are various special objects to be attained by gathering anthropological data, and accordingly every school based upon modern scientific principles has its own "biographical chart" drawn up according to special forms containing the necessary measurements and observations, and the examiner has only to follow the directions of this guide and to fill in the required information obtained from the individual pupil. inquiry into antecedents in pastorello's biographic chart ---------------------------------------------------------------------- general information regarding pupil's family ---------------------------------------------------------------------- name and surname of parents _father_......................................................... _mother_......................................................... _what degree of relationship, if any, exists between the parents?_ ...................................................................... _at what age did the parents contract marriage?_................. _how old were the parents at the time of the child's birth?_..... state of health _father_......................................................... _mother_......................................................... _from what diseases have the relatives of the pupil died?_ ...................................................................... _have there been any predominant_ _diseases in the family?_ ...................................................................... education _father_......................................................... _mother_......................................................... employment _father_......................................................... _mother_......................................................... ancestry _father_......................................................... _mother_......................................................... moral and financial condition of the pupil's family _is the family interested in the education of the children?_ ...................................................................... family habits, eccentricities and vices ...................................................................... here, for instance, is the anthropological form used in the great orphan asylum in new york: new york juvenile asylum anthropological examination and measurements.--_no. of page_ ------------------------------------ date of entrance sex age date of birth name total stature sitting stature total spread of arms weight prehensile strength, right hand prehensile strength, left hand power of traction {antero-posterior diameter thorax {transverse diameter maximum circumference of head maximum antero-posterior diameter maximum transverse diameter minimum frontal diameter height of head inspection: cranium face eyes ears gums teeth palate uvula strabismus limbs body genitals lung heart special notes ------------------------- this form has signs of _modernity_: in fact, it concedes the greater part of the research that is to be made in the first objective examination to anthropological observations, limiting the observations of a physiological nature to those of muscular strength--it being well known that all _functions_ in general, and especially the _psychic_ _functions_, cannot be determined with reliable accuracy except after repeated and prolonged observations. furthermore, the modern tendency in anthropologic research is revealed by the preference given to measurements of the body in its entirety, giving first place to those of the _bust_ and _limbs_, from which the important ratio of their development is obtained (standing and sitting stature, total spread of the arms), and the _weight_. furthermore, there is a notable _absence of measurements of the face_, measurements which it is the modern tendency to abandon where the subjects of research are children, since in this case they have no physiological or ethnical importance, because the face of the child _varies from year to_ _year_, and has no _fixed_ index like that of the cranium. a study of the facial measurements might be of importance as contributing to a knowledge of the evolution of the face through successive years; but such knowledge can be obtained, so far as is needed, from "special studies and researches," without making _obligatory_ a form of research that is both troublesome and dangerous (the application of pointed instruments to the faces of children). the best method of examining the face is by photographing the full face and the profile at intervals of one year. accordingly, the biographic form used in the "children's houses" contains only questions of an anthropologic nature of importance in relation to growth (see the form of the biographic chart of the "children's houses," page ). the greatest importance attaches to the _stature_ and _weight_. indeed, while all the required measurements are taken _once a year_ on the occasion of the child's birthday, the total stature and the weight are taken once a month upon the day of that month corresponding to the child's birthday. the numerous other physio-pathological and psychic notes, the examination in regard to speech, etc., are obtained partly from the diaries and partly from the physician, according to the necessities of individual cases. the photograph should complete the examination of the pupil. the methods of observation adopted in the "children's houses" represent, i think, the ideal method for the accurate recording of individual characteristics. since the pedagogical methods there employed are themselves founded upon the "spontaneity" of the manifestations of children, it may be said that they represent the technical and rational means of proceeding to a psychic examination of the child. i cannot linger upon this point, because the question deserves a special investigation; but it must suffice to point out that in order to render biographic charts a necessary adjunct to the management of schools, so as to offer a real aid to the teacher and not to have them mean to her (as happens to-day only too frequently!), "just so much more work," the immediate utility of which is doubtful, it is essential that the _pedagogic methods of instruction_ should be changed. so long as a child is required to perform certain definite acts, he will reveal nothing of himself beyond responding, in so far as he is capable, to the requirements of his environment; and any attempt to make psychological deductions from such response would contain profound errors. anthropological form used in the "children's houses," in rome and milan _no._............... _date of enrollment_............. _name and surname_..................................... _age_......... _name of parents_........................... _age_: _m_......_f_...... _vocation_............................................................ _hereditary antecedents_.............................................. ...................................................................... _personal antecedents_................................................ ...................................................................... anthropological notes ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | cranium total | |thoracic|essen- | index | pon-|------------------------- stature|weight|circumf.| tial | of |deral| cir-|a.-p.|transv.|ceph- | | |stature|stature|index|cumf.|diam.| diam. |alic | | | | | | | | |index -------+------+--------+-------+-------+-----+-----+-----+-------+----- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- _physical constitution_................................................ _muscular development_................................................. _color of complexion_.................................................. _color of hair_........................................................ notes.................................................................. nevertheless, the earlier forms of biographic charts, and even the modern ones _in general use in italy_ (!) frequently contain minute requirements for psychic examination in relation to such points as memory, attention, perception and intelligence. and even less satisfactory are the requirements in the charts regarding the examination for _sensibility_--namely, ability to distinguish colours, sense of touch, smell, etc.; because the pedagogic methods in vogue in school (and this applies to-day to all our schools) make no provision for a rational exercise of the senses, nor for instruction in the nomenclature relating to them. an examination of the senses for the purposes of the biographic chart should at most be limited to a test of their _acuteness_, forming an inquiry analogous to that of _sensibility to pain_. for an inquiry into the power to discriminate between various sensations ceases to be a simple examination of the senses, and becomes a combined test of psychic powers and of the degree of culture attained (the degree to which the senses have been trained). furthermore, it is well known that a psychical examination demands preparation on the part of the person to be examined, complete repose from all emotion, isolation of the senses, etc., the preparation depending upon the special research which it is desired to make; all of which is absolutely opposed to the _aggressiveness_ of the tumultuous examination conducted by an investigator whose chief aim is to fill in the blanks upon the biographic charts. the psychic examination of a pupil is a task to be accomplished slowly, by watching the child's behaviour, in the course of its _daily life_ under the eye of an intelligent and trained observer. nevertheless, it is sometimes necessary, especially in schools for defective children, to form at once a comprehensive first impression of the psychic condition of a given child; it furnishes the observer with a needed point of departure, and abridges the long and difficult task of a psychological study of the pupil, to be made in the course of the ensuing year. in such a case, the biographical form should not contain such general topics as the following: memory, sense of place and time, judgment, moral sense, etc., but a series of very simple _questions_ to be put by the examiner to the pupil, the replies to which must be recorded _accurately_, without alteration in any manner, but reproducing their incorrectness of speech, their hesitations, etc. in this way such a form of inquiry constitutes not only a first psychical examination, but also a first examination as to defects of speech, which is of much value and reproduces quite exactly the state of the subject at a given moment. on the contrary, the sort of results obtained according to the older method, _e.g._: _memory_, poor; _intelligence_, sufficient; _attention_, easily aroused, etc.; were practically worthless, especially in absence of any knowledge of the competence of the person who formulated these judgments. here is an example of a series of questions to be used as a psychic test, prepared by professor sante de sanctis, and included in the biographic charts of the asylum-school for defective children at rome: . what is your name? . how old are you? . what is your mamma's name? . have you any brothers? . have you any sisters? . what is your father's business? . is your father (or mother) old or young? . at what age is one old? . how do you know that a man is old? . what is this? (a couch in the corridor). . what is it for? . what is this? (a table). . what is it for? . do you always feel well? . are you hungry? . when are you hungry? . do you ever dream at night? . what do you dream? . what time is it now, more or less? . what year is it? . what month is it? . what season of the year? . what day of the month is it? . what day of the week? . where do you live? . where are you at the present moment? . what are these? (two books or two pictures) and which of the two is the larger? . which of these three glasses has the most water in it? . which will weigh the most and which the least of the three? . how many persons are there in your home? . is your home large or small? . how many rooms are there? . whom do you love most? . what would you do if (the person named) were hungry? . what would you do if he were very sick? . or if he died? . do you love some playmate, or some friend? why do you love him? . do you hate anyone? why? . do you know the meaning of right and wrong? . do you know the meaning of rewards and punishments? out of all the existing forms of biographic charts i have selected four in their entirety; two are historical: . the first form for the individual examination of the pupil ever published in any treatise on pedagogy; and . the first form printed in italy by the city authorities with the intention of having it introduced into the elementary schools. the first of these is the biographic chart proposed by séguin in his pedagogic treatise relating to the education of idiots (_traitement moral, hygiene, et éducation_ _des idiots_, ); the second is the one proposed by sergi for the communal schools of rome, and printed by the commune with the intention ( ), never actually carried out, of introducing it into the schools; at all events, this is the first historic document representing an idea twenty years in advance of the time when the idea itself was destined to begin to be popularised. here are the two forms in question: =séguin's form.=--this follows out all of séguin's pedagogical ideas, and all of his didactic methods; it is a guide for the physician, and a minute guide for the teacher who intends to adopt the séguin methods of education. séguin calls his biographic chart a "monographic picture," and divides it into five paragraphs, the fifth of which deals with the pupil's antecedents. monographic picture (_séguin_) i. _portrait (objective morphological examination)_ age. sex. temperament, health. illnesses, accessory infirmities. detailed configuration of the cranium. configuration of the face. proportional relation between cranium and face. inequality of the two sides of cranium and face. hair, skin. proportional relation between the trunk and the limbs. inequality of the two sides of the trunk and limbs. general attitude of the body. attitude of the head. attitude of the trunk. attitude of the lower limbs. attitude of the upper limbs. attitude of the hand and fingers. configuration of the organs of speech, and their possible relation to the organs of generation; dentition. configuration of the thorax. state of the vertebral column. state of the abdomen. ii. _physiological examination_ activity, general and applied. apparent state of the nervous system. general irritability of the nervous system. irritability of special groups of nerves. cries, groans, singing, muttering, etc. the change which certain stimulants such as cold, heat, electricity, odours, etc., produce upon irritability and sensibility, general or special. probable state of the brain. voluntary articular flexions. locomotion. positions, recumbent, seated, standing, walking, ascending, descending. running. jumping. grasping objects. dropping objects. catching objects. throwing objects. ability to dress, eat, etc., without aid. probable state of the spinal marrow. probable state of the organic nerves. probable state of the sensory nerves. probable state of the motor nerves. difference of action between the sensory nerves and the motor nerves. inequality of action of the motor nerves and sensory nerves on the two sides of the body. the muscular system, contractibility of muscles, and condition of sphincter muscles in particular. muscular movements. voluntary movements. automatic movements depending on the condition of the sympathetic nerve. automatic movements depending on the state of the central nervous system. spasmodic movements. coordinated and disassociated movements. sense of touch. sense of taste. sense of smell. sense of hearing. sense of sight. erectility. the voice, abnormal tones. speech. assimilative functions. unnatural appetites. manner of taking food. mastication. swallowing. digestion. evacuation of fæces and urine, voluntary or involuntary; other excretions, saliva, nasal mucus, tears, sebaceous humor, sweat, perspiration, etc. pulse. respiration. sleep. iii. _psychic examination_ attention. sensorial perception. intellectual perception. deduction. coordination. inventiveness. unrelated memories. foresight and forethought. to what extent are these intellectual operations, when they exist, applied to concrete phenomena, mixed phenomena (_i.e._, concrete and abstract) and to ideas of a moral nature? are the general ideas of time, space, conventional measurements, relative value, intrinsic or arbitrary, understood and applied in actual daily life? comparison. judgment. reflection. have the ordinary rudiments, such as the alphabet, reading, writing, drawing, arithmetic, been taught to the pupil or not, and can they be taught in his present state? have his attitude toward music and mathematics, enjoyment of singing, irresistible desire to sing, been brought about naturally? has he a perception of the physical proportion of bodies, such as colour, form, dimensions, relations between the parts to form a whole? iv. _examination regarding instincts and sentiments_ instinct of self-preservation. instincts of order, readjustment, preservation and destruction of objects. aggressiveness, cruelty. instinct of assimilation and possession. is the child obedient or rebellious, respectful or impertinent, affectionate or cold, rude or courteous, grateful, jealous, merry or sad, proud, vain or indifferent, courageous or cowardly, timid or venturesome, circumspect or thoughtless, credulous or suspicious? has the child a sense of abstract right and wrong or only in relation to a small number of acts that concern himself? does the child show spontaneity an active will--the kind of will which is the initial cause of all human actions producing intellectual or social results? has the child only a negative will associated with instincts and does he protest energetically against any extraneous will that tends to compel the idiot to concern himself with social or abstract phenomena? finally, in what direction and within what limits has the idiot passed beyond the boundaries of his ego in order to enter into physical, instinctive, intellectual and moral communication with the phenomena which surround him? v. _etiology_ origin of father and mother. their constitution. hereditary diseases. place of residence at the time of the child's conception, gestation, birth and lactation. possible causes of idiocy. circumstances worthy of note during conception. circumstances worthy of note during gestation, delivery, lactation. serious illnesses of the child during the first year. infirmities and illnesses from the first year down to the first symptoms of idiocy. progress, retrogression or stationary state from the child's birth down to the time of examination. if we realise that this model for a biographic chart was proposed more than one-half a century ago, it makes us marvel at the modern spirit of its concepts: it actually considers the relation between the development _of the trunk and of the limbs_, the _mimic_ _attitudes of the body_, the _constitution_, etc., all of which concepts are foreign to the studies of the medical clinics from which séguin must have drawn his inspiration, since even to the present day the tendency in the clinics is toward purely analytical investigation, with the exception of professor de giovanni's clinic. in the model proposed by sergi, the examination was required to be made twice: first upon the reception of the pupil, and again at his departure with the modifications shown below: biographical chart for schools (sergi) table i.--_physical observations_ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- on entering school | on leaving school | class year | class year ----------------------------------+----------------------------------- . name. | . name . age. | . age . birthplace. | . birthplace. . parentage (father and mother).| . parentage (father and mother). . vaccination. | . vaccination. . stature. | . stature. . weight. | . weight. . pulmonary capacity. | . pulmonary capacity. . muscular force. | . muscular force. . general state of health. | . general state of health. . past illnesses. | . past illnesses. . anomalies, deformities. | . anomalies, deformities. . head, horizontal circumference| . head, horizontal circumference. . head, maximum length. | . head, maximum length. . head, maximum width. | . head, maximum width. . cephalic index. | . cephalic index. . face, length. | . face, length. . face, width. | . face, width. . facial index. | . facial index. . hair, colour, form. | . hair, colour, form. . eyes, colour. | . eyes, colour. . skin, complexion. | . skin, complexion. . incidental remarks. | . incidental remarks. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- biographical chart for schools (sergi) table ii.--_psychological observations_ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- on entering school | on leaving school | class year | class year ----------------------------------+----------------------------------- . sight, acuteness, far- or | . sight, acuteness, far- or near-sighted. | near-sighted. . sense of colour, normal, | . sense of colour, normal, defective. | defective. . hearing, acuteness. | . hearing, acuteness. . sense of touch, acuteness. | . sense of touch, acuteness. . intelligence, quick or slow. | . intelligence, quick or slow. . perception, rapid or gradual. | . perception, rapid or gradual. . memory, tenacious or short. | . memory, tenacious or short. . attention, easily aroused or | . attention, easily aroused or not. | not. . speech, rapid or slow. | . attention, how long sustained. . speech, pronunciation perfect | . attention, progressive or imperfect. | weariness. . speech, stammering. | . speech, rapid or slow. . emotional sensibility, dull | . speech, pronunciation perfect or easily assumed. | or imperfect. . conduct and character at home.| . speech, stammering. . affection for parents. | . emotional sensibility, dull or . taciturnity or loquacity. | easily assumed. . preferences during free hours.| . conduct and character in school. . caprices, eccentricities. | . friendships in school. . unusual incidental | . taciturnity or loquacity. occurrences. | . preference during free hours. | . caprices, eccentricities. | . unusual incidental occurrences. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- the two other biographic charts that deserve specific mention are, unlike the above, charts in actual use, since they have both been recently introduced into practical service. the first, which i reproduce in entirety, is the one adopted by the commune of bologna for its schools; the second is the one introduced, for the purpose of studying the inmates, into the government reformatories, of italy, that have recently been transformed into educational institutions, into which a number of important reforms have been introduced, through the influence of scientific pedagogy--among others, these biographical charts and the anthropological researches connected with them. biographic chart for elementary schools: district of _year_ -- _class_ commune of bologna office x.--hygiene _biographic chart of the pupil_ _name and surname_............................................... _age_............................................................ _place of birth and residence_................................... _parents' place of birth and vocation_........................... the teacher. * * * * * state of skin, of the subcutaneous tissue, the muscles, the lymphatic glands { horizontal circumference head { maximum width { maximum length cephalic index face { height { width facial index hair / colour \ form { keenness of sight { hypermetropia eyes { myopia { colour sense { colour of iris hearing, acuteness { form teeth { number decayed { number missing anomalies of development weight { at the beginning, of body { at the end of the year total spread of arms stature pulmonary capacity the physician * * * * * illnesses incurred during the school year............................. total number of absences.............................................. number of absences on account of illness.............................. profit derived from instruction....................................... conduct and character in school....................................... affection toward parents and school-mates............................. special observations.................................................. the master the biographic chart of the reformatories is among the most complete; nevertheless, it is based upon antiquated methods for the study of the individual, including, for instance, the facial index and ignoring that of the stature; and limiting the psychic examination to abstract notes (reflection, attention, etc.). it constitutes, however, an anthropological _record_, for it follows the child throughout his whole residence in the reformatory. what is called, in the chart in question, the moral account, corresponds to our _third subdivision_ in biographic histories, in so far as it represents a summary of the daily records. under this head mention is made of the moral balance, and the notes tell us that it is founded upon "_punishments_" and "_rewards_." in so far as they treat of disciplining children, these notes are not to be taken as a model; they are evidently a relic of antiquated educative methods that have survived amid the efforts of a new scientific movement. there is no mention made of medical treatment bestowed upon the children, who may very often owe their so-called _moral_ anomalies to a pathological condition which must frequently be _aggravated_ by punishments. it is well known that many normal children have periods of agitation which is manifested by the most various kinds of action (impulsiveness, sexual excesses, rebellion), followed by periods of calm during which the child exhibits the opposite characteristics (industriousness, obedience, etc.). the biographic chart is quite likely to show a record of punishments and rewards corresponding to these contrasted periods; and in this respect it follows antiquated pedagogic methods, which are precisely what need to be reformed under the light of science. an illustration of this is contained in the biographic history of an idiot boy in the asylum of the _bicêtre_, a report of which is given below: the periodic _anomalies of character_ in the boy should be noticed. many epileptic children do not have convulsions, but exhibit instead anomalies of character which become permanent and are naturally aggravated by fatigue and punishment; and the great majority of such children pass eventually into reformatories. in the forms customarily used for biographic charts, there is liberal provision for daily notes. accordingly, in the biographic chart of the child in question there are a number of blank pages on which _casual notes_ have been entered (diary). every fact deserving of notice has been entered; facts of a physio-pathological nature, such as illnesses, strength, endurance in running, appetite, outbursts of anger without cause; school-notes regarding the progress attained by the child in school, especially when he has overcome serious difficulties, correction of incidental defects of speech, etc., and notes of a psycho-moral nature regarding acts committed by the child, tending to show the state of his feelings. the master has a general register which may be compared to the _daily entry book_ used in book-keeping, and in which all the _notes of the day_ are entered. days and even months frequently pass without any entry being made in regard to some particular child. from this general register the master later draws up individual _summaries_ which are then transcribed into the corresponding biographic history of each child. once in so many years all the measurements and observations are repeated in their entirety (_e.g._, at the most important periods of growth with especial study of the epoch of puberty). when the child is definitely discharged from the school, a general summary is drawn up; in such a case the _biographic chart_ represents that individual's _own personal history_; a human and social document of the highest interest to anyone who wishes to _know himself_, and continue his own self-education! it might serve as a useful guide to a man of intelligence. these registers and biographic charts may be compared to the record of points and the report cards that are in use to-day in the schools. even the report cards which are obtained through a fatiguing process of _averages_ represent a summary of notes taken every day by the teacher (although not every day for _every_ pupil). but the report card is of no practical use to the man who wishes to draw up a faithful record of the education he has received that will serve to _guide him through life_. since there do not yet exist any complete biographic histories relating to normal children, i shall reproduce one of an idiot boy who was received into the great paris hospital for defectives; this history is interesting because it is the result of the methods of séguin who was the founder of the anthropological movement in pedagogy; it would be still more interesting if we could offer the complete history of a normal man or of a wayward boy redeemed by education. but let us hope for this in the near future! the summary of the history which i here reproduce does not contain the objective examination of the boy at the time of his reception; because that would only be a repetition of what has already been described, while the part which it now interests us to illustrate is that containing the summaries of the diaries. the antecedents, however, are given because they are indispensable for an understanding of the patient's personality. summary of the biographic history of an idiot boy _admitted at the age of years, and dismissed at the age of _ outline: father an alcoholic.--mother subject to migraine.--no consanguinity between the parents. equality of ages (difference of two years).--a sister died of convulsions.--conception during an alcoholic excess on the part of the father.--albuminuria during pregnancy.--the child cried both night and day.--twitchings of the body and head.--did he ever have convulsions?--fits of anger.--at the time of admission, he could neither speak nor walk (july , , age years).--the child has involuntary emissions of fæces and urine (is uncleanly). _september_, .--the child has learned to walk. .--development of speech.--the child is beginning to give notice of its natural necessities. .--the child is no longer uncleanly.--the twitchings of head and body and the fits of anger have diminished. - .--progressive improvement, with alternate progressive and stationary periods. .--description of the patient. - .--physical and intellectual evolution.--progress in studies.--acquirement of a trade.--results. _remote antecedents._ (notes furnished by the mother.)--_father:_ years old, tailor's cutter, large, strong, of calm temperament, a smoker; numerous _excesses of alcoholic beverages_, especially absinthe--as many as eleven a day; venereal excesses; came home intoxicated almost every day; never had convulsions in infancy, nor any nervous shock; suffered only from eczema. no syphilis.--_father's family:_ paternal grandfather a mason, sober, died of heart disease. paternal grandmother, of calm temperament, enjoyed good health. no other information regarding paternal ancestry.--_mother:_ years old, seamstress, good health, regular features; no convulsions in infancy. menstruated at age of years, married at . suffered from migraine since she was nine years old. these headaches lasted three days and occurred at the menstrual periods, ceasing throughout pregnancy and lactation. the symptoms were: headache, buzzing in the ears, to the point of deafness, and vision of sparks before the eyes. the attacks terminated with vomiting. _mother's family:_ father sober and in good health; mother died of influenza. no information regarding either the ascendant or collateral branches; but there seem to have been no other cases of nervous disease in the family. no consanguinity, no disparity in ages. _brothers_ _and sisters of the patient:_ the mother of d---- had five children; the first, a boy ten years and a half old, intelligent, no convulsions; the second, a girl, died at fourteen months, after having convulsions that continued for eight days; the third, a girl, seven years old, intelligent, no convulsions; the fourth, the patient in question; the fifth, a girl, born after d----'s admission to the asylum; she is intelligent and healthy, no convulsions. _near antecedents._ the child's mother is convinced that the conception took place during _alcoholic_ intoxication. pregnancy was accompanied by generalised oedema from the fifth month onward, due to albuminuria. no _eclampsia_. no fainting fits, etc. delivery timely, difficult, but accomplished naturally. the child at birth was strong and not asphyxiated. was nursed by the mother for the first two months, after which he depended upon hired nurses and artificial feeding (was sent to the country where he was fed chiefly from the bottle). was returned to the mother at the age of eleven months; could not walk; would eat anything within reach of his hands, coal, excrements. cried continually, day and night, to the great disturbance of the neighbours. cut his first tooth at five months; and at the age of three years the first dentition was not yet completed. has a habit of swaying his body forward and backward; beats his head against the wall, the chairs, etc., and strikes his forehead with his clenched fist. has habitual constipation. is extremely affectionate, loves to be caressed. yet he will bite anyone who approaches him, including his brothers and sisters. it cannot be learned whether when he was staying with the wet-nurse he ever had convulsions. it is certain that he had none after his return to the family. the habit of _onanism_ dates from the time of his return from the nurse. vaccinated at months, slight attack of varioloid at the age of two years; no other infectious diseases. no manifestation of scrofula; no traumatism. _objective examination of the patient_ (omitted).--the _history_ is accompanied by eight photographs of the boy, taken respectively at the ages of , , , , , , and years, three of which, namely, those taken at the ages of , and , are reproduced on page . diaries _july ._--he is uncleanly (emissions of fæces and urine). does not know how to behave at table; when he eats he spills his food over his clothing. is gluttonous but not voracious; he does not steal the food of his companions, but he protests when he sees food given to others and not to him. is mistrustful, hides his bread for fear that it will be taken from him; and if any one takes notice of this, he utters a cry of rage. he is affectionate, very timid, jealous, obstinate, grumbling, somewhat sullen, seldom laughs. although weak, he fights his companions and frequently falls into _fits of_ _anger_; then he flings himself on the floor and beats his head against the furniture. he sways his body forward and backward. his _power of speech_ is limited to three words: _papa_, _mamma_, and _no_. he is able to make himself understood when he wants anything. _august-september._--two slight attacks of ophthalmia. the child has now learned to walk. _january-march, ._--otitis (inflammation of the ear). _august._--the ability to speak is developing progressively. he has begun to give notice of his natural necessities; is seldom uncleanly, so that it is now possible to let him wear trousers. the habit of balancing his body back and forth is tending to disappear. the accesses of anger have become rarer. he is less jealous and plays indiscriminately with his companions. _january, ._--the improvement continues. d---- is now very attentive in school. when out walking he takes an interest in the things he sees and asks for explanations. is doing well in the first gymnastic exercises. makes a good appearance. _march._--d---- has now become altogether cleanly. furthermore, he knows how to wash, dress and undress himself alone. at table, can handle his spoon and fork quite properly, but cannot yet manage his knife. is less gluttonous; his speech is fully developed. although he cannot keep still in school and constantly changes his position, he has succeeded in learning to know his letters, the different colours, etc., can count up to , and can name the greater part of the objects contained in the boxes used for object lessons. the balancing of the body has completely disappeared. d---- has a tendency toward onanism. accesses of anger an still noted, during which he is very vulgar. _december._--condition stationary. misconduct in class, frequent fits of anger, during which he abuses everyone and strikes his smaller comrades. _march, ._--d---- is calmer and does better work. can count up to sixty. his general knowledge has increased. can tell his age, his name, the name of his parents, what their employment is, where they live, etc. _april, ._--the improvement continues. his behavior is better. has learned the names of materials, of plane surfaces, of solids; can distinguish vowels from consonants. it has been impossible to induce him to trace simple strokes even upon the blackboard. _december._--is more diligent and has taken a fancy to writing. _january-june, ._--is in the infirmary on account of anal ulcers. _december._--notable improvement in general knowledge. has begun to write certain letters in his copybook. _december, ._--d----'s conduct is good. he is no longer disorderly; and if at times it is necessary to reprove him, he recognises his fault, cries, and promises to do better. he fears above all that his misconduct will be reported to his mother. has a fairly accurate notion of right and wrong, is no longer so extremely jealous and shows affection for his comrades. has learned to write syllables well; is able to copy short paragraphs; can do simple sums in addition; gives clear answers to questions. walking, running, jumping, going up and down stairs have become easy for him. the child uses his fork and knife at table; chews his food well, does not suffer from any digestive disturbance. is orderly, and attends to himself in all details of his toilet. _april , : objective examination._--the child's face has a uniformly ruddy complexion; lips full-blooded; skin smooth, without scars or eruptions, excepting a slight scaliness due to eczema. two small ganglia in the left submaxillary region, but no others in any other locality. cranium symmetrical; volume and form normal. frontal and parietal nodules slightly prominent; occipital nodule quite prominent (pentagonoid cranium). hair light blonde, abundant, fine, growing low upon the forehead. posterior vortex normal, forehead wide, but not high. visage oval; with a slight depression of the nostril and corner of the mouth on the right side; has on the whole an intelligent expression; it is mobile and reflects the moods and feelings natural to boyhood. the superciliary arches are only slightly arched. the eyebrows are chestnut in colour and scanty; the lashes are abundant and long. iris dark blue; pupils equal in size and react under the influence of light. no functional disturbance, and no lesion in regard to the eyes. field of vision normal. d---- recognises all the colours. nose small, and straight, with a pronounced aperture of the nostrils. zygomata regular, without exaggerated prominences; naso-labial furrows barely indicated. aperture of mouth very wide and habitually half open. lips thick and slightly drooping. tongue normal. palatine vault distinctly ogival. tonsils enlarged; the boy is subject to tonsillitis. all these parts show quite a blunted sensibility, which permits of an examination of the pharynx, without causing nausea. chin rounded, without indentation. ears long and thick, the outer edge is normal, including the fold of the helix; the ears protrude conspicuously from the cranium and are very peculiar in shape; namely, the upper two-thirds of the external ear form with the lower one-third an obtuse angle of such nature that the _concha_ or shell really represents the outline of a very deep and almost hemispherical sea-shell. the lobule is thick, regular, and notably detached. the ear is the seat of frequent attacks of erythema, complicated by swelling. neck rather short and quite stout; circumference centimetres. the lobes of the thyroid glands are plainly palpable to the touch. _thorax and abdomen._--no notable peculiarities. auscultation and percussion show that the internal organs are normal. body is hairless. genital organs are normal. the upper and lower limbs are normal in all their segments. _icthyosis_ of the skin on thighs and knees. general sensibility normal; usual physiological reflex actions. _treatment._--regular application of the medico-pedagogical method: tonics during the winter; hydrotherapy annually, from the first of april to the first of november. _april ._--the mother, finding the child much improved, takes him home on leave (march) and later (end of april) requests his dismissal, which is granted reluctantly, in the fear that the boy may lose part of what he has so laboriously gained. _may , ._--the boy, having become insubordinate and not making satisfactory progress in the public school (to which he was sent, so that he would not be present at the scenes between the mother and the father, who is habitually intoxicated), has been sent back to the asylum. _june._--the physical evolution continues. the child is very timid and sensitive, cannot bear to be reproved and cries when he is corrected. reads fluently, but without expression. has begun to write familiar words from dictation. during his absence from the asylum he learned to know the numbers and to do simple examples in addition and subtraction. _treatment:_ school work; gymnastics; hydrotherapy. _july._--d---- is at present conducting himself in a way difficult to control; he plays ill-natured jests upon his companions; places needles and tacks in seats; during the assembly he amuses himself by sticking little pins into the backs of the girls who sit in front of him. _december._--the boy is very lazy, and often refuses to read or to do his tasks; he grins and sneers if he is corrected. but he carries out very well all the movements in the lower gymnastic course. has been sent to the _tailor's work-shop_ and seems to have taken a fancy to the trade. _april, ._--d---- has become quite reasonable, does good work in school, does not like to be inactive, has ceased to grin and sneer. his writing has improved; his reasoning power is good; he is careful of his clothes to the point of vanity; eats with propriety, has ceased to bolt his food; yet it is still noticed that he has a tendency to appropriate the wine of his companions. _june._--d---- is passing through a bad period; he laughs at everything that is said to him, is very obstinate, annoys his comrades, tears up copy-books, breaks pens, etc. is careless regarding his clothing; makes a disturbance at night in the dormitory. _december._--same state. tries to smoke; is unwilling to do any work; laughs at everybody; dresses with great carelessness; it is necessary to compel him to wash his hands and face. no sign of _puberty_. _december, ._--notable improvement; d---- reads quite readily, writes quite well, recognises all ordinary objects, their use, and their colour; has a conception of time. is docile, neat, industrious in school work, is attentive to explanations and understands them. in the work-shop he continues to show progress. _january-june, ._--the improvement continues; d---- has begun to learn the multiplication table; he is well-mannered and scrupulous in his behaviour; excellent in gymnastics. in the tailor's work-shop he makes marked progress; he has already learned to put together an entire garment by himself, and he knows how to use the machine. from time to time he has periods of indolence; and this happens more often in the work-shop than in the class. _puberty._--a slight down has begun to appear upon his upper lip. _july ._--according to the night nurse, d---- had an attack of epilepsy during the night; he never had one before, and he has not had one since. _july ._--troubled sleep, nightmare, unintelligible and threatening words. _january, ._--very notable improvement in class. the boy profited above all from the _lessons about natural objects_, in which he takes much interest. from time to time he shows a tendency to dissipation and gambling. is docile, cleanly, and neat in personal appearance to the point of vanity. the master of the work-shop is very much pleased with him; he works well with the machine. is doing well in gymnastics and in singing. _puberty._--his beard has begun to grow even on his cheeks. _june._--hand-writing, far from improving, seems to be growing worse. on the contrary, it is noticed that he has made progress in arithmetic. can perform all four primary operations and has begun to solve easy problems. his general knowledge has improved. has become a good tailor's workman. _january-june, ._--the boy prefers the work-shop to the school and for some time the mistake has been made of leaving him wholly in the work-shop. _december._--same state from point of view of his studies; character docile, conduct good, personal care and neatness satisfactory. works well and rapidly in the work-shop; can make complete suits of clothing; uses the machine dexterously; is beginning to cut out garments. _puberty_ complete, no onanism. the right eyelids are less widely open than the left by nearly a quarter. the patient says that he does not see so well with the right eye as with the left, and cannot distinguish with it even large letters unless they are very near. table of weight and stature ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | -----------+----+-------------+-----------+-----------+---------+------ meas- |jan-|jan- | july |jan-| july |jan- |july|jan-|july|jan- urements |uary|uary | |uary| |uary | |uary| |uary -----------+----+------+------+----+------+------+----+----+----+------ weight in | | | | | | | | | | kilograms.| | . | . | | . | . | | | | . stature in | | | | | | | | | | metres. | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . ---------------------------------------------------------------------- measurements of the head in centimetres ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | | |----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---- |jan-|jan-|jan-|jan-| |jan-| |jan-| |jan- |uary|uary|uary|uary|july|uary|july|uary|july|uary ---------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---- maximum horizontal | | | | | | | | | | circumference. | . | . | . | | | | | | | anterior semi- | | | | | | | | | | circumference. | | | | | | | | | | distance from the | | | | | | | | | | occipito-allantoid | | | | | | | | | | articulation to | | | | | | | | | | the root of nose. | | | | | | | | | | maximum antero- | | | | | | | | | | posterior diameter.| . | . | . | | | | | | | maximum biauricular | | | | | | | | | | diameter. | | | | . | . | . | . | . | . | maximum biparietal | | | | | | | | | | diameter. | . | | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . maximum bitemporal | | | | | | | | | | diameter. | -- | -- | -- | -- | | | | . | . | medial height of | | | | | | | | | | forehead. | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- in the antecedents of this patient, the only suggestions of degeneration are the _alcoholism_ of the father and the fact that conception took place in a state of intoxication. the mother's migraine might also be considered as a nervous malady amounting to a family taint, but cannot be held responsible for so grave an abnormality as idiocy. consequently, it remains beyond doubt that the most interesting antecedent fact to be considered in this case is the _conception_ _during alcoholic intoxication_. the individual we are studying is a sick person; this is shown by _ptosis_ (drooping eye-lid), the recurrent periods of agitation, the epileptic convulsion in the night detected by the night nurse. it is interesting to observe in the photographs of the child, the alteration of expression between the periods of calm and those of agitation; in the latter the face is asymmetrical and shows contractions in the left facial region, while the right side is paretic; the paresis is also manifested by _ptosis_ (drooping lids). during the periods of calm, on the contrary, the left side also is atonic. in the course of the history the differences in the child's conduct in the two states are well described. during the periods of calm, the child is attentive, docile, careful of his dress, timid, and makes progress in his studies; during the periods of agitation he is unstable, rebellious, careless, unkind to his comrades, and makes no progress whatever. at the beginning, there were no periods of calm at all; furthermore, the child had every appearance of being an idiot; medico-pedagogic treatment rendered longer and more frequent, and finally permanent, these periods of calm, during which the child's intellectual redemption became possible. the treatment did not consist solely in the _education of an idiot_, but also in the _cure of a sick child_. "at the time of admission," according to the _observations_ in the record, "the diagnosis was _retarded mentality_, and that only in relation to primary instruction, because in regard to matters of common knowledge and manual work, the patient comes very near to a normal lad of average intelligence." such a surprising _transformation_ of an individual is certainly deserving of admiration; but this diligently compiled study is not yet quite completed. as a matter of fact, when the education of d---- was begun, observations regarding types of stature were not yet made; but his photographs show that he was an exaggerated macroscelous type. the trade adopted by d---- which will oblige him to sit with his chest bowed over the machine, or in a kneeling position while he sews, will in all probability drive him straight along the road to tuberculosis, a malady to which his organism has singularly predisposed him. it would be interesting to follow further the history of this patient, who has been transformed from an idiot into a skilful and industrious workman. the society, which under the guidance of science, achieved his difficult redemption, has perhaps at the same time condemned him to death. the modern standards of pedagogical anthropology would have furnished a more far-sighted guidance in the choice of a vocation. meanwhile, however, this history reported by thulié is a luminous demonstration of the folly of rewards and punishments; the only forms of intervention during the periods of agitation, which lasted for entire months, during which the boy was continually unruly, impulsive, malicious, reckless, and incapable of work, were tonics, hydrotherapy and kindly treatment. "punishments" would have cruelly wrecked the life of a human being who was naturally gentle, affectionate, and capable of diligent work and permanent improvement. something similar ought to be attempted in the reformatories. the boys who are regarded as incorrigible are frequently _sick_ boys, with an hereditary degenerative taint, and need to live in a tranquil environment and to receive medical treatment. the biographic charts of the reformatories give no evidence that this educative movement has as yet been understood. they show that _punishments_ are still regarded as possessing a corrective efficacy, because the conception that the so-called delinquent children may be a pathological product and a result of disastrous family and social conditions, has not yet penetrated with sufficient clearness. but progress along this path is surely bound to come as a result of the experience which this principle of reform has made possible. the biographic charts have unquestionably laid the foundations of a new edifice in pedagogy. _scientific pedagogical advantages of biographic histories:_ . the biographic chart takes the place of the report cards and records of the relative marks of merit and demerit; for while these records and reports constituted a statement of _effects_, altogether empirical, the biographic chart _investigates the causes_ and in this way furnishes pedagogy with a scientific basis. there is no need of further demonstration. the principal consequences of the above indicated progress are two in number. . the biographic chart, replacing the earlier classifications, raises the teacher's standard of culture by directing him along a scientific path, associates the teacher's work with that of the physician, and makes the teacher a far-sighted director of the development and perfectioning of the new generations. . the biographic chart includes a new educative movement which abolishes rewards and punishments. on this third point much might be said, since it touches upon one of the fundamental doctrines of pedagogical progress. but since this is not a treatise upon scientific pedagogy, it is necessary to limit the exposition to a few fundamental points. in fact, it will be sufficient to speak of cases in which education is most difficult and where the rewards and punishments are unavailing--for these will include all simpler cases. a luminous example is furnished by the education of _new-born infants_. of all human beings they used to be the most troublesome because of the impossibility of educating them by the old-fashioned methods. they cried at all hours of the day and night, making a slave of the mother or whoever took her place. to-day, babies are quiet; it is marvelous to go through the infant ward in the obstetrical clinic of rome; absolute silence reigns there, and yet if we lift up the white curtains of the cribs, we see the little ones lying with their eyes wide open. a deeper knowledge than was formerly had of the _hygiene of_ _the child_ has enabled us to interpret his needs, and when these are satisfied, the child is tranquil. bodily cleanliness, liberty of movement, prolonged repose in the crib, and _rational feeding_ have obtained this remarkable result of silencing the baby, of rendering it more robust and of liberating the mother from the slavery of her mission. the classic cry of the child in swaddling bands was a protest against the suffering which ignorance imposed upon him. to-day the little one, lying tranquilly in his crib, begins to exercise his senses earlier and more easily, a ray of light strikes him and attracts his attention, and with this his education has begun, while formerly the suffering due to indigestion kept him for a much longer time a stranger to the external world. the same thing may be repeated for every year of childhood. often what we call _naughtiness_ on the part of the individual child is _rebellion_ against our own mistakes in educating him. the coercive means which we adopt toward children are what destroy their natural tranquility. a healthy child, in his moments of freedom, succeeds in escaping from the toys inflicted upon him by his parents, and in securing some object which arouses the investigating instinct of his mind; a worm, an insect, some pebbles, etc.; he is silent, tranquil and attentive. if the child is not well, or if his mother obliges him to remain seated in a chair, playing with a doll, he becomes restless, cries, or gives way to convulsive outbursts ("bad temper"). the mother believes that educating her child means forcing him to do what is pleasing to her, however far she may be from knowing what the child's real needs are, and unfortunately we must make the same statement regarding the school-teachers! then, in order to make him yield to coercion, she punishes the child when he rebels and rewards him when he is obedient. by this method we _drive a child by force_ along paths that are not natural to him. in the same way, absolute governments employed public entertainments and the gallows, in order to compel the people to act and think according to the will of their sovereign; indeed, they were considered as indispensable means of good government. to-day we have come to realise that such means are more or less adapted to the successful crushing of a people's spirit, but not to governing them well. the reign of _liberty_, which leaves men the opportunity to give expression to their own powers and above all to their own thoughts, is doing away with festivals and executions; and it is not until this is accomplished that men can be really well _governed_. something similar is going to take place in the schools. but here, since the children are incapable of understanding _what they ought to do_ for their own best good, science _studies them_ in order to assist their natural needs. i believe that we must greatly modify our ideas regarding infant psychology, as soon as trained psychologists begin to observe the spontaneous manifestations of children, to the end of encouraging their tendencies. having applied scientific methods in the "children's houses," we were amazed at the behaviour of those little children; for instance, they showed contempt for toys, while they loved objects on which they could exercise their free powers of reason. _intellectual exercise is the most pleasing_ of all to the small child if he is in good health. indeed, we already know that children break their toys in order to see how they are made inside; this shows that the exercise of their intellect interests them more than playing with an object that is often irrational. but children are not, as is generally believed, naturally destructive; on the contrary, their instinct is to _preserve_. this is seen in the way in which they save little objects that they have acquired by themselves; and in the "children's houses," we have also seen it in the way that they preserve unharmed even the most trivial scrap of paper, although free to tear it up, so long as that scrap of paper helps them to exercise their thoughts. here we see the great difference between the healthy, normal child who employs himself in the way that pleases him, and is attentive and tranquil; and another child who, equally healthy and normal, is obliged to do what other people wish him to do, and is restless, and troublesome and cries. to aid the physical development of the child under the guidance of natural laws is to favour his health and his growth; to aid his natural psychic tendencies is to render him more intelligent. this principle has been intuitively recognised by all pedagogists, but the practical application of it was not possible, excepting under the guidance of scientific pedagogy, founded upon a direct knowledge of the human individual. _to-day it is possible for us to establish a régime of liberty in our schools, and_ _consequently it is our duty to do so._ whenever a child exhibits anomalies of character that do not signify rebellion against irrational methods of education, and are not expressions of a struggle for liberty, he represents the unhappy effect of some pathological cause, or of some _social error_, that has only too fatally accomplished its corruptive task. this is what the biographic history will reveal! as a general rule, a bad child should be taken to see a physician, because it is almost certain that he is a sick child. but the _treatment_ of such maladies is very often mainly pedagogical; curative pedagogy, however, must absolutely abolish _punishment_. we now know as a fact absolutely established in sociology that the fear of punishment, of torture and even of death does not avail to diminish crime, nor the imperious manifestation of human passions. brigandage is not repressed by cutting off heads, but by civilisation in all its forms of industry, intercommunication, etc. and this principle is especially true in the case of children; harshness of methods and severity of punishment will not avail to inculcate, and still less to create, goodness. man is conquered through kindness and gentleness; among all the beatitudes, that of inheriting the earth (_i.e._, of winning over their fellowmen) is given to the _meek: blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth_. we know that hypocrisy, adulation and seduction are criminal means by which man seeks to deceive his fellow men to his own profit; but they are based upon gentleness; it would never occur to anyone to seduce and to conquer hypocritically, with the help of violence. because the weak point in man, that to which he is most susceptible, is gentleness, praise, caresses. we have seen that the psychic stimulus needed to augment human activity, to arouse an apathetic person to action, and even to produce a condition of flourishing growth in a child, is the pleasant stimulus of kindness and caresses. the mother's caress, like the mother's milk, is a means of stimulating the child to a more complete nutrition and vitality. and the entire category of physiological weaklings, such as the defectives, epileptics and criminals, have a proportionately greater need of such stimulus than normal individuals; consequently, how can coercion ever be expected to restore such unbalanced personalities to their proper equilibrium? those whom we have been in the habit of oppressing with severity and punishment are the very ones most in need of the stimulus of affection. indeed, it is only the strong man and the hero who can pass unscathed through persecution; the weak are left broken, down-trodden, or slain. _sursum corda._--always strive to uplift, never to depress. a beautiful theory and a humane idea. but is it practicable, and to what extent? in short, what can be done practically, for instance, in the exceedingly difficult case of juvenile delinquents, in order to correct their evil tendencies and save them from their waywardness, without coercion? but what are evil tendencies of the mind? with that one phrase we are trying to embrace and ostensibly bind together a quantity of widely different effects. the study of the individual should suggest to us the particular method of education required by him. meanwhile, in regard to the question of juvenile delinquents, a wide road leading straight back to first causes, has been opened by the _pathological_ factor. who, for instance, does not know that the conduct and the sentiments of an individual may become unbalanced through the effects of poison or disease? this takes us at once into the field of nervous or mental pathology: the first symptom of _paralytic dementia_ is not the trembling, or alteration of speech, or interruption of certain reflex actions, or muscular weakness, nor the real and actual delirium. the symptom which first manifests itself as an indication of profound disturbance in the personality of the unfortunate victim of this cruel disease is an almost unheralded alteration of the natural character and conduct. the man who hitherto has been a good husband and father, becomes a profligate, spendthrift and gambler; the man who has hitherto been most scrupulous in his language and in his sexual conduct becomes foul-mouthed and obscene; the man who was a kind and affectionate husband becomes violent and aggressive toward his wife. anyone wishing to consider these preliminary symptoms of paralytic dementia as _evil tendencies of the mind_, would strive in vain with appropriate sermons, reproofs and punishments to make the sick man _repent_ and come back to his former state! let us pass on to another example. there is no one who is not aware of the effects of alcohol. there are persons who, when in a state of intoxication, commit actions that are worse than reprehensible, even criminal; actions which the individual himself deplores as soon as the poisonous effects have passed away. kind-hearted persons go so far as to maltreat their own children, even when they are little babies; they commit violent and degrading acts that often make them shed tears of repentance as soon as they become aware of them. well, if we should try to make such a person understand, while he is still in a state of intoxication, that his actions are improper, it would be wasted effort. it is better to let the matter pass, or else to give him treatment for his alcoholic condition, which is the cause of his misconduct. and passing on to another class of cases, does not everyone know that when people are afflicted with a diseased liver, their character alters, they become jealous, quarrelsome, hypochondriac, melancholy? it would be useless to tell such persons that they were formerly more tractable and morally superior; they are already sufficiently afflicted without having us, who are in good health, aggravate them with our useless preaching. and analogously, it is well known that when hysteria attacks a woman it may transform her from a virtuous and modest person to an unhappy creature, compelled by her physical condition to forget herself and compromise the unquestioned propriety of her past life; or again, it may change her from a gentle soul to an insupportable fury, or it may actually develop into such pronounced delirium as to necessitate her confinement in an insane asylum. in this case also, it is the malady that demands treatment, since it is the sole cause of the sad manifestations of a change in character. now, the pathological cause most frequently associated with criminal manifestations, is undoubtedly epilepsy. lombroso himself attributed a vast influence to this etiological factor of criminality; and every day this far-sighted intuition of the master is confirmed and made clearer. the epileptic is not always a criminal, nor does the criminal always show the classic convulsive symptoms. there are cases of epilepsy in which the symptoms are attenuated or latent or replaced by different but equivalent symptoms. it is frequently necessary to diagnose an _epileptic character_ from impulsive tendencies and from long protracted nocturnal _enuresis_ in childhood. de sanctis has lately been able to prove in his hospital practice that there are many children who have unmistakable epilepsy of the classic type, with violent accesses, but without criminal tendencies; at a certain age the convulsions cease, the patient is apparently cured: but he has become a criminal. on the other hand, there are children with immoral tendencies, destructive, violent, incorrigible; one would say that these were clear cases of predisposition to crime; all at once a genuine epileptic attack occurs, followed by other repeated attacks; the criminal tendencies disappear; the patient is simply an epileptic. in these cases, we have successive forms of epileptic equivalence. in the majority of cases, therefore, the proper course would be to _treat_ the patient for epilepsy, as being the cause of the apparent "evil tendencies of mind." and hence one notable side of the great problem of the moral education of juvenile criminals is transformed fundamentally into this other problem: "can epilepsy be treated and cured?" up to the present, the treatment of epilepsy is a problem. while therapeutics prescribe bromides and warm baths, pedagogy is to-day following a very different course with a combined treatment of hygiene and education. benedickt, and following him, the principal authorities among medical specialists, are at present condemning the use of depressing bromides, which hide the attacks as an anesthetic hides pain, but do not cure them. the cure, says benedickt, depends upon hygienic life in the open air in order to absorb the poisons, and upon graded work, provided, however, that the malady is still recent and has not assumed a chronic form. two principles of much importance: the malady must be of recent occurrence! consequently, it is only in the _period of childhood_ that we can attempt the treatment of the great majority of those predisposed to crime, with any hope of effecting a cure! a declaration of tremendous interest for the defense of society. but the treatment must be _pedagogic_. accordingly, we have returned to the point of departure. we began by asking: "how are we to educate them"? a course of reasoning led us along this different road, "it is necessary to give them treatment." but the treatment consists in educating them. well, from all this we can so far extract one unassailable principle; in their education all coercive measures must be absolutely abolished, because nervous and convulsive maladies are most successfully treated with gentleness and quiet; it is evident that all emotion, all fear, all nervous exhaustion, all punishment in short, no matter how mild or just it may be, would seem to be _prohibited_ in pedagogic treatment. accordingly, it is necessary to approach the question anew; what is needed is to set the nervous system in order, to calm it, to restore its equilibrium. benedickt says: this is to be achieved _through work_, rationally measured and graded; hence, manual training, as organised, for example, in the reformatory of san michele, constitutes of itself a moral cure; it concurs in readjusting the nervous system by reinforcing it. however, we must not generalise over such complex questions; if the pathological factor, and more especially epilepsy, constitutes a great centre of _biologic_ _causes_ producing individuals predisposed to crime, we cannot conclude that there is a constant correspondence between epilepsy and criminality. but there is no doubt that among these predisposed we shall almost always find some who are suffering from a taint, or from dystrophy, due to tuberculosis or syphilis; in short, the _minus habens_, the physiological proletariat. the benefit wrought by education consists not only in contributing to the real and actual cure, as in the case of epilepsy; but also in the corrective, as well as curative, effect upon the personality. the abnormal mentality which generally accompanies degenerate or epileptic conditions requires special methods of education, which in many cases must absolutely exclude all forms of coercion. mental hygiene, an abundance of psychic stimulus, partly intellectual (chiefly through objective demonstration) and partly moral (in the form of praise and gentle caressing treatment), are indispensable accompaniments of such education. an abnormal mentality almost always accompanies defects of the mind; from the hypochondriac or the epileptic to the imbecile and the idiot, the abnormal mentality builds itself up from inaccurate perceptions, and hence more or less from illusions; a deficiency of reasoning power or a half delirious condition completes the fatal organisation of a mode of thought which renders such an individual unfitted for his environment. we have seen an example of this in the boy whose clinical history was read in class; his perceptions were inexact, consequently colours, odours, and sounds reached him in a manner somewhat different from our perception of them; his mental world must therefore be differently constructed from ours. defectives frequently pass by objects without obtaining any impression of them, or else transform what impression they do get into a false idea. even their sensations of touch and pain are different from the normal. hence, they do not feel as we do, and are often inaccessible to the anguish of pain which refines human nature by sometimes raising it to the point of heroism. and because we have learned through our own sufferings to understand the meaning of pity, altruism and solidarity, these unhappy beings differ from us even in their relation to society. their scanty powers of logic lead them to fall openly into errors, which provoke vindictive retaliation on our part that tends in the ultimate analysis to isolate these unfit beings from social intercourse. to us, their whole conversation is a series of falsehoods, because it does not correspond to what we ourselves see and feel. an understanding between them and us becomes steadily more difficult, in proportion as we continue to perfect ourselves in our individual evolution, while their unhappy state is steadily aggravated through the formidable struggles and persecutions which they meet in an environment to which they are unadaptable. for instance, we saw that one of the boys who has been studied in class, had committed his most reprehensible acts as a result of false logic. "why do you kill all the pigeons?" "to make them keep still." "why do you beat your little sister?" "because she won't work like the others." (the sister in question was only eighteen months old!) well, he showed in this way that he had learned something from the corrections that he had received. they had punished him so much for being restless, and so much because he did not want to work, that he finally applied his acquired zeal to correcting others in the way that his defective logic dictated. and similarly, after seeing how they weigh objects with a steel-yard--also a form of work--it occurred to him to stick the hook into his little sister, in order to weigh her; and having learned that useful work is paid for in money, which serves to buy the necessities of life, he stole all the money that he could find at home, and gave it to the motormen on the tram-cars, who in his opinion perform the most useful work in the world. i once had occasion to study a paranoiac patient in the asylum for the criminal insane, who had spent twenty years in prison before his insanity became so pronounced as to cause his removal from one place of restraint to the other. he had killed his betrothed, out of jealousy, so he said, but he narrated the tragic deed with a fullness of detail and a readiness of phrase--his lurking in ambush, the unfortunate girl's approach, her fall under the blows of the cobbler's knife--that proved the cold-blooded calculation with which the crime was committed. this man was convinced that he possessed such oratorical gifts that if he had pleaded his own case in place of his attorney, the persuasive magic of his eloquence would have resulted in his acquittal. the lawyer had advised him not to speak and the prisoner was sentenced to a term of thirty years. the appeal to the court of cassation was denied. the result was that in his desperation at the failure of his defence, and more particularly because he had lost the chance of showing his oratorical powers in public, he conceived the idea that the only way by which he could come into court again, and speak for himself, and _force_ _them to acquit him_, was to commit another murder. and he actually sprang at his lawyer's throat, armed with a nail, meaning to kill him. thus we see how paranoiac delirium, and defective reasoning powers, sad evidences of pathological conditions, combined to create the most cynical and repellant of all criminal types. accordingly the _treatment_ of the pathological condition, and the education of the _mentality_ in children who are thus predisposed, constitute a great work on behalf of the defence of society. well, this is precisely what scientific pedagogy is trying to do, through a rational education of the senses: to correct false perceptions and straighten out the warped and twisted mentality of abnormal children; and little by little, through repetition of the same lessons under different forms, and the establishment of a cooperation of all the senses, the perception of objects tends to approach nearer and nearer to the normal. meanwhile, hygienic or medical treatment may be used to correct the accompanying physical defects. accordingly, we are able to modify an abnormal personality by means of rational medico-pedagogic treatment; and it is by this means alone, and not through destructive coercion, that we may hope to approach the greatly desired goal. lastly, it is also necessary, in the etiology of crime, to take into consideration the environment, the bad example, the brutality, the absence of affection, all of which are things which might well pervert the mind of even a normal individual; and when such conditions exist, the removal of the transgressor to a different environment where he may have the benefit of physical, intellectual and moral hygiene, may result in completely transforming him. in these sad cases nothing short of the profoundest love will serve to redeem and even transform into a hero the man who has fallen into evil ways through misfortune. no one can any longer believe that coercive measures should be added to the cruelty of the environment which oppresses the _transgressor_. if he has gone astray in the midst of sorrow it will be only through consolation that he can be born again to a new life; if he lost the straight path amid arid wastes, nothing short of a purifying and assuaging spiritual water will enable him to recover his path. as a sign of our humanity let us keep a smile upon our lips and our hearts free of all harshness of offense or defense; our weapons are intelligence and love and it is only by these weapons that we can become conquerors. but, it may be answered, granted that the education of abnormal persons, and more especially juvenile delinquents, constitutes a complex work in which medicine, a special environment, and the methods of scientific pedagogy contribute harmoniously through diverse ways to the ultimate goal: yet in actual practice how are we to intervene to render docile these rebels whom society itself, with all the forces at its disposal, recognises as dangerous and condemns to isolation? in short, it is argued, a more direct method will be required for their moral education; a clear-cut method to offset that equally direct form consisting of coercion and punishment that are now the consequence of the reprehensible act. under all the conditions to be considered in regard to the biopathological factors and the social environment, there still remains another element and the most evident of all, namely, the immediate and practical influence exerted directly upon the minds of wayward children. we may say quite truly that beneath the pathological facts and the social injustices, there exists something more profound which, for the sake of simplicity we may call the _soul of humanity_. something which responds from soul to soul, which may be aroused from the depths of subconsciousness like a surprise, which may be touched and reveal itself in an outburst of affection previously hidden and unsuspected. unknown profundities of the spirit, that seem to merge into the eternity of the universe itself and unexpectedly produce new forms as in a chemical reaction. and this is what we really mean by "moral education." well, in order to accomplish such a lofty work, we do not need to find a _method_. method is always more or less mechanical. here, on the contrary, is the supreme expression of human life--an evocation of the superman. what we need to find is not a method, but a _master_. séguin, in his glorious treatise on scientific pedagogy, dedicates a chapter to the training of the teacher of defective children. the teacher of abnormal pupils is not an educator, he is a _creator_; he must have _been born_ with special gifts, as well as to have perfected himself for this high task. he ought, says séguin, to be handsome in person, and strong as well, so that he may attract and yet command; his glance should be serene, like that of one who has gained victories through faith and has attained enduring peace; his manner should be imperturbable as that of one not easily persuaded to change his mind. in short, he ought to feel beneath him the solid rock, the foundation of granite on which his feet are planted and his steps assured. from this solid base, he should rise commandingly, like a magician. his voice should be gentle, melodious, and flexible, with bursts of silvery and resounding eloquence, but always without harshness. séguin describes the methods by which the teacher should educate his own voice, speech and gesture; he should take a course in facial expression and declamation, like a great actor who is preparing to win favor of the select and critical public of the proudest capital. for, as a matter of fact, he must attract the minds and souls of human beings who are almost inaccessible, beings who form whole armies in the world, entire peoples, they are so numerous; powerful human armies that threaten society with terrible punishment and bring about cruel executions. but the perfect teacher must possess something more than physical beauty and acquired art; he must have the loftiness of a soul ardent for its mission; yet even this may be cultivated and perfected. the teacher must "perfect himself" in his moral nature. there are men, who from the moment they make their appearance, exert a sort of fascination; everyone else becomes silent in their presence. it is almost as though some natural fluid emanated from them and spread to the others, so profoundly does everyone feel the attraction. when such a man speaks, the words seem, as if by magic, to touch the profoundest recesses of the heart. hypnotists and magicians! conquerors of souls! valiant souls themselves; souls with a great mission! well, this is more or less what is demanded of the teacher of abnormal children. he ought to be conscious of his personal dignity and human virtue, and of a sincere love for the children whom it is his task to redeem; his own greatness must overcome their wretchedness. and if he continues to perfect himself and to mount toward the moral altitudes, cultivating at the same time a love for his own mission, he will, as if by magic, become an educator; he will feel that a magic power of suggestion goes forth from him and conquers; the work of redemption will then seem to accomplish itself like a conflagration which has been kindled from some central point and spreads in rolling flames through the dried undergrowth. undoubtedly, the guidance of science is not everything to a teacher; the better part is given him through his own moral perfectionment. . the biographic history completes the individual study of the pupil and prepares for his diagnosis: combining, to this end, the work of the school with that of the home. sergi, in his memorable work, _first steps in scientific pedagogy_, expresses himself as follows: "_the biographic chart is a methodical_ _means for learning to know the body and spirit of the pupil through_ _direct observations_.... and, since pupils may be classified according to tendencies, character and intelligence, the master may rationally divide them into various groups, to which he will give varied treatment, according to the direction in which each group shows the greatest need of education.... and he will place himself in closer association with _the pupils' families_, who should communicate to him their earliest observations regarding the physical and psychological nature of their children." as a matter of fact, the anthropological movement, through the inquiries necessitated by the compilation of biographic charts, often proves illuminating to the members of the family, in regard to facts and conditions of which they had hitherto remained ignorant (sexual hygiene); in regard to the view they should take of their own children (those who had been regarded as "bad," and who were really ill), in regard to the way they should watch over them and take care of them, etc. hence it has made a beginning of the practical application of a pedagogic principal that hitherto has only been abstractly visioned, of coordinating the educative work of the family with that of the school. a pedagogic institution which practically realizes this conception, which was hitherto only a utopian dream of pedagogy, is the "children's house;" because by having school in the home and by having teachers and mothers living together, it results in harmonizing the environment of the family with that of the school, for the furtherance of the great mission of education. . the biographic chart will furnish everyone with a document capable of guiding him in his own subsequent self-education. sergi says further in the work above quoted: "the biographic chart should become a _precious document to_ _every man_, if the sort of record of which i speak were continued through a series of years, from the kindergartens upward through the entire course of the secondary schools, because it would contain, in compact and methodical form, the history of his physical and mental life, and he would find it of inestimable advantage both in practical life and in his various social relations." . "lastly, the biographic chart with its gathering of positive data, prepares a great body of scientific material which will be useful, not alone to pedagogy, but also to sociology, medicine, and jurisprudence." and in the same aforesaid work, sergi adds: "if, for example, we should gather" (under the guidance of his biographic chart) "biographic notes in the city of rome alone and in the elementary schools for both sexes, we should have for a single year, an average of fifty thousand observations, taken on entering and leaving school; if we could have them throughout the whole course of elementary instruction, the number of observations would amount to two hundred and fifty thousand. "then we should be able to see _in every social class all the_ _individual variations in physical and physiological condition which_ _contribute to the development of the intelligence and to the manifestations_ _of sentiments which play an active part in practical life._ _and all this would have a value of a sociological character._" this conception of sergi's is precisely one of the scientific aspects of biographic histories that is of the highest importance, provided that they could be recorded in so simple a manner as to render the researches practically possible, and provided, also, that they could be gathered with _a scientific uniformity of_ _method_ designed to render international researches harmonious. we are certainly still very far removed from the time when international pedagogical congresses will be held for the purpose of establishing a single model form of biographic chart for each of the various grades in school; and also an agreement as to the technical method of taking the anthropological measurements! before arriving at this point it will be necessary to make many tentative efforts and experiments. but a truly scientific sociology, as well as pedagogy, ought to emanate from such a study of _human beings in the course of formation_, because such an enormously large number of observations as could be gathered in school, will reveal to us the biologico-social mechanism through which those activities are formed that are destined to promote the progress of humanity and civilisation (the new generations). medicine and the biological sciences in general entered upon a new era of exceedingly rapid progress when the microscope made possible the study of _histology_ and _bacteriology_; well, the researches _in regard to the individual_ constitute the histology and bacteriology of social science! when le play, in his great work, _les ouvriers européens_, instituted the "family monograph," i.e., the study of household accounts as a basis for "positive sociology," he was considered as the founder of a true social science. because the true needs of men, the mechanism through which are determined the various personalities that afterward _react upon society_ as _creative or destructive_ forces, can be discovered only through studying minutely such needs and mechanisms, individual by individual, family by family. if le play's method, and consequently _positive social science_, have not as yet made much progress, this is because of the _difficulty of_ _penetrating within the family in order to study it_. from the bio-psychological point of view, if not from that of the family account book, the biographic chart of the schools is nevertheless a practical means of contributing to social histology; it is a field open to research and one which must be crossed by _every one_ of the individuals who constitute society. furthermore, it constitutes a foundation for social embryogeny; because in the school we may study the _genesis of separate individuals_; the causes which molded their congenital personality, and those which brought about its definitive formation. in the words of le play, indorsed by bodio, this is the only positive material from which the _legislator_ may draw his inspiration in order to become a true dispenser of justice to the people and to conduct the far-sighted reforms that are really necessary for the welfare of society. consequently, the anthropologic movement in pedagogy marks an aspect of scientific reform which is universal. a direct contribution to pedagogy and at the same time to scientific sociology is given by the biographic charts in the "children's houses." since this is a case of _school within the home_, where the mistress, being domiciled with her scholars, has them under her charge from the age of two or three years, and where there is a permanent resident physician to aid in the compilation of the biographic charts, it is evident that there is a chance of practically applying both the pedagogic plans for studying the pupil, and the social plans of le play, who by means of family monographs based upon the family account book, proposed to obtain nothing more nor less than an index of morality, culture, and individual needs! and as a matter of fact, the _manner of spending the_ _salary_, the savings, the squanderings, the purpose for which money is spent, whether it is for low vices, or for vanity, or for æsthetic or intellectual pleasures in general, etc., reveal the state of _civilisation and morality_ in which people _live_. in the "children's houses" such a study of the family is easy because it is revealed of its own accord, since the families are in contact with the school; consequently, these "children's houses" may serve to lay a true and practical foundation for _embryogenesis_ and social histology. in short, the importance of research regarding the individual goes far beyond the school; it leads the way to every kind of social reform. even medicine, like every other science, is going to build up a firmer scientific basis through the help of the biographic charts of the schools: professor de sanctis has drawn up models for examinations, mainly of a medical nature, to be used in his asylum-schools for defectives; and by thus following the development of the pupils, he has succeeded in throwing positive light upon the biopathological mechanism through which an abnormal psychopathic or neuropathic personality develops; while psychiatry or neuropathology formerly recorded nothing more of such an abnormal personality than the episode of the moment at which the adult patient presented himself at the clinic. even the individual criminal has now come to be studied in relation to his genesis, and jurists who are seeking a scientific basis for their enactments, should not neglect the individual studies that are being compiled in the schools for defectives. the biographic chart introduced into the government reformatories in italy will also furnish a direct contribution to social histology, in regard to the genesis of criminal personalities. consequently, the reform which has begun with the introduction of an anthropological movement into the school and the establishment of biographic charts, is nothing less than a reform of science as a whole. medicine, jurisprudence, and sociology as well as pedagogy, are laying new foundations upon it. chapter x the application of biometry to anthropology for the purpose of determining the medial men _theory of the medial man._--_measurements_ are used not only in anthropology but in zoology and botany as well; that is, they are applied to all living creatures; therefore anthropometry might to-day be regarded as a branch of _biometry_. the measurements obtained from living beings, and the statistical and mathematical studies based upon them, tend to determine the _normality_ of characteristics; and when the biometric method is applied to man, it leads to a determination of the normal dimensions, and hence of the _normal_ forms, and to a reconstruction of the _medial man_ that must be regarded as the man of perfect development, from whom all men actually existing must differ to a greater or less extent, through their infinite normal and pathological variations. this sort of touch-stone is of indisputable scientific utility, since we cannot judge of _deviations_ from the norm, so long as normality is unknown to us. in fact, when we speak of normality and of anomalies, we are using language that is far from exact, and to which there are no clear and positive corresponding ideas. whatever has been accomplished in anthropology up to the present time in the study of the morphology of degenerates and abnormals, has served only to illustrate this principle very vaguely--that the _form_ undergoes alteration in the case of pathological individuals. it is only now that we are beginning to give definite meaning to this principle, by seeking to determine what the _form_ is, when it has not undergone any alteration at all. from this fundamental point a new beginning must be made, on more certain and positive bases, of the study of _deviations from normality_ and their etiology. as far back as , quétélet, in his great philosophical and statistical work, _social physics or the development of the faculties_ _of man_, for the first time expounded the theory of the "medial man," founded on statistical studies and on the mathematical laws of errors. he reached some very exact concepts of the morphology of the medial man, based upon measurements, and also of the intellectual and moral qualities of the medial man, expounding an interesting theory regarding _genius_. but inasmuch as quétélet's _homme moyen_ was, so to speak, at once a mathematical and philosophical reconstruction of the _non-existent perfect man_, who furthermore could not possibly exist, this classical and masterly study by the great statistician was strenuously combatted and then forgotten, so far as its fundamental concepts were concerned, and remembered only as a scientific absurdity. the thought of that period was too analytical to linger over the great, the supreme synthesis expounded by quétélet. mankind must needs grow weary of anatomising bodies and tracing back to origins, before returning to an observation of the whole rather than the parts, and to a contemplation of the future. in fact, the thought of the nineteenth century was so imbued with the evolutionary theories as set forth by charles darwin, that it believed the reconstruction of the _pithecanthropus erectus_ from a doubtful bone a more positive achievement than that of the _medial man_ from the study of millions of living men. but to-day the researches that we have accomplished in the biological field regarding evolution, regarding natural heredity, regarding individual variability, are leading biology as a whole toward eminently synthetic conclusions; and studies which remained neglected or which were combatted in the past, are beginning to be brought into notice and properly appreciated: such studies, for instance, as mendel's theory and that of quétélet. galton, pearson, davenport, dunker, heinke, ludwig, and above all others de vries, are in the advance guard of modern biological thought. but beyond all these scientists, there is one who has an interest for us not only because he is an italian, but because he has reestablished quétélet's ancient theory of the _medial man_, under the present-day guidance of biometry: i mean prof. giacinto viola. _the importance of seriation._--under the statistical method, the basis of biometry is furnished by a regrouping of measurements in the form of series. we have seen that quétélet's binomial curve represents the symmetrical distribution of subjects in relation to some one central anthropometric measurement. let us suppose, for instance, that the curve here described represents the distribution of the stature. if we mark upon the abscissæ the progressive measurements, . ; . ; . ; . ; . ; . , etc.... . ; . ; . ; . ; . ; . , and on the axis of the ordinates the number of individuals having a determined stature, the path of the curve will show that there is a majority of individuals possessing a mean central measurement; and that the number of individuals diminishes gradually and symmetrically above and below, becoming extremely few at the extremes (exceptionally tall and low statures). when the total number of individuals is sufficiently large, the curve is perfect (curve of errors): fig. . [illustration: fig. .--the highest part of this curve corresponds to the medial centre of density.] in such a case, the _general mean_ coincides with the _median_, that is, with the number situated at the centre of the basal line, because, since all the other measurements, above and below, are perfectly symmetrical, in calculating the mean average they cancel out. there is still another centre corresponding to the mean: the _centre of density_ of the individuals grouped there, because the maximum number corresponds to that measurement. accordingly, if, for example, in place of half a million men whose measurements of stature, when placed in seriation, produced a perfect binomial curve, we had selected only ten men or even fewer from those corresponding to the median line; the general mean stature obtained from those half million men and that obtained from the ten individuals would be identical. for we would have selected _ten individuals_ possessing that mean average stature which seems to represent a _biological_ _tendency_, from which many persons deviate to a greater or less extent, as though they were erroneous, aberrant, for a great variety of causes; but these aberrant statures are still such that by their excess and their deficiency they perfectly compensate for each other; so that the mean average stature precisely reproduces this _tendency_, this centre actually attained by the maximum number of individuals. supposing that we could see together all these individuals: those who belong at the centre being numerically most _prevalent_, will give a definite _intonation_ to the whole mass. anyone having an eye well trained to distinguish differences of stature could mentally separate those prevalent individuals and estimate them, saying that they are of _mean_ _average stature_. this curve is the mathematical curve of errors; and it corresponds to that constructed upon the exponents of newton's binomial theorem and to the calculation of _probability_. it corresponds to the curve of errors in mathematics: for example, to the errors committed in measuring a line; or in measuring the distance of a star, etc. whoever takes measurements (we have already seen this in anthropometrical technique and in the calculation of personal error) commits errors, notwithstanding that the _object to be measured_ and the individual making the measurements remain the same. but the most diverse causes; nerves, the weather, weariness, etc., causes not always determinable and perhaps actually more numerous than could be discovered or imagined, all have their share in producing errors of too much and too little, which are distributed in gradations around the real _measurement_ of the object. but since among all these measurements taken in the same identical way we do not know which is the true one; the seriation of errors will reveal it to us, for it causes a maximum number of some one definite measurement (the true one) to fall in the centre of the aberrations that symmetrically grade off from the centre itself. viola gives some very enlightening examples in regard to errors. suppose, for instance, that an artist skilled in modeling wished to reproduce in plaster a number of copies of a leaf, which he has before his eyes as a model. the well-trained eye and hand will at one time cause him to take exactly the right quantity of plaster needed to reproduce the actual dimensions of the leaf; at another, on the contrary, he will take more and at another less than required. by measuring or superimposing the real leaf upon the plaster copies, the sculptor will be able to satisfy himself at once which of his copies have proved successful. but supposing, on the contrary, that the real leaf has disappeared and that a stranger wishes to discover from the plaster copies which ones faithfully reproduce the dimensions of the leaf? they will be those that are numerically most prevalent. the same thing holds true for any attempt whatever to attain a _predetermined object_. for example, shooting at a mark. a skilful marksman will place the maximum number of shots in the centre, or at points quite near to the centre; he will often go astray, but the number of errors will steadily decrease in proportion as the shots are more aberrant, _i.e._, further from the centre. if a marksman wished to practise in like manner against some wall, for example, on which he has chosen a point that is not marked, and hence not recognisable by others, this point _thought_ of by the marksman, may be determined by studying the cluster of shots left upon the wall. in the same way an observer could determine the hour fixed for a collective appointment, such as a walking trip, by the manner in which the various individuals arrive in groups; some one will come much ahead of time because he has finished some task which he had expected would keep him busy up to the hour of appointment; then in increasing numbers the persons who come a few minutes ahead of time because they are provident and prompt; then a great number of people who have calculated their affairs so well as to arrive precisely on time; a few minutes later come those who are naturally improvident and a little lazy; and lastly come the exceptional procrastinators who at the moment of setting forth were delayed by some unexpected occurrence. causes of error in the individual and in the environment interfere in like manner with the astronomer who wishes to estimate the distance of the stars and it is necessary for him to repeat his measurements and calculations on the basis of those which show the greatest probability of being exact. accordingly, such _distribution_ of errors is _independent_ of the causes which produce them and which, whatever they are, remain practically the same at any given time, and consequently produce constant effects and symmetrical errors; but it is dependent upon the fact of the existence of some pre-established thing (a measurement, the dimensions of an object to be copied, an appointed hour, the centre of a target, etc.). in short, whenever a _tendency_ is established the _errors_ group themselves around the objective point of this tendency. in the case of anthropometry, as for instance, in the curve of stature given above, we find that the resulting medial stature was _predetermined_, _e.g._, _for a given race_; but many individuals, for various causes, either failed to attain it or surpassed it to a greater or less extent; and therefore in the course of their development they have acquired an erroneous stature. consequently, this medial stature which still corresponds to the mean average of a very large number of persons, is the stature that is biographically pre-established, the normal stature of the race. if we select individuals presumably of the same race and in sound health, the serial curve of their statures ought to be very high and with a narrow base, because these individuals are _uniform_. when a binomial curve has a _very wide_ basis of oscillations in measurements, it evidently contains elements that are not uniform; thus, for example, if we should measure the statures of men and women together, we should of course obtain a curve, but it would be very broad at the base and quite low at the centre of density; and a similar result would follow if we measured the statures of the rich and the poor without distinguishing between them. since normal stature, including individual variations, has an exceedingly wide limit of oscillation (from . m. to . m.), if we should measure all the men on earth, we should obtain a very wide base for our binomial curve, which nevertheless would have a centre of density corresponding to the median line and to the general mean average. now this mean stature, according to quétélet, is the mean stature of the european; and it is that of the _medial man_. but if we should take the races separately, each one of them would have its own binomial curve, which would reveal the respective mean stature for each race. in the same way, if we took the complex curve of all the individuals of a single race, and separated the men from the women, the two resulting groups would reveal the _mean average male stature_ and the _mean average female stature_ of the race in question. an analogous result would follow if we separated the poor from the rich, etc. every time that we draw new distinctions, the base of the curves, or in other words the limits of oscillation of measurements, will contract, and the _centre of density_ will rise; while the intermediate gradations (due, for example, to the intermixture of tall women and short men; or to the overlapping standards of stature of various kindred races, etc.), will diminish. in short, if we construct the binomial curve from individuals who are uniform in sex, race, age, health, etc., it not only remains symmetrical around a centre but the eccentric progression of its groups is steadily determined in closer accordance with the order and progression of the exponents of newton's binomial. however, a _symmetrical grading off_ from the centre is not the same thing as a symmetrical grading off from the centre _in a predetermined_ _mode_, _i.e._, that of the binomial exponents. the binomial symmetry is obtained through calculations of mathematical combinations. now, if the _fact_ of the centrality of a prevailing measurement is to be proved in relation to the predetermination of the measurement itself: for example, in regard to _racial heredity_, and hence is a fact that reveals _normality_, the manner of distribution of errors--namely, in accordance with calculations of _probability_--might very well be explained by mendel's laws of heredity, which serve precisely to show how the prevailing characteristics are distributed according to the mathematical calculation of probabilities. accordingly, the _normal characteristic of race_ would coincide with the dominant characteristic of mendel's hereditary powers. the characteristic which has been shown as the stronger and more potent is victorious over the recessive characteristics that are latent in the germ. meanwhile, however, there are various errors which, artificially or pathologically, cause a characteristic, which would naturally have been recessive, to become dominant, or, in other words, most prevalent. [illustration: fig. .--the shaded portion represents the eccentricity of the curve, due to the presence of cretins.] whenever a binomial curve constructed from a large number of individuals is found to be eccentric; and shows, _e.g._, in the case of stature, a deviation toward the low statures, it reveals (see de helguero's curves) the presence of a heterogeneous intermixture of subjects, for example, of children among adults, or, as in the case demonstrated by de helguero, an intermixture of _pathological individuals_ with normal persons (fig. ). the binomial curve obtained by de helguero from the inhabitants of piedmont included, as a matter of fact, a great number of _cretins_; they formed within the great normal mass of men, a little mass of individuals having a stature notably inferior to the normal. by correcting the eccentric curve on the left of the accompanying figure, and by tracing a dotted line equal and symmetrical to the right side, we obtain a normal binomial curve; well, this curve will actually be reproduced if we subtract all the cretins from the whole mass of individuals. the section distinguished by parallel lines represents that portion of the curve which departs from the normal toward the low statures, and is due to the cretins; it may be transformed into a small dotted binomial curve at the base, which is constructed from the statures of the cretins alone. accordingly, the symmetrical binomial curve gives us a _mean_ _average value_ in relation to a specified measurement. what has been said regarding stature serves as an example; but it may be repeated for _all the anthropometric measurements_, as viola has proved by actual experiment. the sitting stature, the thoracic perimeter, the dimensions of an entire limb or of each and every segment of it; every particular which it has seemed worth while to take into consideration, comports itself in the same manner; and this is also true of all the measurements of the head and face. that is to say, if we make a seriation of measurements relating to the sitting stature of an indeterminate number of individuals, we find a numerical prevalence of those corresponding to the medial measurement marked upon the axis of the abscissæ; and the number of individuals will continue to decrease with perceptible symmetry on each side of the centre, _i.e._, toward the higher and lower statures. if we take into consideration the significance of the sitting stature, this binomial curve relates to individuals who possess a normal physiological mass (the bust; centre of density) and to individuals who fall below or exceed that mass. we have already, in speaking of the types of stature, taken the bust under consideration in relation to the limbs, in order to judge the more or less favourable reciprocal development; but here we obtain an _absolute datum of normality_, independent of proportional relations to the body as a whole; _in other words, there_ _exists a physiological mass_ for the human body which is _normal_ in itself. the individuals whose sitting stature corresponds to the medial measure of the binomial curve, are precisely those who have the normal development of bust. the same thing repeats itself in the case of the thoracic perimeter, or the weight, or the length of the leg, or the cranial circumference, etc. hence we have a means of obtaining the _normal medial measurements_ by the seriation of a number of measurements actually obtained from living individuals the number of whom should be sufficiently large to enable us to construct a perceptibly symmetrical and regular binomial curve. such medial measurements, although they correspond to the true mean average (as we have already seen), are not for this reason _unreal_, like arithmetical means which represent a synthetic entirety that does not correspond to the single individuals actually existing; the medial measurements obtained by seriation are, on the contrary, measurements that really belong to living individuals; namely, to that group of individuals that possess this particular measurement. therefore, it is not a combination, or fusion, or abstraction. * * * * * but individuals who have one medial measurement, do not necessarily have all the other medial measurements; that is to say, the individuals who find that they belong on the medial abscissæ in relation to stature, do not find themselves similarly placed in relation to the sitting stature, or the thoracic perimeter, or the weight, or the cranial circumference, etc. indeed, it is _impossible_ that all the bodily measurements of the same individual should be _medial measurements_: or, to express it better, there has not been found up to the present among living individuals, in the whole wide world, a man so constructed. such a man would represent anthropologically the _medial man_. it is also very rare to find a man quite lacking in medial measurements: everyone has a few central measurements and certain others that are eccentric. at the same time it must be admitted that there are men who have many, and even a large majority, of the central measurements; while the rest of their measurements are eccentric or paracentral. one of the objections which used to be made was that if we should wish to unite all the medial measurements, they would not fit together, or rather, that a man could not be constructed from them; but that the result would be a monstrosity. nevertheless, this assertion or objection has proved to be absolutely fantastic and contrary to the actual fact. professor viola has observed that men who have a very large number of medial measurements are singularly _handsome_. more than that: the medial man reconstructed from medial measurements really gathered from living persons, has the identical proportions of the famous statues of greek art. here, for example, in figs. and , facing page , we have the medial man and the apollo; even to the eye of the observer, they show a marked similarity in proportions. the medial man is very nearly the portrait of an exceedingly handsome young roman, studied by viola; this person possessed a great majority of the mean average measurements; but some of his measurements did not correspond to the normal averages, and accordingly viola had them corrected by an artist under the guidance of anthropological biometry; and the figure thus corrected is represented in the drawing here given. well, this drawing corresponds perfectly to the proportions of the apollo. consequently, the mean average measurements do not pass unnoticed; it is not alone the anthropological instrument or mathematical reconstruction that reveals them; when presented to the eye of the intelligent man, they _notify him that_ they exist, they arouse in him an _æsthetic emotion_, they give him the alluring impression of the _beautiful_. when the mean average measurements are found accumulated in large numbers in the same person, they render that person the centre of a mysterious fascination, the admiration of all other men. now, this coincidence of the _beautiful_ with the average is equivalent to a coincidence of the beautiful with _normality_. "this unforeseen demonstration," says viola, "throws a vivid light upon the hitherto obscure problem of the æsthetic sense.... if a man evolves according to normal laws, his proportions arouse an exceptional æsthetic enjoyment." anyone having an eye trained to recognise the _beautiful_, is able through his æsthetic sensations, to pick out _normality_ from the great crowd of biological errors, which is precisely what the scientist does with great weariness of measurements and calculations. in fact, the great artists recognise the _beautiful parts_ of a number of beautiful individuals, and they unite them all together in a single work of art. the greeks did this, they reconstructed the medial man, on a basis of actual observation, and by extracting all the normalities, all the measurements most prevalent in individuals, and forming from them a single ideal man. the greek artists were observers; we might call them the positivists in art. their art is supreme and immortal, because they simultaneously interpreted what is _beautiful_ and what is _true_ in life. in short, medial measurements are true measurements, actually existing in individuals. no one can acquire a true æsthetic taste by contemplating works of art. the æsthetic sense is trained and refined by observing the truth in nature and by learning to separate instinctively the normal from the erroneous. no other form of art reproduces the _subject_ so faithfully as the greek; medieval and modern artists have incarnated their own personal inspiration, without training themselves to that accurate observation which refines the sense of the _beautiful_, when we are in the presence of the _truth_, represented by normality, which is the triumph of life. accordingly, we may reconstruct the _medial man_ from the truth as found in nature. within the wide scale of individual variations we pass from men possessing few medial measurements (ugly men) to men possessing many of them (handsome men), and even a majority of such measurements (extremely handsome). our sensation in the presence of the ugly man is repulsion, _biological_ _pain_; in the presence of the handsome man we feel an æsthetic contentment, _biological pleasure_. in this way we take part in the mysterious failures and triumphs of nature, as children in the great family of life. now, as viola says, the individual variations that group themselves symmetrically around the medial measurement may be divided into _groups_ or _types_, _e.g._, central, paracentral and eccentric, both above and below the mean.[ ] such types are considered by viola chiefly from the _pathological_ point of view, or rather, that of the _physical constitution_ and relative predisposition to disease. it is only the central type that has such perfect harmony of parts as to embody the perfection of strength and physical health; as the type diverges from the centre, it steadily loses its power of resistance and becomes less capable of realising a long life. [illustration: fig. .--viola's medial man.] [illustration: fig. .--apollo.] since the measurements are extremely numerous, it is necessary, in order to proceed to a separation of types, to select some one measurement to be regarded as fundamental, and in respect to which all others have a secondary importance; and such a measurement is found in the one which is associated with the development of the physiological man; namely, the _sitting stature_. in the centre there is the medial measurement; little by little, as we withdraw from the centre, we approach on the one side toward macroscelia and on the other side toward brachyscelia. it is possible to determine to within a millimetre the _normality_ of any measurement whatever. when this fundamental datum has once been accepted as a _basis_ for the construction of _types_, let us assume that we next add another and secondary measurement; for instance, that of the lower limbs. by the method of seriation we obtain a measurement that is _absolutely normal when considered by itself_; it is the central measurement. a perfectly formed and healthy man ought to possess both the medial sitting stature and the medial length of lower limbs; in actual cases, however, it is difficult to find so favourable a union, and the two series of measurements _combine_ in various ways; showing a tendency, however, to unite in such a way that a short bust goes with long legs, and _vice_ _versa_. the degree to which this rule is carried out produces two types that steadily tend to become more eccentric; they are the macroscelous and brachyscelous types, or, as de giovanni calls them, _morphological combinations_. we have only to calculate the _type of stature_, and that also groups itself according to the binomial curve; and thus gives us a gradation of the _combinations of parts_. viola notes that the paracentral individuals show characteristics quite different from those of the eccentrics; their constitution is more favourable, and they differ in respect to their characteristic proportions between thorax and abdomen, and in certain other physiological particulars that are of pathological importance. in this way a _method_ has been built up for determining mathematically the one absolute normality; as well as the anomalies in all their infinite variety, which may, however, be regrouped under _types_, on the basis of their eccentricities. here then we have, thanks to viola, and under the guidance of the glorious school of de giovanni, a pathway indicated, that is exceedingly rich in its opportunities for research, and that may advance the importance of anthropometry side by side with that of biometry, the development of which is to-day so earnestly pursued, especially in england. * * * * * one of the objections which may be raised to the theory of the medial man is that there cannot be any one perfect, human model because of the diverse races of mankind, each with its own established biological characteristics. for instance, i believe that i have proved that what we consider as _beautiful_ is distributed among _different races_; in other words, perfect beauty of all the separate parts of the body is never found united in any one race, any more than it is in any one person. the women of latium who are dark and dolichocephalic have most beautiful faces, but their hands and feet are imperfect; the brachycephalic blondes, on the contrary, are coarse-featured, while their hands and feet are extremely beautiful. the same may be said regarding their breasts and certain other details. furthermore, the stature of the dolichocephalics is too low as compared with what is shown to be the _average stature_, while the brachycephalics are similarly too tall. nevertheless, it is _extremely_ _difficult_ to discover racial types of such comparative purity as to establish these differences: it was by a lucky chance that i succeeded in tracing out, at castelli romani and at orte, certain groups of the races that were very nearly pure. the rest of the population are, for the most part, hybrids showing a confused intermingling of characteristics. in fact, pure _types of race_ no longer exist, least of all where civilisation is most intense. in order to speak of _types of race_, it is necessary to go among barbaric tribes; and even this is a relative matter, because all the races on earth are more or less the result of intermixture. yet in civilised countries an occasional group of pure racial stock may be discovered in isolated localities, as though they had found refuge, so to speak, from the vortex of civilisation which is engulfing the races. throughout the history of humanity we may watch this absorption of racial and morphological characteristics, and the formation of more and more intimate intermixtures, leading to the final disappearance of the original _types of_ _race_. when a primitive race emigrated, when men crossed over from africa to the european coast of the mediterranean, or aryans from oriental asia traversed the mountains and steppes of russia and the balkan countries, they were on their way to conquer territory and to subjugate peoples, but they were also on their way to lose their own type, the characteristics of their race. yet even this sacrifice of _race_ was not without compensation: indeed, it seems as though the _race_ loses through hybridism a large part of its _ugly_ characteristics, but retains and transmits for the most part the characteristics that are pleasing. unquestionably, the more civilised peoples are better looking than the barbarians, although the history of emigration would seem to indicate an almost common racial origin. when we remember that in human hybridism the result is not always a true and complete _fusion_ of characteristics, but for the most part an intermixture of them--so that, for example, the hybrid has the type of cranium belonging to one race, and the stature belonging to another race--we have the explanation of the fact that throughout thousands of years certain morphological characteristics have remained fixed, to such an extent as to permit anthropologists to use them as a basis upon which to trace out the origins of races. but these characteristics, while fixed in themselves, are _interchanged_ among individual hybrids, who form more or less felicitous _combinations_ of characteristics belonging to several races. when we recall what was said in this regard concerning heredity (general biological section) it is necessary to conclude that mendel's law must be invoked to explain the phenomenon. human hybridism, like all hybridism throughout the whole biological field, falls under this law. but there is still another phenomenon that should be noted: civilised men, who are the most hybrid of all hybrids upon earth, have formed a _new type_ that is almost unique, the _civilised race_, in which one and all resemble one another. it is only logical to believe that, in proportion as facilities of travel become easier and intermarriage between foreign countries more widespread, it will become less and less easy to distinguish the englishman from the frenchman, or the russian or the italian; provided that the various hybridisms in the respective countries have developed an almost uniform local type, so that the general characteristics of french hybridism may be distinguished from those of english hybridism, etc. even these local hybrid types, determining, as it were, the physiognomy of a people, will disappear when europe finally becomes a single country for civilised man. in short, we are spectators of this tendency: a fusion or intermixture of characteristics that is tending to establish one single human type, which is no longer an original racial type, but the _type of civilisation_. it is the unique race, the _resultant human_ _race_, the product of the fusion of races and the triumph of all the elements of beauty over the disappearance of those ugly forms which were characteristic of primitive races. are the dominant forces in the human germinative cells those which bring a contribution of beauty? one would say "yes," on the strength of the morphological history of humanity. there is no intention of implying by this that humanity is tending toward the incarnation of perfectly beautiful human beings, all identical in their beauty; but they will be harmonious in those skeletal proportions that will insure perfect functional action of their organism. harmony is fundamental; the soft tissues, the colour of hair and eyes, may upon this foundation give us an infinite _variety_ of beauty. "even in music," says viola, "so long as the laws of harmony are respected, there are possibilities of melodic thoughts of infinite beauty in gradation and variety; but the first condition is that the aforesaid laws shall be respected." the soft and plastic tissues are like a _garment_ which may be infinitely varied: because life is richer in normal forms than in abnormal; richer in triumphs than in failures; and hence more impressive in the varieties of its beauties than in its monstrosities. such philosophic concepts of the _medial man_ are exceedingly fertile in moral significance. the ugly and imperfect races have gone on through wars, conquests, intellectual and civil advancement unconsciously preparing new intermarriages and higher forms of love, which eliminated all that is harsh and inharmonic, in order to achieve the triumph of human beauty. in fact, quite aside from the heroic deeds of man, the constructor of civilisation, we are witnessing the coming of the unique man, the man of perfect beauty, such as phidias visioned in a paroxysm of æsthetic emotion. a living man who incarnates supreme beauty, supreme health, supreme strength: almost as though it were christ himself whom humanity was striving to emulate, through a most intimate brotherhood of all the peoples on earth. * * * * * on the analogy of the medial morphological man, quétélet also conceived of the _medial intellectual man_ and the _medial moral_ _man_. the medial intellectual man is closely bound to the thoughts of his century; he incarnates the prevailing ideas of his time; he vibrates in response to the majority. he is to his nation and century, says quétélet, "what the centre of gravity is to the body--namely, the one thing to be taken into consideration in order to understand the phenomena of equilibrium and movement." considered from the ideal side, the medial man ought to centralise in himself and keep in equilibrium the movement of thought of his period, giving it harmonic form, in works of art or of science. and it is the capacity for accomplishing this work of synthesis that constitutes the _inborn quality_ in the man of genius. he does not create; he reassembles in one organism the _scattered_ _members_, the medial vibrations of the crowd; he feels and expresses all that is new and beautiful and great that is in process of formation in the men who surround him, who are frequently unconscious of the beauty which is in them, just as they are unconscious of having those normal predetermined measurements of their bodies. but whenever they discover in a creation of thought _something of themselves_, they are stirred to enthusiasm at recognising this something belonging to them as forming part of a harmonious whole: and they applaud the work of art or of science which has stirred their enthusiasm. the medial intellectual man who has produced it is a beneficent genius to humanity because he aids its upward progress by appealing to the better part in each individual. now, there has never existed a medial intellectual man who sums up all the thought of his time: just as there does not exist a living man so beautiful as to incarnate all the medial measurements. but the man of genius is he who does embody the greater part of such ideas: and he produces a masterpiece when he succeeds in shedding his own individuality in order to assume what is given him from without. goethe said that it was not he who composed _faust_, but a spirit which invaded him. and the same thought is expressed in the autobiographies of many men of genius. a well-known writer told me that it sometimes happened to him, while he was writing, to forget himself completely; at such times he no longer wrote the truth as he saw and felt it consciously, but transmitted pure and unforeseen inspiration. such portions, said this author, are judged by the public as containing the greatest degree of beauty and truth. when a great orator thrills a crowd, he certainly does nothing more than repeat what is already in the thoughts of each member of that crowd; every individual present had, as it were, in his subconsciousness, the same thought that is expressed by the orator, which was taking form within him but had not yet _matured_ and which he would not have had the knowledge or the ability to express. the orator, as it were, matures and extracts from him that new thought which was taking shape within him; his better part, which after light is shed upon it will have the power to elevate him. but no orator could ever persuade a crowd with ideas that do not already exist in that crowd, and which consequently, are not part of the truth of their age. the orator is like the centre of gravity, inasmuch as he gives form and equilibrium to the scattered and timid thought of the crowd. carducci[ ] says "the art of the lyric poet consists in this: to express what is common to all in the form in which he has created it anew and specially in his mind; or rather to give to the thought which is peculiar to himself an imprint of universal understanding, so that each one looking into it may recognise himself." * * * * * when we think of the brilliant concept of the medial man, we behold a fundamental and profound principle: the necessity of hybridism and consequently of a profound intermixture of races; all of which goes side by side with the spread of civilisation, and the increased facilities of traveling and of communication between different communities. connected with these material advantages is the moral progress which leads to a realisation of perfect brotherhood between men that is rendered steadily more possible by environment, and is sanctioned little by little by laws and customs; whereas at the start it was only an ethical or mystical theory. while the physical formations of the races are becoming merged, the racial customs are also blending and disappearing in a single civilisation, in one sole form of thought. if, at one time, the powerful race was the one united to its territory, faithful to its customs, adhering to its moral code and its religion, all this melts away in the presence of universal hybridism which actually means the birth of a new generation of men and a new outlook upon life. when we contemplate the morphologically medial man, he seems to stand as a symbol of unlimited universal progress. his realisation seems to demand very lofty standards of morality and civilisation. whereas, on the contrary, the survival of types and of customs and sentiments peculiar to separate races, is the expression of local conditions that are inferior both in morality and in civil progress. as for the innumerable _paracentral errors_ which form to-day a large proportion of individual varieties, they are due directly to the imperfection of the environment, which does not permit of the natural development of human life, and consequently interferes through a wide range of methods and degrees with the development of ideal normality. hence, the extreme eccentric errors are the consequence of diseases and far-reaching social imperfections which lead to genuine deviations from the normal, including _pathological_ and _degenerate malformations_, and associated with them the lowest forms of individual degradation, both intellectual and moral. all the paracentral errors and malformations are a physical burden which retards the perfectionment of man. admitting that hybridism will eventually result in complete beauty, it will be greatly delayed in its attainment through the accumulation of errors that surround the characteristics of race. they form a heavy ballast, if the phrase may be permitted, that impedes the progress of its ascension. consequently, the long awaited social progress which is gradually bringing about the "brotherhood of man" is not in itself sufficient for the attainment of the ideal mean. there are certain errors that must more or less necessarily be encountered along the pathway of humanity; and that act either directly or indirectly upon posterity, deforming and destroying its resistance to life; and it is these that must be taken under consideration, because they delay the normal progress of human society. they are conscious and well recognised errors; hence up to a certain point the _active_ agency of man may combat them and succeed little by little in mitigating them and overcoming their disastrous influence upon biological humanity. there are, in general, two influences developing and promoting that improvement which leads toward the _medial man_: in proportion as the real and practical intermarriage of races approaches its realisation, social errors diminish; and as the brotherhood of humanity is promoted, it leads to social reforms by which the "sins of the world" are little by little overcome. but these may also be _actively_ combated; and in this direction education has a task of inestimable importance to civilisation. we ought to know not only the thought of our century, which is the luminous torch in the light of which we advance along the path of progress; but also the _moral needs_ of our time, and the errors which may be conquered through our conscious agency. to know "the faults of our century," which are destined to be conquered in the coming century, and to make preparation for the victory--such is our moral mission. the ethical movement of human society has continued to advance from conquest to conquest, and in looking backward the more civilised part of mankind have been horrified at the conditions that have been outgrown and have called them "barbarous." thus, for example, slavery was an unsurmountable obstacle to progress, and had to be crushed out by civilisation; the license to _kill_ is also a form of barbarism which to-day we are boasting of having just outgrown--or, at least, of having reached the final limit of its duration. in early times it was not only permissible to kill, but in many of its forms murder was considered honourable, as, for instance, in wars and in duels; it was also one form of justice to kill for vengeance, either social or individual; the condemnation to death of a criminal, the murder of an adulterous wife, the murder of anyone who has attacked the _honour_ of the family, all this seemed just in the past. lastly, murder was committed for pure diversion, as in the auto-da-fè and in the games of the circus. our civic morality seems to have attained its extreme altitude in having sanctioned the inviolability of human life; and the present-day struggle against the death penalty, against war, against revolutions, against uxoricide, in the case of adultery, and against duelling, shows us the triumph of a new and loftier conception of humanity in the upward progress of man. the intermixture of races and the intermingling of national interests, have aroused a sort of collective sentiment actually existing as a normal form of conscience, namely, "human solidarity." but we are still in a state of complete _barbarity_, still sunk in the most profound unconsciousness, all of us partners in the same great sin that threatens the overthrow of so-called civilised humanity; namely, _barbarity toward the species_. we are ignorant, we are almost strangers, in regard to our _responsibility_ toward those who are destined to issue from us as the continuation of humanity downward through the centuries; those who form the ultimate scope of our biological existence, inasmuch as each one of us is merely a connecting link between certain portions of past and future life. we are all so engrossed with the progress of our environment and of the ideas embodied in it, that we have not yet turned our attention inward toward ourselves: toward _life_. this solidarity which we recognise as existing among men at the present moment, ought to be extended to the men of the future. and since the species is closely bound up in the individual who is destined to reproduce it, this gives us at once the basis for a code of _individual moral conduct_, such as would assure to everyone the integrity of the fruit of his own reproduction. sexual immorality which is the stigma of the barbarity of our times, entails the most ignominious form of slavery; the slavery of women through prostitution. and emanating from this form of barbarity, the slavery has expanded and spread to all women, more or less oppressive, more or less conscious. the wife is a slave, for she has married in ignorance and has neither the knowledge nor the power to avoid being made the instrument for the birth of weakly, diseased or degenerate children; and still more deeply enslaved is the mother who cannot restrain her own son from degradations that she knows are the probable source of ruin of body and soul. we are all silently engaged in an enormous crime against the species and against humanity; and like accomplices we have made a tacit agreement not to speak of it. indeed, the mysterious silence regarding sexual life is absolute; it is as though we feared to compromise ourselves in the sight of that great and powerful judge, our own posterity; we hide under an equal silence the good and the bad in relation to sexual life. this sort of terror goes by the name of shame and modesty. such an excuse for silence certainly sounds like pure irony, coming as it does in the full midst of the orgy, at a time when we all know that every man is laden with his sins, and that we are all either accomplices or slaves in the common fault. it would seem that a race so modest as to blush at the mere mention of sexual life ought to be eminently chaste, and far removed from the age of foundling asylums and houses of ill fame; the age in which infanticide exists as proof of absolute impunity in regard to sexual crimes. what we call shame and modesty, is in reality not shame or modesty in regard to sexual acts and phenomena, but only in regard to sins against them. these acts and phenomena, being directly related to creation and the eternity of the species, ought to be regarded by men as in the nature of a lofty religious culte, equally, for instance, with that which from the earliest prehistoric times placed the symbol of maternity, _the mother and the child_, side by side with the _scythe_, symbol of labour, in places of worship. we cannot admit that _love_, sung by the poets as a divine sentiment, is the moral exponent of unworthy and shameful acts. it is the error, the perversion of sexual life, the source of degeneration, of degradation and of the death of the species, that makes us keep silent, conceal and blush with shame. in reality, all this ought to stir us, not to embarrassment and shame, but to a formidable rebellion, a sharp awakening of conscience, a redemption from a state of inferior civilisation. it was a barbarous sovereign who, in the delusive hope that it would cure him of eczema, caused the throats of little children to be cut, so that he might immerse himself in the warm bath of their blood. to-day anyone who would sacrifice the lives of children to allay the itching of his own skin, would be in our eyes a monster of criminality. and yet almost equally criminal are the men of our time, lords, in a barbaric sense, of sexual life; and we silently acquiesce in customs which in the future centuries will perhaps be remembered as a monstrous barbarism. the whole moral revival which awaits us, revolves around the struggle against the sexual sins. the emancipation of woman, the protection of maternity and of the child, are its most luminous exponents; but no less efficacious evidences of such progress are all the efforts directed against alcoholism and the other vices and diseases which are reflected in their unhappy consequences to posterity. there is just one side of the question that has hitherto been scarcely touched at all, and that is the chastity of man and his responsibility as a father; but even this has already come to be felt as an imperative necessity for progress. in place of reducing other human beings to slavery and prostituting them; instead of betraying them and shattering their lives by seduction and the desertion of their offspring, the man of the future will choose to _become chaste_. he will feel that otherwise he is dishonoured, morally lost. man will not be willing to be so weak as to confess himself dragged down to degradation and crime because unable to conquer his own instincts; man who has nothing but victories on the credit side of his history, and who even succeeded in overcoming the greatest of all his irresistible instincts, that of self-preservation, in showing himself capable of going into combat and dying for the ideals of his fatherland. man is capable of every great heroism; it was man who found a means of conquering the formidable obstacles of his environment, establishing himself lord of the earth, and laying the foundations of civilisation. he will also teach himself to be chaste, within sufficiently narrow limits to guarantee the dignity of the human race and the health of the species; and in this way he will prescribe the ethics for the centuries of the near future: _sexual_ _morality_. there are customs and virtues, lofty ethical doctrines that stand in direct accord with the conservation and the progress of life. bodily cleanliness, temperance in drink, the conquest of personal instincts, human brotherhood in the full extent of the thought, the feeling, and the practice, chastity; all these are just so many forms of the defense of life, both of the individual and of the species. to-day, in hygiene, in pathology and in anthropology, science is showing us the truth through positive proofs, through experiments and statistics. but these virtues which are paths leading to _life_, are simply being reconfirmed by science; just as they are being little by little attained by civil progress, which prepares their practical elements; but they were always intuitively recognised by the human heart: nothing is older in the ethics of mankind than the principal of brotherhood, of victory over the instincts, of chastity. only, these virtues, _intuitively perceived_, could not be universally _practised_, because universal practice demanded time for preparation. but they survived partly as affirmations of absolute virtue and partly as _prophesies_ of a future age and were considered as constituting the _highest_ good. just as the æsthetic sense led to the recognition of _normality_ at a time when this scientific concept was very far from being understood as it is to-day; in the same way the ethical and religious sense was able to feel intuitively and to separate from customs and from sentiments belonging to an evanescent form of transitory civilisation or from the temporary racial needs, those others that relate fundamentally to the biological preservation of the individual and the species and the practical attainment of human perfection. and while the medial intellectual man or the artistic genius combines wholly or in part the thoughts of his time, the medial moral or religious man sums up the guiding principles of life which everyone feels profoundly in the depth of his heart; and when he speaks to other men it seems as though he instilled new vigour into the very roots of their existence, and he is believed, when he speaks of a happier future toward which humanity is advancing. if the intellectual genius is almost a reader of contemporaneous thought as it vibrates around him, the religious genius interprets more or less completely and perfectly the universal and eternal spirit of life in humanity. accordingly, the medial men incarnate the _beautiful_, the _true_, and the _good_: in other words, the theories of positivism arrive at the selfsame goals as idealism, those of poetry, philosophy and art. by following the path of observation, we reach a goal analogous to that sought along the path of intuition. the theory of the medial man constructed fundamentally upon positive bases of _measurements_ and _facts_, represents the limit[ ] of perfection of the human individual associated with the limit of perfection of _human society_, which is formed in a two-fold way: a close association between all human beings, or the formation of a true social organism (complete hybridism in body; human brotherhood in sentiment), and the steadily progressive emancipation, of every individual member from anxiety concerning the _defense of life_, in order to enjoy the triumph of the _development of_ _life_. all that was formerly included under _defense_ will assume collective forms of a high order (repressive justice replaced by more varied forms of prevention: which have for their final goal a widespread education and a gradual amelioration of labour and social conditions); and in this _reign of peace_ there will arise the possibility _of developing all_ the forces of life (biological liberty). in such a conception, the individual organism depends more and more upon the social organism: just as the cells depend upon the multicellular organism; and we may almost conceive of a new living entity, a _super-organism_ made up of humanity, but in which every component part is allowed the maximum expansion of its personal activity emancipated from all the obstacles that have been successively overcome. this conception of _biological_ _liberty_, in other words, the triumph of the free and peaceful development of life, through the long series of more or less bitter _struggles and defenses of life_, constitutes, in my opinion, the very essence of the new pedagogy. and the evolution of modern thought and of the social environment can alone prepare for its advent, perhaps at no distant day. footnotes: [ ] viola, _the laws of morphological correlation of the individual types_. [ ] cited by viola. [ ] limit, in the mathematical sense. tables summarizing the mean proportions of the body according to age _useful for judging of normal development and incidentally for_ _diagnosing forms of infantilism:_ _preceded by_ figures (from quÉtÉlet) giving the _growth of stature_ _in man and in woman (it being well known that the stature_ _is the fundamental measurement for forming the aforesaid_ _judgments)_. ------------------------- age | males | females ------+---------+-------- | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . ------------------------- { length of body . m. { weight kg. new-born child { maximum cranial circumference mm. { circumference of thorax mm. { index of stature { ponderal index . -- --------------------------------------------------------- age in years | | | ---------------------------------+-------+-------+------- stature in metres | . | . | . index of stature | | | weight in kilograms | | | . ponderal index | . | . | . maximum circumference of head in | | | millimetres. | | | --------------------------------------------------------- age in years | | | ---------------------------------+-------+-------+------- stature in metres | . | . | . index of stature | | | weight in kilograms | | . | . ponderal index | . | . | . maximum circumference of head in | | | millimetres. | | | ---------------------------------+-------+-------+------- age in years | | | ---------------------------------+-------+-------+------- stature in metres | . | . | . index of stature | | | weight in kilograms | . | . | . ponderal index | . | | . maximum circumference of head in | | | millimetres. | | | ---------------------------------+-------+-------+-------- age in years | | | ---------------------------------+-------+-------+-------- stature in metres | . | . | . index of stature | | | weight in kilograms | . | . | ponderal index | . | . | . maximum circumference of head in | | | millimetres. | | | ---------------------------------+-------+-------+------ ages in years | | | ---------------------------------+-------+-------+------ stature in metres | . | . | . index of stature | | | weight in kilograms | . | . | . ponderal index | . | . | . maximum circumference of head in | | | millimetres. | | | ---------------------------------+-------+-------+------- age in years | | | ---------------------------------+-------+-------+------- stature in metres | . | . | . index of stature | | | weight in kilograms | . | . | . ponderal index | . | . | . maximum circumference of head in | | | millimetres. | | | --------------------------------------------------------- tables of calculations i tables for calculating the cephalic index calculations of the cephalic index antero-posterior diameters from to mm.; bilateral diameters from to mm. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- bilateral | diameters | antero-posterior diameters, in millimetres in milli- |----------------------------------------------------------- metres | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- calculations of the cephalic index antero-posterior diameters from to mm.; bilateral diameters from to mm. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- bilateral | diameters | antero-posterior diameters, in millimetres in milli- |----------------------------------------------------------- metres | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- calculations of the cephalic index antero-posterior diameters from to mm.; bilateral diameters from to mm. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- bilateral | diameters | antero-posterior diameters, in millimetres in milli- |----------------------------------------------------------- metres | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ii tables for calculating the ponderal index calculations of the ponderal index statures from to centimetres; weights from to kilograms w k| e i| i l| g i o| h n g| t r| s a| statures in centimetres m|-------------------------------------------------------------------------- s| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---- --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- calculations of the ponderal index statures from to centimetres; weights from to| kilograms. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- w k| e i| i l| g i o| h n g| t r| s a| statures in centimetres m|-------------------------------------------------------------------------- s| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---- --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- statures from to centimetres; weights from to| kilograms -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- w k| e i| i l| g i o| h n g| t r| s a| statures in centimetres m|-------------------------------------------------------------------------- s| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---- --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- calculations of the ponderal index statures from to centimetres; weights from to kilograms -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- w k| e i| i l| g i o| h n g| t r| s a| statures in centimetres m|-------------------------------------------------------------------------- s| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---- --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- calculations of the ponderal index statures from to centimetres; weights from to kilograms -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- w k| e i| i l| g i o| h n g| t r| s a| statures in centimetres m|-------------------------------------------------------------------------- s| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- calculations of the ponderal index statures from to centimetres; weights from to kilograms -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- w k| e i| i l| g i o| h n g| t r| s a| statures in centimetres m|-------------------------------------------------------------------------- s| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- calculations of the ponderal index statures from to centimetres; weights from to kilograms -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- w k| e i| i l| g i o| h n g| t r| s a| statures in centimetres m|-------------------------------------------------------------------------- s| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- calculations of the ponderal index statures from to centimetres; weights from to kilograms -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- w k| e i| i l| g i o| h n g| t r| s a| statures in centimetres m|-------------------------------------------------------------------------- s| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- calculations of the ponderal index statures from to centimetres; weights from to kilograms -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- w k| e i| i l| g i o| h n g| t r| s a| statures in centimetres m|-------------------------------------------------------------------------- s| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- calculations of the ponderal index statures from to centimetres; weights from to kilograms -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- w k| e i| i l| g i o| h n g| t r| s a| statures in centimetres m|-------------------------------------------------------------------------- s|| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- index (_a.--names_) agyba, hilany, alix, ammon, aristotle, auvard, alfred, bajenoff, n., bateson, william, beethoven, ludwig v., bellini, bencivenni, ildebrando, benedickt, bianco, bichat, xavier, binet, alfred, , , , , , , , , , , , bischoff, theodor l. w., blumenbach, johann friedrich, bonnifay, jules, , , borghese, pauline, , botticelli, sandro, boxich, g. t., , boyd, , broca, paul, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , brugia, raffaele, , , bruno, giordano, buffon, byron, lord, cabanis, caianus, calcagni, menotti, calori, camper, , carducci, giosue, , carrara, mario, cassan, cavalieri, lina, , celli, cervesato, collignon, rené, , correns, cromwell, oliver, cuénot, lucien, cuvier, , daffner, franz, , , dante, , darbishire, darwin, charles, , , , , , , davenport, charles benedict, de giovanni, achille, - , , , , , , , , deniker, joseph, , , , , , de sanctis, sante, , , , , , , , , , , dubois, eugène, , duncan, dunker, fawcette, fenelon, féré, ch., ferri, enrico, ferriani, lino, figueira, fernandes, fraebelius, galton, francis, garibaldi, giuseppe, geffroy-saint-hilaire, Éttienne, godin, paul, , , , , , goethe, goldstein, , gosio, haeckel, ernst heinrich, , , heinke, helguero, fernando de, herodotus, hertoghe, höller, von, homer, hrdlicka, ales, , , , humphry, huxley, hurst, c. c., ingerslevs, jaest, james, william, johannson, koch, robert, kollman, laloy, lamarck, , lange, lapique, louis, lasegue, lebon, , lelut, leopardi, le play, , lexis, linnaeus, , livi, ridolfo, , , , , , , , , , , , lombroso, cesare, - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , lombroso, gina, luccheni, luciani, luigi, ludwig, macdonald, , mahomed, malpighi, marcello, mancini, maria, manouvrier, léon, , , , , , , , , , , , mantegazza, paolo, marconi, guglielmo, marro, antonio, , , massa, signorina, , massini, , maurel, , mazzoni, ofelia, meckel, mendel, gregor, , , , , , , , , , , messedaglia, meunier, michelangelo, mill, john stuart, misdea, michele, moige, moleschott, jakob, monti, morel, , morselli, enrico, , - , , mosso, angelo, musolino, naegeli, karl wilhelm von, , newton, sir isaac, niceforo, alfredo, , , , , nietzsche, friedrich, oloriz, pagliani, , parchappe, pastorello, pearson, karl, pieraccini, , pinard, purkinje, quÉtÉlet, lambert adolphe-jacques, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ranke, retzius, anders adolph, , , , , rosa, , , rossi, , , rousseau, jean jacques, , rubens, russell, rütimeyer, louis, sacchi, sandler, schafer, schiller, schultze, séguin, Édouard, , , sergi, giuseppe, - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , sergi, sergio, , , sick, , simon, stoppato, stratz, , tarde, thulié, henri, topinard, paul, , , , tschermack, e., türcker, ada, veronese, paolo, verworn, vierordt, viola, giacinto, , , , , , , , virchow, rudolf, , vitali, vitale, , vitruvius, voltaire, vries, hugo de, , , , wagner, welcker, hermann, , , wernicke, westermarck, winckel, zander, zanolli, velio, zimmermann, index (_b.--subjects_) abdomen, measurements of the, abnormal types of man, abortion due to syphilis, akkas, stature of the, - acromegalia, addison's disease, albinism, anatomical points, , , , , anger, expression of, angles, facial, , - anomalies of buccal apparatus, of ear, - of eye, of eyebrows and beard, of hair, of nose, - of pigment, of teeth, of thorax, , of wrinkles, antecedents of pupil, _et seq._ near biopathological, remote, sociological, anthropological form used in new york juvenile asylum, anthropology, criminal, - defined, physiological, - technique of, - anthropometer, - ape, brain of, arms, total spread of, , , , arrest of development, - , due to alcohol, due to infant illnesses, due to malaria, - due to pellagra, due to rickets, due to syphilis, asymmetry, cranial, , facial, , , , functional, biographic chart, commune of bologna, of italian reformatories, pastorello's, sergi's, biographic history of pupil, pedagogical advantages of, of an idiot boy, _et seq._ birth-marks, brachycephalic races, brachydactylism, brachyscelia, - brain, chemistry of, convolutions of, - embryonal development of, - morphological normality in relation to age, rhythm of growth of, - volume of, weight of, brunettes, suppressed, buccal apparatus, anomalies of, calf of leg, absence of, carnet maternel, - , cells, animal, vegetable, cephalic index, - at different ages, for italy, nomenclature, - cephalometry, cephaloscopy, cerebral development, influence of biological factor upon, influence of economic conditions, influence of exercise, cerebral hypophysis, , cervical pleiades, chameprosopic face, , chiromancy, , childbirth, dangerous modern, children's houses, - , , - , , , , , chinese, civilization of, - psycho-ethnic character of, chromatic charts, broca's, circumference, axillary, of cranium, - , submammary, of thorax, , club-foot, convolutions of the brain, - coordinates, craniology, - craniometric points, - craniometry, , cranioscopic norms, - cranioscopy, cranium, animal, bones of human, - characteristics of human, - measurements of, - morphological evolution of, of new-born child, normal forms of, ossification of, - varieties of: acrocephalic, , beloid, clinocephalic, , cuboid, cymbocephalic, ellipsoid, ovoid, - oxycephalic, pentagonoid, plagiocephalic, , platycephalic, rhomboid, scaphocephalic, , sphenoid, spheroid, trapezoid, trigonocephalic, volume of, - , criminals, non-violent, types of, - violent, types of, stature in, types of, , cubic index, broca's, curves, de helguero's, deformations, definition of, due to field labour, due to mining, due to school benches, , , , due to stone-breaking, degeneration, signs of: abnormal frontal diameters, kinky hair, polytrichia, precocious wrinkles, united eyebrows, social causes of, dentition, record of first, diameter, biacromial, bigoniac, , bimammillary, bizygomatic, , of cranium, maximum antero-posterior, diameter of cranium, maximum transverse, minimum frontal, vertical, of thorax, antero-posterior, transverse, diameter of cranium, increase of maximum, measurement of, diastemata, diet of children, dimensions of the body at different ages, - dismimia, dolichocephalic races, dystrophies, toxical, ear, anatomy of, anomalies of, - handle-shaped, morel's, wildermuth's, education of new-born child, electricity, effect on growth of stature, embryo, development of human, , embryonal face, environment, adaptation to, influence of, enzymes, , ludwig's theory of, epilepsy, a factor in criminality, treatment of, error, personal, - , eurafrican race, , eurasian race, , , evolution, theories of, - exophthalmia, experimental sciences defined, expression, facial, et seq. extra-social types, - eye, anomalies of, mongolian, eyebrows, oblique, united, face, chameprosopic, embryonal, evolution of, human characteristics of, leptoprosopic, limits of, _et seq._ mesoprosopic, orbicular, skeleton of, - symmetry of, facial norm, family monograph, le play's, final causes, - fingers, proportion between, flat-foot, fontanelles, cranial, form, the, - , - canons of the, et seq. definition of, fundamental laws of, freckles, frontal index, galloway, stature of scotchmen of, - gastrula, generation, hygiene of, , genius, man of, , , germinal potentialities, , gigantism, glands of internal secretion, - , , goniometer, broca's, gray hair, , precocious, growth, defined, effect of psychic stimuli on, - need of heat for, of brain, due to alimentation, due to cerebral exercise, in woman, rhythm of, , , of head, rhythms of, of limbs, of neck, of pelvis, of stature, - of thorax, hair, curly, , form of, - kinky, , pigmentation of, - , smooth, vortices, wavy, , hair-roots, line of, hand, the, - dimensions of, functional characteristics of, in figurative speech, - in relation to other dimensions of the body, psychological types of, heart, the, heredity, phenomena of, hexadactylism, hybridism, human, - , , , , , phenomena of, - hygiene of generation, , hymn to bread, hypermimia, hypersthenic type, de giovanni's, - hyposthenic type, de giovanni's, - hypothyroidea, ichthyosis, index, cephalic, - , of ear, facial, - of nose, ponderal, of segments of limbs, of sexual mass, thoracic, , of visage, vital, , indices, formula of, individual liberty of pupil, infantile atrophy, types, - infantilism, - due to alcohol, - anangioplastic, due to denutrition, dystrophic, - hereditary causes of, hypertrophic, myxedematous, , - pathogenesis of, _et seq._ due to syphilis, , due to tuberculosis, intelligence, human, what it is, human, how to diagnose it, cerebral volume in relation to, invagination of cells, iris, pigmentation of, italians, stature of, - japanese, stature of, joints, loose and stiff, juvenile delinquents, antecedents of, psycho-physical character of, teachers' notes on, knock-knees, kyphosis, , latium, young women of, , , , , leg, calf of, curvature of, leptoprosopic face, liberty of children, light, effect on growth of stature, , limbs, the, - growth of, index of segments of, malformations of, measurement of, limitations of mass, - little's disease, , livi's charts, , lordosis, , lungs, the, - macrocephaly, macrodontia, macroglossia, macroplastic type, macroscelia, , - malformations, - distribution of, - of cranium, - of limbs, origin of, synoptic chart of, marie's disease, marriage, proper age for, precocious, maternal diaries, mean averages, measurement of abdomen, of cranium, - of face, - of limbs, - of stature, - of thorax, of total spread of arms, medial man, theory of the, , - mediterranean race, , , , , melanosis, mendel's laws, - mesoprosopic face, metabolism, - , method, importance of, in experimental sciences, - methodology, statistical, - microcephaly, microdontia, microphthalmia, mongolians the most brachyscelous race, monkey-like traits: flat hand, lack of certain lines in palm, monkey-like, long forearm, thin lips, morphological adaptation of hand, combinations, de giovanni's, evolution of cranium, morphology of body at various ages, - of the brain, importance of, mortality, curve of general, infant, in relation to vital index, in italy, morula, mother's love, psychic stimulus of, multicellular organisms, formation of, - muscles of head and face, - of thorax, mutations, de vries' theory of, myxedematous idiocy, nails, the, nanism, achondroplastic, - neanderthal skull, neck, the, - norm, facial, frontal, lateral, occipital, of profile, vertical, nose, anomalies of, - nutrition, influence of, on school children, oligodactylia, onycogryposis, orientation, line of, orthognathism, , ovum, human, palate, cleft, ogival, , palms, lines of the, papillary lines, paralysis, infantile, parasites, social duty towards, parasitism, stigma of, , peasant, class stigma of, , , pedagogical method, need of reform in, , , pellagra, symptoms of, pelvis, - growth of, rotation of, sexual differences in, skeleton of, personal error, - , photogenic conditions, - phototherapy, pia barolo society, pigments, the, - during growth, pigmentation of hair, of iris, of skin, pigmy races, pithecanthropus, skull of, plagiocephalic cranium, , plagioprosopy, , platyopic profile, playthings, children's natural contempt for, pleasure, expression of, necessary to human existence, polytrichia, polydactylism, ponderal index, evolution of, , method of computing, - pregnancy, too frequent, profile, egyptian, greek, low types of, norm of, proopic, roman, progeneism, , prognathism, , , prophatnia, prosopometry, - prosoposcopy, - protoplasm, psychic stimuli, effect on health of children, test, de sanctis', puberty, change in pigments at, , growth of jaw at, of limbs at, of nose at, influence of climate on, - of cold on, of direct sexual stimuli on, of heat on, of nutrition on, - of psychic stimuli on, , , repose preceding, of russian girls, of women of lapland, relation of growth of brain and face to, pulmonary capacity, - quÉtÉlet's binomial curve, race, eurafrican, , mediterranean, , , , , rachitic rosary, racial types in europe, different characteristics of two principal, rewards and punishments, fallacy of, , - , , , rhythm of brain growth, - of facial growth, of stature, triennial, rickets, , , - , , , , foetal, school benches, deformations due to, , , , records, school-sanatorium, scientific philosophy, morselli's, sea-shore, benefit to children, - seriation, importance of, sexual education, function, dignity of the, morality, , , - sitting stature, - at different ages, skeleton, human, - articulations of, of face, - of limbs, of pelvis, skin, the, - solitary confinement, sorrow, expression of, space, empirical relation to stature, specific gravity, of body, of brain, spirometry, - , stature, - of abnormals, according to sex, _et seq._ of american children, brachyscelous type of, cycle of, definition of, , , in relation to dimensions of thorax, - effect of nutrition on, - of erect position on, of heat on, - essential, mean average, of european, growth in, during first year, - index of, , , involution of, of italians, mean average, stature, livi's charts of, - macroscelous type of, maximums and minimums, compared with cranial circumference, - measurement of, parabolic curve of, , pathological variations of, - of rachitic children, racial limits of, - in relation to sex, - rhythm of, summary of, - terminology of, total, at different ages, triennial rhythm of growth of, - types of, _et seq._ abnormal, according to age, in art, according to race, according to social conditions, summary of, - variations in, according to age, - according to seasons, due to mechanical causes of adaptation, - night and morning, transitory, sterility of dwarfs and giants, due to precocious marriage, due to work in rice-fields, stigmata of degeneration, among beggars, among orphans, stimulants poisons for children, studious children, denutrition of, physical inferiority of, , , , sun-baths, superiority, social, of women, moral, suprarenal capsule, , surprise, expression of, - syndactylism, syphilis, abortion due to, symptoms of, - tasmanian, civilization of, - most macroscelous race, teacher of the future, the, of abnormal pupils, responsibility of the, teeth, anomalies of the, first and second dentition, temperaments, de giovanni's doctrine of, - thermal gymnastics, - thermic conditions of schools, - thoracic index, perimeter, thorax, the, - anatomical parts of, - anomalies of shape of, descent of, dimensions of, in relation to stature, , growth of, measurement of, physiological importance of, shape of, triangulation of, thought, expression of, thymus gland, , thyroid gland, - toe, opposable big, tongue, the, total spread of arms, tuberculosis, type of civilized man, uvula, double, vertebral column, normal curves of, - visage, index of, normal, roman, vital index, , voice, education of the, - warmth, fallacy of demoralizing effect of, - weight, the, - , of brain, the, as exponent of health, of new-born child, of child, effect of too frequent pregnancy on, of child, effect of mother's age on, child's gain in, and growth of separate organs, comparative, child's loss in, significance of, increase according to sex, women, fallacy of pretended cerebral inferiority of, wrinkles, anomalies of, precocity of, , transcriber's notes: simple spelling, grammar, and typographical errors were corrected. punctuation normalized. anachronistic and non-standard spellings retained as printed. simple division equations with numerators over denominators were reformatted as numerators/denominators. if multiple terms are involved then parenthesis were added, e.g. (numerator +numerator )/(denominator +denominator ). equations involving roots are indicated by [*square root] followed by the expression under the root bar in parenthesis, e.g. [*cube root]( )= . centimeters in tables abbreviated as cm. italics markup is enclosed in _underscores_. bold markup is enclosed in =equals=. superscripts are indicated with a single caret (^) followed by the superscripted text surrounded by curly braces { and }.