I:- ■• i ^1 American V a r i e t v O/ztd^ O /u/d/ia-a^.-^ Piii?iisheti bi- J. Smilh 163 Sirand 2S22. LECTURES ON PHYSIOLOGY, ZOOLOGY, AND THE Natural fj^f^torp of Man, DELIVERED AT THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS, W. LAWRENCE, F.R.S., PROFESSOR OF ANATOMY AND SURGERY TO THE COLLEGE^ ASSISTANT SURGEON TO ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S HOSPITAL, SURGEON TO BRIDEWELL AND BETHLEM HOSPITALS, AND TO THE LONDON INFIRMARY FOR DISEASES OF THE EYE. Wtfixti station. LONDON : PRINTED FOR JAMES SMITH, 163, STRAND. 1823. RlNl-tO BY C. SMITH, 163, STRAND. I. F. BLUMENBACH, ^ PROFESSOR IN THE UNIVERSITY OF GOTTINGEN, AULIC COUNSELLOR_, FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON, OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF PARIS, &C. &C. &C. Dear Sir, The principal subject of the following pages has received its most numerous and suc- cessful illustrations from your sagacity, industry, and learning. Having freely availed myself of your labours — although with that occasional dissent in matters of opinion, which I doubt not will be more agree- able to the liberality of so enlightened a Philo- sopher, than invariable servile adoption — I think it a mere act of justice to dedicate this work to you. I do so with the greater pleasure, because it affords me the opportunity of gratefully ac- knowledging the instruction and entertainment which I have derived from your excellent writings; iv TO I. F. BLUMENBACH. of recommending to imitation the example you have set, of combining together anatomical, phy- siological, and zoological pursuits, and advancing them by reciprocal illustration ; and of expressing individually that high sense of your public services and merits, which is felt generally by all the friends of science. I remain. Dear Sir, With the sincerest esteem and respect. Your very obedient Servant, W. LAWRENCE. College of Physicians, 8th Feb. 1819. CONTENTS. LECTURE I. INTRODUCTORY TO THE COURSE DELIVERED IN 1817. Reply to the Charges of Mr. Ahernethy. — Modern History and Progress of Comparative Anatomy. Page Reply, &c 1 Modern History of Comparative Anatomy 14 National Prejudices to be disregarded in Science — Dissections of the French Academicians 16 BuFFON and Daubenton 17 Camper 19 Pallas ^0 J. Hunter ^23 Recent German Zoologists ; Blumenbach, Rudolphi, TiLEsius, Spix, Tiedemann 25 CuviER 27 LECT. H. INTRODUCTORY TO THE COURSE OF 1818. The Cultivation of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy recom- mended as Branches of General Knowledge, and as an interesting Department of Philosophy — Their Relation to various Questions in General Philosophy, exemplified in the Gradations of Or^ ganization, and the Doctrine of Final Causes — Examples of the Aid they are capable of affording to Geology and the Physical History of the Globe — Their Importance to Physiology , and con- sequently to the Scientific Study of Medicine — Objects of Inquiry Vi CONTENTS. in the Animal Kingdom, and Mode of Investigation — Anatomy — Physiologij — Pathology. Introduction 33 The Cultivation of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy recommended as Branches of General Knowledge ... 34 Interesting Nature of the Pursuit 35 Relations of Animals to our own Species — Examples in the Whale, Seal, and others 38 Domestic Animals, and the Veterinary Art 39 Variety of Powers and Functions 40 Gradations in Organization 41 Example in the anterior Members of the Vertebral Animals — Rudiments of certain Organs 42 Final Causes 43 Exemplification in the Air-cells of Birds 46 And in the Blubber of Whales, Seals, &c — Relation of Zoology to other Sciences ; — to Geology .... 47 Fossile Remains of Animals — Banks and Rocks of Coral, &c 48 Relations of Comparative Anatomy and Physiology to the Science of Medicine 49 Objects of Investigation in Living Beings 50 Anatomy, Animal Chemistry, Physiology 51 Popular Notion of Life — Connexion of Anatomy and Physiology 52 Morbid Anatomy and Pathology 55 These Pursuits are the Basis of Rational Medicine — LECT. III. On the Study of Physiology . — The Aids and Illustrations to be de- rived from other Sciences ; as, Natural Philosophy, Mathematics^ Chemistry. — Study of the Physical Sciences recommended. — Pe- culiar Characters of the Vital Phenomena — Living Properties — Attempted Hypothetical Explanation of them. — Comparative Anatomy — its Objects — its Relations to Physiology exemplified. Study of Physiology 57 The Science of Life not yet adequately treated 58 Application of the Physical Sciences to that of Life 59 CONTENTS. Vll Examples of Mechanical Powers 60 Failure of Calculation as applied to the Circulation 61 Chemistry : its useful Application to Physiology and Pathology 64 General Utility of the Physical Sciences as a Branch of Medical Education 67 Vital Properties 68 Import of the Expression — Hypotheses respecting Life 70 Comparative Anatomy 74 The first Foundation of Physiology — Its Importance in reference to Physiology 75 Examples 76 Necessary Caution in employing Arguments from Analogy 77 LECT. IV. Nature of Life. — Methodical Arrangement of Living Beings — Species, Varieties, Genera, Orders, &;c. — Progressive Simplifi- cation of Organization and Functions. — Intellectual Functions of the Brain, in the natural and disordered state, explained on the same principles as the offices of other Organs. Distinguishing Characters of Living Bodies 80 Great Variety of Forms 81 Species 82 Individual Varieties of all Natural Productions 83 Examples in the Human Mind, and consequent Absurdity of Attempts at producing Uniformity of Actions and Opinions — Varieties 85 Genera and Orders — Classes and Departments 86 Simplification of Organization 87 Exemplified in the Four Departments of the Animal Kingdom — Exemplified in the Nervous System 90 Corresponding Modifications of Function 91 The Mental Phenomena are the Functions of the Brain . . 92 Experience proves thiS;, but does not shew the Manner in which the Effect is produced — A 2 Vlll CONTENTS. The Size and Importance of the Brain are suited to this Office 92 Proofs from the History of the Mind 93 Correspondence of Intellectual Phenomena and Cerebral Developement in Animals 94 An Immaterial Principle as necessary to them as to Man. . 95 No other Office can be discovered for the Brain 96 Insanity proceeds from Disease of the Brain, as disturbed Functions in other Cases do from Diseases of the respective Organs 97 Proof from Dissection 99 • ■ ■ — the Effect of Medical Treatment — NATURAL HISTORY OF MAN. Chapter I. — Nature and Objects of the Inquiry ; arid Mode of In- vestigation — The Subject hitherto neglected, and very erroneous notions consequently prevalent.— Sources of Information. — Ana- tomical Characters of the Monkey Tribe, and more particularly of the Orang-utang and Chimpanse, — Specific Character of Man. Extent and Importance of the subject \CH Hitherto comparatively neglected 104 Opinions of Monboddo and Rousseau respecting our Af- finity to Monkeys 106 Supposed Gradation from Man to Animals I07 Tlie Writings of Buffon, Blumenbach, and others j and particularly of Dr. Prichard 109 LiNN.'EUs's Arrangement of Man 110 General Characters of the Quadrumanous Mammalia .... Ill Simla Satyrus, or Orang-utang 112 S. Troglodytes, or Chimpanse 114 Zoological Character of Man — Sect. I. DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN MAN AND ANIMALS, OR SPECIFIC CHARACTERS OF MAN. Chapter 11,— The Erect Attitude of Man, and consequent Pecu- CONTENTS. IX liarities in the Structure of the Lower Limbs, Thorax, Spine, and Pelvis. The Erect Attitude natural to Man 117 Certain Wild Men said to have been four-footed 118 History of Peter, the Wild Boy — Conclusion,, that such Individuals are Specimens of Mal- formation 122 Peculiarities of Organization connected vs^ith the Biped Progression and Attitude of Man — Lower Limbs distinguished by their Length and Strength — Characters of the Human Femur 124 Foot 125 Earlier Ossification of the Foot — Peculiarities of the Human Pelvis 126 Incurvation of the Sacrum and Coccyx peculiar to Man . . 127 Muscles of the Lower Limbs ; — Glutei and Buttocks .... 128 The Extensors of the Knee 129 Muscles of the Calf — Human Thorax 130 Contrast with that of Animals — Peculiarities of the Human Spine 131 Animals are incapable of the Erect Attitude 132 Chapter III. — On the Upper Extremities — Advantageous Con- struction of the Human Hand. — Man is two-handed -, the Monkey Kind four-handed. — On the Natural Attitude and Gait of Monkeys, Comparison of the Upper and Lower Limbs 133 Organization of the Hand 136 Contrast with that of Animals I37 Monkeys are four-handed And therefore organized for climbing 138 They are not suited for the Erect Attitude, or Biped Pro- gression 139 The latter Attributes are therefore peculiar to Man 142 Chapter lY .—Comparison of the Human Head and Teeth, to those of Animals — , The relative Proportions of the Cranium and Face differ in different Animals 143 X CONTENTS. Facial Line and Angle 144 in some of the Grecian Sculptures 145 in Human Heads 146 in Animals 147 Relative Area of the Cranium and Face on a Vertical Section — Contrast between Man and Animals in the Construction of the Face 148 Intermaxillary Bone — not found in Man 149 Doubtful whether it exists in all Animals — Position of the great Occipital Foramen and Condyles . . 150 The Human Head is not supported in equilibrio by the Spine 151 The Plane of the Occipital Foramen nearly horizontal in Man — 152 Nearly vertical in most Animals 153 Characters of the Human Teeth 1 55 — lower Jaw-bone 156 Chapter V. — Differences between Man and Animals in stature j proportions, and some other points. Stature of Man compared with the Anthropomorphous Simiae 156 Proportions of the Trunk and Limbs 157 Humerus and Fore -arm 1 58 Smoothness of the Human Skin 160 Other Differences between Man and the most Man-like Simiaj 160 Supposed, but not well-founded Diiferences 161 Parts belonging to some Mammalia, and not to Man .... 162 Chapter VL — Differences in the Structure of some Internal Organs 163 The Brain of Man supposed to be absolutely larger than that of any Animal — Proportion of the Brain to the Body in Man and Animals 165 Comparison between the Brain and the Nerves connected to it 167 Man has the largest Brain in this Sense — Characters of the Human Brain 168 CONTENTS. Xi Ratio of the Cerebrum and Cerebellum in Man and Animals jgg Ratio of the Cerebrum and Medulla Oblongata 169 Acervulus Pinealis Position of the Heart j jq Position and Direction of the Vagina and Urethra 171 Comparison with Animals Consequent Differences in the Functions of these Parts . . 173 The Hymen Clitoris and Nymphae j^5 Chapter VII. — Peculiarities in the Animal Economij of the Human Species. — General Extension over the Globe. — Man naturally omnivorous — his long Infancy, and slow Developement — hence suited to the Social State. The Extension of the Species hardly limited by Natural Cold or Heat 1^5 Cold Situations j^g Warm ijj Varieties of Atmospheric Pressure I78 Man capable of subsisting on all Kinds of Food Question concerning the Natural Food of Man I79 The most Savage People are generally Carnivorous Some Savages eat Earth XS2 Is Civilization an Unnatural State ' 1 83 Erroneous Notions respecting the Effects of Animal and Vegetable Diet 184 Comparison of Man to Carnivorous and Herbivorous Ani- mals, in respect to the Masticatory and Digestive Apparatus 186 The Teeth and Jaws ^ I87 Alimentary Canal 188 Comparative Length in Man and Animals In the Teeth and Intestines, Man most nearly resembles the Monkeys I90 Question of the most wholesome Diet The Human Frame and Economy are stronger and more flexible than those of Animals Contrast, in this point of view, between Man and the Monkeys , I93 Slow Growth, long Infancy, and late Puberty of Man 194 Xii CONTENTS. Consequently Society is not only natural, but necessary . . 195 Menstruatic-i 196 Chapter VIII. — Faculties of the Mind — Speech — Diseases. — Recapitulation. Reason 197 What it has enabled Man to accomplish — Speech 199 Contrast presented by Animals 200 Laughter and Weeping 202 The Moral and Intellectual Distinctions betAveen Man and Animals correspond to the Differences of Cerebral Structure 203 Diseases j their Causes 205 Diseases peculiar to Man — Characters of the Human Species recapitulated 207 Sect. II. ON THE VARIETIES OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. Chapter I. — Statement of the Subject. — Mode of Investigation — The Questioyi cannot he settled from the Jewish Scriptures, nor from other Historical Records. — The Meaning of Species and Variety in Zoology ; Nature and Extent of Variation. — Breeding, as a Criterion of Species. — Criterion of Analogy. Are all Mankind of one Species ? or do they belong to more than one ? 209 The Point cannot be determined by a priori Arguments . . 210 Nor from the Mosaic Account of the Creation 213 The latter, in its Literal Sense, is incompatible with the Phenomena of Zoology 214 Most Animals are confined to certain Spots — Particular Species and Genera are peculiar to certain Countries 215 This holds good even of Marine Animals 217 Other Difficulties — Whether all Mankind sprung from one or more Stocks cannot be determined by History — Zoological Acceptation of Species 224 Causes of Variation 225 CONTENTS. XIU Breeding considered as a Criterion of Species 227 Not applicable to Domestic Animals 229 Illustration of the Subject from Analogy 230 Chapter II.— Ow the Colour of the Human Species. — Structure of the Parts in which the Colour resides. — Enumeration of the various Tints. — Colour and Denominations of the Mixed Breeds. — Various Colours of Animals. — Productions of Va- rieties.— Spotted Individuals.— Other Properties of the Skin. The Skin ^^^ Cutis 234 Its Colour nearly uniform in all Races 235 Cuticle ^^^ Rete Mucosum, the Seat of Colour — Difficult and hardly possible to demonstrate this Part in the White Races — Varieties of Colour in Man, and their Causes 238 1. White 240 Colour of the Albinos 241 General Description of them 242 Their Peculiarities are not to be considered as a Disease 245 Examples in various Races and Countries — White Skin with a Rosy Tint, light Eyes, and fair Hair 248 White Skin with Tendency to Brown — 2. Yellow or Olive 3. Red or Copper Colour • 249 4. Brown or Tawny 5. Black — Intermediate Tints Various Colours of Domestic Animals 250 Colours of mixed Breeds ; no true Hybrids in the Human Species 251 In Cases of Mixed Breed, the Children have the Middle Tint 252 Mulattoes 3 Creoles Tercerons, Quarterons, Quinterons 253 Mestizos 255 Sambos 256 Proportions of White and Black Blood in the successive Generations 257 XIV CONTEXTS. The Offspring does not invariably resemble the Parents . . 258 Nor always in the mixed Breeds^ present the middle Tint — Native Varieties of Colour in Animals 259 Tliese are transmitted by Generation 260 Colour therefore depends on Breed, not on External Causes 261 Spotted Individuals — Variations in Texture and Odour of the Skin 262 Chapter III. — On the Hair, Beard, and Colour of the Iris. Varieties in the Structure and Appearance of the Hair 264 Its Organization and Growth 265 Hair of the Albino, and of other White Men — Dark-coloured Races — Four principal Varieties in the Hair 266 Distinctions between Hair and Wool 267 Differences of Hair in Animals 268 The Beard ; its Varieties 269 Inconsiderable in the Mongolian Tribes 270 Also in the Americans 271 Extirpation practised by both — Beard of the Negroes and South- Sea Islanders 276 Colour of the Iris 277 Chapter IV .—Differences of Features. —Forms of the Skull.— Teeth. — Attempted Explanations. Five Varieties of National Features 279 Intermediate Gradations 281 Numerous Modifications in each Variety 282 in the Africans — in the Americans 283 South Sea Islanders 284 Form of the Skull Daubenton's Observations, and Camper's 285 Blumex>jbach's valuable Collections and Figures 287 Norma Verticalis Form of the Skull in the Caucasian Variety of Man 288 Georgian Head, as an Example 289 Nations having a similar Organization 290 Controversy respecting the Ancient Egyptians — CONTENTS. XV Osteological Characters of their Heads 295 Conclusion that they belonged to the Caucasian Variety . . — Heads of the Guanches 298 DifTerent Modifications in the Caucasian Variety 300 The Turks — - The rounded Shape of their Heads not produced by Art . . 301 Modifications in the several Nations of Europe 302 Inferior Organization of the other Varieties, as compared to the Caucasian 303 Mongolian Variety — Distinction of this Variety from the Tatars 304 Ethiopian Variety 306 Characters of the Head 307 Numerous Varieties in African Heads 309 Hottentots and Bosjesmen 310 Characters of the Negro Head approach to those of the Monkey 311 American Variety 313 Form of the Skull in the Caribbees 316 Their Custom of Flattening the Forehead artificially 317 Proofs that the Object is practicable 318 Evidences that it is actually accomplished 319 Description of several Crania with Marks of Pressure .... 32 1 Testimonies of Travellers 322 Malay Variety 326 Numerous individual Diversities in each Variety, and Gra- dations towards the others — Differences in the Teeth 328 Artificial Processes performed on them 331 Differences of Features and Skulls not explicable by Climate 332 Nor by Artificial Pressure .... " 335 The National Characters of Crania are found in the Foetal State 336 Chapter V. — Varieties in Figure, Proportions, and Strength. — The Ears — Effects of Art upon them, and in other parts of the Body. — The MammcE. — Organs of Generation. — Fabulous Va- rieties. Straightness of a Line drawn along the Occiput and Neck in the Negro 339 XVI CONTENTS. General Proportions of the Body 339 In the Mongolian Variety Negro 341 Americans 343 South-Sea Islanders 344 Diflferences in Bodily Strength 345 Peron's Trials with the Dynamometre 346 Relative Proportions of the Arm and Fore-arm 348 The Legs 349 Hands and Feet 351 Ears ', their Artificial Elongation, &c 352 Practice of Tattooing the Skin 353 Raised Cicatrices of the Skin 354 Perforations of the Nose and Lip 355 Other Practices Pendulous Mammae in the Ethiopian Variety 356 Similar State in some Europeans 358 Organs of Generation 359 Hottentot Females 360 Remarkable for Size and Length of the Nymphae ^^arious Descriptions The Structure is natural 362 Analogous Examples in other Instances 364 Buttocks of the Hottentot Women 365 Analogous Structure in Sheep 366 Fabulous Varieties 367 Men with Tails 368 Chapter VI. — Differences of Stature. — Origin and Transmission of Varieties in Form. Ordinary Human Structure 369 Fossile Bones of Animals ascribed to Man 370 No Superiority of Stature in Former ages 37I Examples of Tall Individuals Short Individuals 372 Stature of the Caucasian Variety 373 American Variety Patagonians 375 Erroneous Notion of Animal Degeneracy in America .... 377 Stature of the Ethio])ian Variety 379 CONTENTS, XVll Stature of the Mongolian Variety 381 Analogous Differences in Animals 382 Production of Native Varieties of Form 383 Their Transmission by Generation 384 Supernumerary Fingers and Toes — Family of Porcupine Men 385 Disposition to certain Diseases is Hereditary 387 National Characters formed and preserved by preventing Foreign Admixtures 388 Production of New Breeds 390 Varieties of Form and Proportions in Animals — Powerful Influence of Attention to Breed 393 Inattention to this Point in the Human Race 394 Chapter VII. — Differences in the Animal Economy. — Diseases. — External Senses — Language. Cutaneous Secretion and Lice of the Negro 395 Parturition 396 Absence of Personal Deformity in the Dark Races 397 Longevity — Diflferences in Disease 398 Acuteness of External Senses in Savage Tribes 401 Language 403 Pronunciation of the Hottentots 404 Monosyllabic Languages of Asia — Great Number of Languages in America 406 Chapter VIII. — Differences in Moral and Intellectual Qualities. Question whether these Differences proceed from Organi- zation, or from External Causes 407 Contrast of the White and Dark-coloured Varieties 408 Characters of the latter ; new-Hollanders, People of New Guinea, Negroes, &c 409 Native American and Mongolian Tribes, Malays, &c 410 Good Qualities of some Dark People 412 Progress of the Mexicans and Peruvians — Character and Exploits of the Araucans 413 Savage Tribes of North America — Character of the Mongolian People 414 ^^1'* CONTEXTS. Superiority of the White Races in Intellect and Moral I^eelings 4^^ Referable to Natural Difference, and not to External Causes Climate will not explain the Phenomena 417 Nor Government ^jg Nor State of Civilization Comparison of the Amerian and Caucasian Varieties in North America 419 Dark Races conscious of their own Inferiority 420 Gradations and Individual Modifications both in the White and Dark Varieties 4021 The Differences of Moral and Intellectual Qualities do not prove Difference of Species 422 Negroes not inferior to the other Dark Races 423 Examples of good Feelings and Talents in Africans 424 Relations between Moral and Intellectual Character and Cerebral Organization 429 Chapter IX.— On the Causes of the Varieties of the Hunuxn Species. Question whether they arise from Specific Difference, or from Variation 43I Influence of Climate on the Human Subject 433 Analogous Effects on Animals 434 Effect of Food 435 The Influence of Climate and other External Causes is temporary, and confined to the Individual 436 Differences of Race must be produced in the Breed 437 Domestication, the most powerful Cause of such Native Varieties 433 Examples in Animals 439 Application of these Facts to the Human Subject 441 Human Varieties accounted for by many Writers from the Agency of Climate and External Causes 442 Opinion of Buffon 444 Smith 445 Blumenbach 44g Some Appearances favourable to these Opinions 448 Proofs that Climate is not the Cause of Colour — CONTENTS. XIX That the Diversities of Mankind in general are not pro- duced by Climate, proved from the European Races 449 Principal Races found in Europe 453 Asiatic Races 455 Those of the Indian and South-Sea Islands 456 Africa — America 459 Different Races vs^ith permanent Characters inhabiting the same Countries 463 In Europe, England, and France 464 In Africa 465 Europeans in Asia and America 466 Negroes in the West Indies and America — Arabians 467 Jews 468 Differences of Hair not caused by Climate 469 Nor those of Stature — General Conclusions 470 Chapter X. — Division of the Human Species into Five Varieties, 1 . Caucasian Variety 473 Whether this was the primitive Form of the Species . . 476 2. Mongolian Variety 480 3. Ethiopian Variety 40S 4. American Variety 485 5. Malay Variety 488 Concluding Address 491 DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER. Portrait of Thay Endaneega, to face Title Skulls of a Negro, Georgian, and Tungoose... 2S7 Skull of a Georgian Female 288 Calmuck Skull 298 Negro Skull 311 Carib Skull (Natural) 315 Carib Skull (Artificial) 321 Negro, Jewess, and Burat Child 311 Jusuf Aguiah Effendi 473 Feodor Ivvanowitsch 477 J. E. Capitein 480 Omai 488 LECTURES O N PHYSIOLOGY, ZOOLOGY. AND THE LECTURE I. INTRODUCTORY TO THE COURSE DELIVERED IN 1817 Reply to the Charges of Mr. Ahernethy — Modern History and Progress of Comparative Anatomy. I CANNOT presume to address you again In the character of Professor to this College, without first publicly clearing myself from a charge publicly made in this theatre ; — the charge of having perverted the honourable office, in- trusted to me by this Court, to the very unworthy design of propagating opinions detrimental to society, and of endea- vouring to enforce them, for the purpose of loosening those restraints on which the welfare of mankind depends.* * Physiological Lectures, exhibiting a General View of Mr. Hunter's Physiology, and of his Researches in Comparative Anatomy ; delivered be- fore the Royal College of Surgeons by J. Aberxethy, F. R.S. See par- ticularly Lect. 1, 2, 6, and 7 : the passages and pages are too numerous to be particularized. Had the author been content with pronouncing his attack from the chair of the College, I should have been satisfied with defending myself in the same place. The publication of his charge has made it neces- sary for me to publish my reply. The apparent contradiction between the allotted subject of these Physi- e'ogicnl Lectures — human anatomy ; the professed topic — IVIr. Hunter's knowledge of Comparative. Anatomy ; and (heir actual contents, anatomical, physioloijifal, ethical, controversial, abusive, &c. &c. is only to be recoii- 2 REPLY TO THE CHARGES I feel obliged to call your attention to this subject ; — not by tlie probability of the accusation, and still less by the arguments adduced in support of it; — but, because the character of the accuser may with some supply the deficiency of proof; — because the silence of contempt, which the illi- berallty and weakness of the charge would so well justify, might be construed by others into an admission of guilt ; — and, if I could appear before you under the possibility of such an admission, you might reasonably suppose me in- ciled by a consideration of the real motives, vi'hicli may be discovered with- out a very deep researcli. That the few remarks on life, published in my Introduction to Comparative Anatomy and Physiology, should have been the sole occasion, and have furnished so much of the subject of these Lectures, was an honour altogether unexpected and unwished on my part. If it ehould be thought that I do not shew a proper sense of so distinguished a compliment, by bestowing in return so short a notice on the Physiological Lectures, more particularly when nearly all the opinions and facts they con- tain would afford ample matter for discussion, my apology must be want of room, and not being yet fully convinced that the pretended Hunlerian theory of life is the most important subject that can be entertained by the human mind. This slowness of belief must be pardoned in a modern sceptic. Not to fatigue his audience by too much of one thing, however good, the author judiciously interspersed his views of the so-called Hunterian doctrine, and his series of anathemas against the designs, principles, and character of the audacious sceptics who refuse to accept the gracious present, with other topics; and did not disdain to intermix the most elementary anatomical truths. Thus we learn that the head is placed on the top of a column of bones called vertebrae (p. lOS); that the seven up])er ribs are connected by gristles to the breast-bone (121) ; that there are two bones of the fore-arm ; and that the ulna sends backward a projection we name the elbow (126) ; that the wrist is composed of eight lUtle bones (129); &c &c. &c. When we consider that the audience to whom these Lectures were delivered, comprised the ve- nerable elders of our profession, appointed to guard the portals of the great edifice in Lincoln's-Inn Fields; the general body of London surgeons, who, having been admitted within the gates, must be deemed accomplished in all parts of anatomical and surgical science; and the students of the several schools of medicine, who, having devoted one winter at least to anatomical pursuits, must be presumed to possess the a h c of the science; and when we further reflect that the author would undoubtedly be governed in his selec- tion of subjects by a deliberate view and sound estimate of the wants of his audience, we are natvnally anxious to know for which of (he three classes above mentioned these " Early Lessons" in anatomy were designed. Perhaps, however, like the water in a medical prescription, they were only meant as an innocent vehicle for the more act-ive ingredients. OF MR. ABERNETHY. S different to your approbation or blame, and therefore un- worthy of the office which I now hold. I am not going to drag you again over the field of con- troversy : — my opinions are published : — they were not brought forward secretly; they have never shunned the light; and they never shall be concealed nor compromised. Without this freedom of inquiry and speech, the duty of your professors would be irksome and humiliating : they would be dishonoured in their own eyes, and in the esti- mation of the public. These privileges. Gentlemen ! shall never be surrendered by me : I will not be set down nor cried down by any person, in any place, or under any pre- text. However flattering it may be to my vanity to wear this gown, if it involves any sacrifice of independence, the smallest dereliction of the right to examine freely the sub- jects on which I address you, and to express fearlessly the result of my investigations, I would strip it off instantly. I willingly concede to every man what I claim for my- self — the freest range of thought and expression ; and am perfectly indifferent whether the sentiments of others on speculative subjects coincide with or differ from my own. Instead of wishing or expecting that uniformity of opinion should be established, I am convinced that it is neither practicable nor desirable ; that varieties of thought are as numerous, and as strongly marked, and as irreducible to one standard, as those of bodily form ; and that to quarrel with one, who thinks differently from ourselves, would be no less unreasonable than to be angry with him for having features unlike our own. To fair argument and free discussion I shall never ob- ject, even if they should completely destroy my own opi- nions ; for my object is truth, not victory. But when ar- gument is abandoned, and its place supplied by an inquiry into motives, designs, and tendencies, the case is altered. If vanquished in fair discussion, 1 should have yielded quietly; but it cannot have been expected that I would lie still, and be trampled on, lecture after lecture ; cut and mangled with every weapon fair and foul ; assailed with appeals to the passions and prejudices, to the fears of the B 2 4 RKPLY TO THE CHARGES timid, the alarms of the ignorant and the bigotted : and this too, wlien nothing is easier than to destroy the ill- constructed fabric } to crumble its very fragments to dust, and scatter them before the wind. Jt is alleged that tliere is a j)arty of modern sceptics, co-operating in the diffusion of tliese noxious opinions witli a no less terrible band of French physiologists, for the purpose of demoralizing mankind 1 Such is the general tenour of the accusation, independently of the modifications, by which it is worked up into separate counts, and of the rhetorical ornaments, by wliich It was embellished. Had the statement been general, I should not have appropriated it by entering on a defence ; — but have left that service to any volunteer of the sceptical party, which I know no more of than I do of the man In the moon, and in whose exist- ence I believe just as much. The quotation of my own words, however, rendered it impossible for me to shield myself under the pretext of uncertainty ; indeed, it particu- larized and fixed the accusation, for which no other tangible object could be discovered. The vague and Indefinite expressions of sceptical party, modern sceptics, and other abusive terms, form too flimsy a veil to conceal the real object of this fierce attack ; while the pretended concern for important truths and principles, and the loud imputation of bad designs and evil tendenvcies, instead of decently covering, rather expose the nakedness of the feelings in which It originated. Perhaps all the counts of this alarming indictment are not Intended to apply to all the persons thus unexpectedly dragged to the bar of public opinion ; — but, as the prose- cutor made no distinction in the shades of guilt, I must plead to the whole accusation ; — of propagating dangerous opinions — and of doing so in concert with the French phy- siologists : — the French, who seem to be considered our natural enemies In science, as well as in politics. I plead, not guilty ; and enter on my defence with a con- fident reliance on the candour and impartiality of the tri- bunal before whom the cause is brought ; — a tribunal too OF MR. AUERNKTHY. 5 enlightened to confound the angry feelings and exaggerated expressions of controversy with the calm deductions of reason ; — and well able to appreciate this attempt at enlist- ing religion and morality on the side of self-love; by which difference of opinion, at all times but too irritating to the liuman njind, receives the double aggravation, of real in- ability to persuade, and f^mcied right to condemn. Where, Gentlemen ! shall we find proofs of this heavy charge — of this design so hostile to the very elements and foundation of civil union ? What are the overt acts to prove this treason against society ? this compassing and imagining the destruction of moral restraint, and the grounds of mu- tual confidence ? What support can you discover for such imputations in the profession, pursuits, habits, and character of those who are accused ? How will it promote their inte- rests to endanger the very frame of society ? By what lati- tude and artifice of construction, by what ingenuity of ex- planation, can the materials of such a charge be extracted from the discussion of an abstract physiological question ? from discourses first delivered in this theatre to an assembly of the whole profession, and since openly published to the whole world ? I need not remind you that such an accusa- tion is repelled by every appearance, every probability, and every presumption ; and that in opposition to tliese prira^ facie sources of distrust, it can only be established by the clearest and most unequiv^ocal evidence : not by bold asser- tions and strained inferences—not by declamatory common- places on morals — nor by all the pangs and complaints of mortified self-love. A party of modern sceptics ! A sceptic is one who doubts; — and if this party includes those who doubt — or rather, who do not doubt at all — about the electro-chemical doctrine of life, I can have no objection to belong to so numerous and respectable a body. The assent of the mind to any proposition cannot be forced; — it must depend on the weight of evidence and argument. I cannot adopt this hypothesis until some proof or reasoning of a very dif- ferent nature from any hitherto produced shall be brought forwards. I declare most sincerely, that I never met with 6 REPLY TO THE CHARGES even ibc sliadow of a proof that the contraction of a muscle or the sensation of a nerve depended in any degree on electrical principles ; or that reflection, judgment, memory, arise out of changes similar in their causes or order to those we call chemical. On the other hand, I see the ani- mal functions inseparable from the animal organs ; — first shewing themselves, when they are first developed ; — coming to perfection as they are perfected ; — modified by their various affections; — decaying as they decay 3 — and finally ceasing when they are destroyed. Examine the mind, the grand prerogative of man. Where is the mind of the foetus ? where that of the child just born ? Do we not see it actually built up before our eyes by the actions of the five external senses, and of the gradually de- veloped internal faculties ? Do we not trace it advancing by a slow progress through infancy and childliood, to the perfect expansion of its f^iculties in the adult ; — annihilated for a time by a blov/ on the head, or the shedding of a little blood in apoplexy ; — decaying as the body declines in old age; — and finally reduced to an amount hardly perceptible, when the body, worn out by the mere exercise of the organs, reaches, by the simple operation of natural decay, that state of decrepitude most aptly termed second childhood ? Where, then, shall we find proofs of the mind's inde- pendence on the bodily structure ? of that mind, which, like the corporeal frame, is infantile in the child, manly in the adult, sick and debilitated in disease, phrensied or me- lancholy in the madman, enfeebled in the decline of life, doting in decrepitude, and annihilated by death ? Take away from the mind of man, or from that of any other animal, the operations of the five external senses, and the functions of the brain, and what will be left behind ? That life then, or the assemblage of all the functions, is immediately dependent on organization, appears to me, physiologically speaking, as clear as that the presence of the sun above the horizon causes the light of day ; and to suppose that we could have light without that luminary, would not be more unreasonable than to conceive that life OF MR. ABERNETHY. 7 is independent of the animal body, in which the vital phe- nomena are observed. I say, physiologically speaking ; and beg you to attend particularly to this qualification : because the theological doctrine of the soul, and its separate existence, has nothing to do with this physiological question, but rests on a spe- cies of proof altogether different. These sublime dogmas could never have been brought to light by the labours of the anatomist and physiologist. An immaterial and spi- ritual being could not have been discovered amid the blood and filth of the dissecting-room ; and the very idea of re- sorting to this low and dirty source for a proof of so exalted and refined a truth, is an illustration of what we daily see, tlie powerful bias that professional habits and the exclusive contemplation of a particular subject give even to the strongest minds — an illustration of that esprit de metier, which led the honest currier in the threatened city to re- commend a fortification of leather. When we reflect that the immortality of the soul and a future state of rewards and punishments were fully recog- nised in all the religions of the ancient world, except the Jewish — and that they are equally so in all those of more modern time ; — when we consider that this belief prevailed universally in the vast and populous regions of the East, for ages and ages before the period to which our remotest annals extend, and that it is firmly rooted in countries and nations on which the sun of science has never yet shone, the demonstration that the anatomical and physiological re- searches of the last half century have not the most remote connexion with, or imaginable influence on, the proof of these great truths, will be completed beyond the possibility of doubt or denial, in the estimation of every unprejudiced person. I do not enlarge on this point, because it is too obvious, and because divinity and morals, however excellent in their own time and place, do not exactly suit the theatre, audience, or subject of these Lectures. The greatest of the ancient philosophers said that the surest way of gaining admission into the temple of wisdom was through the portal of doubts ; and he declared that he 8 REPLY TO THE CHARGES knew only one thing — his own ignorance. Were Socrates to shew his head above ground just now, he must conclude, either that he himself had completely mistaken the road to knowledge, or that his successors had accomplished the journey, and had penetrated into the sanctuary of the temple. For, in the modern philosophy, doubting is pro- scribed, as the source of all mischief; and an overbearing dogmatism, even on the most abstruse and difficult ques- tions, is held forth as a wiser course than the modest con- fession of ignorance. When favourite speculations have been long indulged, and much pains have been bestowed on them, they are viewed with that parental partiality, which cannot bear to hear of faults in the object of its attachment. The mere doubt of an impartial observer is offensive ; and the dis- covery of any thing like a blemish in the darling, is not only ascribed to an entire want of discrimination and judgment, but resented as an injury. The irritation rises higher in proportion to tlie coolness of the object which excites it ; as Sir Anthony Absolute in the play, while swelling with rage, and boiling over with abuse on the persons around him, begins to damn them again with tenfold energy, be- cause they cannot keep their tempers, because they cannot be as cool as he is. By a curious inconsistency in the human mind, difference of opinion is more offensive and intolerable in proportion as the subject is of a more refined nature, and less susceptible of direct proof. Hence the rancorous intolerance excited by the minute and almost evanescent shades of opinion that distinguish many religious sects. The quarrels of the Ho- moousians and the Homoiousians filled the Roman empire for a long series of years with discord, faction, persecution, and civil war. Yet the point at issue, actually comprised in the variation of a single diphthong, is so minute as to be " scarcely visible to the nicest theological eye,"* and cer- tainly, in reference to either faith or practice, is not a jot more important than the controversy which divided the mighty empire of Lilliput, respecting the right end to break * Gibbon. OF MR. ABERNETHY. ^ ill eating an egg. 'Tis a pity we cannot find some conve- nient way of settling these important controversies ; sucii as occurred to the traveller, wlio met with a people divided into two parties on the question whether they should walk into the temple of their deity with the right or the left leg foremost. Each side conceived the practice of the other to be impious : the traveller recommended the obvious ex- pedient, wJiich in the heat of their quarrel they had over- looked, of jumping in with both legs together. The peculiar virulence of controversy, in all cases in which religion is supposed to be concerned, is so remark- able, as to have become proverbial ; the odium theologicum is the most concentrated essence of animosity and rancour. Let us not then open the fair garden of Science to this ugly fiend ; let not her sweet cup be tainted by the most distant approach of his venomous breath. Is the cause of truth to be promoted by affixing injurious and party names to those who differ from us in these points of nice and curious speculation — who cannot pursue the same track with ourselves through the airy regions of im- material being, of which tlie only utility seems to consist in affording occupation to the organs of ideality and mysticism ? Is not this kind of abuse more likel}', by moving the pas- sions, to disturb the operation of the judgment ? The practice of calling names in argument has been chiefly resorted to by the fair sex, and in religious discus- sions ; in both cases, apparently, from a common cause — the weakness of the other means of attack and defence. The priests of former times used to rain a torrent of abusive epithets, as heretic, infidel, atheist, and the Lord knows what, on all who had the audacity to differ from them in opinion. This ecclesiastical artillery has been so much used, as to have become, in a great measure, unserviceable : it is now found more noisy than destructive ; and the gene- ral discovery of its harmlessness has assisted, with the pro- gress of liberal ideas, to discountenance its employment in controversy, as poisoned weapons and other unfair advan- tages have been banished from honourable warfare. Some- times, however, it frightens and stuns, if it does not dan- ]0 REPLY TO THE CHARGES t^erously wound ; and thus it silences antagonists wlio could not easily have been overcome bv weidit of ar<]cument. It would have been praise enougii to any doctrine, tiiat it should explain the great mystery of life ; that it should solve the enigma which has puzzled tiie ablest heads of all ages ; — but this subtile and mobile vital fluid is brought for- ward with more ambitious pretensions; and it is not only designed to shew the nature and operation of the cause by which the vital phenomena are produced, but to add a new sanction to the great principles of morals and religion, and to eradicate all the selfish and bad passions of our nature. An obscure hypothesis, which few have ever heard of, and fewer can comprehend, is to make us all good and virtuous, to impose a restraint upon vice stronger than Bow-street or the Old Bailey can apply ; and, in all probability, to con- vert the offices of Mr. Recorder and his assistant Mr. Ketch into sinecures *. What has been the effect of this great discovery on its author ? What are the first-fruits of this new ethical power ? A series of Quixotic attacks on conspirators and parties, as purely imaginary as the giants and castles encountered by t!ie knight of La Mancha ; of unfounded charges and angry invective, undisguised and glaring national partiality, un- reasonable national antipathy, unmerited and unprovoked abuse of the writers of a whole nation, afford an overwhelm- ing proof of its complete moral inefficacy. These magnificent designs are interrupted by a conspiring band of sceptics and French physiologists — by a nest of plotters brought forth all at once on this green table, and * Let us suppose for a moment that the adoption of this hypothesis would really have all the efficacy that is pretended, It would then be desirable that it should turn out to be true: but would that afford any proof of the hypo- thesis? If, in a disputed question, you tell me that I shall have alarge estate; if 1 am convinced that you are in the ri<;ht, undoubtedly I shall desire with all my heart to find that you are right: but I cannot be convinced of it, unless your arguments should be found satisfactory. In tiie same way, in tossing up for heads and tails, if 1 am to receive a guinea provided tails turn up, and a hundred if it should be heads, tliis difi'ercuce does not at nil increase the chances of the latter event, hoTsevcr it may operate on my \Aibhcs. OF MR. ABERNETHY. 11 llireatening, In tlie noise and alarm which preceded their discovery, as well as in their utter insignificancy and harm- lessness when discovered, to eclipse even the green-bag conspiracy of another place. The foundations of morality undermined, and religion endangered by a little discussion, and a little ridicule of the electro-chemical hypothesis of life ! Thus the possessor of a specific endeavours to frighten people by the most lively pictures of their danger, that they may receive, with a higher opinion of its virtues and im- portance, his pretended infallible remedy. I shall not insult your understandings by formally prov- ing that this physiological doctrine never has afforded, and never can afford, any su})port to religion or morals ; and that the great truths, so important to mankind, rest on a perfectly different and far more solid foundation. If they could be endangered at all by the discussions with which we amuse ourselves, it would be by unsettling them from their natural and firm establishment in the natural feelings and propensities, in the common sense, in the mutual wants and relations of mankind, and erecting them anew on the artificial and rotten foundation of these unsubstantial spe- culations, or on the equally unsafe ground of abstruse me- taphysical researches *. * The profound, the virtuous, and fervently pious Pascal acknowledged, what all sound theologians maintain, that the immortality of the soul, the great truths of religion, and the fundamental principles of morals, cannot he demonstrably proved by mere reason ; and that revelation alone is capable of dissipating the uncertainties which perplex those who inquire too curiously into the sources of these important principles. All w ill acknowledge, that, as no other remedy can be so perfect and satisfactory as this, no other can be necessary, if we resort to this with firm faith. How many persons could be found, whose belief in a Deity rests on the chain of reasoning in Clark's Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of God; or in Kant's Einzig mogUchc Bevoeisgrund zu einer Demonstration des Daseyn Gotles ? How many arc there who have had perseverance enough to go through the chain of argu- ment in these works? If the close and profound reasoning and the metaphy- sical acuteness of Clark and Kant have been employed to little purpose on such a subject, what are we to expect from this pretended Hunterian theory of life? 12 RKI'LY TO THE CHARGES As to the charge itself, P)f bringing forward doctrines with any design liostile to the principles or opinions on which the welfare of society depends, or with any other in- tention except that of displaying to you the impartial result of my own reflections and researches, I reply in one word — that it is false. I beg you, indeed, to observe, that I have only remarked on the opinions of others; 1 have adduced none of my own. I profess an entire ignorance of the na-, ture of the vital properties, except in so far as they are dis- closed by experience; and tind my knowledge on this sub- ject reduced to the simple result of observation, that certain phenomena occur in certain organic textures *. To the question, what opinions I would substitute in place of those to which I object, I answer, none. Ignorance is preferable to error : he is nearer to truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong. AvA here I take the opportunity of protesting, in the strongest terms — in behalf of the interests of science, and of that free discussion which is essential to its successful cultivation — against the attempt to stifle impartial inquiry by an outcry of pernicious tendency — and against pervert- • The author of the Physiologiccil Lectures entertains some peculiar vie^vs concerning the evidence on which we are to rely in our physical researches, which probably furnish a clue to the peculiar results at which he has arrived. He "confides more in (he eye of reason than in that of sense; and would ra- ther form opinions from analogy, than from the imperfect evidence of sight," (p. 203,) where the expression is employed in discussing a question of fact. The same statement, in nearly the same words, occurs in several other places. From a comparison of these passages with each other, and with the leading doctrines of the lectures, I consider their meaning to be, that when the evi- dence of the senses is at variance with preconceived notions, or the construc- tions, combinations, or other operations of the mental faculties, the author re- jects the former and ad!ieies to the latter. As the author must be the best judge of the relative value belonging to the evidence of his own senses and that of his fancy, imagnation, and other internal powers, it is fair to pre- sume that he has exercised a sound discretion in this very important determina- tion. It is, however, rather unreasonable for iiim to expect that others should rely on the working- of his i^iwcx in preference to the evidence of their own OF MR. ABERNETIIY. SI ing^ science and literature, wliich naturally tend to bring mankind acquainted with each other, to the anti-social pur- pose of inflaming and prolonging national prejudice and ani- mosity. Letters have been called the tongue of the world.; and science may be regarded in the same light. They sup- ply common objects of interest, in which the selfish un- social feelings are not called Into action; and thus they promote new friendships among nations. Through them, distant people become capable of conversing ; and, losing by degrees the awkwardness of strangers, and the morose- ness of suspicion, they learn to know and understand each other. Science, the partlzan ot no country, but the bene- ficent patroness of all, has liberally opened a temple where all may meet. She never inquires about the country or sect of tliose who seek admission ;— she never allots a higher or a lower place, from exaggerated national claims or un- founded national antipatliles. Her Influence on the mind, like that of the sun on the chilled earth, has long been pre- paring It for higher cultivation and further improvement. The philosopher of one country should not see an enemy in the philosopher of another : he should take his seat in the temple of Science, and ask not who sits beside him. The savage notion of a natural enemy should be banished from this sanctuary, where all, from whatever quarter, should be regarded as of one great family ; and being en- gaged in pursuits calculated to Increase the general sum of happiness, should never exercise intolerance towards each other, nor assume that right of arraigning tlie motives and designs of others, which belongs only to the Being who can penetrate the recesses of the human heart ; — an assumption which is so well reprobated by our great poet — I^t not this weak, unknowing hand Presume thy bolts to tlirovv ; And deal damnation round the land On each I judg- thy foe. 14 MODERN HISTORY- In t!ic Introductory Lecture* of last year, I attempted to sketcli out to you the history of Comparative Anatomy ; — to select the names of those who had been principally con- cerned in establishing and advancing the science ; — and to assign to each his proper share of praise. At the same time tliat I found it a pleasing task to review the successive steps in the progress of so interesting a science, and to award the just tribute of our gratitude to so many useful labours, I thought it would be interesting and profitable to you to know to whose talents and to whose exertions zoology had been indebted. Tiie space allotted to this historical review having been necessarily short, the names of many were omitted ; and others were noticed move briefly than the number, extent, and importance of their contributions to science would have deserved. This was particularly the case with many illus- trious foreigners, towards some of whom I shall now make up for that neglect. The temple of Science has not been raised to its present commanding height, or decorated with its beautiful propor- tions and embellishments, by the exertions of any one coun- try. If we obstinately shut our eyes to all that other na- tions have contributed, we shall survey only a few columns of the majestic fabric, and never rise to an adequate concep- tion of the grandeur and beauty of the whole. Our insular situation, by restricting intercourse, has contributed to ge- nerate a contempt of foreigners, and an unreasonable no- tion of our own importance, which is often ludicrous ; al- ways to be regretted ; and in many cases strong enough to resist all tlic weapons of reason and ridicule. We should consider what we think of these national prejudices, when we observe them in others ; when we see the Turks sum- ming up all their contempt for their more polished neigh- * Sec Introduction to Comparative Jnalorny and Phy$io}ogy. OF COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 15 bours, in tlie short but expressive phrase of Christian dogs ; and the Emperor of China accepting presents from tlie King of England, because it is a principle of the celestial empire to shew indulgence and condescension towards petty states. Science requires an expanded mind, a view that embraces the universe. Instead of shutting himself up in an island, and abusing all the rest of mankind, the philosopher should make the world his country, and should trample beneath his feet those prejudices which the vulgar so fondly hug to their bosoms. He should sweep away from his mind the dust and cobwebs of national partiality and enmity, which darken and distort the perceptions, and fetter the operations of intellect. If the love of science and liberal views are not sufficient to repress the noisy obtrusion of national claims, considerations of policy may furnish the motive. The country which has really done the most for science will cer- tainly be the last to assert its pretensions ; and a readiness to allow the merits of others will be the most powerful means, next to modesty and diffidence, of recommending oiu' own to attention. If wc could come to the strange re- solution of attending only to what has been done by Eng- lishmen in comparative anatomy and zoology, we should have to go back in the science fifty years or more ; in short, to a state of comparative darkness ; for such it must be deemed, if we excluded the strong light which has been thrown on these subjects from Italy, Germany, and France. The only parallel to such a proceeding is that afforded by the Caliph Omar, in his sentence on the Alexandrian Li- brary. This ignorant fanatic devoted to the flames the in- tellectual treasure accuujulated by the taste, the learning, and the munificence of many kings ; observing, that the books, if they agreed with the Koran, were superfluous, and need not be preserved ; if they differed from it, impious, and ought to be destroyed. If this extraordinary kind of exclusion vv^ere realized, what would be the result ? A great national idol must be set up ; and we should be compelled to bow down and worship it, K; modern history under the penalty of being thrown Into the burning fiery furnace of offended national pride. At the first institution of the French Royal Academy of Sciences, towards the middle of the century before the last, 8ome of its members occupied themselves with the very useful undertaking of observing and dissecting several ani- mals, of describing and illustrating tliem by figures. The value of their labocirs is sufViciently attested by their having been several times republished in various forms, and trans- lated into Latinj English, and other languages. Being drawn entirely from observation^ their histories will ever possess the value inseparable from faithful delineations of nature. They have described forty-seven animals, and re- presented their external figure and internal structure, in ninety folio plates. As examples of their knowledge, it will be sufiicient to mention, that you will find in their work an account of the cells in the camel's stomacli, which hold the ^vater — a point of structure and economy so strikingly suited to the parched and sandy regions of Asia and Africa, which these animals inhabit : all communication and commerce across these extensive wastes would be impossible without a race of animals possessing that power of bearing the pri- vation of water, which this structure confers. Tliey de- scribe the air-cells and the gastric glands of birds ; and the curious meclianism of the membrana nictitans, or third eye- lid. Of many animals we know little. more, to the present day, than what they have told us. When we consider that the Royal Academy of Sciences, to whose members we owe these s})lendid and useful labours, was founded by Louis XiV. and his minister Colbert ; when we re^vlew tlie long list of illustrious names which adorn the annals of that body ; and bring together the almost numberless accessions to every branch of science, wl\ich have been the fruit of their exertions through the reign of their despotic founder, and his no less despotic successors down to the present time : — we are reluctantly compelled to acknowledi];e, that the encouragement of this branch of human knowledge (the sciences) is not confined OF COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 17 to free forms of government, and that there is nothing pe- culiarly hostile to their progress, even in the most despotic. Absolute rulers indeed, so far from having any interest in shackling or impeding scientific or literary inquiries, have an obvious and strong motive for aiding and promoting them. They afford a safe and harmless employment to many active spirits, who might otherwise take a fancy to look into politics and laws— -to investigate the source, form, duties, and proceedings of governments, and the rights of the governed. A wise despot will be glad to see such dan- gerous topics exchanged for inquiries into the history of a plant or animal; into the properties of a mineral, or the form of a fossil; into the uses of a piece of old Roman or Grecian crockery ; or the appropriation of a mutilated statue to its rightful owner in some heathen goddery. Shutting out the human mind from some of its most interesting and important excursions, he will open every other path as widely as possible. When the French Academicians discontinued their re- searches and publications, the opportunities of zoological inquiry, which the royal menageries had afforded them, passed Into the hands of Buffon and Daubenton, who employed them with equal industry, and equal advantage to science. When the direction of the Jardin des Plantes was confided to Buffon, he formed the twofold project, commensurate in boldness and magnificence with his own genius — that of assembling select and well-arranged speci- mens of all natural productions, to exhibit to mankind the fertility and variety of nature — and the formation of a more durable monument, on which he proposed to engrave the history or annals of this admirable nature. The immensity of the design, which he was well aware of, did not discou- rage him from the "attempt : it only excited him to extend his resources by calling in other aid. His discernment discovered the very qualities he wanted, in the modest, patient, persevering, yet zealous Daubenton, who was born at the same place with himself (Montbar in Burgundy), and with whom he had been acquainted from infancy, c 18 MODERN HISTORY Destined by his father for the church, Daubenton went to Paris to study theology, but he applied in secret to medi- cine, and particularly anatomy; and when his father's death allowed him to pursue the bent of his own inclination, he adopted the medical profession, and began to practise it in his native place, when Buffon invited him to Paris, and procured for him the situations of keeper and demonstrator of the cabinet of natural history. Their association pre- sented the singular spectacle of two men with high yet dif- ferent qualifications, uniting their efforts without impairing tlieir energy, and combining the lights they derived from various sources only to increase their intensity, and to throw them with greater effect on the objects they both wished to illuminate. In the great work, so honourable to the country which gave it birth, containing the result of their associated labours, the share contributed by Dauben- ton is the internal and external description of 132 animals, several of which had neither been observed nor described before by naturalists. The useful facts accumulated by him, in the course of many years devoted to this undertak- ing, are presented in a form so unpretending, that they are overpowered and thrown into the back-ground by the grand and imposing general views, the beautiful particular descrip- tions, and the eloquence at once majestic and captivating, of the French Pliny. So great were the care and accuracy of Daubenton, in registering the facts which he observed, that, in spite of their number, we can hardly detect an error. He admitted nothing, but what he saw himself, without indulging in those bold hypotheses, for which Buffon had so marked a predilection ; without even drawing those general conclu- sions, whicli might have been most naturally deduced from his observations. Here perhaps his reserve was exces- sive; and it is in this respect Camper observed of him, that he did not know himself how many things he had discovered. The anatomical descriptions and plates of Daubenton are, in many instances, the most valuable part of the work OF COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 19 whicli passes under the name of Buffon : and they will retain this value, as the sterling coin bearing the stamp of nature ever does ; while the base metal of hypothesis and speculation, detected by a little wearing, is soon consigned to contempt and oblivion. Daubenton therefore, although the author of no work published in his own name (except some papers in tlie Memoirs of the French Academy of Sciences), will ever be regarded as one of the first in that list of illustrious moderns, who have prosecuted the study of zoology with enlarged views and on proper prin- ciples. Camper and Pallas were contemporary with Dauben- ton. Animated with the true feeling for nature, they de- voted themselves to her study with that enthusiasm which characterizes genius. The zoologists of Europe have as- signed to them, with one accord, the highest rank in the temple of Science ; and point them out with one consent, as belonging to that small class who have contributed signally to extend the boundaries of natural knowledge. Where will any sceptical opponent of their claims find justification of his dissent from the public voice so strongly expressed in their favour ? Let him seek it in their works, and his doubts will soon be at an end. Although Camper occupied at different times the chairs of philosophy, anatomy, surgery, and medicine at Franeker, Amsterdam, and Groningen — although he filled various civil situations, and wrote on many subjects in anatomy, mid- wifery, surgery, medicine, and the fine arts, he found leisure for his favourite pursuits. He collected a very valuable Museum in comparative anatomy, made numerous dissec- tions of rare and interesting animals, and delineated their structure in that simple but expressive style, in which he has given us the admirable engravings of the arm and pelvis. Tlie air-ceils in the bones of birds, their communications and uses ; the organ of hearing in fishes and whales ; the anatomy of the ourang-utang, the elephant, the rein^deer, and the Surinam toad ; the organs of the voice in monkeys, the head of the two-horned rhinoceros, and fossile osteo- c 2 20 MODERN HISTORY logy, are some of the subjects which he has successfully illustrated*. No man entered the path of zoology with greater ardour, or pursued it with more perseverance and success, than Peter Simon Pallas, the son of a surgeon of Berlin. His whole life indeed was only a succession of labours devoted to the extension of natural knowledge. In passing over the wide field of zoology, the student will see his name in all quarters ; and everywhere as the index of some important discovery. Should he wish to survey any part of the terri- tory more minutely, Pallas will be his safest guide. He published eighteen separate works, several of them bulky, and in many volumes ; and he contributed fifty-five papers to various learned societies f. When the value of writings is so universally recognised, as in the case of a Haller and a Pallas, their numerical amount is a measure of the obligations under which science lies to their authors. He acquired very rapidly the learned and the modern languages^ and studied natural history, anatomy, physiology, and the other branches of the medical profession, under the best teachers that Germany and Holland afforded. His taste for zoology was strongly marked at tlie age of fifteen, when he sketched out an arrangement of birds on his own notions^ and made observations on the larvae of the lepidoptera, particularly with the view of determining whether they possess the sense of hearing, which he settled in the affir- mative. His Inaugural Thesis, De infestis viventlbus infra viventla (that is. On animals which live in the bodies of others), published in 1761, when he was nineteen years of age, is still read with Information and pleasure ; although the important subject, on which it treats, has received so much additional light from the researches of subsequent * His various works are enumerated in the Notice de la Vie et des Ecrits de. P. Camper, prefixed to the (Euvres, torn. i. f A short account of the Life of Pallas has been pviblished by his friend RuDOLPHi, in his Beytrage zur Anthropologie und aUgemeinen Naturges- chichte, 8vo. Berlin, 1812. It contains a complete catalogue of his numerous writings. OF COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 21 naturalists. At the time of its appearance, this production of the young Pallas was much the best book for the infor- mation it contained and the views it disclosed. He proves in it, from his own investigations, the vitality of the hyda- tid ; and demonstrates the structure of the head of the tape- worm : he also shews the general objections to the Linnaean class Vermes. For the purpose of prosecuting his favourite pursuits of zoology and comparative anatomy, he visited various parts of the Continent, and England ; employing himself particularly on the coasts in investigating the struc- ture and habits of marine animals, many of which he has described. His Elenchus Zoophytorum, a work both copious and profound, his Miscellanea Zoologica and Spicilegia Zoologice, most rich repositories of information on various departments of our science, were published within a few years after his Inaugural Thesis. These valuable works fully justify the eulogium of the judicious and impartial Haller, who pronounces tlieir author " one of the chief founders of comparative anatomy." Zoology had hitherto been to Pallas a kind of passion, rather than an ordinary pursuit; — he followed the impulse of his ardent feeling for nature, without looking to ulterior objects. His zeal, talents, and information could not fail to attract attention ; and they pointed him out to the great Catharine— who seemed to feel for science a kind of manly love, and who promoted it like an Empress — as a proper person for her truly grand design of exploring the vast regions that owned her sway, of describing the countries, their productions, and inhabitants. His histories of these travels abound with information on all points : I may parti- cularly mention, in reference to our present subject, his very interesting descriptions of the various native tribes scattered over the immense regions of Asiatic Russia, and previously very imperfectly known; and his copious details in zoology. The fatigues of these travels impaired a constitution never very robust; and a subsequent less extensive excursion in the southern regions of the Russian empire weakened it still further. Yet he afterwards published his Novcb Species 22 MODERN HISTORY Qiiadrupedum e Glirium Online, the best monogra]^liy we possess in the class Mammaliaj and distinguished by cha- racters which few naturalists have been able to impress on their writings. He not only accurately describes the animals, and their anatomy, but details their habits, and in many cases adds valuable physiological information on their tem- perature. After living some years in the Crimea, on estates given him by the Empress, he returned, towards the close of his life, to Berlin ; where, for some months before the event, he was admonished by pain and increasing weakness of his approaching end. Like many professors of our art, he obstinately refused to take physic ; exhibiting that want of faith, which, whether or not it diminishes the chance of sal- vation, certainly amuses the profane. He died as he lived, engaged in zoological pursuits : for his last occupation was that of arranging papers, and giving directions for a grand work he had been long preparing on the animals of the Russian empire; destined to illustrate their structure and functions, as well as natural history. This *, or at least some portion of it, is printed, but I believe not yet published. Perhaps it is not necessary to insist on the merits of Haller in comparative anatomy, before an audience un- doubtedly familiar with the works, and therefore fully able to appreciate the greatest ornament of our profession. I must however observe, that he saw the subject in its just light : he perceived clearly that the physiology of an organ could not be complete until its structure had been examined in every class of animals — until all its modifications and their effects had been noted. Hence each section of his immortal work contains a collection of all the facts then known respecting the structure of animals, as well as of man. At this favourable era, when the spirit of inquiry was awakened, and active minds in all parts of Europe were * AnimaUa Imperii Hossici. Rudolphi informs us, in his life of Pallas, that he had seen the text of the first volume, and part of the second ; and gives some account of the object and ^contents of the work. Berjlragc, s. 55. u. fo)g. OF COMPARATIVK ANATOMY, 23 engaged in zoological and physiological investigations, Mr. Hunter commenced his career. He enjoyed the great advantage, of singular importance to an uneducated and unlearned man, of being initiated in these pursuits by his brother, the most accomplished and learned anatomist, and then the most acute physiologist, of this or any other country. From Dr. W. Hunter, who first taught him, and from the numerous able men brought up in the same school, Mr. Hunter learned in the shortest way whatever could be derived from books, and became acquainted with the labours and discoveries of all other countries *. Thus his genius was excited and invigorated, without being deadened by the toil of study : refreshed by tliese supplies, it became capable of higher and stronger flights, and soared to an elevation, which we cannot estimate justly without taking into consideration the point of departure. Yet he « The unrivalled opportunities of education and information enjoyed by Mr. Hunter are very properly stated by the author of the Physiological Lectures^ p. 8. He surprises us afterwards by comparing him to Ferguson the astronomer, who became acquainted with the phenomena of the heavenly bodies, and constructed charts and instruments, while a shepherd's boy. In original instruction, in acquaintance with the most improved state of science, and with the labours of those by whom it had been thus advanced, the two individuals exhibit a complete contrast, instead of resemblance. The repre- sentation that Mr. Hunter was the first in this, or in any country, who studied comparative anatomy and physiology extensively, in order to perfect the knowledge of our own animal economy (Physiol, Lect, p. 5 and 201), seems to me as unfortunate as the comparison of Hunter to Ferguson. Without mentioning Galen, whose labours, although he lived so many centuries ago, ought not to be forgotten ; without enumerating the long list of illustrious men who devoted themselves with so much zeal and success to comparative anatomy and physiology in the iTth century, whose names are connected with all the leading discoveries in those sciences ; an4 whose works oecupy- ing the sixth book of Hauler's Bibliotheca Anatomical under the title of '•^ Animalium Incisiones," contain many of the facts published as new by the moderns ; the name of Hartey immediately suggests itself, as sufficient to refute this assertion. The researches of this great man on the circulation and generation, shew that he was fully aware what assistance might be derived from the dissection and observation of animals in illustrating the structure and functions of man, and that he knew well how to avail himself of it. See Introduction to Comparative Anatomy and Physiology, p. 44 et scq. 2i MODERN HISTORY never forgot that the physiologist is the minister and inter- preter of nature : and iiowever little conversant he may have been with human works, no man ever consulted with a more attentive and scrutinizing eye the book of nature, which always instructs, and never deceives us. His Museum will teacli us how he endeavoured to learn the structure ; and the records of his observations and experiments will shew how he inquired into the actions of living beings. Such were the means in his opinion best calculated to un- fold the nature of life ; the characters of which he has drawn, not with the wavering outline aud undefined forms of speculation, nor in the gaudy and delusive tints of hypo- thesis, but with the firm touch that real observation alone could give, and in the sober colouring of that nature with which he was so well acquainted. He seldom ventured into the regions of speculation ; aod the fruits of his excursions, when he did thus indulge him- self, are not calculated to make us regret they were so few. They bear indeed the marks of the common weakness of our nature ; and remind us of the observation applied to the theological writings of Sir Isaac Newton — that they afford to the rest of mankind a consolation and recompense for the superiority he displayed over them in other respects. I forbear any further disquisition of his merits, because they have already been sufficiently explained to you this year; and particularly in reference to our present subject of comparative anatomy ; because too, the frequent repeti- tion of the theme might lead you to entertain those doubts and suspicions which uncommon earnestness and reiterated recurrence often suggest, when they do not arise naturally out of the subject. Comparative anatomy is still pursued with great zeal in Germany, where literature and science are resuming that activity which had experienced a short interruption from war — the favourite, but costly and destructive game of princes, and indeed of people. The structure, economy, and scientific classification of intestinal worms have been illustrated by several German OF COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 25 naturalists — as^ Pallas, Bloch, Goeze, and Werner — whom I have already mentioned to you. The same subject has been again surveyed in all its parts, and has received many new illustrations from Professor Rudolphi of Berlin; whose Enfozoorum Hisioria, or History of Internal Worms, besides much original matter, contains a complete collec- tion of all that has been done on the subject, and an ar- rangement of the genera and species, which is now univer- sally followed : it is indeed deservedly considered the first authority on this subject. TiLEsius, a German naturalist, who accompanied a late Russian voyage round the world, has delineated numerous animals, particularly of the marine kinds, in the Atlas of Krusenstern's Voyage*. Dr. Spix, a Bavarian, has published a folio work f on the comparative osteology of the head, containing numer- ous plates, which are a good specimen of the new art of lithography, or stone-engraving. Professor Tiedemann, of Landshut, gained a prize offered by the French Institute for the best account of the organs of circulation in the echinodermata ; and has just published his Essay J, in folio, with several fine engravings, repre- senting the whole anatomy of the holothuria, asterias, and echinus. This book (probably the only copy in the country), and the work of Spix, are in the library of the Medical and Chirurgical Society. Many other publications in the vari- ous departments of zoology have appeared in Germany in the course of the past year. We may form some judgment of the taste for these pur- suits, which exists in other countries, from the fact that Blumenbach's Manual of Natural History has gone through nine editions. It is indeed remarkable for its clear arrangement, and for the immense quantity of interesting * Reise urn die Welt. Petersburgh. f Cephalo genesis^ sive capitis Ossei Struetura. Munich. :|: Anatomie der RohreU'Holothurie^ dcs Pomerauz-farbenen See-sterns, und des steinernen See-igels : folio, Landshut, 1816; with ten beautiful and expressive engravings. 26 MODERN HISTORY and valuable information it contains condensed into a small compass. It is altogether the best short elementary book on natural history in any language. Tliis great zoologist has not only contributed many new observations to the science, and enriched it with excellent elementary works, but he has collected a very extensive and valuable Museum for the illustration of comparative ana- tomy and zoology. A similar collection has been made by SoEMMERRiNG, at Munich. Of the magnificent cabinet of natural history belonging to the Jardin des Plantes at Paris, report speaks very highly : it seems to be unrivalled, in the number, beauty, and ar- rangement of the specimens of the animal kingdom. Of the part which relates to comparative anatomy I have not met with any detailed account, except that the osteological department is peculiarly rich. I have great pleasure in hearing that a zoological collec- tion has begun at the British Museum ; because without such aid the study of the science must be prosecuted under great difiiculties, and must necessarily languish. This de- partment is under the direction of Dr. Leach, whose zeal, abilities, and scientific knowledge are a sufficient assurance to us that nothing will be omitted which the zealous devo- tion of an individual can accomplish. In the unrivalled library of Sir Joseph Banks, and in the more uncommon liberality with which it is open to all who are engaged in scientific pursuits, the naturalists of this country enjoy an eminent advantage. The powerful and munificent patronage of this public-spirited individual is freely bestowed on all branches of science : it is not con- fined to the cold sanction of a bare assent, but takes the form of active and warm assistance in all scientific undertakings that promise to promote public utility. Zoology has been a favourite pursuit with himself: the tie of a common object united him closely to Mr. Hunter ; and he has ever shewn a disposition to promote the views of this College respect- ing the Museum, which entitles him to the particular gra- titude of its members; as his general character and con- OF COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 2/ duct do to the warmest esteem and respect of all friends to science. The zoologists of France still exhibit that activity and acuteness, by which the science has been so much benefitedj and by which it receives, every year, important acquisitions. CuviER has terminated his labours on the mollusca, by the anatomy of the cuttle-fish tribe ; and has published toge- ther, in one volume, with thirty-two beautifully engraved plates, containing a very large number of figures from his own drawings, the whole of his important researches on this department of the animal kingdom. Those who are acquainted with this admirable work ; who have appreciated the immense extent and variety of the researches on which it is founded, and the satisfactory clearness and accuracy both of all its details, and of the general conclusions and arrangements founded on them, will be astonished to hear that its author has executed a series of investigations equally extensive on the vertebral animals, the zoophytes, on many insects and Crustacea. He has not published them in the same way ; but the preparations are deposited in the cabinet of comparative anatomy at the Jardin des PI antes, and will be employed ultimately in that great work on comparative anatomy, to which all the previous and apparently finished productions of this philosophical and accomplished zoologist are regarded by himself merely as a kind of prelude ; al- though any one out of their great number would have raised its author to a distinguished rank in the scientific world. This history and anatomy of the mollusca is not the only claim which Cuvier has to our gratitude within the past year. His work on the animal kingdom, in four volumes octavo, exhibits a methodical and philosophical view of the science of zoology : it places before us a subject capable of engaging and satisfying an inquiring mind ; not a dry and uninteresting detail of names and forms, but the philoso- phical principles of zoological arrangement, and the execu- tion of those principles through all their details : it esta- blishes the divisions and subdivisions of the living world through the whole of the vast scale, on the double basis of 28 MODERN HISTORY external and internal structure : it enumerates all the well- authenticated species which are known with certainty to belong to each subdivision; and enters into some details on those kinds which, from tlicir abundance in these cli- mates, the advantages we derive or the injuries we suffer from them, from singularities in their manners or economy, their extraordinary forms, beauty, or size, become objects of particular interest. Of the confidence which this work deserves as a representation of facts, in contra-distinction from compilations the fruit of labours in the closet, we may form a judgment from this circumstance, that, with the exception of such animals as by their minuteness elude the researches of the anatomist, ihere are very few groupes of the rank of sub-genera mentioned in the book of which the author cannot produce at least some considerable por- tion of the organs. In each division and each species we are referred to the best sources of information ; not by in- discriminate and accumulated quotations, which only in- crease and perpetuate confusion — but by the selection of those works and figures to which the character of originality belongs ; in short, by weighing, and not counting autho- rities. A very valuable catalogue of zoological authors is subjoined. That it bears marks of haste, and does not in all parts correspond to what we expect from the most knowing and most learned (which are by no means synonymous epithets) of modern zoologists, might well be expected, when we consider the wide field it embraces, the multifarious pursuits, and the important political and civil duties of tlie author : yet it is not less valuable than indispensable to every zoolo- gist, as the most perfect delineation of the actual state of the science, as the most authentic and worthy of confidence in its details, and from the enlightened discrimination and criticism employed in tlie selection of authorities. If any of my hearers have regarded zoology as an amuse^ ment, rather than a philosophical pursuit — as something calculated to employ light minds, or occupy hours of lei- sure and relaxation — I would recommend them to survey OF COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 29 the distribution of animals presented in this work. They will find that the science, thus treated^ is not only capable of affording an ample source of agreeable and interesting instruction and entertainment ; but also, that, in exhibiting a methodical arrangement of a most copious and multifa- rious subject, it is a very useful exercise and discipline of the mind. This advantage, of distributing and classing a vast number of ideas, which belongs in a remarkable degree to natural history, has not yet been so much insisted on as it deserves : it exercises us in that important intellectual operation, which may be called method, or orderly distri- bution ; as the exact sciences train the mind to habits of close attention and strict reasoning. Natural history re- quires the most precise method or arrangement ; as geo- metry demands the most rigorous reasoning. When this art (if it may be so called) is once thoroughly acquired, it may be applied with great advantage to other objects. All discussions that require a classification of facts, all researches that are founded on an orderly distribution of the subject, are conducted on the same principles ; and young men, who have turned to this science as a matter of amusement, will be surprised to find how much a familiarity with its processes will facilitate the unravelling all complicated subjects. I do not enter into any detail of the accessions for which science is indebted to this illustrious naturalist, this great comparative anatomist ; because the limits of a lecture would be insufficient. Neither do I mean to compare or contrast * his merits with those of any other individual ; * One object of the Physiological Lectures was, to contrast Mr. Hun- ter's knowledge of comparative anatomy with that of Cuvier. The field of living nature has been surveyed and cultivated by these two great men with very different, views and objects ; by the former, for the elucidation of physiology ; by the latter, for establishing the laws of zoology. It would have been interesting to shew how the general course of proceeding, the mode of investigation, the selection of objects, and the result, have been modified by this diversity of design ; and to point out the difference which are traceable to the original diversity of endowment and of education. Such a comparison requires a mind free from the national affections and antipathies, in which t!ie author of the Lectures glories : it requires too, 30 MODERN HISTORY because 1 do not possess any guage for the mind : I have no plummet for sounding the depth of intellect ; nor any common measure by which its relative amount can be de- termined, under the different varieties of exertion. I should not be able to weigh genius against acquirements, or to decide whether the quantity of discovery in one were equal to its quality in another. I can only state my own opinion ; which is, that if it were necessary to point out any one man, as the chief contributor to the present state of zoology that an accurate parallel should be drawn of the labours and discoveries of each, and that all their respective writings should be well known. In the Lectures, there is no comparative statement of what these great men have accomplished ; and the author gives us to understand, that of Cuvier's numerous important works he is acquainted only with his Lectures on Com- parative Jnatomy, Yet he does not abandon the design, but addresses his audience as Gentlemen of the Jury, coming forwards as "a voluntary advo- cate in the cause of Hunter versus Cuvier and others." p. 16. In this mockery of a legal proceeding he has unfortunately omitted every one of the cautions and regulations which, in the justly-venerated forms of English judicial proceedings, are designed to secure impartial justice. Where is the enlightened judge, indifferent to both parties? Where the impartial jury, any of whom may be challenged by the accused ? Where the advocate of the opposite party ? He soon gets sick of his trial ; does not even state the grievance complained of clearly ; adduces not a particle of evidence ; but uniting in his own person the characters of advocate, judge, and jury, and not hearing any thing in behalf of the defendant, of course pronounces a verdict for his own client. Who the others are, combined in this charge with Ckvier, or what they have been guilty of, we are uot informed. This happy thought of a trial is again introduced, and accompanied Avith a compliment to British liberty (p. 334): it was a singular period to select for such an eulogium — for transplanting to the College of Surgeons the ap- peals to national vanity, which the increasing good sense and taste of the very galleries have nearly banished from the theatres. Having disposed of Cuvier, the author makes very short work with Haller, Dauhekton, Pallas, and Cajiper ; thinking, apparently, that all merit allowed to them is so much clear loss to the object of his idolatry. Having shewn how erroneous the opinion is, that our science owes any great obligations to these individuals, and relying firmly on the ignorance of his audience in respect to dates, he easily arrives at the conclusion — ^" that the great' illumination which comparative anatomy and physiology have of late received on the Continent, h;is in a considerable degree resulted from reflected light, originally emanating from materials which Mr. Hunter brought together, and from his brilliant physiological discoveries." p. 61. OF COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 31 in general, and of comparative anatomy in particular, to designate any individual to whom the modern progress of these sciences have been principally owing, I cannot doubt that the naturalists of Europe would pronounce an unani- mous verdict for Cuvier. Yet perhaps they would not like to come to a decision in such a question, and would prefer returning a special statement, that should satisfy the claims of all, without conferring an offensive pre-eminence on any one. They might probably pronounce that the French Academicians, that Redi, Valisnieri, Swammer- DAM, Lyonnet, Reaumur, Daubenton, and Haller, had cleared the ground, dug out and laid the foundation of the building; that Camper, Pallas, Hunter, Poli, Blumenbach, and Cuvier, had raised the edifice; — while innumerable other artists, by finishing particular apart- ments, or executing decorations and embellishments, had signally contributed, not only to the commodiousness and comfort, but to the general effect of the whole. These great men, though born in different countries, may be considered to have been united as contributors to one common end — the advancement of useful knowledge. In reviewing their labours, let us keep our attention fixed on this object, and not look aside at the national questions, which divide and disturb mankind. We expect from science that it should strengthen feelings of benevolence, and pro- mote acts of charity — not encourage controversy, and inflame national rivalry; that it should draw more closely those bonds which unite men together ; and not add fresh pov/er to the rej)ulsive forces which already separate them too widely. Lamarck is republishing in an enlarged form his Natural History of the Invertebral Animals; and has already com- pleted four volumes. Savigny has made some very interesting discoveries in the same division of the animal kingdom; and has published them under the modest title of Memoirs on Invertebral Animals ; of which two portions have already appeared. Mons. Blainville, who succeeds Cuvier in his lectures at the Jardin des Plantes, in the course of many years 3l> MODERN HISTORY silently and steadily devoted, under so able a teacher, to the study of natural history and comparative anatomy, has gained a most extensive stock of information on these subjects 5 and displays his tliorough acquaintance both with their prin- ciples and details, in numerous Memoirs, chiefly contained in the Bulletin des Sciences, and other French collections. It is perhaps yet too soon to determine how these and similar pursuits may be influenced by the recent political clianges in France, Hitherto, however, Science has not partaken in the triumph of Legitimacy. Le Sueur, the fellow-traveller of Peron, who had long promised a natural history of the Medusae, to be illustrated by those inimitable delineations which he brought back from their voyage of discovery to the Austral regions, has found himself unable to complete this undertaking, and is gone, witli many others, to the New World. If we cannot repress a sigh when we see men of peaceful pursuits thus torn from their native soil and driven into foreign climes, let us rejoice, not only for them, but for all mankind, that such an asylum for the victims of power and oppression exists ; that there is, not a spot, but a vast region of the earth, lavishly endowed with Nature's fairest gifts, and ex- hibiting at the same time the grand and animating spectacle of a country sacred to civil liberty ; where man may walk erect in the conscious dignity of independence, that " Lord of the lion heart and eagle eye," and enjoy full freedom of word and action, without the permission of those combinations or conspiracies of the mighty, which threaten to convert Europe into one great state prison. The numerous people, whose happiness and tranquillity are so eff'ectually secured by the simple forms of a free government, are the growth of yesterday ; at the same rate of progress, they may reach in our lives as gigantic a superiority over the worn-out despotisms of the Old World, as the physical features of America, her colossal mountains, her mighty rivers, her forests, and her lakes, exhibit in comparison with those of Europe. LECTURE II. INTRODUCTORY TO THE COURSE OF 1818. The Cultivation of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy recom- mended as Branches of General Knowledge, and as an interest- ing Department of Philosophy — Their Relation to various Questions in General Philosophy, exemplified in the Gradations of Organization, and the Doctrine of Final Causes — Examples of the Aid they are capable of rendering to Geology and the Physical History of the Globe — Their Importance to Physio- logy, and consequently to the Scientific Study of Medicine — Ob- jects of Inquiry in the Animal Kingdom, and Mode of Investi- gation — A7iatomy — Physiology — Pathology. GENTLEMEN ! Having the honour of appearing before you for the third time, as professor of anatomy and surgery, I deem it a proper opportunity to observe, that the compara- tive estimate I originally formed of the exigencies of this oflice, and of the means I could bring forward for the pur- pose of meeting them — which would, at all times, have deterred me from presenting myself as a candidate for such a trust — remains unaltered by my subsequent experience : or rather, that it has been confirmed by the nearer contem- plation of a subject so arduous and ample, as to require the industrious devotion and undivided energies of an active and vigorous mind 5 and by the discovery of those defici- encies in knowledge, which the urgency of other avocations leaves me no hope of filling up. In pursuing the path which I have entered upon, I must, therefore, still rely on that indulgent consideration which 1 know that you are disposed to extend to all sincere efforts at promoting the 34 ON THE STUDY DF ZOOLOGY grand objects entertained by the Court of this College ; — I mean the diffusion, throughout our body, and particularly among its rising members, of a taste for all the auxiliary pursuits which are capable of lending to our profession either essential aid, or graceful ornament ; the cultivation of surgery as a science; and the securing for its honourable practitioners that rank in society, and that public regard, which are the just meed of liberal pursuits directed to the attainment of useful public ends. As the riches of our collection are more calculated for the leisure and deliberate survey of a visit to the Museum, than for the distant and hasty exhibitions of this theatre, I shall preface the demonstrative part of the lectures by some general discourses, which will be devoted to illustrate the aim and utility of zoology in general, and of compara- tive anatomy in particular — their relations to physiology, and to the sciences more immediately connected with our practical pursuits — and the general principles, which are to be kept in view in cultivating these branches of knowledge. If, in this course, I should enter on topics which have been already brought under your review this season, my apology must be, that my arrangements were made before my wor- thy colleague had begun his lectures, and that amputation or dislocation of the parts in question would have been troublesome, if not painful operations. His interesting disquisitions on various parts of compara- tive anatomy were not felt by me in the light of invasion or encroachment. The manor of living nature is so ample, that all may be allowed to sport on it freely; the most jea- lous proprietor cannot entertain any apprehension that the game will be exhausted, or even perceptibly thinned : to introduce any thing like the spirit of game-laws into science would, if possible, exceed the oppressive cruelty and into- lerable abuses of that iniquitous and execrable code. Having alluded to the course of lectures just finished, I should not do justice to my own feelings, nor to the merits of my esteemed coadjutor*, if I did not sincerely thank him * Ant. Carlisle, Esq. AND COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 35 for the information 1 have received — if I did not state, that, in listening to those luminous and eloquent discourses, I felt a satisfaction in belonging to a profession which could boast such an associate, and express a wish that a series of lectures so honourable to the authors and to the profession should receive that diffusion by the press, which must be both useful and gratifying to the public. I KNOW no branch of knowledge more interesting to mankind in general, including all ages and descriptions, than the history of living beings; or, as we commonly call it, the natural history of animals ; of vvhich, comparative anatomy is the very life and essence. This pleasing subject occupies us at the first dawn of reason, amusing our earliest infancy; and supplies a fund of solid instruction and rational entertainment to our riper years and more developed fa- culties. In its boundless extent and variety are included matters within the comprehension of the slenderest and least cultivated understanding; and others, to which the strongest minds and most enlarged science are not more than adequate. The resemblance which animals bear to ourselves in frame and actions, naturally leads us to ascribe to them our own feelings, to fancy that they are susceptible of our pleasures and pains, actuated by our desires and aversions, and impelled by the same motives or springs of action ; and thus excites in the mind, even of the youngest and most unlearned, a sympathetic interest and a degree of curiosity, which are never felt in examining inorganic nature, or in contemplating its phenomena. None of the exhibitions in a fair are more crowded, by young and old, the ignorant and the learned, than the collections of foreign and curious animals ; no books are more generally read, than descrip- tions of the form, actions, habits, instincts, and character of living creatures. The knowledge of living nature, which is well worthy of cultivation, as a subject of mere amusement, at once D 2 36 ON THE STUDY OV ZOOLOGY innocent and rational, and tlierelbre suited to all ages, pre- sents other and higher claims to our attention. The mul- tiplied relations which animals bear to our own species, supplying our most urgent wants, aiding our greatest un- dertakings, and giving full eifect to our faculties and exer- tions—and the important part they fill in the creation, animating and enlivening every scene, and often cijanglng the very face of nature — can hardly escape the notice of the most unreflecting; and can only be neglected by those who are contented to remain ignorant of the most striking phenomena around them. I do not speak at present of the important bearings which zoology has on the science of human organization and life, and consequently on the art of healing ; but consider it merely as a branch of general knowledge. What a multitude of quadrupeds, birds, and fishes afford occupation, either directly or indirectly, to the many savage tribes, who live almost entirely on the produce of the chase or the fishery, or to the sportsman, who seeks in these pursuits merely a healthy recreation ! What an interest is felt in observing and investigating the habits of these vari- ous beings ; in comparing and contrasting their diversified endowments ; in watching the force and activity of some ; the address, the stratagems, and the cunning of others ; the wonderful instincts of all ; and the curious relation between their habits and the respective situations they occupy ! Wlmt a number of the inhabitants of the earth, air, and waters, are sacrificed to furnish us with food ! while from the same source we derive a still larger portion of our clothing. The number of living creatures, whether beasts, birds, and fishes, or even reptiles, worms, and insects, con- sumed for food in the various regions of the earth, is pro- digious. None, even the most disgusting, as locusts, beetles, maggots, spiders, entirely escape. When we add to these what are destroyed to supply us with clothing, par- ticularly with wool, silk, leather, fur, feathers ; with the means of procuring light, as oil, spermaceti, wax, tallow ; with various articles of medicine, as hartshorn, musk, AND COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. S7 castor, Spanisli flies ; with the materials of numerous useful and elegant arts, as cochineal, parchment, glue, isinglass, catgut, bone, ivory, mother-of-pearl, hair, bristles, whale- bone, horn ; — and what are killed for our sport and amuse- ment, or through abuse, wantonness, and cruelty ; — the catalogue will be of immense length; and will amply jus- tify Dr. Spurzheim in having marked out so considerable a tract, in his map of the human brain, for the abode of destructiveness, and its near neighbour and close ally, com- bativeness : — to say nothing of that circumstance which is almost peculiar to our species, viz. their killing each other*; a practice so essentially characteristic, of human nature, that it prevails in every region and climate, in every variety of man, and in every state of society, from the rudest tribe of savages to the most highly civilized empire ; except, indeed, among the Quakers, and one or two equally incon- siderable sects, whose singular and narrow-minded refusal to follow the way of the world, in so innocent a particular, has been treated with suitable scorn and ridicule by their more enlightened fellow Christians f. « Besides war, — "the game," our poet calls it, " which, were their sub- jects wise, kings should not play at," but which, unluckily, subjects enjoy almost as much as kings, — 1 may refer to the human sacrifices, which either have been or are still practised in most parts of the world ; and to canniba- lism, which having been much doubted and questioned, is now clearly proved to be still prevalent in many places. + In complimenting the Quakers for not having followed the warlike and destructive example set before them by the rest of mankind, I ought, not to have conveyed my praise in the ironical form of blame; because irony is often misunderstood, even where we may think such a mistake almost impos- sible — as in the case of the good bishop, who declared himself highly pleased with Gulliver's Travels, but added, that the book contained some things which he had a- difficulty in believing. To obviate the possibility of further misunderstanding', I lay aside irony, and state most seriously and sincerely, that, whether I regard them as a religious sect or a body of citi- zens, whether I look to their private or public conduct, I hold the Quakers in the highest respect. As Christians, they entertain no unintelligible articles of faith ; they waste no time in splitting the hairs of theological controversy ; their singular and honourable distinction is practical Christianity, evinced in 38 ON THE STUDY OF ZOOLOGY There are instances, in which whole tribes of human beings depend, for tlie supply of all their wants, on one or two species of animals. The Greenlandcr, and the Eski- maux of Labrador, placed in a region of almost constant snow and ice, where intense cold renders the soil incapable of producing any articles of human sustenance, are fed, clothed, and lodged from the seal. They pursue, indeed, the rein-deer, other land animals, and birds ; but seyl-hunt- ing is their grand occupation. The flesh and blood of the seal are their food 5 the blubber, or subcutaneous stratum of fat, affords them the means of procuring light and heat; the bones and teeth are converted into weapons, instru- ments, and various ornaments ; and the skin not only sup- plies them with clothing, but with the coverings of their huts and canoes. The stomach, intestines, and bladder, when dried, are turned to many and various uses: in their nearly- transparent dry state, they supply the place of glass in the windows ; they form bladders for their harpoons, arrows, nets, &c.; when sewed together, they make under-garments, curtains, &c. ; and are employed in place of iinen, on many- occasions. Thus every part of the animal is converted, by a kind of domestic anatomy, to useful purposes; even to the tendons, which, when split and dried, form excellent threads. To the pursuit of the seal, the canoes, instru- ments, weapons, clothing, education, and whole manners of life of the Greenlanders, are adapted. As a plentiful sup- ply of these animals enables them to dispense with every thing else, and as without these they could procure neither dwellings, clothes, nor food, it naturally follows that the great aim of education is to make the boys expert seal- hunters ; and that dexterity in this pursuit is the greatest blameless lives, in renouncing all force and violence, in endeavouring to fulfil literally the Gospel precepts of peace and good- will, in active benevolence, in unremitted personal as well as pecuniary co-operation in all measures calculated to diminish the amount of human misery and suffering, and to im- prove the condition of their fellow-creatures. These truly Christian merits would redeem much heavier sins than an adherence to the plain and simple garb and the unceremouious language of George Fox and William Pcnn. AND COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. Si) praise that can be bestowed on the man *. The Laplanders, and the Tungooses of North-eastern Asia, are equally in- debted to the rein-deer ; the TschutskI, the North-west Americans, the Aleutians, and other neighbouring islanders, to the whale and walrus. The latter, as well as the Green- landers, seem to have anticipated modern anatomists in accurately distinguishing the several anatomical textures, and ascertaining what Bichat calls their " proprietes de tissue,'' or properties resulting from organization, in order to convert the various parts to the manifold purposes of their economical anatomy : they surprise us by manufac- turing thread from the carcase of the great leviathan ; split- ting the fibres of its cutaneous muscle (the pamiiculus car- nostis) into lengtlis of an hundred feet or more; and pre- paring from it a double-threaded twine, v»'hich, in the united requisites of fineness and strength, will bear comparison with any productions of European industry. The flocks and herds which are reared for food, and the various domesticated animals employed in agriculture, in carrying burdens, for draught, and in numberless other ways, are so useful and important, that their structure, economy, and diseases, have been carefully studied ; and these subjects have been found suflicient to occupy a parti- cular class of persons. Indeed, without the dog, the horse, the sh.eep, the cow, the goat, the rein-deer, the camel, and the lama, many extensive regions of the globe would be uninhabitable ; and others now covered with a numerous population, would be reduced almost to the condition of deserts. Comparative anatomy bears the same relation to the veterinary art, that human anatomy and physiology do to medicine. The peculiarities in the organic structure and functions of particular genera or species lead to correspond- ing peculiarities in their diseases and derangements. Hence, a rational treatment of the disorders incidental to animals * See the interesting account of the Greenlanders in Crantz, Geschichte von Grbniand ; also Egede's Description of Greenland ; London 1818; of the Eskimaux, in Ellis's Voyage to Ihuhons Bay, p. 137 and following. 40 ON THE STUDY OF ZOOLOGY presupposes a knowledge of the generic and specific cha- racters of internal organization. It seems superfluous to adduce the digestion of the ruminant order, or other analo- gous instances, in illustration of a truth so evident in itself. Many animals are known to us as objects of alarm and terror, or of considerable though less serious annoyance. Some are directly formidable by their strength and ferocity, as beasts of prey; others by their noxious properties, as venomous reptiles and insects. Some ravage our fields and gardens, destroying the various vegetable productions ; others attack our food and clothing. Some even perforate the planks of the largest ships, or the timbers of other sub- marine constructions. A more extensive field is opened to the philosopher in the structure and economy of animals ; in their analogies and differences ; in the relation of their organization and functions to the circumstances in which they are placed ; and in the modifications corresponding to the infinitely- varied combinations of abode, surrounding element, food, mode of growth and reproduction, &c. &c. We see some sagacious and docile, capable of instruction, exhibiting mental phenomena analogous to our own — the germs or imperfect state of what, when more developed, is human intellect; others are stupid, ferocious, and untame- able. Some are mild, social, and gregarious ; others, wild, savage, and solitary. Many surprise us by their curious instincts, as in providing for the abode, defence, or food of themselves or their offspring ; by the unerring regularity with which each individual of the species, unaided by ex- perience or instruction, obeys, as it were, the fixed law of destiny, in performing at stated periods the longest jour- neys, as in the migrations of birds and fishes ; or executes the most perfect and intricate constructions, exceeding the utmost exertions even of human skill and wisdom. Some have an acuteness of the external senses, par- ticularly sight, hearing, and smelling, to which we are strangers : in some we are astonished by the force 3 in others, by the celerity and variety of motion. AND COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 41 Some live altogether on flesh ; others on vegetable mat- ter ; some eat incessantly, as our common graminivorous quadrupeds; others are satisfied with a full meal once a day, as the beasts of prey ; and others, as certain reptiles, will eat only once in several weeks, and can even support an abstinence of many months. To many animals the interruption of respiration for a minute or two is fatal ; some can go without breathing for an hour, for many hours, or for days; and others pass months together without the exercise of this function, in a condition of inactivity and torpor hardly distinguishable from death. To many, a slight injury of some organ is fatal; some survive the loss of the most important members, and even reproduce them ; some, when divided into two or more por- tions, have the power of forming an entire individual from each fragment. It is the business of the philosophical zoologist to observe closely all the circumstances of these interesting phenomena, and of many other analogous ones ; to trace their con- nexions with the rest of the economy, and with the peculiar organization of each animal ; to compare together all the diversities and modifications; and thus to arrive, if possible, at the rational theory or just explication of their causes. The gradations of organization, and the final purposes contemplated by Nature in the construction of her living machines — two interesting and much-agitated subjects in the philosophy of natural history — receive their only clear illustration and incontrovertible evidence from comparative anatomy. Many naturalists have pleased themselves with arranging the animal kingdom in a successive series, accord- ing to external form ; and have fancied it a peculiar mark of wisdom and beauty in the creation, that there are no abrupt changes, no breaks in the arrangement, but the most gradual and gentle transition from link to link throughout the whole chain. These views will not bear the test of im- partial scrutiny, which soon destroys the belief in such a chain of beings, so far as the basis of external figure goes. On the other hand, the pursuits of zootomy, in unfolding the 4:1 ON THE STUDY OF ZOOLOGY internal mechanism and its movements, display the most evident transitions and gradations of organization and eco- nomy. We see classes and orders — as, for example, birds, and the testudines (the turtle and tortoise kinds) — which, by their external configuration, are quite insulated in the creation, connected in the most natural manner with others of quite different form, and united to them by the principle of internal resemblance. The four component parts of the upper extremity, viz. the shoulder, arm, fore-arm, and hand, can be clearly shewn to exist in the anterior extremities of all mammalia ; how- ever dissimilar they may appear on a superficial inspection, and however widely they may seem to deviate from tlie human structure. The wings of the bat, osteologically considered, are hands ; the bony stretchers of the cutaneous membrane being the digital phalanges extremely elongated. The dolphin, porpoise, and all other whales, have a fin on each side, just behind the head, consisting apparently of a single piece. But we find, under the integuments of this fin-like member, all the bones of an anterior extremity, flattened indeed, and hardly susceptible of motion on each other, but distinctly recognizable : there are, a scapula, humerus, bones of the fore-arm, carpus, metacarpus, and five fingers. The fore-feet of the sea-otter, seal, walrus, and manati, form the connecting links between the anterior extremities of other mammalia and the pectoral fins of the whale kind : the bones are so covered and connected by integuments, as to constitute a part adapted to swimming ; but these are much more developed than in the latter animal, and have free motion on each other. The bones of the wing of birds have a great and unexpected resem- blance to those of the fore-feet of the mammalia : and the fin-like anterior member of the penguin, applicable only to swimming, contains within the integuments the same bones as the wings of other birds which execute the very different office of flight. The same point is illustrated by another kind of cases in comparative anatomy, viz. the existence of certain AND COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 43 parts, generally in an imperfect state, or, in the anatomical phrase, as rudiments, in some animals, where the function does not exist, and where the parts therefore are not em- ployed. It seems as if a certain model or original type? adapted to the intended function, had been fixed on as a pattern for the construction of nearly allied and analogous beings ; and tiiat this model had been adhered to, even in those cases where some particular function did not exist, and where, consequently, tlie corresponding organ was in reality unnecessary. The additional pelvic bones, which support the false belly or abdominal pouch of tlie marsupial animals, are found in the males as well as in the females ; although the former have not the pouch. Several carni- vorous animals have clavicular bones, connected merely to the muscles, and obviously incapable of serving, even in the smallest degree, those purposes for which true clavicles are added to the skeleton. The breasts and nipples of male animals are another example. The marsupial bones and the milk-secreting apparatus of female animals are appointments of organization manifestly designed to fulfil certain ends, and accomplishing very es- sential purposes in the economy. In the male sex they are neither subservient to use nor ornament ^ and seem, to our imperfect knowledge, to exemplify the prevalence, in animal organization, of a mechanical principle, of the ad- herence to a certain original type or model. The olfactory nerves of the cetacea, in whom the blow- ing holes occupy the place of the nose, afford another in- stance — the more remarkable, as their existence has been generally denied, even by the greatest authorities in com- parative anEitomy. They consist in the porpoise of two white extremely slender filaments, which, although visible to the naked eye,, cannot be distinctly recognized as nerves without a magnifying-glass*. * Treviranus, Biologic, b. v. p. 342, tab. 4. Blainville and Jacobson had already asserted the existence of olfactory nerves in the cetacea in the Bulletin des Sciences, 1815, p. 195. In the work quoted above, Treviranus describes a very singular devia- 41 ON THE STUDY OF ZOOLOGY No subject 1ms been more warmly contested than the doctrine of final causes; which, however, has suft'ered more from the ill-judged efforts of its friends, than from the attacks of its enemies. We can hardly conceive that any person, who did not feel a difficulty in believing that a watch was formed for the purpose of shewing the hour, could seriously doubt that our stomachs were expressly constructed for digestion, our eyes for seeing, and the rest of our organs for tlie purposes which they so admirably fulfil. But one must be very fondly attached to final causes, to persuade himself, as some have done, that the sea is salt to preserve it from putrifying ; that the tides of the ocean are designed to bring our vessels safely into port; that stones are made to build houses with ; and silk-worms created in China to furnish the belles and beaux of Europe with satins. It would be only one step further, to assert that sheep have been formed to be sheared and slaughtered j legs to wear boots; and the nose for spectacles. Nothing indeed can be more truly unsatisfactory than the well-meant but worn-out complimentary etTusions we are too often doomed to encounter, which, instead of evincing the wisdom of the creation, shew only the folly of their authors, or at least their misconceptions and short- sighted views. The physico-theologists seem to have con- sidered it their duty to point out the end and purpose con- templated by the Creator in every natural arrangement ; thus, they have sometimes fallen into the laughable absur- dity of expatiating upon the wisdom of certain provisions, which subsequent examination has proved not to exist at all. The foot of an hymenopterous insect was described as being perforated in a certain part by minute holes ; — imme- diately a sufficient use was discovered for this structure ; it was described as a no less elegant than wise provision for sifting tlie pollen of plants, and thus applying the fine tion from the ordinary arrangement, as occurring in the mole. A branch of the superior maxillary nerve goes to the eye, and forms the retina ; while the optic nerves, about the size of hairs, are entirely unconi;ccted with eacb^ other, and cannot be traced to the eyes. Ibid. p. 341, tab. 3. AND COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 45 fecundating powder to the female organs ; and, from tbe supposed structure and use, the creature received the name o^ spJiex cribrnria. Unluckily for the compliment thus de- signed to nature, the part was afterwards discovered not to be perforated *. Others, again, have so firmly believed, not only the wis- dom of creation, but their own insight into it, that they have called In question the existence of particular arrange- ments, because they could not discern the purposes to which they are subservient. Thus, when Blumenbach pointed out to Camper that the tadpoles of the Surinam toad {rana pipa) have tailsf, this great anatomist was disposed at first to deem the specimen a monstrosity ij; ; because he could not comprehend for what purpose these strange beings, so curiously lodged in the dorsal cells of their mother, should have the swimming tail of the common tadpole. A distinguished English naturalist has argued that tlie fossile elephant bones must belong to some species still ex- isting; because, says he, " Providence maintains and con- tinues every created species ; and we have as much assur- ance that no races of animals will any more cease, while the earth remaineth, than seed-time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night." Unluckily for the credit of this gentleman's assumed acquaintance with the designs and schemes of Providence, we have the fullest evidence that many species and genera of animals have been annihilated. The philosophic naturalist, guided by comparative ana- tomy, discovers at every step striking peculiarities in the economy of animals, founded on corresponding arrange- ments of organization. We must take refuge either in verbal quibbles, or in an exaggerated and unreasonable scepticism, if we refuse to recognize in this relation between peculiarity of structure and function tliose designs and adaptations of exalted power and wisdom, in testimony of which all nature cries aloud through all her works. * Rr.rTMKNBAC'T, Beytrll^e zur Nfifurgesihichte. I r. thG. ;j: Beytr. zur Noting, p. 41, n{)te. 46* ON THE STUDY OF ZOOLOGY Many things are indeed, at present, inexplicable to us ; thus, we cannot conceive to what purpose the long, slender, and almost circular canine teeth of the upper jaw of the babyroussa are subservient ; and the offices of many parts, even in the human body, are still hidden from us. But the ends, or final purposes, of the Creator will be placed in the strongest light by selecting any animal of marked peculi- arity in its economy, and comparing together its structure and mode of life. Let a person, who knows the natural history of the mole, attentively contemplative its skeleton : if he should still withhold liis belief in final purposes, he would probably coincide in opinion with a celebrated mem- ber of the French Academy of Sciences, who declared that it was as absurb to suppose the eye intended for seeing, as to imagine that stones were created for breaking heads. I shall be contented with two other illustrations, which, although different from each other, are analogous in their purpose. The large cavities of birds, and the interior of their bones, are filled with air ; thus they are rendered light and buoyant, capable of raising themselves into the higher regions of the atmosphere, of sustaining themselves with little effort in this rare medium, and of cleaving the skies with wonderful celerity. Humboldt saw the enormous vulture of the Andes, the majestic condor, dart suddenly from the bottom of the deepest vallies to a considerable heiglit above the summit of Chimbora^o, where the ba- rometer must have been lower than ten inches *. He fre- quently observed it soaring at an elevation six times higher than that of the clouds in our atmosphere. This bird, which reaches the measure of fourteen feet f with the wings extended, habitually prefers an elevation at which tlie mer- cury of the barometer sinks to about sixteen inches. The mammalia which live entirely or principally in the * Recueil d' Observations ds Zoologie et d'Anatomie comparee. Essia surl'Histoire Naturelle du Condor, p. 26, et buiv. pi. S. et 9. + MoLixA, Storia Nalnrale. dr Chili, c-ip. 4. s. 5. This measure is a5signed by Shaw to an individual described and figured by him; Museum Leverianum^ v. I. pi. I. AND COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 47 sea, as the whale kind, the walrus, the manati, and the seals, are rendered buoyant in this dense fluid by a thick stratum of fat laid over the whole body under the skin. From this, which is called blubber, the whale and seal oil are extracted. The object of this structure in lightening these huge crea- tures, and facilitating their motions, is obviously the same as that of the air-cells in birds, in relation to the element they inhabit. A scientific acquaintance with the animal kingdom is not only valuable in its immediate reference to zoology and phy- siology, but it aids other sciences — affording lights whicli are not merely useful, but absolutely indispensible in exa- mining and illustrating other departments of natural know- ledge. An exemplification occurs in geology, or the sci- ence v/hich treats of the physical construction of our globe. Certain rocks and earthy strata contain vast numbers of shells, exuviae of zoophytes, bones and teeth of large animals, besides other organic substances, in a fossile state. Considerable mountains and extensive districts are some- times composed entirely of such animal remains. It is the business of the naturalist to compare these organic remains of a former world with the corresponding objects in the present order of things ; to determine their resemblances or difl'er- ences — whether they are of the same or of different species or genera ; to compare the productions of the different strata to each other, and to distinguish those which have belonged to fresh, from those of salt-water animals ; and lastly, to ascertain whether the organic fossils of each country are like the living animals of the same, or of different and remote regions and climates. Such investigations require extensive and accurate information — an acquaintance, both with the great outlines and minute details of nature ; and belong therefore to an advanced stage of science. They have been commenced with zeal and industry by some of the greatest modern naturalists, and have led to highly interesting re- sults. The bones of large quadrupeds found in such num- bers in almost all the countries of the old and new Con- tinent, have been discovered to belong to species, and even 48 ON TIIK STUDY OF ZOOLOGY to genera, entirely new to us. One of these, an elephant, specifically distinguishable both from that of Asia and Africa, has been met with in most parts of Europe, in countries and climates where no animal of the kind has ever been known in a living natural state, and in which the known species, inhabitants of the torrid zone, would be speedily destroyed. The fossile shells differ more or less from those of living species. In many places, several successions of fresh and salt water strata are discovered, indicating suc- cessive revolutions in the earth's surface, under the action of causes differing from each other in their nature. The inferior layers, or the first in order of time, contain the re- mains most widely different from the animals of the living creation ; and, as we advance to the surface, there is a gradual approximation to our present species. These examinations have furnished almost the only ac- curate data for any reasonable conclusions respecting the number, nature, and progressive series of the changes which have affected the earth's surface — of the pre-adamitic revo- lutions of the globe ; and they suggest matter for curious speculation respecting the extinct races of animals, and the mode in which their place has been supplied by the actual species of living beings. The writings of Cuvier, Brong- NiART, and Lamarck, in France, and of Mr. Parkinson, in this country, will give you the best information on this new kind of antiquarian research, on these authentic me- morials of beings, whose living existence must be carried beyond the reach of history and tradition — beyond even the fabulous and heroic ages, and has been supposed, with considerable probability, to be of older date than the for- mation of the human race. Another important branch of the physical history of the globe belongs to zoology ; I mean, the nature, origin, and progress of the banks, reefs, and rocks of coral, and even the islands, which are perpetually arising and accumulating in the intertropical seas. These vast masses of calcareous matter are aggregated by the slow but incessant operations of countless millions of minute beings, so small, and so AND COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 49 wslmply organized, that they occupy the lowest rank of animal existence, and indeed have been recognized only, in late times, as falling within the boundaries of the animal king- dom. Their works commence in the fathomless depths of the ocean ; they rise towards the surface, forming sunken rocks, dangerous and often fatal to navigators ; they reach the level of the water, and then extend in length and breadth. When we see that banks are formed of miles in extent, that coasts are obstructed, harbours choked, and even new islands formed, the mind is confounded by the contrast between the insignificance of the agents and the magnitude of the result. Other points of view, and other applications of zoology, will be disclosed as we proceed. More perhaps has been already said than was necessary to convince an enlightened audience that the living part of Nature's works is highly worthy of attention ; and that this study, connected as it is with so many useful, interesting, and important depart- ments of knowledge, must be deemed an essential branch of liberal education. To these considerations, which recommend zoology, not only as a highly interesting, but essential branch of general knowledge, many others may be added, enforcing the cul- tivation of comparative anatomy and physiology more par- ticularly on those who devote themselves to the improve- ment of medicine. The basis of our physiological principles is rendered broader and deeper, in proportion as our survey of living beings is more extensive. The varieties of orga- nization supply, in the investigation of each function, the most important aids of analogy, comparison, contrast, and various combination; and the nature of the process re- ceives, at each step, fresh elucidation. These enlarged views, which unfold to us the natural play of the animal mechanism, are our surest guide in the study of its de- ranged motions, an essential criterion for estimating the nature and degree of the deviation, and an important indi- cation of the means by which it may be corrected. Thus general anatomy and physiology furnish the principles by which we are guided in our attempts to preserve health, to 50 ON THE STUDY OF ZOOLOGY alleviate and remove disorder, and cure disease. On sucli researches and such studies, on a foundation no less exten- sive than the whole empire of living nature, the science of medicine must be established ; if, indeed, it be destined to occupy the rank of a science ; if its practical precepts, its curative efforts, and its technical proceedings be grounded in and derived from a knowledge of the corporeal mecha- nism, and a contemplation of its mode of action, from ob- servations of its deranged state, and of the course and order by which the return to health may be safely accom- plished; — if, in short, it shall be permanently raised above its early state, of an empirical and blind belief in the virtues of herbs, drugs, and plasters ; or above its more modern but equally deplorable condition, of servile submission to the dogmas of schools and sects, or subjection to doctrines, parties, or authorities. I appeal to the illustrious Founder of our Collection — to his labours and his writings — to that change in the state of surgery, which his exertions and his example have accomplished. Such achievements by a single hand hold out to us the brightest prospects, and most encouraging anticipations of the ample harvest awaiting the united efforts of more numerous cultivators. From this quarter we must expect the future improvement of our pro- fession — not from the addition of new medicines to a cata- logue already too long ; not from fresh accessions to that mass of clinical observations, which lie unread on the shelves of our medical libraries. in investigating the nature of living beings, various ob- jects of inquiry present themselves, and various modes of proceeding may be adopted. We may examine their struc- ture — the number, form, size, relative position, and con- nexions of the organs, by the assemblage of which they are constructed — their textuie ; that is, the primary animal tis- sues, which compose the various organs, and tlieir mode of imion ; — their elementary composition ', — or the number, nature, and combinations of the elements into which they can be resolved : — lastly, their living phenomena ; the vital properties, with* which all the primary tissues are endowed, AND COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 51 the offices or functions executed by the organs, and the mutual influences and diversified dependencies which, re- gulating the order and succession of these living operations, combine so many partial and subordinate motions into one beautiful and harmonious whole. It is the business of the anatomist to demonstrate the structure and unravel the texture of animal bodies : their composition falls within the department of the chemist ; and their vital phenomena occupy the labours of the phy- siologist. Anatomy, therefore, teaches us the organization of animals ; while physiology unfolds the nature of life. The third division forms a kind of border territory, lying between the domains of chemistry and physiology, alter- nately occupied and cultivated by both. Under the name of animal chemistry, it has received, of late years, a con- stantly Increasing share of attention, and produced im- portant accessions to our knowledge of the composition and operations of animal bodies. This branch of inquiry is much less advanced than that which concerns their structure; and its progress is impeded by some peculiar difficulties. The primary textures are so intimately blended in all organs, that their complete sepa- ration seems impossible. The cerebral and nervous medulla is everywhere interwoven and surrounded by cellular sub- stance and vessels, nerves and fat ; the cellular substance it- self, with vessels and fat. Hence arise doubts how far the results of experiment are to be attributed to one or the other Ingredient ; so that we can seldom attain certainty, but must rest contented with probablHty. In many cases we do not even know the primary tissues. Are the stout sides of the uterus, or the beautiful and delicate moveable curtain of the iris., cellular or muscular ; or does each con- tain some peculiar, and not yet ascertained tissue ? In a great number of living beings, our senses are not even able to settle the question. Who can decide whether the soft, tender, and almost deliquescent body of the polype is made up of muscular fibres, or of cellular tissue ? By etymology and original acceptation, physiology means E 2 52 ON THE STUDY OF ZOOLOGY doctrine of nature, and is not very appropriately applied to that limited division of natural science, which has for its object the various forms and phenomena of life, the condi- tions and laws under which this state exists, and the causes which are active in producing and maintaining it. A foreign writer * has proposed the more accurate term of " biology," or science of life. Life, using the word in its popular and general sense, which at the same time is the only rational and intelligible one, is merely the active state of the animal structure. It includes the notions of sensation, motion, and those ordinary attributes of living beings which are obvious to common observation. It denotes what is apparent to our senses ; and cannot be applied to the offspring of metaphysical subtlety, or immaterial abstractions, without a complete departure from its original acceptation — without obscuring and confusing what is otherwise clear and intelligible. The close connexion between life and respiration has not escaped the notice of ordinary observers — of those who were ignorant of anatomy and physiology. Hence the breath has been popularly deemed the mark of life. The Latin anima, or ' breath,' (from the Greek a»H^o?, ' wind'), was also used to express the vital principle ; the essence of life being supposed identical with the breath. But in the phrases, ' animam efflare,' ' exspirare,' &c. the word seems to be used in its original sense. In the same way, the Latin spiritiis, or original of our spirit, from spiro, ' to breathe,' means merely 'breath :' the same is the case with the Greek TTUBvixoc : and this is the original sensible object, out of which all the abstractions and fancies, all the verbal sophistry and metaphysical puzzles about spirit, have proceeded. Anatomy and physiology should be cultivated together : we should combine observation of the function with exa- mination of the organization. The subjects are often dis- * G. R. Treviranus of Bremen, whose Biologie, oder Philosophe der Lebenden Natur fur Natiirforscher und Aerzte, in 5 vols. 8vo. but not yet finished, is a very interesting work, both for the philosophic plan on which it is founded, and the original views with which it abounds. AND COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 53 tinctly treated In books : let not, .however, this unnatural separation lead you into the error of viewing the vital ma- nifestations as something independent of the organization in which they occur. Bear in mind, that every organ has its living phenomena and its use, and that the chief ultimate object, even of anatomy, is to learn the nature of the function : — on the other hand, that every action of a living being must have its organic apparatus. There is no diges- tion without an alimentary cavity; no biliary secretion without some kind of liver ; no thought without a brain. To talk of life as independent of an animal body — to speak of a function without reference to an appropriate organ — is physiologically absurd. It is in opposition to the evidence of our senses and rational faculties : it is looking for an effect without a cause. We might as reasonably expect daylight while the sun is below the horizon. What should we think of abstracting elasticity, cohesion, gravity, and bestowing on them a separate existence from the bodies in which those properties are seen ? Haller, the father and founder of modern physiology, has furnished us the best example, both for the method of cultivating the subject, and of treating it in writing. He had devoted thirty years to the dissection of human bodies and those of animals, and to observation and every variety of experimental research, before he began to compose his Elementa FhysiologicB. In this matchless work, a full anatomical description of every organ, drawn from his own dissections, precedes the history of its functions. I know no anatomical descriptions superior to these ; none deserv- ing more implicit confidence. To regard this work as a mere register of opinions has always appeared to me very unjust : it contains new and accurate information on almost every part of the subject. It is no slight proof of its merits, that, although published in the middle of the last century, it remains the book of authority ; and particularly in this country, which is still destitute of original standard works in anatomy and physiology. In impressing upon your minds the close connexion of 54 ON THE STUDY OF ZOOLOGY anatomy and physiology, I do not mean to represent to you that the former teaches the latter. Strictly speaking, struc- ture alone is learned by dissection : the vital properties of organic textures, and the functions of organs, are found out by observation. We have the most perfect anatomical knowledge of the spleen, thymus, and thyroid gland ; but their offices in the animal economy are wholly unknown. What organ has been more carefully dissected and studied than the brain ? yet the respective offices of its various portions have not been discovered. Anatomy, however, unfolds facts, of which the knowledge is absolutely necessary in appreciating the results of obser- vation. It affords the only clue capable of guiding us through the multiplied and varied movements all going on together in the living microcosm, and of thus enabling us to discriminate the proper share of each organic apparatus. What kind of knowledge could the most patient and acute observer gain of the circulation, if he knew nothing about the structure of the heart, lungs, arteries, and veins ? What insight could he acquire into the changes of the food, and the nutrition of our bodies, if the alimentary canal, with its divisions and appendages, and the absorbing vessels were unknown to him ? Just notions of the seat and nature of diseases, and of the operation of remedies, would be out of the question : but what chance has a person, ignorant of the general construction of our frame, of escaping from the most absurd doctrines and systems, and from the most pernicious practical errors ? Anatomy, again, clears up doubtful points, and suggests topics of inquiry : it is a test and criterion of physiolo- gical explanations. If the latter are inconsistent with the anatomical facts, they must be rejected. That its aid is essential to physiology may be proved by referring to what even the most acute men have written about the animal economy, before anatomy had been culti- vated. It is a mass of error and fiction, without the smallest pretence to the title of physiology. Anatomy and physiology are the ground-work of patho- logy, or the science of disease. AND COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 55 Disease is a relative term, implying a comparison with a state of health, and presupposing a knowledge of that state. To anatomy, or science of healthy structure, is opposed morbid anatomy, or science of diseased structure : to phy- siology, or doctrine of healthy functions — pathology, or doctrine of diseased manifestations. Morbid anatomy shews us the diseases ; pathology, their external signs or symp- toms. Often, no change of structure is observable : the deviations from the healthy condition elude our means of inquiry. The organ is said to be functionally disordered. Thus we iind that anatomy, physiology, morbid anatomy and pathology, are mutually related and intimately con- nected. Although called separate sciences, they are, in truth, parts of one system ; and we must never lose sight of their mutual bearings. On the foundation of these four departments of knowledge or science is raised the practice of medicine, or the healing art ; overlooking the artificial distinctions of physic, surgery, and so forth. But is all this knowledge necessary for a practitioner ? Is it required that a physician or a surgeon should know anatomy natural and morbid, physiology, pathology ? To the science of medicine, and to its rational improvement and extension, it is neces- sary ; but by no means so to the mere routine of practice, and the very successful prosecution of the trade. Perhaps, indeed, a firm faith in drugs and plasters, and a liberal ad- ministration of them, may be the surer road to popular success, if the remark addressed by a veteran practitioner to a young enthusiast in science be well grounded ; " Juvenis, tua doctrina non promittit opes : plebs amat remedia.'' A common sailor uses his glass without knowing the laws of optics, or even suspecting their existence. But, would Galileo have invented the telescope, and have given to mankind the power of penetrating into space, if he had been equally ignorant — if he had been unacquainted with the action of various media, and of variously-shaped surfaces on the rays of light ? An ordinary workman, of education and habits purely mechanical, constructs the most powerful astro- nomical instruments; but it belongs only to a Herschel or 5G ON THE STUDY OF ZOOLOGY a La Place to improve these means, and to employ them SO as to unfold the structure of the universe, and expound the laws which govern the motions of the heavenly bodies. The Collection of this College was formed, and is now arranged, in conformity to the views just alluded to. The anatomical preparations exhibit the organs in the manner best calculated to elucidate their functions. To the rich and valuable series of healthy parts, there is added a parallel and equally extensive arrangement of morbid specimens. Mr. Hunter was the first in this country who investi- gated disease in a strictly philosophic method 3 bringing to bear on it the clear and steady lights of anatomy and phy- siology. He began by discarding all the doctrines of the schools, and resorted at once to nature. Instead of creep- ing timidly along the coast of truth, within sight of prece- dent and authority, he boldly launched into the great ocean of discovery, steering by the polar star of observation, and trusting to the guidance of his own genius. His claim to the gratitude of English surgeons will be sufficiently esta- blished, by comparing surgical science before his time with its present state ; and by contrasting, at the two periods, the relative rank of surgeons in public estimation. It vi^ould be foreign to my present purpose to pursue this topic : I shall therefore merely entreat you to bear it in mind : and to remember, that the true dignity of the pro- fession, in which every individual member is a sharer, will be best promoted, not by partial privileges and arbitrary exclusions, not by any thing which royal charters or legal enactments can bestow or withhold, but by that scientific cultivation and honourable practice which constitute the only just claim to public esteem and confidence. It would be unnecessary for me to enter into further detail on a matter which has been already brought before you, with such forcible appeal to the best feelings of our nature, such display of elevated and honourable sentiments, and such felicity of expression, by my ingenious, eloquent, and v/orthy colleague *. * Ant. Carlisle, lisQ. LECTURE III. On the Study of Physiology. — The Aids and Illustrations to be derived from other Sciences ; as, Natural Philosophy, Mathe- matics, Chemistry. — Study of the Physical Sciences recommended. — Peculiar Character of the Vital Phenomena — Living Pro- perties — Attempted Hypothetical Explanations of them. — Com- parative Anatomy — its Objects — its Relations to Physiology exemplified. Dissection, and the various auxiliary processes employed by the anatomist, are the only means of learning the struc- ture of living beings ; — observation and experiment, the only sources of our knowledge of life. These are the tests, or criteria, on which we must depend, and to which we must always refer. No position respecting structure can be listened to, unless it admits of verification by ai3peal to anatomy ; no physiological statement deserves attention, unless it be confirmed by observation. Is this then all ? Are the labours of so many celebrated men, the accumulated harvests of so many centuries, re- duced to the mere results of dissection and observation ? It is so, in respect to real knowledge ; and it will be occupa- tion enough to anatomists and physiologists, for many ages, to cultivate these pursuits. The multitude and variety of organs in the human body, the complexity of their struc- ture, the modifications incidental to each, and their mutual influences, offer a most extensive field of investigation ; re- quiring so much time and assiduity, so much caution and discrimination, that the qualities necessary to a successful pursuit of physiology cannot be often combined in one in- dividual. When to man we add all the living beings which fill every department of nature, and consider the diversities 58 ON THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY. and new combinations by which they are enabled to fulfil their various destinies, it will be hardly figurative to say that the objects of inquiry are infinite and inexhaustible. In this, as in most other subjects, the quantity of solid instruction is an inconsiderable fraction of the accumulated mass; — a few grains of wheat are buried and lost amid heaps of chaff. For a few well-observed facts, rational deductions, and cautious generalisations, we have whole clouds of systems and doctrines, of speculations and fancies, built merely on the workings of the imagination and the labours of the closet. In reference, however, to biology, or the science of life, I may observe, that descriptions of particular animals, and surveys of detached districts in the great kingdom of nature, are not so much wanted at present, as the assemblage and assortment of the facts already accumulated, and the em- ployment of them by some vigorous and comprehensive mind to furnish the fundamental principles of the science of living nature. It is employment, and not mere posses- sion, that gives a value to intellectual as well as material wealth. We have had workmen enough to toil in the mine and the quarry : they have raised and roughly fashioned an abundance of materials ; and we now only wait for the architect who shall be able to employ them in constructing a temple, suitable in majesty and simplicity, to the Divinity whose shrine it is destined to contain. The parts of natural history having been cultivated in a detached manner, its doctrines were long in an insulated state ; unconnected to each other, like the pyramids in the deserts of Egypt: as the number of detached parts in- creased, the necessity of a system was felt to bind them together, however imperfectly, into something like a con- nected whole. After many unsuccessful attempts by his predecessors^ LiNN.^us produced an arrangement of natural objects, which met with very general approbation and adoption. The efforts of naturalists were subsequently directed to the correction and extension of his system ; to the formation ON THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY. 59 of arrangements for detaehed parts, in imitation of that which he had framed for the whole ; and in the description of new genera and species. These efforts have been con- tinued to the present day, in a constantly increasing ratio ; but, perhaps, without a due consideration whether any results of proportionate utility to mankind were likely to reward so much pains and trouble. Some, indeed, and among them Linnaeus, were aware that all these artificial systems, without reference to higher objects, were almost lost labour; but they did not attempt to pursue those objects. The ultimate purpose of our researches in natural history is, to penetrate and lay open the secret springs by which the great system of organization, called, ' nature,' is maintained in perpetual activity. Now, towards the accom- plishment of this purpose, the artificial systems, on which so much labour has been bestowed, are hardly the first step. They do not exhibit the science, but an index or register of nature ; which, indeed, has its recommendations of utility in other respects. The assemblage of the numerous facts which are scattered through the works of naturalists, and their combination into a whole, with reference to the purpose just mentioned, and with a view to establishing the laws of life, would possess a much higher value than all the descriptions of new animals and plants, which teach us little more than that they have such or such aj)pearances, and that they occur in this or that corner of the earth. If the science of life, and with it some of the most im- portant departments of human knowledge, be destined to make any decided progress towards perfection, it must be by the road of experience, aided and enlightened by general philosophy. The way, indeed, is in some parts difficult, and its length indefinite ; but, whether we reach the end or not, our very efforts, and the active state of mind they maintain, will be" a sufficient recompence; as the pleasure of the chase, and tlie healthy vigour it imparts, reward us, even when the game escapes. " The intellectual worth and dignity of man are mea- sured, not by the truth which he possesses, or fancies that CO ON THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY. he possesses, but by the sincere and honest pains he has taken to discover truth. This it is that invigorates his mind, and, by exercising the mental springs, preserves them in full activity. Possession makes us quiet, indolent, proud. If the Deity held in his right hand all truth — and in his left, only the ever-active impulse, the fond desire, and longing after truth, coupled with the condition of con- stantly erring — and should offer me the choice ; I should humbly turn towards the left, and say, ' Father, give me this ; pure truth is fit for thee alone "*.' " Thus spoke a sage ; and his determination seems as wise as the famous choice of Hercules. In commencing the study of physiology, we are first led to inquire, whether living beings are subject to the same laws as inorganic bodies ; whether the vital processes can be explained on the same principles as the other phenomena of matter; whether, in short, the elucidations of the physi- cal sciences are equally applicable to the science of life. That animals obey those general laws which regulate mat- ter and motion in all other cases ; that all their parts, as well as their entire masses, are subject to the influences of gravity. Impulse, and the like ; is too obvious to be a subject of question. The point of inquiry is, whether the internal movements of the animal machine are explicable by the laws of mechanics and hydraulics; whether, like these, they can be subjected to calculation ; whether the changes of composition. Incessantly going on in all parts of the frame, can be assimilated to the operations of our labo- ratories, or reduced to the laws of external chemistry ; whether any living phenomena can be so far likened to those of electricity, galvanism, magnetism, as to justify us in referring for their explanation to the same principles. In the beginning of the last century, the leading autho- rities in physiology, of whom Boerhaave may be men- tioned as the head, supposed that all the functions of the living body, except the will, are carried on by mechanical * Trewrasv^. Biologic ; b. ON THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY. 61 movements, susceptible of rigid calculation, necessarily succeeding each other in the organs from the time that life commences. These movements he referred to an impul- sive power in the heart, renevi^ed by the influence of the nervous fluid brought from the brain. In this explanation the body is an hydraulic machine, in which the heart per- forms the office of a piston : the beautiful construction and endless variety of the animal organization are reduced to an assemblage of pipes, canals, levers, pulleys, and other me- chanism. The treatises on physiology, of this period, were filled with mathematical problems, long calculations, and algebraic formulae. This system maintained its ground for a long time, in defiance of observation and common sense. In palliation of what strikes us now as so extravagantly erroneous, it must be observed, that many things in the animal economy admit of explanation on these principles. The structure and motions of the joints are purely mechanical ; and the degree of eff'ect produced by the muscles of a limb, like the acting force of a moving power applied to a common lever, depends entirely on the relative situation of their tendinous insertions to the centre of motion, and the rela- tion which the course of their fibres bears to the axis of the moving bone. All these things may be as exactly de- termined by calculation as the operation of common levers : but the contraction of the living fibre, or original moving force, cannot be subnrltted to calculation — cannot be in the slightest degree elucidated by mechanics. The valves of the heart and blood-vessels act mechani- cally, and operate as well in the dead, as in the living body. The swelling of the veins of the lower limbs in the erect pos- ture and the turgescence of the same vessels in the head and neck, when they are held in a dependent attitude, will con- vince us, that, although the blood flows through living canals, its motion is not withdrawn from the all-pervading influ- ence of gravity. The transparent parts of the eye act on the rays of light according to the common laws of optics ; and bring them to 62 ON THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY. a focus, SO as to form an inverted picture of the object on the retina, just as well in the dead, as in the living organ, provided their transparency be unimpaired. The operation, however, of those natural laws, to which living as well as all other bodies are subject, is constantly modified in the former case, by the vital powers ; and this essential element, in all mathematlco-physiological consi- derations, is, by its very nature, fluctuating and indeternu- nate. Uncertainty in the conditions of a problem, whether In respect to their entire number, or to the quantity of each, is an original sin, for which no subsequent accuracy can atone ; and this character, belonging to all the circumstances of almost every case in the animal economy, not only ef- fectually precludes all useful application of mathematics to physiology, but renders their employment a source of nothing but error and confusion. We can very seldom satisfy our- selves that all the data are before us ; and the precise amomit of each cannot be determined in any instance : nay more, variation and fluctuation are essential characters of all vital processes. The totally inconsistent results, at which dlfi^erent mathematical physiologists have arrived, in treating of the same functions, shew us that very little useful service can be looked for from this quarter. One estimated the force of the heart as equal to 180,000 lbs ; another reduced it to 8 oz. ; and both these conclusions are deduced from reasonings clothed in all the imposing forms of the exact sciences. The circulation. In which a central impelling machine drives the blood through an arrangement of tubes, seems naturally to fall under the laws of hydraulics : and the course of the blood in its living channels, no doubt, obeys the same laws that govern the transmission of fluids through inani- mate canals. But if we attempt to submit this intricate pro- cess to calculation, we are stopped at the very outset by dis- covering, that, of its numerous conditions, not one Is ascer- tained with sufficient accuracy for our purpose. It would be necessary to know the amount of nervous influence on tlie heart and blood-vessels, the measure of active and passive ON THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY. 63 power in the former organ, the quantity of blood arriving at and departing from it, the elastic and other properties of the vessels, their various capacities, the resistance of the column in the arteries and veins, the density and cohesion of the blood, and many other points : — and to know all these with perfect accuracy. Even if all this were accomplished, the great number of elements entering into such a theory would conduct us to impracticable calculations. It would be the most complex case of a problem, which is extremely difficult of solution in its simple state. The ablest geometricians, sensible of these difficulties, speak of the operations of liv- ing bodies with a modest caution, to which the bold calcu- lations of some physiologists form a striking contrast. They acknowledge that the springs of the animal frame are too numerous, too intricate, and too imperfectly known, to be submitted, with any prospect of advantage, to calculation ; that, in such complicated operations, experience is our only safe guide, and inductions from numerous facts the only sure support of our reasonings. The most just calculations on such subjects can merely appreciate our ignorance ; which may indeed be concealed, but cannot be removed, by the vain parade of a science foreign to medicine. If we define chemistry as the science which teaches us the composition of bodies, explaining the laws, according to which their elementary particles act on each other, when brought into contact, the combinations or separations whicli result from their affinities, and the circumstances which promote or obstruct the action of those affinities, we must allow that many of the animal processes exhibit to us che- mical operations. Such are the changes wrought upon the food by the solvent juices of the stomach, and by the admix- ture of bile, pancreatic liquor, and intestinal secretions ; the new combinations, which the elements of the blood enter into in the glands, the membranes, and the skin, and in the texture of the various organs, so as to exhibit to us a new set of products ; the conversion of chyle and lymph into blood ; and the mutual action of this fluid and the atmos- phere in respiration. 64 ON THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY. Chemical researches into the composition of the fluids and solids of the animal frame, and comparative examina- tions of them under tlie differences of age, sex, climate, food, mode of life, and the various incidences of disease, have thrown great light both on the healthy and disordered actions of our frame : particularly those inquiries which have been conducted with the advantages of the modern improvements in chemical science. Further benefit is to be expected from a continuance of these exertions ; and we can have no hesitation in admitting that many important points in physiology cannot be understood, the nature and result of many animal processes cannot be appreciated, by a person unacquainted with chemistry. Nor is the benefit confined to physiology ; the kindred sciences, which have for their object the knowledge of dis- ease, its prevention and cure, owe great and important obligations to modern chemistry. By unfolding the com- position, and separating the various Ingredients contained in an apparently homogeneous fluid, the urine, it has enabled us to form some conception of the important purposes executed by the kidney. By shewing the deviations which this animal fluid exhibits in various conditions of disease, it has elucidated the mechanism of many disordered ac- tions ; and, by discovering what particular ingredients ex- isted in undue proportion, it has suggested the means of relief by the internal administration of suitable ehemical remedies. Thus the modern views respecting the nature and treatment of calculous disorders are completely che- mical ; and modern experience fully substantiates the im- portant truth, that alkalies and acids taken into the sto- mach affect the chemical constitution of the urinary secre- tion. But these views do not terminate here : the condi- tion of the urine is an index of what is going forwards in the alimentary canal, an outward and visible sign of the inward and hidden movements of the stomach, bowels, and other parts. These again are variously modified by the nature and quality of our food and drink, by the operation of our remedies, and by those obscure and mysterious, but ON THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY. G5 but incontestable influences of otber parts, wlilch are usu- ally denominated sympatbies. Tims, as tlie successive undulations of water spread wider and wider as they recede from the point first agitated, our chemical examination of a single excretion, by virtue of the mutual influences which bind together all parts of our system, expands at last to considerations embracing the whole economy. For the theory of diabetes we are principally indebted to chemistry ; and we ought not to omit acknowledging the debt, because its amount has not been increased by the suggestion of an adequate remedy. With these strong facts before our eyes, and with the knowledge that nature, however sportively various in unes- sential details, is generally uniform in the leading princi- ples of the means by which she accomplishes similar pur- poses, may we not reasonably expect that the action of many remedies will be traced hereafter to chemical influ- ence ? May we not hope that the dark corner of our science, the modus operandi of its remedial administrations, will receive light from this quarter ? It is, however, in most cases the result, and not the ope- ration itself, that we learn from chemistry. By compar- ing the blood and the urine, we estimate the office of the kidney ; but we know just as little as we did before of that wonderful and mysterious process, by which the capillaries of the gland transform blood into urine ; and when we see the capillaries of other parts convert this same blood into twenty other fluids or solids, we feel still more forcibly the striking contrast between these and the operations com- monly called chemical, and the insufficiency of explana- tions grounded merely on the analogies of the latter changes. If a gland, a membrane, a muscle, or a bone, in their operations of secretion and nutrition, be chemical in- struments, their analogy to those employed in our labora- tories is so remote, as to be hardly perceptible. Of the attempt at explaining the sentient and contrac- tile operations of the nerves and muscles by chemical agen- F C>(^ ON THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY. cies, or at resolving life in general into a mere play of che- mical affinities, I can only say that they appear to me Inju- dicious. The ablest chemists, those who are most deeply versed in the operations, means, various applications, and extent of their science, are extremely cautious in applying it to the explanation of vital processes. One of the most striking phenomena of living bodies Is the exception which they offer to the laws of chemistry. Composed of matters extremely prone to decomposition, and surrounded by all the influences of heat, air, and moisture, which are very favourable to such change, they yet remain unaltered. Living bodies, as well as all dead ones, exhibit electri- cal phenomena under certain circumstances : but the con- trast between the animal functions and electric operations is so obvious and forcible, that the attempts to assimilate them do not demand further notice. By the preceding observations, or by any subsequent ones, I would by no means discourage surgical students from the pursuit of the physical sciences. I regard them, on the contrary, not merely as a desirable ornamental accompaniment, but as powerful and indispensable auxi- liaries in physiological and medical researches. A close alliance between the science of living nature and physics and chemistry, cannot fail to be mutually advantageous. What we have principally to guard against, in our profes- sional researches and studies. Is the Influence of partial and confined views, and of those favourite notions and specu- lations, which, like coloured glass, distort all things seen through their medium. Thus we have had a chemical sect, which could discern. In the beautifully varied ap- pointments, and nice adaptations of animal structure, no- thing but an assemblage of chemical instruments : a me- dico-mathematical doctrine, which explained all the phe- nomena of life by the sciences of number and magnitude, by algebra, geometry, mechanics, and hydraulics ; and even a tribe of animists, who, finding that all the powers of inorganic nature had been Invoked in vain, resorted to the world of spirits, and maintained that the soul is the ON THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY. 6/ only cause of life. It is amusing to observe the entire conviction and self-complacency with which such sys- tems are brought forwards. The parable of Nathan the Wise is not confined in its application to matters of theo- logical faith — to tlie ardour with which wrangling secta- ries dispute about their petty divisions and subdivisions of belief : each medical sect conceives itself in possession of the true ring ; yet probably tliey are all more or less counterfeit. If the seductive influence of favourite notions, and the disproportionate importance attached to particular sciences, have operated so unfavourably on the doctrines of physio- logy and medicine, the remedy for the evil must be sought in more enlarged views and general knowledge. We cannot expect to discover the true relations of things, until we rise high enough to survey the whole field of science, to ob- serve the connexions of the various parts and their mutual influence. Besides the direct utility of the physical sciences in ex- plaining many parts of the animal economy, they serve a collateral purpose, which recommends them strongly to the medical student. They have their foundation in ex- periment, as physiology and medicine have in observation ; the only difference being, that in the latter case we are obliged to take our subjects in all the complexity of their natural composition, while in the former it is in our power to regulate the conditions of the operation, and to reduce them, by successive analyses^ to the greatest simplicity. The subsequent proceedings of physical science are go- verned by strict method, and guarded against error by the severe rules of inductive logic. The constant vigilance of these incorruptible sentinels protects the sanctuary from the incursions of extra-physical or metaphysical chimeras, and from the intrusion of immaterial agencies. Strength- ened by this salutary discipline, and accustomed to close reasoning, the mind is well prepared for the study of liv- ing nature, clothed with a defensive armour, on which F 2 G8 ON THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY. verbal and metaphysical puzzles, and the misplaced exer- tions of the imagination, will make no impression. Now, although certain parts of the animal economy obey the laws of mechanics, and others admit of illustration by the aid of chemistry, and thus far the living processes come within the domain of the physical sciences, the main springs of the animal functions, the original moving forces, cannot be explained on these grounds. The powers of sensation and contraction, and the properties of the capil- lary vessels, belong peculiarly and exclusively to living organic textures : they are eminently vital, and form the distinguishing character of living beings. We learn them by observation, as we learn the properties of dead matter, and we know nothing more than the fact, that certain vital ma- nifestations are connected with certain organic structures *. * Since I delivered these Lectures, I have become acquainted with Dr. Brown's Inquiry into the Relation of Cause and Effect, third edition, 8vo. Edinburgh, ISLS ; a most instructive work, calculated to dispel much of the obscurity and confusion, by which both physical and mefapliysical dis- cussions have been perplexed and retarded, and to interest strongly all those who derive pleasure from perspicuous language and close reasoning. As it is extremely important to possess clear notions of causation, of the relations expressed by the words cause, effect, property, quality^ power, 1 subjoin an extract, in which these matters are more satisfactorily explained tlian in any other book I have met with. *' It is this mere relation of uniform antecedence, so important and so universally believed, which appears to me to constitute all that can be philo- sophically meant, in the words power or causation, to whatever objects, material or spiritual, the words may be applied. If events had succeeded each other in perfect irregularity, such terms never would have been invented ; but when the successions are believed to be in regular order, the importance of this regularity to all our wishes, and plans, and actions, has of courseled to the employment of terms significant of the most valuable distinctions which we are physically able to make. We give the name of cause to the object which we believe to be the invariable antecedent of a particular change ; we give the name of effect, reciprocally to that invariable conse- quent ; and the relation itself, when considered abstractedly, we denomi- nate power in the object that is the invariable antecedent — susceptibilitif in the object that exhibits, in its change, the invariable consequent. We say of fire, that it has the power of melting metals ; and of metals, that they are susceptible of fusion by fire,— that fire is the cause of the fusion, and the fu- ON THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY. 69 The only reason we have for asserting in any case that any property belongs to any substance, is the certainty or universality with which we find the substance and the pro- sion the effect of the fipplication of fire ; but, in all tliis variety of words, we mean nothing more than our belief, that when a solid metal is sulyected for a certain time to the application of a strong heat, it will begin after- wards to exist in that different state which is termed liquidity — that, in all past time, in the same circumstances, it would have exhibited the same change — and that it will continue to do so in tlie same circumstances in all future time. We speak of two appearances which metals present ; one be- fore the application of fire, and the other after it ; and a simple but uni- versal relation of heat and the metallic substances, with respect to these two appearances, is all that is expressed. '* A cause, therefore, in the fullest definition which it philosophically ad- mits, may be said to be, that which immediately precedes any change^ and which-, existing at any time in similar circumstances, has been ahvays, and tvill be always, immediately folloiccd by a similar change. Priority in the se- quence observed, and invariableness of antecedents in the past and future sequences supposed, are the elements, and the only elements, combined in the notion of a cause. By a conversion of terms, we obtain a definition of the corelative effect; and power, as I have before said, is only another word for expiessing abstractly and briefly the antecedence itself, and the invariable- ness of the relation. " The words property and quality admit of exactly the same definition ; expressing only a certain relation of invariable antecedence and conse- quence, in changes that take place, on the presence of the substance to which they are ascribed. They are strictly synonymous with power ; or, at least, the only diflerence is, that property and quality, e^s, commonly used, comprehend both the powers and susceptibilities of substances — the powers of producing changes, and the susceptibilities of being changed. We say equally, tliat it is a property or quality of water to melt salt, and that it is one of its qualities or properties to freeze or become solid, on the subtrac- tion of a certain quantity of heat ; but we do not commonly use the word power, in the latter of these cases, and say that water has the power of being frozen." — " Power, property, and quality, are in the physical use of these terms, exactly synonymous. Water has the power of melting salt : — it is a property of water to melt salt ; it is a quality of water to melt salt :— all these varieties of expression signify precisely the same thing — that when water is poured upon salt, the solid will lake the form of a liquid, and its particles be dilTused in continued combination through the mass. Two parts of a sequence of physical events are before our mind; the addition of water to salt, and the consequent liquefaction of what was before a crystalline solid. When we speak of all the powers of a body, we consider it as existing in n 70 ON THE STUDY OF rHYSlOLOGY. jjcrty ill question accompanying each other. Thus we say that gold is yellow, ductile, soluhle in nitro-muriatic acid, because we have always found gold, when pure, to be so. We assert that living muscular fibres are irritable, living nervous fibres sensible, for the same reason. The evidence of the two propositions presents itself to my mind as un- marked by the faintest shade of difference. Having found by experience that every thing we see has some cause of existence, we are induced to ascribe the constant concomitance of a substance and its properties to some necessary connexion between them : but, however strong the feeling may be, which leads us to believe in some more close bond, we can only trace, in this notion of neces- sary connexion, the fact of certainty or universality of con- currence. Nothing more than this can be meant, when a necessary connexion is asserted between the properties of variety of circumstances, and consider, at the same time, all the changes that are, or may be, in these circumstance?, its immediate eflects. When ne : peak of all the qualities of a body, or all its properties, we mean nothing more, and we mean nothing less. Certain substances are conceived by us, and certain changes that take place in them, which, we believe, will be uniformly the same, as often as the substances of which we speak exist in circumstances that are exactly the same. " The powers, properties, or qualities of a substance, are not to be re- garded, then, as any thing superadded to the substance, or distinct from it. They are only the substance itself, considered in relation to various changes that take place, when it exists in peculiar circumstances." We cannot be surprised, that the author of the Physiological Lectures should have poured forth the full vials of his wrath on doctrines at once com- pletely subverting all his airy structures of subtle fluids, mobile matters, &c. &c. considered as causes of vital actions, and so simple and logical, that any attempt at direct opposition by reasoning would be utterly hopeless. He therefore boldly affirms, that " if they mean to insinuate that we have no knowledge of cause or effect beyond that which results from mere observa- tion, they publish at the same time a libel on the human understanding, a prohibition to rational inquiry, and a most severe satire on themselves,'* P. 91. Unless the author should shew, on some future occasion, what he has not even attempted on the present, viz. what it is that the words cause and effect denote, in addition to relative invariable antecedence and consequence, this volley of hard words will only recoil on his own head. ON THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY. 7 I sensibility and irritability, and the structures of living mus- cular and nervous fibres. This language does not explain how the thing takes place : it is merely a mode of stating the fact. To say that irritability is a property of living muscular fibres, is merely equivalent to the assertion, that such fibres have in all cases possessed the power of contraction. What then. is the cause of irritability ? I do not know, and cannot conjecture. In physiology, as in the physical sciences, we quickly reach the boundaries of knowledge whenever we attempt to penetrate the first causes of the phenomena. The most we can accomplish is, to make gradual conquests from the territories of ignorance and doubt ; and to leave under their dominion those objects only which our reason has not reached, or is not able to reach. The great end of observa- tion and experiment is to discover, among the various phe- nomena, those which are the most general. When these are well ascertained, they serve as principles, from which other facts may be deduced. The Newtonian theory of gravita- tion is a most splendid example. The only object of un- certainty, which then remains, in the first cause of a small number of facts. The phenomena succeed each other, like the generations of men, in an order which we observe, but of which we can neither determine nor conceive the commencement. We follow the links of an endless chain-; and, by holding fast to it, we may ascend from one link to another ; but the point of suspension is not within the reach of our feeble powers. To call life a property of organization would be unmean- ing : — it would be nonsense. The primary or elementary animal structures are endued with vital properties ; their combinations compose the animal organs, in which, by means of the vital properties of the component elementary structures, the animal functions are carried on. The state of the animal, in which the continuance of these processes is evidenced by obvious external signs, is called life. The striking differences between living and inorganic 72 ON THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY. bodies, and the strong contrast of tliclr respeetlve properties, naturally excited curiosity respecting the causes of this diversity, and endeavours to shew the mode in which it was effected. Here we quit the path of observation, and wander into the regions of imagination and conjecture. It is the poetic ground of physiology ; but the union is unna- tural, and, like other unnatural unions, unproductive. The iiction spoils the science, and the admixture of science is fatal to inspiration. The fictitious beings of poetry are ge- nerally interesting in themselves, and are brought forwards to answer some useful purpose ; but the genii and spirits of physiology are awkward and clumsy, and do nothing at last, which could not be accomplished just as well without them : they literally incumber us with their help. For those, who think it impossible that the living organic structures should have vital properties without some extrin- sic aid ; — although they require no such assistance for the equally wonderful affinities of chemistry, for gravity, elas- ticity, or the other properties of matter, a great variety of explanations, suited to all tastes and comprehensions, has been provided. Some are contented with stating that the properties of life arise from a vital principle. This explanation has the merit of simplicity, whatever we may think of its profound- ness : and it has the advantage of being transferable and equally applicable to any other subject. Some hold that an immaterial principle, and others, that a material, but in- visible and very subtle agent, is superadded to the obvious structure of the body, and enables it to exhibit vital pheno- mena. The former explanation will be of use to those who are conversant with immaterial beings, and who understand how they are connected with and act on matter, but I know no description of persons likely to benefit by the latter. For subtle matter is still matter ; and if this fine stuff can possess vital properties, surely they may reside in a fabric which differs only in being a little coarser. Mr. Hunter has a good substantial sort of living princi- ple j he seems to have had no taste for immaterial agents. OiN THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY. JS or for subtle matters. His materia vitae is something tan- gible ; he describes it as a substance like that of the brain, diffused all over the body, and entering into the composi- tion of every part. He conceives even the blood to have its share ^. We may smile at these fancies, withoul any dis- respect to a name that we all revere, without any insensi- bility to the merits of a surgeon and physiologist, whose genius and labours have reflected honour on our profession and our country. If the father of poetry sometimes falls asleep, a physiologist may be allowed to dream a little : but they who are awake, need not shut their eyes, and endea- vour to follow his example, need not exhibit another in- stance of the perverted taste, which led the disciples of an ancient philosopher to drink spinach-juice, that they might look pale like their master. Plato made the vital principle to be an emanation of the nnima mundi, or soul of the world; an explanation, no doubt, quite satisfactory to those who know what the soul of tlie world is, and how other souls emanate from it. The Brahmins of the East hold a similar notion ; but they make the soul after death pass on into other bodies, or into animals, according to its behaviour ; admitting, how- ever, that those of the good are immediately reabsorbed * That the author of the Physiological Lectures should have published two books, principaliy for the purpose of explaining, illustrating and con- firming Mr. Hunter's " Theory of LifCi' without shewing us in either what that theory was, without a single citation or reference to identify this doc- trine, thus boldly baptised with the name of Hunte.i, as the literary ofl- spring of its alleged parent, appears strange and suspicious. It is easily explained ; for this Ilunterinn theory of life, which its real author so stoutly maintains to be not only probable and rational, but also verifiable, is no where to be found in the published writings of Mr. Hunter ; and does not even resemble the speculations on the same subject, which occur in the pos- thumous work on the Blood, Inflammation, S^c. part i. chap i. sec. 5. on the living Principle of the Blood. In perusing the writings of Mr. Hunter, we should always remember his unfortunate want of early education, the dif- ficulty he felt in conveying his notions clearly by words, and the mutilation which his thoughts must have suftcred in passing through the press, both from the causes just mentioned, and from the revision and correction to which :30uie of his writings were subjected. 74 OiN THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY. into the Divinity. Some of the Greeks adopted a distinct vital, sensitive, and rational principle in man. These are merely specimens ; a few articles, as patterns, selected from a vast assortment. If you do not like either of them, there are plenty more to choose from. As these and a hundred other such hypothesis are all supported by equally good proof — which is neither more nor less, in each instance, than the thorough conviction of the inventor ; and as they are inconsistent with each other, and there- fore mutually destructive, we need not trouble ourselves further until their respective advocates can agree together in selecting some one for their patronage, and discarding the rest. For of these, as of the numerous religions in the world, only one can be true. What is comparative anatomy ? The expression is rather vague and indefinite. You naturally inquire what is compared? what is the object of comparison ? The struc- ture of animals may be compared to that of man. To lay down the laws of the animal economy from facts furnished by the human subject only, would be like writing the natu- ral history of our species from observing the inhabitants of a single town or village. Repeated observations and multiplied experiments on the various tribes of animated nature, have cleared up many obscure and doubtful phenomena in the economy of man; a continuation of this method will place physiology on the solid basis of experience, and build up science on ground hitherto occupied by fancy and conjecture. The physiologist, who is conversant with natural history In general, is fortified against uncertain opinions, and the showy but flimsy textures of verbal sophistry. An hypo- thesis, which to others appears perfectly adequate to the object in view, is not convincing to him. He rises above the particular object to which it is accommodated, in order to appreciate its value ; as we ascend an eminence to gain a commanding view of a district, to distinguish its features, to ascertain the number and bearings of its parts, and then: relations to the surrounding country. ON THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY. 75 There are three points of view, in which comparative anatomy has an important bearing on human physiology. In the infancy of science, pliysiology, such as it was, owed its origin to zootomy, which was practised by physi- cians and naturalists eighteen centuries before human dis- sections began. The Anatomia Partiiim Corporis Humani of MoNDiNi, written in the beginning of the fourteenth century, was the first compendium of human anatomy com- posed from actual dissection. It is easy to shew that even the osteology of Galen was not drawn from the human skeleton ; and many parts of the body still bear names de- rived from animals, which names are in some instances not correctly applicable to the human structure ; for example, the epithets right and left as applied to the cavities of the heart. Although human anatomy, after its first scientific deve- lopement by Berengar of Carpi, was so quickly brought to a high pitch of perfection by the great triumvirate, Ve- sALius, Fallopius, and Eustachius, yet the most impor- tant discoveries, those of greatest weight in physiology considered as the basis of medicine, were made in animals. No period has been so fruitful in these discoveries, nor so distinguished in the literary history of our science, as the seventeenth century, in which the anatomy of brutes was most zealously cultivated, and most of the great anatomical facts were found out, which, by unveiling the hidden springs and movements of the animal machine, have furnished the principles, on which rational pathology and practical medi- cine have been established. These comparative researches render the most important service by affording a criterion in doubtful cases for deter- mining the uses of parts ; which, as the main object of this fundamental medical science, has been well chosen by Galen for the title of his classical work on physiology. Hence Haller observes that the situation, figure, and size of parts ought to be learned from man 5 their uses and motions must be drawn from animals. 7G ON THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY. I shall adduce a few particulars, for the purpose of exem- plifying the preceding remarks. A serpent swallows an animal larger than itself, which fills its oesophagus as well as stomach, and of which the diges- tion occupies several days, or even weeks. We open the reptile during this process, and find that part of the animal which remained in the oesophagus, sound and natural ; while the portion which had descended into the stomach, though still retaining its figure, is semi-liquefied, reduced into so soft a state as to break down under the slightest pressure. How effectually does this simple fact refute the notions of digestion being mechanical trituration; or solu- tion by heat (for the animal is cold-blooded) ; or the effect of fermentation, or putrefaction, or coction ! The slow and languid motion of the blood in cold-blooded animals has enabled us to demonstrate in them the circu- lation, which in man can only be proved by argument. Physiologists have been much perplexed to find out a common centre in the nervous system, in which all sensa- tions may meet, and from which all acts of volition may emanate ; a central apartment for the superintendant of the hunvcm panopticon; or, in its imposing Latin name, ^ sen- soriam commune. That there must be such a point they are well convinced, having satisfied themselves that the human mind is simple and indivisible, and therefore capable of dwelling only in one place. The pineal gland, the corpus callosum, the pons Varolii, and other parts, have been successively suggested. Now, there are many orders of animals with sensation and volition, who have none of these parts : and this assumed unity of the sentient principle becomes very doubtful, when we see other animals, pos- sessed of nervous systems, which, after being cut in two, form again two perfect animals. Is the immaterial prin- ciple divided by the knife, as well as the body ? The heart has been regarded by many physiologists as the prime mover in the animal machine — the origin of vital motion in the embryo, the chief agent in forming and maintaining the fabric, and the main-spring for keeping the ON THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY. ~ 77 wliole mnclilnery In action. There are wliole classes of living beings, and some of complicated structure, which have no heart. Some have regarded the spleen as a spunge, soaking up the blood when the stomach is ^mpty, and allowing it to be squeezed out again by the pressure of this bag when distended. In many animals, the spleen is neither cellular, nor so situated as to be compressible by the stomach ; this is the case, generally speaking, with birds and reptiles. The office of conveying away fluids from the stomacli has been assigned to it; making it a kind of water-pipe, to prevent the liquid contents of the digestive cistern from rising above a certain level. But it exists in reptiles and fishes, where neither the figure of the stomach, nor the known habits of the animals, in respect to food and digestion, admit of this explanation. In the camel, which retains the water In Its stomach, and in the horse, where It passes very rapidly into the coecum, the spleen Is as large as in other animals. In beasts of prey, which hardly drink at all, it is as large and cellular as in the herbivorous ruminant animals. Its size and Its cells are particularly conspicuous in the latter : yet the fluids which they swallow go Into the paunch, and not into the true digestive stomacli. Although arguments from analogy are of great service in physiology and other departments of natural history, although they throw light on obscure points, and give an interest to many discussions, their employment requires caution, and they should rather be resorted to for illustra- tion than relied on for direct proof. Organs correspond- ing In situation and name are not always constructed alike ; hence a part is sometimes employed in one class of animals for a different purpose from that which the instrument of the same name and of analogous position in the body exe- cutes In another. The gizzards of the gallinfe have a pro- digious triturating power ; and those, who first ascertained by experiment the extent of their power, were disposed to infer that digestion is effected in man by mechanical attri- tion. Now, the gizzard, although the corresponding part 78 ON THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY. to our stomach, Is, in structure and action, the instrument of mastication ; and, as birds have no teeth, it is the only instrument for dividing the hard grain on which they feed. Further inquiry shews, tliat even in tliis stomach, which is covered by a thick insensible cuticle capable of bearing the friction of grain and siliceous pebbles, digestion is really eflFected, as in the stomach of man, by solution ; the solvent juice being secreted by the large collection of glands at the cardiac end of the oesophagus, and having an operation similar to that of the gastric fluid of quadrupeds. It has been argued, that the arteries of the mammalia must have a contractile power, because, in some worms without a heart, these vessels carry on the circulation alone. The whole economy is too different in the two instances to admit of inferences from -analogy ; the circulating appara- tus, in particular, is formed on plans altogether different in the two cases ; and the structure and actions of the vessels of worms are, in fact, very little known. Because the vesiculee seminales in some animals do not communicate with the vasa deferentia, and therefore can- not receive the fluid secreted in the testicles, it has been inferred that they do not serve the purpose of reservoirs for the seminal secretion in man ; where, however, they have so free a communication with the vasa deferentia, that any fluids pass into and even distend the former, before they go on into the urethra. The organic arrangement is different in the two instances ; and this difference leads us to expect a modification in the function, instead of authorising us to infer that the same office is executed in exactly the same manner in both cases. If we met with animals in whom the cystic duct opened into the small intestines separately from the hepatic, shall we therefore infer that the human gall-bladder is not a receptacle for the hepatic bile ? Again, animals may be compared to each other. Each organ must be examined in all the gradations of living be- ings ; its modifications compared and surveyed in relation to the varieties of other parts, before a just notion of its functions can be formed. This kind of examination of the ON THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY. 79 animal kingdom leads to what may be called ' general ana- tomy/ the basis of general physiology ; the objects of which are to determine the organization, and unfold the vital laws of the whole system of living beings. In the physical sciences we have the power of insulating the various objects of our research ; of analysing them into their component elements, of subtracting these succes- sively, and thus determining beforehand all the conditions of the problem we may be studying. It would be desirable to employ the same proceeding in natural history ; and it is resorted to, when the objects are sufficiently simple : but they are for the most part too complicated, and connected two closely by mutual influences. We cannot analyse an animal of the higher orders, and observe the simple result of each organ by itself ; for if we destroy one part, the mo- tion of the whole machine is stopped. The phenomena come before us under conditions not regulated by our own choice, and in a state of complication requiring close atten- tion and careful discrimination to search out and determine the precise share of each component part. In this difficulty, comparative observations afford some assistance. The animals of inferior classes are so many sub- jects of experiment ready prepared for us; where any organ may be observed under every variety of simplicity and com- plication in its own structure — of existence alone, or in com- bination with others. LECTURE IV. Nature of Life. — Methodical Arrangement of Living Beings — Species, Varieties, Genera, Orders, 8^c. — Progressive Simplijica- tion of Organization, and of Functions. — Intellectual Functions of the Brain, in the natural and disordered State, explained on the same Principles as the offices of other Organs. The notion of life is too complicated, embraces too many particulars, to admit of a short definition. It varies in the different kinds of animals, as their structure and functions vary ; so that a description drawn from one would not be applicable to others differently situated in the animal series. If we Include in the description tliose circumstances only, wlilch are common to the whole animal kingdom, we must direct our view to beings of the most simple structure, where the phenomenon is reduced to its essential features, and these are not obscured or confused by accessary cir- cumstances. The distinguishing characters of living beings will be found in their texture or organization ; in their component elements ; In their form ; in their peculiar manifestations or phenomena ; and In the limits, that is, in the origin and termination of their vital existence. Their body is composed of solids and fluids ; the former arranged in fibres and lamlnfe, so as to intercept spaces which are occupied by tiie latter. The solids give the form to the body, and are contractile. The fluids are generally in motion. The component elements, of which nitrogen Is a princi- pal one, united in numbers of three, four, or more, easily pass into new combinations ; and are, for the most part, readily convertible into fluid or gas. NATURE OF LIFE. 81 Such a kind of composition, and such an arrangement of the constituent parts, is called organization ; and as the vital phenomena are only such motions as are consistent with these material arrangements, life, so far as our experience goes (and we have no other guide in these matters), is ne- cessarily connected wit): organization. Life presupposes organization, as the movements of a watch presuppose the wheels, levers, and other mechanism of the instrument. The organization assumes certain definite forms in each kind of animals ; not merely in the external arrangement of the whole, but in each part, and in all the details of each. On this depends the kind of motion which each part can ex- ercise — the share which it is capable of contributing to the general vital movement ; which latter, or, in short, life, is the result of the mutual actions and re-actions of all parts. Living bodies exhibit a constant internal motion, in which we observe an uninterrupted admission and assimila- tion of new, and a correspondent separation and expulsion of old particles. The form remains the same ; the compo- nent particles are continually changing. While this motion lasts, the body is said to be alive ; — when it has irrecover- ably ceased, to be dead. The organic structure then yields to the chemical affinities of the surrounding agents, and is speedily destroyed. All living beings have, in the first place, formed part of a body like their own ; have been attached to a parent be- fore the period of their independent existence. The new animal, while thus connected, is called a germ : its separa- tion constitutes generation or birth. After this, it increases in size according to certain fixed laws for each species and each part. The duration of -existence is limited in all animals : after a longer or shorter period, the vital movements are arrested, and their cessation or death seems to occur as a necessary consequence of life. Thus, then, absorption, assimilation, exhalation, genera- tion and growth^ are functions common to all living beings; birth and death, the universal limits of their existence ; a G 82 ARRANGEMENT OF ANIMALS. reticular contractile tissue, with fluids in its interstices, the general essence of their structure ; substances easily convertible into the state of liquid or gas, and combinations readily changing, the basis of their chemical composition. — Fixed forms, perpetuated by generation, distinguish their species, determine the combination of secondary functions peculiar to each, and assign to them their respective situa- tions in the system of the universe. After forming this general notion of living beings, we proceed to examine the animal kingdom in detail. The first glance discovers to us an infinite variety of forms ; diversities so numerous, that the attempt to observe and register the whole seems almost hopeless. We find, how- ever, that tliese forms, at first view so infinitely various, admit of being classed together — of being formed into groups, each of which is distinguished by certain essential characters. In the latter, all the animals comprehended in each group agree; while they difl^er from each other in particulars of minor importance. I have already mentioned, that a fixed external form be- longs to each animal, and that it is continued by genera- tion. Certain forms, the same as those existing in the world at the present moment, have existed from time immemorial. Such, at least, is the result of the separate and combined proofs furnished by our own observation and experience respecting the laws of the animal kingdom, by the voice of tradition and of history, by the remains of antiquity, and by every kind of collateral evidence. All the animals belonging to one of these forms con- stitute what zoologists call a species. This resemblance must not be understood in a rigorous sense; for every being has its individual characters, of size, figure, colour, proportions. In this sense, the character of variety is stamped on all Nature's works. She has made it a fun- damental law, that no two of her productions shall be exactly alike ; and this law is invariably observed through the whole creation. Each tree, each flower, each leaf, ex- emplifies it ; every animal has its individual character ; each ARRANGEMENT OF ANIMALS, 83 human being has something distinguishing, in form, pro- portions, countenance, gesture, voice — in feelings, thought, and temper — in mental as well as corporeal physiognomy. This variety is the source of every thing beautiful and in- teresting in the external world — the foundation of the whole moral fabric of the universe. I cannot help pointing out to you how strongly the voice of Nature, so clearly expressed in this obvious law, opposes all attempts at making mankind act or think alike. Yet the legislators and rulers of the world have persisted, for centuries, in endeavouring to reduce the opinions, the be- lief of their subjects, to certain fancied standards of per- fection — to impress on human thought that dreary same- ness, and dull monotony, which all the discipline and all the rigour of a religious sect have been hardly able to main- tain in the outward garb of its followers. The mind, how- ever, cannot be drilled — cannot be made to move at the word of command ; it scorns all shackles ; and rises with fresh energy from every new attempt to bind it down on this bed of Procrustes. All the oppression and persecution, all the bloodshed and misery, which the attempts to produce uniformity have occasioned, are, however, a less evil than the success of these mad efforts would be, were it possible for them to succeed in opposition to the natural constitution of the human mind — to the general scheme and plain design of Nature. The most powerful monarch of modern history, who exhibited the rare example of a voluntary retreat from the cares of empire while still fully able to wield the sceptre, was rendered sensible of the extreme folly he had been guilty of, in attempting to produce uniformity of opinion among the numerous subjects of his extensive dominions, by finding himself unable to make even tv/o watches go alike, although every part of this simple mechanism was constructed, formed, and adjusted by himself. The dear experience and the candid confession of Charles V. were thrown away on his bigoted son ; who repeated, on a still G 2 84 ARRANGEMENT OF ANIMALS. grander scale, with fresh horrors and cruelties, the bloody experiment of dragooning his subjects into uniformity, only to instruct the world by a still more memorable failure. The increasing light of reason has destroyed many of these remnants of ignorance and barbarism ; but much re- mains to be done, before the final accomplishment of the grand purpose, which, however delayed, cannot be ulti- mately defeated ;— 1 mean, the complete emancipation of the mind ; the destruction of all creeds and articles of faith ; and the establishment of full freedom of opinion and belief. I cannot doubt that a day will arrive, when the attempts at enforcing uniformity of opinion will be deemed as irrational, and as little desirable, as to endeavour at producing same- ness of face and stature *. In the mean time, no efforts capable of accelerating a consummation so beneficial to mankind should be omitted ; and I have therefore attempted to shew you, that, on this point, the analogies of natural history accord with the dic- tates of reason and the invariable instructions of experience. Certain external circumstances, as food, climate, mode of life, have the power of modifying the animal organization, so as to make it deviate from that of the parent. But this effect terminates in the individual. Thus, a fair English- man, If exposed to the sun, becomes dark and swarthy in Bengal ; but his offspring, if from an Englishwoman, are born just as fair as he himself was originally : and the chil- dren, after any number of generations that we have yet ob- served, are still born equally fair, provided there has been no intermixture of dark blood. * These opinions do not need ths support of names ; or I might cite Locke, in whose Letters on Toleration all the great principles on which the freedom of the human mind rests are fully developed, and unanswerably es- tablished. This may be called speculation, theory, or other bad names : I have therefore pleasure in referring to the authority of a practical statesman and enlightened magistrate. See Jefferson's Notes on Virginia, p. 261 — 270. Also, the Appendix, No 3, containing '' An Act for establishing Religious Freedom, passed ill the Assembly of Virginia in the Beginning of the Year 1786;'' — an admirable model, which has been perfectly success- ful, and hitherto adopted in no other part of tite world. ARRANGEMENT OF ANIMALS. 85 Moreover, under certain circumstances, with which we are not well acquainted, a more important change of orga- nization occurs. A new character springs up, and is pro- pagated by generation : this constitutes a variety, in the language of naturalists. The number and degree of these variations are confined within narrow limits ; they occur chiefly in the domesticated animals, and have not interfered with the transmission and continuation of those forms which constitute species. They will be more particularly consi- dered hereafter. Proceeding then, on the criterion of definite form, trans- mitted by generation, we may define a species as a collec- tion of all the individuals which hixve descended one from the other, or from common parents, and of all those which resemble them as much as they resemble each other*. Thus, our first operation, in classifying the animal king- dom, consists in referring individuals to their species. The next brings together the species most nearly resembling each other, and forms them into groups, called genera* This presupposes a thorough knowledge of the animals ; because the species included under each genus should resemble each other more closely than the species of any other genus. For example, the lion, tiger, lynx, leopard, panther, cat-species, with some others, compose the genus felis or cat. All these have a savage character, as they prey on living animals. For this purpose they are armed with powerful teeth, with great muscular strength in the jaws, neck, and limbs : they all have the tongue and glans penis covered with sharp, horny prickles ', and they are furnished with curved, sharp, and cutting nails or claws, which, by a peculiar mechanism, are retracted, so as not to press against the ground when the animal is not employing them. Thus the species in question all agree in the leading points of organization ; and they agree likewise in general habits and character. The common cat is the only one actually domesticated; but the lion, tiger, and others, are * CuviEi'., Regnc Animal; t. i. Intn>ductioii, p. 19. 86 ARRANGEMENT OF ANIMALS. easily tamed, and rendered lamiliar to man, altliougli their size and strength make them too dangerous for playfellows ; and many admit of training, so that they can be employed in hunting. The genera are again formed into groups, called orders : thus the cow, sheep, goat, deer, antelope, camel, lama, and other genera, compose the order ruminantia. All these feed on vegetables, and submit their food to a double pro- cess of mastication, in reference to which the stomach possesses a very peculiar and complicated structure. This vegetable diet, and this process of rumination, are con- nected with certain structures of teeth and jaws, with par- ticular arrangements of the organs of sensation and motion, and with certam general liabits, whicli produce great simi- larity of character throughout the whole order. The different orders are again arranged into certain CLASSES. Thus all the animals which are vivaporous, and in which the young are nourished for a certain time by a secretion of the mother, are united into the { lass mam- malia, or mammiferous animals ; so called from their mammse, or glandular organs, which secrete the fluid nu- triment of the young. Lastly, the classes are assembled, on the same principle of resemblance, into provinces or departments of tlie animal kingdom. The mammalia, birds, fishes, and reptiles, constitute the department vcrtebralia, or vertebral ani- ii;ials — all of them possessing a vertebral column or spine, the most important piece of an internal articulated skeleton. A scheme of the animal kingdom, drawn out on these principles, is called a natural method or distribution ; because the natural relations or resemblances of the objects comprised in it are the babis of its formation. To complete it an accurate knowledge of the whole animated creation is necessary 5 so that it cannot be attempted with any reason- able chance of success, except in an advanced state of the science. When such an arrangement has been properly executed; that is, when the animals have been assigned to each divi- SIMPLIFICATION OF ORGANIZATION. 8/ sion according to their resemblances of structure, so that tlic species of each genus are alike, and more like to each other than to those of any other genus ; and when the same remark is true concerning the genera of each order, the orders of eacli class, and the classes of each department ; it is an abridged expression of the vvliole science, the embo- died result of all our knowledge concerning the structure and habits of animals. The place which any animal occu- pies denotes all the leading circumstances of its organization and economy, and expresses them in a few words. We say, for example, that the dromedary belongs to the genus ca- MALus, order ruminantta, class mammalia, and depart- ment VERTEBRALIA. To a pcrson conversant with the principles of the arrangement, these four words convey a general notion of the animal, which would otherwise require a lengthened description. The great utility of this scientific short-hand writing, in abbreviating descriptions, is too obvious to need illustra- tion : it is absolutely indispensable when we come to deli- neate the structure and modifications of organs throughout the whole animal kingdom. The recent work of Cuvier, entitled the " Animal Kingdom distributed according to its organization," contains the most complete and accurate view of the subject. If we contemplate living beings arranged in one line, be- ginning with the most perfect, and continued downwards, we find a tolerably regular gradation from complicated to simple, through the whole series. At one end is man ; at the other,^an animated microscopic point, of which thousands are found in a single drop of fluid. Numberless gradations are placed between these ; so that, though the two ends of the chain are immeasurably remote, there is close approxi- mation between any two links. This simplification or degradation of the organization is immediately perceptible on comparing together the four great departments * of the animal kingdom ; and it is * The primary division of the animal kingdom into the four departments mentioned in the text, was proposed by Cuviiiu, in the Jnnalcs du Musmm 88 SIMPLIFICATION OF ORGANIZATION. equally so in each department. In the vertebra li a, we pass from the man to the eel or serpent: in the moli-usca, from the cuttle-fish to the barnacle or oyster : in the ar- TicuLATA, from the crab or lobster to the earthworm or leech : in the radiata, from the star-fish or medusa to an animalcule of infusions. The same progression is observable in each class ; in the mammalia, for example, we descend from man to the whale or seal. A cursory general survey of the animal kingdom will shew us the gradual steps by which this simplification of the or- ganization is effected. The internal articulated skeleton, on which the figure, motions, and other important properties of the vertebral ani- mals, which possess it, so much depend, ends in the verte- bral department *. In some fishes it is reduced to the state of cartilage ; and in others. It is so soft, as hardly to afford points sufficiently firm for support and motion. External members for locomotion do not exist in some vertebral ani- mals, as serpents and certain fishes. The eyelids and lachrymal apparatus 5 the external ear and tympanum ; the organs of touch and taste ; the parts called cerebrum and cerebellum ; do not extend beyond this department, nor do they exist in all the animals belong- ing to this division. The sympathetic nerve belongs only to the vertebral department f. d'llist. Nat.U 19. The reasons on which the division is grounded, and the principal anatomical characters of the four departments, may be seen in tlie Re^nc jinhnal. Introduction, p. 57, et suiv. * Unless we consider as a skeleton the curious and complicated arrange- ment of connected bony pieces in the asterias ; where, however, the princi- pal parts of the bony fabric are not applied, as in the vertebral animals, to the formation of receptacles for tlie nervous system. + If the simple nervous structures in some animals of the lower orders should be regarded as a sympathetic nerve, it will not materially affect our view of the subject, so far as the simplification of the organization is con- cerned. Treviranus regards the knotted abdominal cord of insects and worms as the vertebral ganglia of the syn)pathe(ic nerve, united into a symme- trical whole. To call it a spinal marrow he thinks incorrect. '* Its situation SIMPLIFICATION OF ORGANIZATION. 89 The diaphragm ends with the mammalia : so that the thorax and abdomen are not distinct in any other animals. The circulation is reduced in reptiles to the single state, and is carried on by one auricle and ventricle. Warmth of the blood — that is a temperature of that fluid considerably elevated above the surrounding medium — belongs only to mammalia and birds ; and the red colour of the same fluid is confined, with one small exception, to the vertebral animals. Organs of voice end in reptiles ; not existing in fishes. Viviparous generation, with its attendant process of suck- ling the young, is confined to the mammalia ; and is after- wards succeeded by the more simple oviparous form. Urinary organs end with the mammalia, many of which have no bladder ; as birds, some fishes, and reptiles. The absorbent system terminates in the vertebral depart- ment ; of wliich only the mammalia and birds possess lym- phatic glands. The mollusca present an organization very much reduced in the number of its parts, and very imperfect in all respects,- when compared to that of the vertebral animals. They have no skeleton to lod^e tlie nervous system, and form the centre of motions ; no separate receptacles for the various on the abdominal instead of the dorsal aspect of the body, points out a great difference between it and the spinal marrow of the four vertebral classes. The spiders and phalangia, which in other respects are allied to other insects, have no such cord, but, like the mollusca, single ganglia, not placed in a straight direction one behind tlie other. Tiie true spinal marrow is only found in mammalia, birds, reptiles, and fishes." Biologle, b. v. p. 331, 332. ''In this view, the representation that the great sympathetic nerve belongs only to red-blooded animals, must be deemed incorrect. This very nerve is the most general, the original of all nerves ; but it is variously modified in the different classes. In worms and insects there are merely vertebral gang- lia, without the coeliac ganglia of mammalia and birds; in the acephalous mollusca there are the latter, without the former ; in the cuttle-fish and snails there are single ganglia of both kinds. All these lower animals have no spi- nal marrow ; fishes and reptiles have one, and also vertebral ganglia; but the cceliac ganglia cither do not exist in them, or are not so developed as in birds and mammalia." Ibid, 331-5. 90 FUNCTIONS OF THE BRAIN. internal organs ; but the brain, nervous cord, and visecra, are all placed in a common cavity. In articulated animals, the nervous system is reduced to a knotted cord, and the organs of sense are gradually cxtin- guislied. The heart ceases in this department, and respira- tion also, as carried on by a particular organ. In the radiated department the organs of circulation finally disappear ; the heart having been before abolished. The alimentary apparatus is reduced to a simple bag with one opening. Finally, in the microscopic animalcules all special organs are at an end, and the animated being ap- pears to our senses a spot of mere jelly. Take any organ or system of organs, and the same pro- gress from complication to simplicity will be apparent. Let us observe the nervous system. In man and the mam- malia this apparatus consists of a brain and spinal marrow, securely lodged in bony cases of cerebral and spinal nerves ; of the system of ganglia called the great sympathetic nerve, and of the five external senses. In passing through the ■mammalia, we observe the brain considerably reduced in size ; still farther diminished, and altered in its figure and component parts, in birds ; lessened again, and greatly sim- plified, in reptiles and fishes. In the mollusca, this large apparatus is reduced to one or more small ganglia, with a few slender nerves ; to which are added, the rudiment of an ear in one instance only, and, in some others, imperfect and almost doubtful organs of vision. In articulated animals, there is merely a straight cord with a few branches ; in some of the more complicated radiated animals, a few almost doubtful nervous branches ; and be- low them nothing — neither brain, ganglia, nerves, nor or- gans of sense. But there would be little inducement to compare together the various animal structures, to follow any apparatus through the whole animal series, unless the structure were a measure and criterion of the function. Just in the same proportion as organization is reduced, life is reduced ; FUNCTIONS OF THE BRAIN. 91 exactly as the organic parts are diminished in number and simplified, the vital phenomena become fewer and more simple; and each function ends, when the respective organ ceases. This is true throughout zoology ; there is no ex- ception in behalf of any vital manifestations. The same kind of facts, the same reasoning, the same sort of evidence altogether, which shew digestion to be the function of the alimentary canal, the motion of the muscles, and various secretions of their respective glands, prove that sensation, perception, memory, judgment, reasoning, thought — in a word, all the manifestations called mental or intellectual — are the animal functions of their appropriate organic apparatus, the central organ of the nervous system. No difficulty nor obscurity belongs to the latter case, which does not equally affect all the former instances : no kind of evidence connects the living processes with tlie material in- struments in the one, which does not apply just as clearly and forcibly to the other. Shall I be told that thought is inconsistent with matter ; that We cannot conceive how medullary substance can per- ceive, remember, judge, reason? 1 acknowledge that we are entirely ignorant how the parts of the brain accomplish these purposes — as we are how the liver secretes bile, how the muscles contract, or how any other living purpose is ef- fected ', — as we are how heavy bodies are attracted to tlie earth, how iron is drawn to the magnet, or how two salts de- compose each other. Experience is, in all these cases, our sole, if not sufficient instructress ; and the constant con- j unction of phenomena, as exhibited in her lessons, is the sole ground for affirming a necessary connexion between them. If we go beyond this, and come to inquire the man- ner how, the mechanism by which these things are effi^cted, we shall find every thing around us equally mysterious, equally incomprehensible — from the stone which falls to the earth, to the comet traversing the heavens — from the thread attracted by amber or sealing-wax, to the revolutions of planets in their orbits — from the formation of a maggot 92 FUNCTION'S OF THE BRAIN. in putrid flesh, or a mite in clieese, to the production of a Newton or a Franklin. In opposition to these views, it has been contended that thought is not an act of the brain, but of an immaterial substance, residing in or connected with it. This birge and curious structure, which, in the human subject, re- ceives one fifth of all the blood sent out from tlie heart, which is so peculiarly and delicately organized, nicely en- veloped in successive membranes, and securely lodged in a solid bony case, is left almost without an office, being barely allowed to be capable of sensation. It has, indeed, the easiest lot in the animal economy : it is better fed, clothed, and lodged than any other part, and has less to do. But its office — only one remove above a sinecure — is not a very honourable one : it is a kind of porter, entrusted to open the door, and introduce new comers to the master of the house, who takes on himself the entire charge of receiv- ing, entertaining, and employing them. Let us survey the natural history of the human mind — its rise, progress, various fates, and decay ; and then judge whether these accord best with the hypothesis of an imma- terial agent, or with the plain dictates of common sense, and the analogy of every other organ and function throughout tlie boundless extent of living beings. You must bring to this physiological question a sincere and earnest love of truth ; dismissing from your minds all the prejudices and alarms which have been so industriously connected with it. If you enter on the inquiry in the spirit of the bigot and partisan, suffering a cloud of fears and hopes, desires and aversions, to hang round your under- standings, you will never discern objects clearly ; their co- lours, shapes, dimensions, will be confused, distorted, and obscured by the intellectual mist. Our business is, to in- quire what is true ; not what is the finest theory ; not what will supply the best topics of pretty composition and eloquent declamation, addressed to the prejudices, the pas- sions, and the ignorance of our hearers. We need not FUNCTIONS OF THE BRAIN, 93 fear the result of investigation. Truth is like a native rustic beauty ; most lovely when unadorned, and seen in tlie open light of day. Your fine hypotheses and specious theories are like the unfortunate females who supply the want or the loss of native charms, and repair the breaches of age or disease, by paint, finery, and decorations ; which can only be exhibited in the glaring lights, the artificial atmosphere, and the unnatural scenery of the theatre or saloon. Whenever it is thoroughly discussed, truth will not fail to come like tried gold from the fire. Like Ajax, it requires nothing but day-light and fair play. Reason and free inquiry are the only eff'ectual antidotes of error. Give them full scope, and they will uphold the truth, by bringing false opinions, and all the spurious off- spring of ignorance, prejudice, and self-interest, before their severe tribunal, and subjecting them to the test of close investigation. Error alone needs artificial support : truth can stand by itself. Sir EvERARD Home, with the assistance of Mr. Bauer and his microscope, has shewn us a man eight days old from the time of conception — about as broad, and a little longer tlian a pin's head. He satisfied himself that the brain of this homunculus was discernible. Could the im- material mind have been connected with it at this time ? or was the tenement too small even for so etherial a lodger ? At the full period of utero-gestation it is still difficult to trace any vestiges of mind ; and the believers in its sepa- rate existence have left us quite in the dark on the precise time at which the spiritual guest arrives in his corporeal dwelling, the interesting and important moment of amalga- mation or combination of the earthly dust and the ethereal essence. The Roman Catholic church has cut the knot which no one else could untie ; and has decided that the little mortal, on its passage into this world of trouble, has a soul to be saved : it accordingly directs and authorizes midvvives, in cases of diflicult labour, where the death of the infant is apprehended, to baptize it by means of a 94 FUNCTIONS OF THE BRAIN. syringe introduced into the vagina, and thus to save it from perdition. They, whose scruples are not quite set at rest by tlie above-mentioned decision of the church, nor by being told that the mind has not yet taken up its quarters in the brain endeavour to account for the entire absence of mental phe- nomena at the time of birth, by the senses and brain not having been yet called into action by the impressions of external objects. These organs begin to be exercised as soon as the child is born : and a faint glimmering of mind is dimly perceived in the course of the first months of existence ; but it is as weak and infantile as the body. As the senses acquire their powers, and the cerebral jelly becomes firmer, the mind gradually strengthens ; slowly advances, with the body, through childhood to puberty ; and becomes adult when the developement of the frame is complete : it is, moreover, male or female, according to the sex of the body. In the perfect period of organization, the mind is seen in tlie plenitude of its powers ; but this state of full vigour is short in duration, both for the intellect and corporeal fabric. The wear and tear of the latter is evi- denced in its mental movements : with the decline of or- ganization tlie mind decays ; it becomes decrepit v/ith the body; and both are at the same time extinguished by death. What do we infer from this succession of phenomena ? — the existence and action of a principle entirely distinct from body ? or a close analogy to the history of all other organs and functions ? The number and kind of the intellectual phenomena in different animals correspond closely to the degree of deve- lopement of the brain. The mind of the Negro and Hot- tentot, of the Calmuck and the Carib, is inferior to that of the European ; and their organization is also less perfect. The large cranium and high forehead of the orang-utang lift him above his brother monkeys ; but tlie developement of his cerebral hemispheres and his mental manifestations FUNCTIONS OF THE BRAIN. 95 are both equally below those of the Negro. The gradation of organization and of mind passes through the monkey, dog, elephant, horse, to other quadrupeds ; thence to birds, reptiles, and fishes ; and so on to the lowest links of the animal chain. In ascending these steps of one ladder, following in regu- lar succession at equal intervals, where shall we find the boundary of unassisted organization ? where place the be- ginning of the immaterial adjunct ? In tliat view which assimilates the functions of the brain to those of other orga- nic parts, this case has no difficulty. As tlie structure of the brain is more exquisite, perfect, and complex, its func- tions ought to be proportionally so. It is no slight proof of the doctrine now enforced, that the fact is actually thus ; that the mental powers of brutes, as far as we can see, are proportional to their organization. We cannot deny to animals all participation in rational endowments, without shutting our eyes to the most obvious facts — to indications of reasoning, which the unprejudiced observation of mankind has not failed to recognize and ap- preciate. Without adverting to the well-known instances of comparison, judgment, and sagacity, in the elephant, the dog, and many other animals, let us read the character drawn by Humboldt of the South American mules. " When the mules feel tliemselves in danger they stop, turning their heads to the right and to the left : the motion of their ears seems to indicate tliat they reflect on the deci- sion they ought to take. Their resolution is slow, but al- ways just, if it be free ; that is to say, if it be not crossed nor hastened by the imprudence of the traveller. It is on the frightful roads of the Andes, during journeys of six or seven months across mountains furrowed by torrents, that the intelligence of horses and beasts of burden displays itself in an astonishing manner. Thus the mountaineers are heard to say, * I will not give you the mule whose step is the easiest, but him who reasons best*.' " * Personal Narrative v. iii. 96 FUNCTIONS OF THE BRAIN. If tlie intellectual phenomena of man require an immate- rial principle superadded to the brain, we must equally con- cede it to those more rational animals which exhibit mani- festations differing from some of the human only in degree. If we grant it to these, we cannot refuse it to the next in order, and so on in succession to the whole series — to the oyster, the sea-anemone, the polype, the microscopic ani- malcules. Is any one prepared to admit the existence of immaterial principles in all these cases ? If not, he must equally reject it in man. It is admitted, that an ideot with a malformed brain has no mind; that the sagacious dog and half-reasonable ele- phant do not require any thing superadded to their brains : it is allowed tliat a dog or elephant excels inferior animals, in consequence of possessing a more perfect cerebral struc- ture : it is strongly suspected that a Newton or a Shak- SPEARE excels other mortals only by a more ample dcve- lopement of the anterior cerebral lobes, by having an extra inch of brain in the right place : yet the immaterialists will not concede the obvious corollary of all these admissions, viz. that the mind of man is merely that more perfect exhi- bition of mental phenomena which the more complete developement of the brain would lead us to expect ; and still perplex us with the gratuitous difficulty of their immaterial hypothesis. Thought, it is positively and dogmatically asserted, cannot be an act of matter. Yet no feelings, no thought, no intellectual operation has ever been seen except in conjunction with a brain; and living matter is acknow- ledged by most persons to be capable of what makes the nearest possible approach to thinking. The strongest ad- vocate for immaterialism seeks no further than the body for his explanation of all the vital processes, of muscular con- traction, nutrition, secretion, &c. — operations quite as dif- ferent from any affection of inorganic substance, as reason- ing or thought ; he will even allow the brain to be capable of sensation. Who knows the capabilities of matter so perfectly, as to be able to say that it can sec, hear, smell, taste, and feel. FUNCTIONS OF THE BRAIN. J>7 but cannot possibly reflect, imagine, judge ? Who has ap- preciated them so exactly, as to be able to decide that it can execute the mental functions of an elephant, a dog, or an orang-utang, but cannot perform those of a Negro or a Hottentot ? To say that a thing of merely negative properties, that is, an immaterial substance, which is neither evidenced by any direct testimony, nor by any, indirect proof from its effects, does exist, and can think, is quite consistent in those who deny thought to animal structures, where we see it going on every day. If the mental processes be not the function of the brain, what is its office ? In animals which possess only a small part of the human cerebral structure sensation exists, and in many cases is more acute than in man. What employ- ment shall we find for all that man possesses over and above this portion — for the large and prodigiously deve- loped human hemispheres ? Are we to believe that these serve only to round the figure of the organ, or to fill the cranium ? It is necessary for you to form clear opinions on this sub- ject, as it has immediate reference to an important branch of pathology. They who consider the mental operations as acts of an immaterial being, and thus disconnect the sound state of the mind from organization, act very con- sistently in disjoining insanity also from the corporeal struc- ture, and in representing it as a disease, not of the brain, but of the mind. Thus we come to disease of an immate- rial being, for which, suitably enough, moral treatment has been recommended. I firmly believe, on the contrary, that the various forms of insanity, that all the affections comprehended under the general term of mental derangement, are only evidences of cerebral affections, disordered manifestations of those organs whose healthy action produces the phenomena called men- tal ; in short, symptoms of diseased brain. These symptoms have the same relation to the brain, as H 98 FUNCTIONS OF THE BRAIN. vomiting, indigestion, heartburn, to tlie stomach; cough, asthma, to the lungs ; or any other deranged functions to their corresponding organs. If the biliary secretion be increased, diminished, sus- pended, or altered, we have no hesitation in referring to changes in the condition of the liver, as the immediate cause of these phenomena. We explain the state of respi- ration, whether slow, hurried, impeded by cough, spasm, &c. by the various conditions of the lungs, and other parts concerned in breathing. These explanations are deemed perfectly satisfactory. What should we think of a person who told us that the organs have nothing to do with the business ; that colera, jaundice, hepatitis, are diseases of an immaterial hepatic being ; that asthma, cough, consumption, are affections of a subtle pulmonary matter ; or that in both cases the dis- order is not in bodily organs, but in a vital principle ? If such a statement would be deemed too absurd for any se- rious comment in the derangements of the liver, lungs, and other organic parts, how can it be received in the brain ? The very persons who use this langua^-e of diseases of the mind, speak and reason correctly respecting the other affections of the brain. When it is compressed by a piece of bone, or by effused blood or serum, and when all intel- lectual phenomena are more or less completely suspended they do not say that the mind is squeezed, that the imma- terial principle suffers pressure. For the ravings of deli- rium and phrensy, the excitation and subsequent stupor of intoxication, they find an adequate explanation in the state of the cerebral circulation, without fancying that the mind is delirious, mad, or drunk. In these cases the seat of the disease, the cause of the symptoms, is too obvious to escape notice. In many forms of insanity the affection of the cerebral organization is less strongly marked, slower in its progress, but generally very recognizable, and abundantly sufficient to explain the dis- eased manifestations — to afford a material organic cause for FUNCTIONS OF THE BRAIN. 99 the phenomena — for the augmented or diminished energy, or the altered nature of the various feelings and intellectual faculties. I have examined after death the heads of many insane persons, and have hardly seen a single brain which did not exhibit obvious marks of disease ; — in recent cases, loaded vessels, increased serous secretions ; — in all instances of longer duration, unequivocal signs of present or past in- creased action ; blood-vessels apparently more numerous, membranes thickened and opaque, depositions of coagula- ble lymph forming adhesions or adventitious membranes, watery effusions, even abscesses : add to this, that the in- sane often become paralytic, or are suddenly cut off by apoplexy. Sometimes, indeed, the mental phenomena are disturbed without any visible deviation from the healthy structure of the brain ; as digestion or biliary secretion may be impaired or altered without any recognizable change of structure in the stomach or liver. The brain, like other parts of this complicated machine, may be diseased sympathetically 5 and we see it recover. Thus we find the brain, like other parts, subject to what is called functional disorder; but, although we cannot ac- tually demonstrate the fact, we no more doubt that the material cause of the symptoms or external signs of disease is in this organ, than we do that impaired biliary secretion has its source in the liver, or faulty digestion in the stomach. The brain does not often come under the inspection of the anatomist, in such cases of functional disorder ; and I am convinced, from my own experience, that very few heads of persons dying deranged will be examined after death, with- out shewing diseased structure, or evident signs of increased vascular activity. The effect of medical treatment completely corroborates these views. Indeed, they who talk of and believe in dis- eases of the mind are too wise to put their trust in mental remedies. Arguments, syllogisms, discourses, sermons, have never yet restored any patient ; the moral pharmaco- H 2 100 FUNCTIONS OF THE BRAIN. poeia is quite inefficient ; and no real benefit can be con- ferred without vigorous medical treatment, which is as efficacious in these affections as in the diseases of any other organs. In thus drawing your attention to the physiology of the brain, 1 have been influenced, not merely by the intrinsic interest and importance of the subject, but a wish to exem- plify the aid which human and comparative anatomy and physiology are capable of affording each other, and to shew liow the data furnished by both tend to illustrate pathology. I have purposely avoided noticing those considerations of the tendency of certain physiological doctrines, which have sometimes been industriously mixed up with these disqui- sitions. In defence of a weak cause, and in failure of direct arguments, appeals to the passions and prejudices have been indulged; attempts have been made to fix public odium on the supporters of this or that opinion ; and direct charges of bad motives and injurious consequences have been reinforced by all the arts of misrepresentation, insi- nuation, and inuendo. To discover truth, and to represent it in the clearest and most intelligible manner, seem to me the only proper ob- jects of physiological, or indeed any other inquiries. Free discussion is the surest way, not only to disclose and strengthen wliat is true, but to detect and expose what is fallacious. Let us not then pay so bad a compliment to truth, as to use in its defence foul blows and unlawful weapons. Its adversaries, if it has any, will be dispatched soon enough, without the aid of the stiletto and the bowl. The argument against the expediency of divulging an opinion, although it may be true, from the possibility of Its being perverted, has been so much hackneyed, so often employed in the last resort by the defenders of all esta- blished abuses and errors, that every one, who is conversant with controversy, rejects it immediately, as the sure mark of a bad cause, as the last refuge of retreating error. NATURAL HISTORY OF MAN. The following remarks on those parts of the natural his- tory of our species, which admit of illustration from human and comparative anatomy and physiology, formed twelve Lectures, delivered after the three foregoing, at the Royal College of Surgeons, in the past summer (1818). They are here arranged according to the natural divisions of the subject, without any reference to the arbitrary distinctions of the particular Lectures, which are therefore entirely omitted. CHAPTER I. Nature and Objects of the Inquiry ; and Mode of Investigation ; the Subject hitherto neglected, and very erroneous Notions conse- quently prevalent. — Sources of Information. — Anatomical Cha- racters of the Monkey Tribe, and more particularly of the Orang-utang and Chimpanse. — Specific Character of Man. Mirantur aliquialtitudinesmontium, ingcntes fluctus maris, altissimos lapsus iluminuin, et gyros siderum : — relinquunt seipsos nee mirantur." S AUGUSTINUS. The natural history of man, in its most comprehensive sense, constitutes a subject of immense extent and of endless variety ; or rather includes several very important subjects, if w^e attempt to describe both the individual and the species. In a complete history of man, it would be necessary, in re- spect to the former, to relate the phenomena of his first production, to examine his anatomical structure, his bodily and intellectual functions, his propensities and feelings, his diseases — and to pursue his progress from the time of birth to the grave : in reference to the latter, to point out the circumstances that distinguish him from other animals, and determine the precise degree and kind of resemblance or difference, of specific affinity or diversity between them and ourselves ; to compare or contrast with each other the va- rious nations or tribes of human beings ; to delineate the physical and moral characters of the people inhabiting the different portions of the globe, and to trace their progress from the first rudiments of civil society to the state at which they are now arrived. To write such a history of our spe- cies would demand a familiar acquaintance with nearly the ON THE NATURAL HISTORY OF MAN. 103 whole circle of human knowledge, and a combination of the most opposite pursuits and talents. This labour, much too extensive to be properly executed by any individual, is divi- ded into several subordinate branches. The anatomist and physiologist unfold the construction and uses of the corpo- real mechanism ; the surgeon and physician describe its dis- eases ; while the metaphysician and moralist employ them- selves with those functions which constitute the mind, and with the moral sentiments. Man in society, his progress in the various countries and ages of the world, his multipli- cation and extension, are the province of the historian and political economist. I design, on the present occasion, to consider man as an object of zoology — to describe him as a subject of the ani- mal kingdom. I shall therefore first enumerate, and con- sider, the distinctions between him and animals ; and shall then describe, and attempt to account for, the principal dif- ferences between the various races of mankind. Although the questions, which come before us in such a review of the subject as I now speak of, are of very high in- terest and importance — and although the principles derived from these investigations throw a strong light on many dark points in metaphysics and morals, in legislation, history, antiquities, and the fine arts — we shall find that they have not been investigated with a corresponding degree of atten- tion and perseverance. What climates, what degrees of heat and cold, can man bear ? How is he able to endure all the diversified external influences of such various abodes ? Is he indebted for this privilege to the strength and flexibility of his organization, or to his mental functions, his reason, and the arts which he has thence derived ? Is he a species broadly and clearly distinguished from all others ; or is he specifically allied to the orang-utang and other monkeys ? What are his corpo- real, what his mental distinctions ? Are the latter different in kind, or only superior In degree to those of the higher animals ? Is there one species of men only, or are there 104 ON THE NATURAL HISTORY OF MAN. many distinct ones ? What particulars of external form and inward structure characterize tlie several races ? What relation is observed between tlie differences of structure and those of moral feeling, mental powers, capability of ci- vilization, and actual progress in arts, sciences, literature, government ? How is man aff^ected by the external influ- ences of climate, food, way of life? Are these, or any others, operating on beings originally alike, sufficient to account for all the diversities hitherto observed; or must we suppose that several kinds of men were created originally, each for its own situation ? If we adopt the supposition of a single species, what country did it ffrst inhabit ? and what was the appearance of the original man ? Did he go erect, or on all fours ? Was he a Patagonian, or an Eskimau, a Negro, or a Georgian ? Such are the inquiries that claim our attention in a zoolo- gical survey of the human species. To suppose that it is in my power to furnish satisfactory replies, would be a de- gree of presumption which it is hardly necessary for me to disclaim. I mentioned them only as examples ; and I take the liberty of adding my firm conviction, that these and si- milar matters will never be cleared up except by those who are thoroughly acquainted with the anatomy and physiology of our frame : with comparative anatomy ; with the prin- ciples of general physiology, and the analogies derivable from the whole extent of living nature. I shall be con- tented with having called your attention to a subject which falls within the province of our own pursuits ; and with ex- hibiting specimens of the mode of proceeding, and the ob- jects to be kept in view. The natural history of man is, in- deed, yet in its infancy; so that a complete view of the sub- ject could not be attempted. The description and arrange- ment of the various productions of the globe have occupied numerous observers in all ages of the world ; and have en- gaged their attention so exclusively, that they have had no time to think of themselves. Every reptile, bird, insect, plant, even every mineral, has had its historian, and been de- ON THE NATURAL HISTORY OF MAN. 105 scribed with minute accuracy ; while the human subject has been comparatively neglected. In a voluminous work now publishing in this country, entitled General Zoology, or Systematic Natural History, man is altogether omitted, without notice or apology. Accurate, beautiful, and ex- pensive engravings have been executed of most objects in natural history, of insects, birds, plants ; splendid and costly publications have been devoted to small and appa- rently insignificant departments of this science ; yet the different races of man have hardly in any instance been at- tentively investigated, described, or compared together ; no one has approximated and surveyed in conjunction their structure and powers ; no attempt has been made to deli- neate them— I will not say on a large and comprehensive, but not even on a small and contracted scale : nobody has ever thought it worth while to bestow on a faithful deli- neation of the several varieties of man one tenth of the la- bour and expense which have been lavished again and again on birds-of-paradise, pigeons, parrots, humming-birds, beetles, spiders, and many other such objects. Even intel- ligent and scientific travellers have too often thrown away, on dress, arms, ornaments, utensils, buildings, landscapes, and obscure antiquities, the utmost luxury of engraving and embellishment ; neglecting entirely the being, without re- ference to whom, none of these objects possess either value or interest. In many very expensive works, one is disap- pointed at meeting, in long succession, with prints of cos- tumes, summer dresses and winter dresses, court and com- mon dresses ; the wearer in the mean time being entirely lost sight of *. The immortal historian of Nature seems to * Among the few works in which we meet with characteristic delineations of the human species deserving confidence, may be mentioned, Voyages dc C Le Brun, par la Moscovie, en Perset et aux Indes Orientates, 2 t. fol. Cook's Voyages towards the South Pole, and round the World, 2 v. 4tO' 1777. Cook's Voyage to the Pacific Ocean^ 3 v. 4to. 1785 ; with folio Atlas. Both these contain numerous excellent representations of the human subject, PtRON Voyage aux Tcrrcs Austraks, torn. 1. has the best figures of human 106 ON THE NATURAL HISTORY OF MAN. have alluded to this strange neglect, in observing " qiielqu' interet que nous ayons a nous connaitre nous memes, je ne sais si nous ne connaissons pas mieux tout ce qui n'cst pas nous *.'' Indeed, v^^hether we investigate the physical or the moral nature of man, we recognize at every step the limited extent of our knowledge, and are obliged to confess that ig- norance which a Rousseau and a Buffon have not been ashamed to avow : — " The most useful, and the least suc- cessfully cultivated of all human knowledge, is that of man ; and the inscription f on the temple of Delphi contained a more important and difficult precept than all the books of the moralists J." That the greatest ignorance has prevailed on this subject? even in modern times, and among men of distinguished learning and accuteness, is shewn by the strange notion very strenuously asserted by Monboddo§ and Rousseau, and firmly believed by many, that man and the monkey, or at least the orang-utang, belong to the same species, and are no otherwise distinguished from each other than by circum- stances which can be accounted for by the different physi- cal and moral agencies to which they have been exposed. The former of these writers even supposes that the human race once possessed tails 5 and he says, " The orang-utangs are proved to be of our species, by marks of humanity that I think are incontestable/' A poor compliment to our species : as any one will think, who may take the trouble heads yet published. There are numerous heads in Denon, Voy. clans la Haute et Basse Egypte, pi. 104—112 : and some in the unrivalled Descrip- tion de VEgypte ; Etat moderne. A few otiier references will be found in the course of this work. » " De la Nature de rplommc." JJist. Xai. 2. Tliis great Naturalist and eloquent writer must be excepted from the remarks in the text. He treats largely of man in the 2d and 3d vols, of the Historic naturelle, generate et particulicre. f Tvu^i aeuvTOP + Discom-s sur Vlnegalite ; Preface. § On the Origin and Progress of Language, v. l.j and Ancient Metaphy- sics^ V. 3, ON THE NATURAL HISTORY OF MAN. 107 of paying a morning visit to the orang-utang at Exeter Change. Misled by this strange and fanciful notions of the unna- tural condition of man in society, Rousseau has even ap- plied the observations of travellers concerning animals to man 5 and if we think fit to believe with him, that he knew better what they saw than they did themselves, we may ar- rive at this conclusion concerning the existence of wild men in an insulated and solitary state, similar to that of wild beasts *. The completely unsupported assertions of Monboddo and Rousseau only shew that they were equally unac- quainted with the structure and functions of men and mon- keys ; not conversant with zoology and physiology, and therefore entirely destitute of the principles on which alone a sound judgment can be formed concerning the natural ca- pabilities and destiny of animals, as well as the laws accord- ing to which certain changes of character, certain departures from the original stock, may take place. Mankind in general, the unlearned and the unscientific, do not commit the gross mistake of confounding together man and animals : this distinction, at least, so clear and ob- vious to common observation and unprejudiced common sense, is preserved in their short division of the animal king- dom into man and brutes. Other writers, who expatiate with vast delight on what they call the regular gradation or chain of beings, and discover great wisdom of the Creator, and great beauty of the crea- tion, in the circumstance, that nature makes no leaps, but * *' Toutes ces observations sur les varl^t 122 ERECT ATTITUDE model of the human form, as set them up for a standard of the attitude, progression, or faeulties of man. But if these beings had been free from defect, if they had been well-formed and capable of all human endow- ments, should we deem them more natural for having been solitary? Should we not, on the contrary, be justified in regarding that insulated condition as a deviation from the scheme of nature, comparing it, with Voltaire, to the state of a bee v/hich has lost the hive *? Is the social rook or antelope more artificial or degenerate than the solitary eagle or lion ? If the erect attitude and biped progression be peculiar to man, the structure of the lower limbs which support his trunk, and of their muscles which move it, must exhibit characters of form, size, and arrangement, which are met with in no other animals. The influence of this peculiarity will not be confined to the lower limbs : it will also modify the pelvis, which is the basis of the trunk ; receiving above the weight of the abdominal viscera, the thorax, upper limbs^ and head, transmitting this weight to the lower limbs, and offering fixed points for their motions ; the upper limbs, which are not employed for support, but merely as instru- ments of prehension ; the thorax, by which these are sepa- rated, and on which they rest 3 and the junction of the head with the vertebral column, on which the due support of this weighty mass, and the proper direction of the eyes, mouthy and face depend. The length and strength of the lower limbs, the great in- struments of support and progression, are very striking, and quite peculiar to man. They are equal in length to the trunk and head together ; which is not the case in any other animal, excepting the kangaroo, jerboa, &c. where the prin- ciples of construction and the offices of these parts are quite different from the human. In all the monkey tribe, they fall very far short of this pro- • "Si Ton rencontre une abeille errante, devra-t-on conclure que cette abeillc est dans T^tat de pure nature, et que ccUes qui travaillent en soci^te dans la ruche ont deg^n^rd ?'' PECULIAR TO MAN. 123 portion ; even in the orang-utang and chimpanse they are short and weak, and manifestly inadequate to sustain the body erect. This circumstance alone effectually disqualifies the most manlike monkey from participating with man in that grand attribute; and would of itself be a sufficient ground for specific distinction between the two beings. If the lower limbs of monkeys are weak in comparison with the human, those of other animals, and particularly of true quadrupeds, are much more so : the short thigh-bone is al- most concealed by the muscles of the body ; and the rest of the limb is slender, and not covered by any great muscular masses. The disproportion in the respective lengths of our upper and lower limbs clearly points out the different offices they are destined to execute. The superior length and power of the latter, so necessary for the various purposes connected with our erect attitude, make us altogether unfit for going on all-fours, as will be immediately shewn by a trial. In such an experiment, either the lower limbs must be throv/n obliquely backwards, or the articulations held in a bent and very insecure position. Even children before they can walk, in whom the lower limbs are comparatively shorter than in adults, crawl upon their knees, or else drag the lower extremities after them on the ground. To the long and powerful femur, to the strong tibia, to the broad articular surfaces which join these at the knee, no parallel can be met with in any animal. The breadth of the human pelvis affords an ample basis of support for the trunk ; and this receives a still further transverse enlargement by the length of the cervix femoris, another peculiarity of human organization. This long neck throws the body of the bone outwards, disengages its shaft from the hip-joint, and thus increases the extent of rotation : it gives the body greater firmness in standing, without im- peding progression ; since the head of the bone, and not the body, is the centre of motion. If the thigh-bones pos- sessed no neck, but were kept equally far apart by increas- ing the distance between the cotyloid cavities, the attitude 124 ERECT ATTITUDE of standing would be just as secure, the transverse base of support being still the same; but progression would be im- peded, as it actually is in the female, from the greater trans- verse diameter of the pelvis. Another character of the human femur is the obliquity of its shaft, and superior length of the internal condyle, arising from the breadth of the pelvis, and length of the cervix, combined with the necessity for bringing its lower end per- pendicularly under the pelvis, in reference to the secure sup- port of the trunk. The line of direction of the human femur is perpendicu- lar, the same as that of the trunk : its axis coincides with the centre of gravity of the body : it is placed perpendicu- larly under the pelvis, and thus supports the trunk steadily. In all other animals it forms an angle with the spine ; and this is often even an acute one. It is obvious that the erect attitude must be extremely unsteady, and the difficulty of maintaining the body in equilibrio very great in such an arrangement. When the vertebral column is raised per- pendicularly in the orang-utang, the thigh-bones form an obtuse angle with it : the long arms preserve the balance, as they do likewise in the gibbon (S. Lar). The angle is increased in quadrupeds under similar circumstances ; and the efforts they make to remain upright on the hind feet are continued with difficulty, more especially if not assisted by some other advantages of construction, as in the bear,^ for instance, by the length of the heel. The feet, being the ultimate supports of the whole frame, and the primary agents of locomotion, are characterized by a combination of greater breadth, strength, and solidity, in proportion to the size of the body, than those of any animal. The whole surface of the tarsus, metatarsus, and toes rests on the ground, and the os calcis forms a right angle with the leg. The two last circumstances are seen in no other animal ; even the simiae and the bear have the end of the os calcis raised, so that this bone begins to form an acute angle with the leg : the dog, the cat, and other digitated quadru- peds, even the elephant himself, do not rest on the tarsus or PECULIAR TO MAN. 125 carpus, but merely on the toes : the cloven-hoofed rumi- nants (bisulca), and the solipeda, touch the ground merely with the extremities of the third phalanges, and the os calcis is raised nearly into a perpendicular position. Thus, as we depart from man, the foot is more and more contracted and elongated, the part serving for support reduced, and the angle of the heel-bone rendered more acute. The great size of the os calcis, and particularly the bulk and prominence of its posterior projection, to which the powerful muscles of the calf are affixed, correspond to its important office of supporting the back of the foot, and re- sisting force applied to the front of the body. This single bone is, therefore, an infallible characteristic of man ; and " Ex calce hominem," would probably be a safer rule than "Ex pede Herculem." The concavity of the sole is an arrangement rendered necessary by the whole surface resting flat on the ground. It provides room, for the muscles, nerves, vessels, and tendons of the toes. It also assists the functions of the foot, by enabling it to gain a kind of hold of the bodies on which it rests, and to accommodate itself to unequal surfaces ; an advantage almost destroyed by the use of shoes, but emi- nently conspicuous in those people whose feet are not cramped by artificial means of defence. The gradually increased breadth of the foot towards the front, the predominance of its solid and nearly immoveable parts, the tarsus and metatarsus over the more flexible toes, the direction of the metatarsal bone supporting the great toe, its situation and want of mobility, are circumstances of strong contrast with the structure of the hand ; plainly pointing out the former as organized for strength and re- sistance, and adapted to increase the extent and solidity of ■its support. A further argument to the same eflect may be drawn from the comparative progress of ossification in the two members. The bones of the tarsus, and particularly the os calcis, ossify at an earlier period, and advance more rapidly in their de- velopement than those of the carpus : very little strength of 12f) ERECT ATTITUDE hand is required in the first years of life ; while the feet, at the end of twelve months, begin to be employed in sustain- ing the body, and advancing it by progressive motion. The lower limbs can be separated more widely in man than in any animal, in consequence of the great breadth of the pelvis, and length of the cervix femoris. Thus we are ena- bled to derive the full advantage from those admirable instru- ments of support, the feet; an advantage which may be esti- mated by observing the varied motions, the rapid changes, and multiplied combinations of movement, according to the probable direction of the expected impulse, in boxing, wrestling, and other similar feats of activity, in pushing, pulling, &c. &c. In all the particulars j ust described, we see a strong con- trast between man and the nearest or most anthropo-mor- phous animals, even the monkey and orang-utang. In the latter, the cervix femoris is short, the thigh-bone straight, and its two condyles of equal length*. The foot rests on its outer edge, the heel not touching the ground ; the tarsus is contracted, and the digital phalanges lengthened, so that in these respects It resembles a hand f. The peculiarities of the human pelvis coincide with those of the lower limbs. The form of this part is very characte- ristic In man, and distinguishes him from the slmlse, and Indeed from all other mammalia. It might be asserted, that the human skeleton alone has a proper pete; that is such an incurvation of the sacrum and coccyx, and such an union of them with the ossa innominata, as forms a 6asm-like cavity; from which, the space included between the elonga- ted ilia, and the straight sacrum and coccyx of monkeys, differs toto coslo. In the orang-utang, and the elephant, we find the nearest approach to the human formation. In the former J, however, the upper part of the ilium is narrow and elongated, stretching upwards in the direction of the * Tyson, tig. 5. + (pMvres de Camper, pi. ii. fig. 5 & 6. Tyson Jig. cit. X Camper, QLnvres, pi. ii. fig. T. Tyson, fig. 5. PECULIAR TO MAX. 12? spine, and its length exceeds its breadth ; so that tlie rela- tions of these two dimensions are very different in man and this animal*. In the latter, the symphysis pubis is very deep ; and in both, there is neither that incurvation of the sacrum, from the promontory downwards, nor that direction of the coccyx forwards, which with the broad horizontal expansion of the ilia, and the shallowness of the symphysis pubis, are peculiar to the human frame, and make it a broad and firm basis for the trunk, on wliich the weight of the abdominal contents, and particularly of the pregnant uterus, is supported. The lower part of the sacrum and the os coccygis are turned forwards In man, and form the only firm bony resistance, in the inferior aperture of the pelvis, to the abdominal viscera, forced downwards by the diaphragm and abdominal muscles. These bones are straight in all other animals, because the weight of the viscera is differently supported. Even in the orang-utang, the sacrum is flat and contracted, and continued, together with the os coccygis, in a straight line with the vertebral column. If the human sacrum and coccyx had been continued in a straight line with the spine, as tliose of the orang-utang and monkeys are, the ossa innominata remaining as at present, they would have projected beyond those bones, so as to disable us from sitting. The curve which they describe, in man only, obviates this inconvenience ; and allows the pelvis to rest securely, in the sitting attitude, on the broad and strong ischlatic tuberosities. The influence of this structure on the direction and func- tions of the vagina will be considered afterwards. The distribution, size, and ofhces of the muscular masses correspond to the organic arrangements of the skeleton. The lateral and posterior surfaces of the pelvis give origin to the powerful glutei, of which the exterior (glutei magni), exceeding in size all other muscles in the body, and covered * The height of the whole pelvis, from the tuber ischii to (he crista of the ilium, is: 7 in. 3 li. in man. 6 in. in the orang-utang. its breadth, between the flO in. 6 li. in man. two anterior spines, L 6 in. G li. in the orang-utang. 128 ERECT ATTITUDE by a remarkable stratum of fat, form the buttocks, which, by their ample, fleshy, and convex protuberances, conceal the anus ; and are accounted, both by tlie classical authors in natural history, as Aristotle and Buffon, and by the greatest physiologists, as Galen and Haller, as the chief character by which man Is distinguished from the buttock- less simiae. " Les fesses,'' says the great historian of na- ture, " n'appartiennent qu'a I'espece humalne." The final cause of this. prerogative has been assigned by an anatomist : " Solus homo ex omnibus animalibus commode sedet, cui carnosse et magnfe nates contigere, et pro substernaculo pul- vinarique, tomento repleto, inserviunt, ut citra molestlam sedendo, cogitationibus rerum diVinarum animum rectius appllcare possit ^/* The use of the glutei, however, is not confined solely to what the pious Spigelius has imagined, viz. the forming a cushion on which the body may be softly supported, for the purposes of divine cogitation ; but they are very important agents in extending the pelvis on the thighs, and maintain- ing it in that state in the erect position of the trunk. In standing on both feet, the glutei magni fix the pelvis firmly behind, and counteract the natural tendency to fall forwards, which the weiglit of the head, the usual position of the upper limbs in front of the body, and the prominence of the abdominal viscera, impress upon the trunk. Hence, the bulk and power of these very muscles in the human sub- ject aftbrd a clear proof that man was designed for the atti- tude on two feet. The other two glutei are not essentially concerned in the attitude of standing on both feet ; but they are the principal agents in supporting and balancing the trunk on one foot, by inclining the pelvis over the head of that thigh bone on which the body rests, so that the centre of gravity of the trunk may be in a line drawn through that lower extremity. In this case, their exertion counter- acts the tendency of the trunk to fall on that side which is not supported. These muscles are employed in a similar * Spigelius de Hum. Corp. Fab. p. 9. PliCULIAR TO MAN. l29 thanner m progression : the gluteus magnus balances the pelvis, while one leg is carried before the other, and brought to the ground ; and the two others support the trunk laterally, while the limb of the opposite side is in the air. The gluteus magnus, which is the largest muscle of the human body, is so small and insignificant in animals, that it may be almost said not to exist. F. Cuvier observes of the orang-utang, " Les fesses etoient presque nulles, ainsi que les moUets *." Tyson indeed asserts, of the chim- pans^, that " our pygmie had buttocks or nates, as we shall see in the myology, but not so much as in man f .^* How- ever, in his apparently accurate figure J there is no trace of them. The extensors of the knee are much stronger in the hu- man subject than in other mammalia, as their twofold operation of extending the leg on the thigh, and of bring- ing the thigh forwards on the leg, forms a- very essential part in the human mode of progression. The flexors of the knee are, on the contrary, stronger in animals ; and are inserted so much lower down iri the tibia, even in the monkeys, than in the human subject, that the cord which they form keeps the knee habitually bent, and almost pre- vents the perfect extension of the leg on the thigh. Where the thigh and leg thus form an angle, instead of being con- tinued in a straight line, the support of the body on the hind legs must be very insecure. The extensor muscles of tlife ankle joint, and chiefly those which form the calf of the leg, are the principal agents in progression. Hence man is particularly charac- terized by the largeness of his calves ; and no animal equals him in this respect. By elevating the os calcis, they raise the whole body in the act of progression ; and, by ex- tending the leg on the foot, they counteract that tendency * Annates du Museum^ v. 16. p. 47. The correctness of this remark is fuHy verified by the orang-utang belonging to Mr. Abel. It has neither buttocks nor calves. 1r 4natnmy of a Pygmie, p. 1 4. | Fig. 2. K 130 ERECT ATTITUDE. which the weight of the body has to bend the leg in stand- ing. The muscles of the calves lift the heels, and thereby elevate the whole body, which is supported on the astraga- lus : the weight is tlius maintained on the anterior part of the feet; and tlie individual is said to stand on tiptoes. If the foot of one side be lifted from the ground, and the op- posite heel be raised by the calf of its own side, the whole body is then elevated by the muscles of one calf. When a person stands on tiptoe with a burden on the shoulders, or on any other part of the trunk, the weight of this, as well as of the body, must be raised and supported by the mus- cles of the calf. In running, leaping, jumping in the air, dancing, &c. the projection of the body is accomplished by the same power. Aristotle, and others after him, have justly observed, that calves of the legs can be ascribed to man only. The whole arrangement of the thorax corresponds to the erect attitude of man. It is flattened anteriorly, possesses a very broad sternum, is wide transversely, but shallow from before backwards. Its lateral width and inconsiderable depth from sternum to spine, not only throw the arms far apart, and thus give a more extensive range to their motions, but diminish that preponderance of the trunk towards the front, which, although it is unimportant in the horizontal, is very inconvenient in the erect attitude. Man is said to be the only animal in which the transverse exceeds the an- tero-posterior diameter of the chest. Even in the simia satyrus the latter exceeds the former measurement *. The human sternum is short, as well as broad ; hence a large space is left between the front of the chest and the pelvis, unprovided with bony supports ; the weight of the viscera, which are sufficiently guarded by the abdominal- muscles, is securely sustained below by the ample pelvis. Quadrupeds have a thorax compressed laterally, narrow and keel-shaped on its sternal aspect, consequently deep from sternum to spine, but confined in the transverse di- mension. This structure, with the absence of clavicles, al^ * Camper, ffiwyrcs, 1. p. 115, PECULIAR TO MAN. 131 lows the front legs to come near together, to fall perpendi- cularly under the front of the trunk, and support it with firmness and faciUty. Their sternum is long and narrow, the ribs advance nearer to the crista of the os innominatum, and together with the sternum cover a larger share of the abdomen, and support its viscera more eflfectually in the horizontal position of the trunk. For the same purpose too, the ribs in many cases are more numerous than in man, viz. thirty-two in the hyena, thirty-six in the horse, forty in the elephant, and forty-six in the unau (Bradypus didactylus). These, with other points, which cannot escape observa- tion wlien the skeleton of any rather long-legged quadru- ped is compared to that of man, shew how unfit he is for the attitude on all-fours, which in his case can never be otherwise than unsteady, irksome, and fatiguing in the highest degree. The spine of man presents some important peculiarities resulting from his characteristic attitude. One of these is, its very remarkable increase of size in the lumbar region ; an augmentation corresponding to that of the superincum- bent w^eight, and to the magnitude of the efforts which this part has to sustain. The immense bulk of the sacrum *, far exceeding, in proportion to the rest of the body, that of any animal, is referable to the same cause, to the mode in which this weight is transmitted to the hip-bones, and thence to the lower limbs, and to the peculiar construction of the pelvis. The waving line f of the column, arising from a series of alternate curves in opposite directions, is altogether peculiar to man ; it allows a proper distribution of the weight with respect to the centre of gravity, the line * In the chimpansc^, says Tyson, '' the os sacrum was nothing so dilated and spread, as it is in man ; but contracted and narrow, as it is in apes ; and very remarkably different from the human skeleton." p. 69. + This is excellently represented in Alrinus's plates of the skeleton ; par- ticularly in the side view, tab. iii. I refer to the original Leyden edition of this incomparable work ; which, when the plates of the bones are added, con- stitutes the most accurate, useful, and splendid publication ever produced in anatomy. Its merits cannot be estimated from the English editions. K 2 132 ERECT ATTITUDE of whicli, carried through the entire trunk, must fall within the space covered by the feet, or by one foot when we sup- port the body on one only. As this line passes through aril the curves, motion is allowed in the upper regions without impairing the general equilibrium. The cervical vertebrae of the monkeys, including the sa- tyrus * and troglodytes f, are remarkable for the length and prominence of the spinous processes ; a peculiarity proba- bly connected with the support of the head, which prepon- derates in front, in consequence of the elongation of the jaws and the retreat of the occipital condyles backwards |. I have explained how the lower extremities afford a suffi- cient base of support and solid columns to sustain the trunk, and how the same point is secured by the organic arrange- ments of the latter. The breadth of the human pelvis forms an ample basis for the body, and a firm point of action for the abdominal and other muscles, enabling tliem quickly to rectify the position of the parts above. In all the digitated animals, the pelvis is so narrow, that the trunk resembles an inverted pyramid : there would be great difficulty in maintaining it in equilibrio, even if it were possible for the animal to assume the erect position. In those instances where the pelvis is broader, as in the hoofed animals, the other conditions of the upright stature are absent. The bear, however, forms an exception to these observations, and may be taught to stand and walk erect, although the posture is manifestly irksome to the animal. When qua- drupeds endeavour to support themselves on the hind ex- tremities, as for the purpose of seizing any objects with the * " Les vertebres cervicales sont remarquables par la longueur extraordi- naire des apophyses epineuses des six inf^ieures ; mais surtout par celle du milieu." " Los apophyses paroissent avoir besoin de cette longueur dans I'orang, pour qu'il puisse tenir micux sa t^ie en equilibre. Je ne connois aucun autre animal dont les apaj)hyscs epineuses des vertfebres cervicales soient aussi longucs, excepte le pliiUmdre d'Aiii^riquc,"' Camper, (Euvres, i. 126. pi. 2. fig. S. + Tyson, p. G8. ^ Tiiis great developcmont of the cervical spines is most remarkable in the pongo, where the enormous bulk of the jaws corresponds to it. See Aude- BERT, Jlist, Nat. des Singes et Mokis, fol. Planche Anatomique 2, fig. 5.. UPPER EXTREMITIES AND HANDS OF MAN. 133 fore-feet, they rather sit down than assume the erect posi- tion ; for they rest on the thighs, as well as on the feet ; and this can only be done where the fore-part of the body is small, as in the simise, squirrel, &c. In other cases the animal is obliged to support itself by the fore-feet also, as in the dog, cat, &c. CHAPTER III. On the Upper Extremities. — Advantageous Construction of the Hu- 7nau Hand. — Man is tivo-handed ; the Monkeij Kind four- handedi — On the natural Attitude and Gait of Monkeys. A CURSORY survey of the upper limbs will be sufficient to convince us that they are entirely unsuited to the office of supporting the body ; and as well calculated for the uses to which we put them, of seizing and holding objects, and thereby executing, besides all the processes of the arts, a thousand minute but most serviceable actions of constant recurrence. There is a general resemblance of form throughout the upper and lower extremities ; their principal divisions, the number and form of the bones, and the construction of the articulations in each division, correspond very clearly : the essential varieties may all he. referred to the principles of so- lidity and resistance in the lower, of mobility in the upper, as leading purposes of formation. A comparison of the arm, fore-arm, and hand, to the thigh, leg, and foot -, of the OS innomiiiatum to the scapula ; of the hip, knee, and ankle, to the shoulder, elbow, and wrist ; of the carpus, me- tacarpus, and fingers, to the tarsus, metatarsus, and toes; will at once prove and illustrate this difference. The scapulae, placed at the posterior and lateral aspects of the trunk, are kept wide apart by the clavicles : a line falling perpendicularly from the shoulder, in the erect at- 134 UPPER EXTREMITIES AND titude of the body, would pass far behind the hip : thus the upper limbs are thrown outwards and backwards, and have a free range in their principal motions, which are in the an- terior direction. The glenoid cavities look outwards. The arms are widely separated above, and they diverge towards their opposite ends ; the lower limbs, on the contrary, converge from above downwards. In true quadrupeds, the clavicles are suppressed * ; the shoulder-blades brought forwards on the chest, and approximated to each other ; and the glenoid cavities are directed downwards. Conse- quently the anterior or pectoral members fall perpendicu- larly under the front of the chest, and come still nearer to- gether below than above. The deep cup of the os innominatum, and the powerful orbicular ligament of the hip, are strongly contrasted with the shallow glenoid cavity and weak capsule of the shoulder: the difference between the broad articular surfaces and very powerful ligaments of the knee, and the strong joint of the ankle on one side, and the articulations of the elbow and wrist on the other, is equally striking. The leg and fore-arm resemble each other less than the thigh and arm : in the fore-arm, the parts are arranged fa- vourably to mobility 5 in the leg, the object is to procure a firm and solid support, which can transport the centre of gravity with ease and safety from one point to another. Of the two bones of the fore-arm, which are nearly equal in • It is stated, in the Physiological Lectures^ p. 123, that " no animal, ex- cept the monkey, has a clavicle like that of man," Certainly none, without excepting even the monkey, have either clavicles, or any other bones, exactly resembling the human in all points; but man), even of the more common kinds, have clavicles equal to those of man in relative size and length as v/eW as in office. As the use of this bone is to maintain the shoulder at its proper distance from the front of the trunk, and to prevent the scapula in particular from coming forwards on the chest, it exists in all cases, where the pectoral members are employed, either principally, or in great part, in executing pur- poses foreign to support, such as holding objects, climbing, flying, digging, rak- ing the ground. It will be sufficient to mention that the lemurs and bats, the squirrel, beaver, rat, porcupine, mole, ant-eater, hedge-hog, shrew, and sloth, possess perfect clavicles. HANDS OF MAN. 135 every respect, one rolls easily over the other, and the hand is articulated with the moveable bone. In the lower extre- mity these rolling motions would have introduced danger- ous unsteadiness and insecurity. The foot therefore is ar- ticulated with the tibia, which corresponds to the ulna 5 and the fibula possesses no perceptible power of motion. The principal differences in the hand and foot occur in the relation which the carpus and metacarpus, the tarsus and metatarsus — the solid or resisting portions — bear respec- tively to the phalanges of the fingers and toes, the flexible portions of the members. The solid part of the hand is less developed, and has far less volume than the analogous part of the foot, on which the whole weight of the body in stand- ing finally rests : the phalanges, on the contrary, which are the principal agents in executing the functions of the hand, are much longer and stronger than those of the toes, which are not so essential to station or progression. The three pha- langes of the middle finger equal in lengtli the length of the carpus and metacarpus together ; while the respective propor. tions of the tarsus and metatarsus and toes are about 5-6'ths and l-6th. The parts of the foot and hand are disposed in- versely in respect to their importance. The posterior por- tion of the former, and the anterior of the latter, are of the most consequence, and possess the most remarkable charac- ters. The functions of the hand render it necessary that its plane should be nearly continuous with that of the fore- arm ; otherwise the radius could not guide it so precisely to the objects in view. In the foot, the articulation is so disposed, that its posterior part offers a powerful lever for muscular agents, and a solid support for the mass above : it is formed by a single bone of the foot, which adds to its solidity. The metacarpus and metatarsus have a much greater similarity to each other ; the latter is the more solid, and ofters this principal difference : the metatarsal bone of the great toe, by far the strongest of the whole, has scarcely any motion on the tarsus, and is parallel to the others ; while the corresponding bone of the thumb has a very consi- derable extent of motion, and is anterior to the rest of the metacarpus, supposing the palm to be turned directly for- 13C UPPER EXTREMITIES AND HANDS OF MAN. wards. These remarkable differences are easily understood, when we consider that the great toe, as one of the points on which the body is supported, requires solidity ; while the thumb, being concerned in all the numerous and varied motions of the hand, must be organized for mobility. The human hands being terminated by long and flexible members, of which only a small portion is covered by the flat nails, while the rest is furnished with a highly organized and very sensible integument, form admirable organs of touch and instruments of prehension. The animal king- dom exhibits no corresponding part so advantageously con- structed in these respects. At the same time, the lateral attachment of the arms to the trunk, and the erect attitude, give us the freest use of these admirable instruments. So greatly does man excel animals in the conformation of the hands, that Anaxagoras asserted what Helvetius has again brought forwards in our times, " that man is the wisest of animals, because he possesses hands.*' In such a view we can by no means coincide ; yet Aristotle is well justified in observing that man alone possesses hands really deserving that name. Several mammalia have also hands, but much less complete, and less serviceable than that of the human subject, which, in comparison to them, was justly enough termed by the Stagyrite the organ of all organs. The great superiority of the human hand arises from the size and strength of the thumb, which can be brought into a state of opposition to the fingers ; and is hence of the greatest use, in enabling us to grasp spherical bodies, and take up apy object in the hand, in giving a firm hold on whatever we seize, in executing all the mechanical processes of the arts, in writing, drawing, cutting ; in short, in a thousand offices, which occur every moment of our lives, and which either could not be accomplished at all, if the thumb were absent, or would require the concurrence of both hands, instead of being done by one only. Hence it has been justly described by Albinus as a second hand, " manus parva majori adjutrix *." * Di Scdtto, p. 465. MONKEYS ARE QUADRUMANOUS. 137 Ail the simiae possess hands ; but the most distinguish- ing part, the thumb, is slender, short, and weak, even in the most anthropo-morphous * : regarded as an imitation of the human structure, it would almost justify the term ap- plied to it by EusTACHius — ' ridiculous/ The other fingers are elongated and slender f. Some animals, which have fingers sufficiently long and moveable for seizing and grasping objects, are obliged, by the want of a separate thumb, to hold them by means of the two fore-paws ; as the squirrel, rat, opossum, &c. Those which are moreover obliged to rest their fore-feet on the ground, as the dog and cat, can only hold objects by fixing them between the paw and the ground. Lastly, such as have the fingers united by integuments, or inclosed in hoofs, lose all power of prehension. The comparison, which 1 have already drawn between the construction of the hand and foot, having shewn that the latter is merely calculated for support in man, we may state that he is two-handed and two-footed, or bimanous and biped. Monkeys, apes, and other anthropo-morphous animals, can, in fact, be called neither bipeds nor quadrupeds ; but they are quadrumanous or fore-handed J. They have op- posable thumbs on the lower as well as upper extremities ; and thus their feet are instruments of prehension as well as their hands. By a thumb we mean a member not placed in a direction parallel to the fingers, but standing off from them laterally, enjoying separate motion, and therefore capable of being * The thumb of the orang-utang and chimpansd, besides being much smaller than the fingers, reaches only to the metacarpo-digital joint. Cam- per aHuvres, pi. 2. fig. 5. F. Cuvier in the Annales du Museum^ t. 16. p. 4. Tyson, p. 12. fig. 5. " t Simiae in general have nine bones in the carpus : and Camper found the ninth bone in the orang-utang ; it was a sesamoid bone in the tendon of the abductor longus pollicis. (Euvres, 1 4:3. He found in the same animal a large sesamoid bone in the tendon of the popliteus : ibid. 133. t Aristotle observed that the feet of monkeys resemble hands ; and Tyson, in describing the foot of the chimpans^ (S. troglodytes) says, " But this part. 138 MONKEYS ARK QUADRUM ANGUS. brouglit into opposition to them, as in grasping or prehen- sion. A great toe, in its direction, articulation, and extent of motion, corresponds entirely to the other toes ; whereas the joints and muscles must be altogether different in a thumb. It is hardly necessary to point out how unfit the Imman feet are for all purposes of prehension ; but the hind limbs of the simise really deserve the name of hands more than the front ; and are more advantageously con- structed for holding. This hind thumb is so characteristic, that it is found in certain simiae, which have either no fore thumb, or only a rudiment of it *. We may now answer the question, whether the orang- utang and other simiee go erect, or on all-fours : they do neither, but live chiefly in trees, for which they are admira- bly adapted by having prehensile members, instruments for grasping and holding, on both upper and lower extre- mities. Hence Cuvier calls them " les grimpeurs par ex- cellence f." They live in trees, and find their food in them : they can hang by one fore or hind leg, employing the re- maining members in gathering fruit, or in other offices. Those which have less perfect hands are furnished with pre- hensile tails, by which they can be more securely sup- ported in trees. It is hardly necessary to add, that when we see monkeys walking erect, it must be ascribed to instruction and disci- pline. The delineations of the orang-utang and chimpanse in the formation and its function too, being liker a hand than a foot, for the distinguishing this sort of animals from others, 1 have thought, whether it might not be reckoned and called rather quadnmwnus than quddnipes, i. e. a four-handed than a fottr-footed animal." p. 13. ♦ M. Geoffuoy has placed together llic simiee thus circumstanced in a ncw^ genus, which he calls ateles (imperfect). Jnnalcs du Museum, t. 7.etl8. Inthechamek (atMes pentadactylus) there is a single phalanx, without a naiJ, and very slightly prominent. The coaita (S. paniscus L. Allies paniscus Geoff.) has absolutely no visible thumb. + Legons d'Anatomie coinpuree^ t. i. p. 493. From the agility which the orang-utang at Exeter Change exhibits, in moving along the ropes suspended in his apartment, and swinging himself from one part to another, he seems strictly to deserve the denomination of a climbing animal. NATURAL ATTITUDE AND GAIT OF MONKEYS. 139 taken from tlie life, slievv how unnatural and inconvenient the erect posture is to them ; they are drawn with the front hands leaning on a stick, while the posterior ones have the toes bent something like a clenched fist *. The circumstances in the structure of the monkey kind, which render them unsuited for the erect attitude, have been already in part explained, viz. the narrowness of the pelvis, the short and weak lower limbs, the angle formed by the thigh at its junction with the trunk, and thai between the leg and thigh, the small size of the muscles composing the buttocks and calves, and the slight prominence of the os calcis, which bone does not come to the ground. It may be added, that the exterior margin of the foot chiefly rests on the ground in the simile ; which circumstance, while it leaves them a freer use of their thumb and long toes in seizing the branches of trees, renders the organ so much less adapted to support the body on level ground. The plantaris muscle, which is very fleshy in the monkey kind, instead of terminating, as it does in man, by insertion in the os calcis, passes over that bone into the sole, and is there connected with the plantar aponeurosis and flexor perforatus, so that it may be regarded as making a part of both f. In other quadrupeds it holds the place of the flexor perforatus, enter- ing the foot over the os calcis. These arrangements are quite incompatible with the erect attitude, as the tendon would be compressed, and its action impeded, if the heel rested on the ground. The thumbs, both of the fore and hind hands, have no separate flexor longus in the monkeys, but receive tendons from the flexors of the other fingers J, Hence the thumbs in these animals will generally be bent together with the other fingers ; and they are less capable of those actions, in which the motion of the thumb is combined * SeeVosMAER's figure as copied by Blumenbach, Ahbild. n.h. Gegenstcinde, No. 1 2, Tyson, fig. 1 & 2. The sitting attitude of Mr. Abel's figure, in which the extremities are all gathered up to the trunk, is much more natural than the erect position in which the monkey tribe are often represented. + VicQ u'AzYR, Discours sur TAnatomie, (Euvres, t. iv. p. 149. X See the work above quoted. 140 NATURAL ATTITUDE AND with that of the fore and middle finger, a combination so important in numerous delicate operations. It is rather singular, since persons have been found to con- tend that man ought to go on all-fours, that there should have been others who undertake to prove that the orang-utang, and the monkey tribe in general, have an organization suited to biped progression. Even Buffon states that one, which he saw, always went on two feet; and he ascribes the erect atti- tude to him without any hesitation. No doubt he can sustain this posture for some time, and in the unnatural condition of confinement he may frequently sit : hence, perhaps, we may account for the numerous observations, in which he is said to go erect. But the circumstances of structure already ex- plained shew clearly that he is not calculated, like man, for that attitude ; and we find, in some of the most authentic accounts, that he is said to have gone on all-fours. Alla- MAND^ who saw a simia satyrus in Holland, gives the fol- lowing account of its motions and attitudes : " Its usual attitude was sitting, with its thighs and knees raised : it walked nearly in the same posture, its rump being very near the ground. 1 never saw it perfectly upright, except when it wished to reach something: and even then its knees were always a little on the bend, and it tottered *." Vosmaer, who has described the same individual, says, " This animal generally walked on all-fours, like the other monkeys ; but it could likewise walk erect on its hind feet, and, provided with a stick, it would often support itself for a considerable time. However, it never used its feet flat on the ground, as a man would do, but bent backwards in such a manner, that it supported itself on the external edge of its hind feet, with the toes drawn inwards, which denotes a posture for climbing trees f.'' The testimony of Camper concerning one which lived for some time in the menagerie of the Stadtholder at Petit Loo, is to the same effect : " L'orang vivant courolt a quatre pattes, et lorsqu'il se tenoit debout, (ce qu'il fit le plus dans les premiers tems de son arrivee et lorsqu'il joulssoit encore de toute sa vigeur) il tenoit les * liui'FON, by Wood, v. 10. p. 79. f Ibid, p. 84;. GAIT OF MONItEYS. HI gelioux ploy(is *." The description of the individual ob- served by F. CuviER corroborates these observations : he dimbed excellently, but walked as imperfectly. In the latter operation, he rested his closed hands on the ground, and dragged forwards his hind parts. If one hand was held, he could walk on his feet : but then he supported himself by resting the other hand on the ground. The outer edge of the foot alone touched the ground ; and the toes were bentf. This description will apply in all points to the orang-utang brought from Batavia by Mr. Abel J ; and a short observation of his customary attitudes and motions will convince any one that he is not organized for biped progression, nor capable of it, even for a short trial, without a troublesome and painful effort. The bent knees and general attitude of the figure repre- sented by Tyson, shew that the chimpanse is not a biped : " Being weak," says the author, " the better to support him I have given him a stick in his right-hand §." Several passages shew that the animal often went on all-fours ; and thus confirm the representation given by the Directors of the Sierra-Leone Company 1| ; who say, in describing a young one, that " at first he crawled on all-fours, always walking on the outside of his hands; but, when grown larger, he endeavoured to go erect, supporting himself by a stick, which he carried in his hand." That the gibbon (S. Lar), another of the anthropo-mor- phous simiifi, is not constructed for the erect attitude, ap- pears from the testimony of Daubenton **. It could go almost erect on the feet, but the legs and thighs were rather bent ; and sometimes the hand touched the ground, to sup- port the reeling body : it was unsteady, whenever it stopped in an upright posture, the heel only resting on the ground, and the sole being raised : it remained but a short time in this attitude, which appeared unnatural. No instance has ever been produced of a monkey, nor * (Euvres, t. i. p. 60. f Annaks dii Museum., v. 16. p. 49. X Narrative of a Journey in China, p. 322, and following. 4 P. 16. pi. 1. II P. 164. ** BuFFON, by Wood, v. 10. p. SO. 142 CHARACTERS OF indeed of any animal except man, which could support the body In cqullibrio on one foot only. The causes of this pre- rogative of the human organization will be found in the breadth of his foot, in the resting of its entire surface on the ground, In the bony and muscular strength of the lower extremity, and the length of tlie cervix femoris. The foregoing considerations render it very clear that the erect stature is not only a necessary result of the human structure 3 but also, that it is peculiar to man ; and that the differences in the form and arrangement of parts, derived from this source only, are abundantly sufficient to distinguish man by a wide interval from all other animals. The asser- tion of LiNNJEUs *, "Dari simias erecto corpore binis seque ac homo pedibus incedentes, et pedum et manuum minis- terio humanam referentes speciem," is not only unsupported by any authentic testimony concerning animals of the monkey kind, but directly contradicted by all the well- ascertained fiicts relating to those which most nearly re- semble us in stature. CHAPTER IV. Comjmnson of the Human Head and Teeth to those of Animals. When we consider that the head affords a receptacle for the organ of the mind, that it lodges the principal external senses, as well as the instruments for procuring, receiving, masticating, and swallowing the food, and a considerable part of the apparatus employed in producing sound, we shall not be surprised at the striking differences in its construc- tion, at those proportional developements or contractions of its several parts, which determine the faculties and en- dowments of different animals, and their relative rank in the scale of nature. The most convenient position for this * Fauna Suecicn; Praefat. THE HUMAN HEAD. 143 important assemblage of organs — including the chief means by which we are connected, actively or passively, with the external world — must exhibit corresponding varieties. A situation is required, combining firmness of support with freedom of motion, a ready communication of the senses with their appropriate external objects, and a corresponding arrangement of the entrances to the respiratory, digestive, and vocal cavities. The mode in which the entire mass is articulated and supported must therefore be varied according to the predominance or contraction of the various particular organs, as well as in conformity to the attitude of the animal, and the distribution of other parts, particularly the upper limbs. As the proportions of its parts in the human subject indicate a predominance of the organ of thought and re- flection over the instruments employed in external sensation and the supply of merely animal wants, which places man at the top of the intellectual scale ; so the position of the whole, and the arrangements for its support and motion, are calcu- lated, like all the details of organization hitherto examined, in reference to his peculiar distinction of the erect attitude. A very striking difference between man and all other animals consists in the relative proportions of the cranium and face ; which are indicated in a general, but not very accurate manner, by the facial line. The organs which occupy most of the face are those of vision, smelling, and tasting, together with the instruments of mastication and deglutition. In proportion as these are more developed, the size of the face, compared to that of the cranium, is augmented. On the contrary, when the brain is large, the volume of the cranium is increased in propor- tion to that of the face. The nature and character of each living being must depend on the relative energy of its animal propensities and functions, its feelings and mental powers : its leading traits will be derived from those which are most predominant. This is sufficiently evinced in the human species; but the differences observable between one man and another are fewer and less strongly marked than those which occur between animals of different species. 144 CHARACTERS Ot" The brain being tlie organ by which the impressions on the external senses are combined and compared, in which all the processes called intellectual are carried on, we shall find that animals partake in a greater degree, or at least approach more nearly to reason, in proportion as the mass of medul- lary substance forming their brain exceeds that which con- stitutes the rest of the nervous system ; or, in other words, in proportion as the organ of the mind exceeds those of the senses. Since, then, the proportions of the cranium and face indicate those of the brain and of the principal external senses and instruments of mastication, we shall not be sur- prised to find that they point out to us, in great measure, the general character of animals, the degree of instinct and docility which they possess : — hence the study of these pro- portions is of high importance to the Naturalist. Man combines by far the largest cranium, with the smallest face : and animals deviate from these relations in proportion as they increase in stupidity aud ferocity. One of the most simple (though often insufhcient) me- thods of expressing the relative proportions of these parts- is by the course of the facial line, and the amount of the facial angle. Supposing a skull to be observed in profile, in the position which it would have when the occipital condyles are at rest, in the articular hollows of the atlas, in the erect attitude of the body, and neither inclined forwards nor backwards — a line drawn from the greatest projection of the forehead to that of the upper maxillary bone, follows the direction of the face, and is called the facial line ; the angle, which this forms with a second line, continued horizontally backwards, is the facial angle, and measures the relative prominence of the jaws and forehead *. In man only is the face placed perpendicularly under the front of the cranium ; * See Camfer Kleititre Schriften ; t. i. pt. i. page 15. Hist. Nat. de fOrang-utang ; Ch. VII. pi. 1. fig. 3. Dissertation Physique sur les Differences rcdlcs que prescntent les Traits clu Visage, 8^'c. 4to. Utrecht^ 1791. The course of the horizontal line, and its point of contact with the facial line, are b^' no means uniform in all the figures represented by Camper. THE HUMAN HEAD. 145 SO that the facial line is perpendicular : hence the angle formed between this line and the horizontal one above described is most open, or approaches most nearly to a right angle, in the human subject. The face of animals is placed in front of the cranium instead of under it : that cavity is so diminished in size, that its anterior expanded portion or forehead is soon lost, as we recede from man. Hence the facial line is oblique, and the facial angle Is acute ; and it becomes more and more so as we descend in the scale from man : in several birds, most reptiles and fishes, it is lost altogether, as the cranium and face are completely on a level, and form parts of one horizontal line. The idea of stupidity is associated, even by the vulgar? with the elongation of the snout 5 which necessarily lowers the facial line, or renders It more oblique : hence the crane and snipe have become proverbial. On the contrary, when the facial line is elevated by any cause which does not in- crease the capacity of the cranium, as in the elephant and owl, by the cells which separate the two tables, the animal acquires a particular air of intelligence, and gains the credit of qualities which he does not in reality possess. Hence the latter animal has been selected as the emblem of the goddess of wisdom ; and the former is distinguished In the Malay language by a name which indicates an opinion that he participates with man in his most distinguishing charac- teristic, the possession of reason. The invaluable remains of Grecian art shew that the ancients were well acquainted with these circumstances. They were aware that an elevated facial line, produced by a great developement of the instrument of knowledge and reflection, and a corresponding contraction of the mouth, jaws, tongue, nose5 indicated a noble and generous nature. Hence they have extended the facial angle to 90° in the representation of legislators, sages, poets, and others, on whom they wished to bestow the most august character. In the statues of their heroes and gods they have still further exaggerated the human, and reduced the animal characteristics'; extending tlie forehead over tlic face, so as 146 CHARACTERS OF to push the facial line beyond the perpendicular, and to make the angle 100°. The facial angle* in the human subject varies from 65^ to 85°. speaking of the adult ; for in the child it reaches * Outline engravings of several human heads and skulls, as well as of a monkey, and an orang-utang, in profile, with the lines measuring their facial angles, are subjoined to Ca:mper's Dissert. Physique. Some are also given in AuDEBERT, Hist. Nat. des Siyiges ; pi. anat. 2. The practical application of this measurement is much less extensively useful and important than Camper had imagined. It merely affords a striking general view of the great characteristic difference between man and some animals, without indicating to us the diversities of the human species itself, and much less those of animals. In many of the latter, indeed, it does not measure tiie prominence of the brain, but that of the frontal sinuses or nose. In man and the quadrumanous animals, the sinuses are inconsiderable; but in the carnivora, the pig kind, some ruminants, and particularly in the elephant, they are very large, and raise the facial line to a degree far beyond what the convexity of the brain Avould do. In the rodentia and the walrus the nose is very large, and throws back the cranium so that it offers no point for measurement in front. The following is a statement of the angle in certain animals, taken by drawing a line parallel to the floor of the nostrils, and another from the great- est prominence of the alveoli to the convexity of the cranium, without re- garding the outline of the nose and face. Camper states it at 58*^ (Diss. Phys. pi. 1. f. 2). Mr. Abel at 57° {Journey in China, p. 322). In the skull belonging to Young orang-utang 67<^ des^ Sciences de Paris, 1780. + The fissure in question is more distinct in young than in old subjects ; and it is called b^lBLU.MENBACHjC'sutura inc\si\a') licschreibmg der Knochen- Although overlooked by several modern osteologists, it was observed and ac- curately described by the great anatomists of the sixteenth century, Vesalius, Fallopiijs, and CoLur^cus. It is also mentioned by Riolan {Anthropogra- phia, p. 649.) Galen has expressly enumerated an intermaxillary bone among the component parts of the human face; and Vesalius very justly inferred from this, among many equally striking proofs, that the anatomical descrip- tions of that author, which had been universally received with the moiat implicit 150 CHARACTERS OF THE HUMAN HEAD. the Incisors, observable In the foetus and child, and some- times tolerably distinct In the adult. But there is this very obvious and important distinction, that no vestige of suture can ever be traced in the human subject between the al- veoli, much less on the upper and anterior surface of the jaw 5 so that the similarity to the structure of the quadruped Is very remote. That all mammalia, besides the human subject, possess this bone Is not so decidedly ascertained, as that man has it not. Blumenbach* found no trace of it in the crania of some simlse, although all the sutures were perfect ; yet it Is seen In the head of the orang-utang (S. satyrus) figured by him t, as well as In that of Camper J. On the contrary. In the head of a very antliropo-morphous simia, in the Mu- seum of the College of Surgeons, which seems to me to be the S. satyrus, not a vestige of the suture separating this bone is to be seen, although the individual must have been very young, as the pieces of the occipital bone are not yet consolidated. According to Tyson and Daubenton, it Is not found In the chlmpanse. However the question may be decided, there can be no doubt that the crania of all the quadrumana, as well as of all other mammalia, are distinguished from the human skull by the comparative size, great length, and projection of the jaws. The articulation of the head with the spine determines the mode of its support and extent of motion, the direction of the mouth, jaws, eyes, and rest of the face ; It must, therefore, vary according to the construction and relative deference till that time, had not been drawn from the examination of the human subject. This attempt to rescue mankind from error and prejudice drew upon him nothing but hatred and reproaches from his contemporariesj who were driven to the most absurd arguments in defence of their idol Galen. One of them suggested that an intermaxillary bone, though not found now, might have belonged to the human structure in former times. (Jac. Sylvii Dcpidsio Calumniarum vesani cujiisdain in Galenum.) * Dc Gen. Hum. Var. Nat. sect. 1. ^ 15. + Abbildungcn, n. h. Gegcnsldmlc^ No. 52. + (EuvreSy pi. 1. fig. 3. ARTICULATION AND SUPPORT OF THE HEAD. 151 magnitude of its parts, as well as to the ordinary attitude of the body. The position and direction of the great occi- pital foramen affords a criterion of these differences*. The vertebral column being vertical in the human subject, affords a solid support for the head, which is placed nearly in equilibrio on its upper end. Hence the great occipital hole and the articular condyles are found almost in the centre of the basis cranii : and if the vertical line of the trunk and neck were continued upwards, it would pass through the top of the head : consequently the weight of the latter is sustained almost entirely by the vertebral column. The head would be in a state of perfect equilibrium on the spine, in the erect attitude of our body, if the parts in front of the column exactly counterbalanced those behind it. This, however, is not the case f. The articular con- dyles are manifestly nearer to the occipital tuberosity than * Daubenton sur la Difference du grand Trou Occipital dans V Homme etdans les autres Animanx ; Mem. de VAcad. des Sciences^ 1764. + I am unfortunate enough to differ with the author of the Physiological Lec- tures in matters of fact, as much as in matters of opinion. To the following assertion I can only oppose the circumstances mentioned in the text. " The condyles are placed so exactly parallel in the centre of gravity^ that when we sit upright, and go to sleep in that posture, the weight of the head has a ten- dency to preponderate equally in every direction^ as we see in those who are dozing in a carriage. Nay, their heads sometimes revolve in a circle, like the head of harlequin on the stage." Lect. 3, The second expression marked in italics cannot be taken literally ; because inequality is essential to preponderance ; and an equal preponderance in every direction, if we dis- regard the contradiction in terms, is just equivalent to no preponderance at all. If the author means to assert that the weight behind exactly counter- balances that in front of the occipito-atloidal articulation, the easy trial of supporting a skull by the condyles will quickly shew whether such a repre- sentation be correct or not. An analogous representation occurs in the same lecture respecting the dis- tribution of weight in the trunk of the body. " We know that, in an upright posture, the whole weight of the upper part of the body is so perfectly ba- lanced on the base of the vertebral column, as to have an equal propensity to preponderate in every direction." The weight of the head, of the thoracic and abdominal viscera, and the ordinary position of the upper limbs, carry the centre of gravity in front of the spine. The tendency of Ihc trunk to fall forwards is counteracted by 152 ARTICULATION AND SUPPORT to the most prominent point of the jaws; and thus the greater share of the weight is in front of the joint. Place the occipital condyles on any point of support, and the head will incline forwards, unless it be held in equilibrio by a force applied behind. The preponderance is greater when the lower jaw is added; and it is still further increas- ed by the accession of the tongue, muscles, and other soft parts. This inclination of the head forwards is counteracted in the living body by the extensor muscles ; and their constant exertion is necessary for maintaining the head in equilibrio on the vertebral column. Whenever their contraction is suddenly suspended, as in a person falling asleep in the erect attitude with the head unsupported, that part, aban- doned to the force of gravity, immediately nods forwards. The greatest number, and by far the most powerful muscles, are placed at the back of the head, and pass between the posterior surface of the vertebral column and the occiput. The recti postici, obliqui superiores, trachelo- mastoidei, complexi, splenii capitis, and trapezii are balanced by few and inconsiderable muscles in front ; by the recti antici, recti laterales, and longi colli. Let a line be drawn according to the plane of the occi- pital foramen ; it will pass from the posterior edge along the surface of the condyles; and, if continued anteriorly, will come out just under the orbits. It forms, in short, almost a horizontal line, which intersects, nearly at right angles, the vertical line of the body and neck, when the head is held straight, without being inclined backwards or forwards. In this attitude, the face is in a vertical line, parallel to that of the body and neck ; and consequently the jaws hardly extend in front beyond the forehead. They are very the great extensor muscles of the loins and back. The hip-joints are carried forwards, and the feet prolonged in front of the ankle, in order to secure the body against the consequences of this preponderance in the anterior di- rection, the natural effect of which is seen by our falling forwards when muscular action is suddenly suspended ill fainting. OF THE HEAD. 153 short in comparison with those of most animals : for the length of the lower maxillary bone of man, measured from the chin to the posterior edge of the condyle, is only half the length of the whole head, as taken from the chin to the occiput ; and scarcely the ninth part of the height of the body from the anus to the vertex ; and about the eighteenth part of the whole length of the body from the top of the head to the feet. This latter point of comparison is, how- ever, scarcely applicable to the subject ; inasmuch as there is hardly any animal, but man, which has the hind legs as long as the trunk, neck and head taken together, and mea- sured from the vertex to the pubes. The horizontal plane of the foramen magnum, its nearly central position in the basis of the skull, the support of the head by the spine, and the direction of tlie face forwards, are admirably suited to the erect attitude of man, and correspond to the absence of the ligamentum nuchee. If the human spine were placed horizontally, how could the weight of the head be sustained ? There is no adequate muscular power to support and elevate the heavy mass ; not to men- tion that it could not be carried sufficiently backwards on the spine, for the eyes to be directed forwards ; and that, if lowered, the jaws would not come to the ground, as they do in animals, in consequence of their shortness, but the fore- head or vertex would touch it *. In most animals, the great occipital foramen is placed at the back of the head ; the jaws are considerably elongated ; the occiput forms no projection beyond this opening, the plane of which is vertical, or at least very slightly inclined. Hence, the head is connected to the neck by its back part, instead of being articulated, as in man, by the middle of its basis ; and, instead of being in equilibrium on a perpendi- cular column placed under it, it hangs to the front of the neck, where its weight is sustained by the powerful cervical ♦ The absence of the rete mirabile, and of all analogous provision for mo- derating the influx of the blood into the brain, accords, with the other circum- stances enumerated above, in shewing that man is entirely unfit for the atti- tude on all-fours. 154 ARTICULATION AND SUPPORT ligament*. This arrangement bestows on quadrupeds the power of using their jaws for seizing what is before them ; of elevating them to reach what may be above the head, although the body be placed horizontally; and of touching the ground with the mouth, by depressing the head and neck as low as the feet. In several animals there is some dis- tance between the foramen magnum and the posterior ex- tremity of the occiput ; but this interval is no where so considerable as in the human subject; and in proportion as it is increased, does the direction of the occipital foramen approach more to the horizontal one. Animals of the monkey kind exhibit a closer resemblance of the human structure, in the position and direction of the occipital foramen, than any others. In the orang-utang it is twice as far from the jaws, as from the back of the head f; and it is considerably inclined downwards, so that a line drawn in its level passes below the lower jaw, instead of going just under the orbit, as in man. The difference in the direction of the foramen may be estimated, by noting the angle formed by the union of a line drawn in the manner above mentioned, according lo the * The ligamentum nuchas or suspensorium colli, which is confounded in the Physiological Lectures (p, 116,) with the yellow ligaments connecting tlxe plates of the spinous processes, is affixed at one end to the spines of the cer_ vical and dorsal vertebrae, and at the other to the middle of the occiput, between the two fossae cerebelli. This thick, and powerful ligament affords a steady and constant support to the head of quadrupeds, which would have otherwise needed an immense mass of muscles to sustain it. Such a struc- ture is not required in man, where, if this ligament can be said to exist at all, it is only lui a weak and insignificant rudiment. I do not know how the orang-utang and other monkeys are circumstanced in this respect. Camper however states, that the spinous processes of th<^ cervical vertebrae are very long in (l>e orang-utang (^(Euvres, i. p. 126). And the same circumstances is still more remarkable in the skeleton of the pongo of Batavia, whose enor- mous jaws and face must require the support of a suspensory ligament, probably attached in both animals to the cervical spines. Audebert, Hist. Nat. des Singes : pi. anat. 2, + The effect of this structure in throwing the centre of gravity forwards and thus increasing the difficulty of maintaining the erect position, is particu- laily pointed out by Mr. Abel; Journey in China, p. 322. OF THE HEAD. 155 direction of the opening, with another line passing from the posterior edge of the foramen to the inferior margin of the orbit. This angle is of 3° in man, and of 37° in the orang- utang ; 47° in the lemur. It is still greater in the dog ; and in the horse it is of 90° or a right angle, the plane of the opening being completely vertical. The distance of the foramen magnum from the front of the jaws and the posterior surface of the occiput may be in man respectively, as 3-5ths and 2-5ths, or even more nearly equal : the former is twice as great as the latter in the orang- utang ; while, in almost all other mammalia, the opening is at the very posterior aspect of tlie skull. The teeth of man are distinguished by being all of one length, and by the circumstance of their being arranged in an uniform unbroken series. The cuspidati are a little longer than the others at first ; but their sharp points are soon worn down to a level with the rest. In all animals the teeth of different classes differ in size and length, often very consi- derably ; and they are separated by more or less wide inter- vals : this is particularly the case with the teeth called canine, or cuspidati, which are long, prominent, and distinct from the neighbouring teeth: their not projecting beyond the rest, nor being separated from them by any interval, is, therefore, a very characteristic circumstance in the human structure. Even in the simiae, whose masticatory apparatus most nearly resembles that of man, the cuspidati are longer, often very considerably longer than the other teeth ; and there are in- tervals in the series of each jaw to receive the cuspidati of the other. The inferior incisors are perpendicular ; the teeth, indeed, and the front of the jaw are placed in the same vertical line. In animals, these teeth slant backwards, and the jaw slopes backwards directly from the alveoli ; so that the full pro- minent chin, so remarkable a feature in the face of our species, is found in no animal, not even in the orang-utang: it appears as if the part were cut off. The obtuse tubercles of the grinders are again very pecu- liar and characteristic ; they are worthy of particular remark. 156' CHARACTERS OF THE HUMAN TEETH. because, being the great instruments of dividing the food, they correspond to the kind of nourishment which the animal naturally takes. Their surface does not resemble the flat crowns with rising ridges of intermixed enamel be- longing to our common herbivorous animals ; nor are they like the cutting and tearing grinders of the carnivora; but they are well adapted to that mixed diet prepared by the arts of cookery, which man has always resorted to, when he could get it, and when his natural inclinations have not been thwarted by the interference of religious scruples or prohibitions, nor opposed by his own whims and fancies. The lower jaw of man is distinguished by the prominence of the chin, a necessary consequence of the inferior incisors being perpendicular ; by its shortness '^, and by the oblong convexity and obliquity of the condyles. CHAPTER V. Differences between Man and Animals, in Stature , Proportions, and some other points. The height of the whole body, and the proportions of its several parts, afford important points of comparison in ex- amining the specific differences between man and the most anthropo-morphous simiae. The difference of stature is remarkable. Of the orang- utangs or chimpanses hitherto brought into Europe, none * The length of the inferior maxilla is one-fourth of that of the trunk from the vertex to the anus, in the simia satyrus; it is one-seventh in man. The elephant is equally remarkable with man for the shortness of the lower jaw, of which a considerable portion projects in front of the teeth. This cannot properly be deemed a chin. The incisors and cuspidati do not exist in the lower jaw of this animal : the projection in question is the part, which in other cases is occupied by those teeth. CHARACTERS OF MAN. 157 has been more than three feet high ; and most have been several inches under that height. The individual brought to England by Mr. Abel, and now at Exeter Change, is thirty-one inches *. Of eight seen by Camper f, none ex- ceeded two feet and a half (Rhynland measure) : from ob- serving the state of the teeth, and progress of ossification, and estimating, according to the human subject, the addi- tions which the stature might be expected to receive, he thinks that their adult height may be set down at four feet of the same measure. F. Cuvier J makes it considerably less. Yet they are spoken of, on the faith of travellers, as being five or six feet high, or even more : what is said of their erect gait, and many other particulars, is probably of equal accuracy. Tyson's chimpanse measured twenty-six inches from the vertex to the heel || . The great length of the upper limbs, the predominance of the fore-arm over the upper-arm, the shortness of the lower limbs, and the great length of the hands and feet, are other striking characters of the monkey kind. The span of the extended arms in man equals the height of the body : it is nearly double that measure in the an- thropo-morphous monkeys. Our upper-arm is longer than the fore-arm by two or three inches ; in the last mentioned animals, the fore-arm is the longest. In us the hip-joint divides the body equally : the lower extremity is less than half the height of the body in monkeys. The proportion of the hand and foot to the body is much greater in them than in us ; the excess arising from increase in the length of the phalanges. That all these circumstances are very suitable to the climbing habits of the monkey- race, is too obvious to require particular elucidation. In the following table, I have arranged in parallel lines the dimensions of some parts of a male skeleton, of the orang- * Journey in China; 322. + CEuvrcs ; i. 51. X Jnnalcsdu Museum; xvi, 51. || Anat. of a Pigmy; 15. 158 CHARACTERS OF MAN. utang measured by Camper, of that described by Mr. Abel, and of Tyson's chimpanse : — Man. Simia Satyrus. Siinia Tro- Inches. Camper. Abel. glodytes. The whole body"! Uncertain, "J from the vertex Wl but less [-30 - 31 2G to the heel J than . . . J Upper extremity . ..32 24| - 25 17 Lower 39 16 - 13 12 Humerus 13 8^ - 9 5 rUlna 5 1 Radius 5 i Fore-arm (ulna)... 9- 9 - 10 Hand 8^ 7 - 6^^ H Thumb 4i II 1^ Middle-finger 4J 3 2| Femur . .• 20 7 Tibia 16f 7 Foot lOi 7i- 8^ 5| Middle toe 2j 2^ l| In a monkey of two feet two inches, the humerus mea- sured four and a quarter, the ulna five inches. The upper extremities of the pongo* of Borneo reach to the ankles, when the animal is erect : its ulna, in the College Museum, is 15f inches long ; the whole height certainly not exceeding five feet. The man, whose gigantic skeleton is preserved in the same place, was eight feet four inches : the ulna, however, is only ]3f inches. The upper limbs of the gibbon touch the ground when the animal is erect. Passing over some circumstances of less importance, ord inarily enumerated among the distinctive characters of * AuDEBERT, Ilist. Ndt- (Ics Slnges ; Planche Anat. 2. fig. 6, The short description of this animal, which, from the enormous size and strength of his jaws, must be extremely formidable, given by Wdrmb in the 2d vol. of the Memoirs of the Batavlan Society in Dutch is translated in the work of AuDEBERT, p. 22 and 23. It is the first and only description we have of tijc animal. Buffon, who had never seen this creature, nor any part of it gives the name of pongo to the orang-utang. CHARACTERS OF MAN. 159 man, as the lobules of the ear, the tumid lips, particularly the Inferior, &c., I have a few remarks to make on the smoothness of the human Integuments. " Dantur," says LiNNJ^.us *, " alicubi terrarum, simise minus quam homo pilosae :" but he does not tell us in what part of the world they are to be found. The unanimous reports of all tra- vellers, as well as the specimens of such animals exhibited in Europe, prove incontestably that the manlike simiae, whether the orang-utang of Borneo, or chlmpansd of An- gola, as well as the long-armed monkey or gibbon, are widely different from the human subject in this respect. Although the individuals brought into these countries have been under the adult age, and generally very sickly, their body has been in all cases universally hairy. We have, indeed, some accounts of people, particularly in the islands of the South Sea, remarkable for their hairyness; but they are not completely satisfactory. Spangberg relates, that he found such a race in one of the southern Kurile islands (lat. 43^ 50®), on his return from Japan to Kamtschatka f : and J. R. Forster observed individual anomalous instances in the Islands of Tanna, Mallicollo, and New Caledonia J. It was reported to Mr. Marsden, when inquiring concern- ing the aborigines of Sumatra, that there are two species living in the woods, with peculiar language : one of these (called orang-gugu) was described as " differing but little in the use of speech from the orang-utang of Borneo, their bodies being covered with long hairs § .'' * Fanna Suecica ; Praef. + Russischer GescJiichte ; i. iii. p. 174. :j: " I observed several of these people (the Mallicollese) who were very hairy all over the body, not excepting the back ; and this circumstance I also observed in Tanna and New Caledonia." Observations on a Voyage round the Worlds p. 243. That this hairyness is neither common to all the natives of the islands enumerated, nor even very frequent or remarkable in accidental cases, may be inferred from its not being at all noticed by Cook, who however describes minutely the persons of these islanders. Voyage towards the South Polc^ v. ii. pp. 34, 7S, US. ^ History of Sumatra, ed. 3, p. 41, note. 160 CHARACTERS OF MAN. These accounts furnish no satisfactory proof that any race * of men exists with a skin differently organized or co- vered from what we are acquainted witli. The smoothness and nakedness of the human integuments therefore form a sufficient diagnostic character of our species, as compared to the monkey, or any other nearly allied mammiferous animal ; and this circumstance, with the absence of all fur, spines, bristles, scales, &c., and the want of those natural offensive weapons, fangs, talons, claws, &c., justify us in denominating the human body as naturally unarmed and defenceless. The deticiency is amply made up by the inter- nal faculties, and the arts to which they give rise. While man is remarkable for the smoothness of his skin on the whole, some parts are even more covered with hair than in animals ; as, for example, the pubes and axilla, which the ancients consequently regarded as peculiar characters of man. In comparing man with the anthropo-morphous simije, it must be noticed further, that one species (satyrus) has no nail on the thumb of the hind-hand ; and the other (troglo- dytes), according to Tyson, has thirteen ribs. Both of them have a sacrum composed of three pieces only instead of five, as in the human subject. One at least (satyrus) has one or two large membranous pouches on the front of the neck, under the platysma myoides, communicating with the cavity of the larynx, between the os hyoides and thyroid ♦ The skin, like other parts, is subject to occasional varieties of forma- tion. Thus patches of it are sometimes thickly covered with hair, like that on the head. Such accidental varieties, exaggerated by credulity and fraud, have given occasion to reports of persons having hides like animals. Buffon, (Supplement^ v. 4. p. 571). Wunscii ( Kosmolagische Uuterhaltungen, part ?j)y and LavatilR ( Physiog. Fragm. part 4, p. C8), have given figures and de- scriptions of A. M. IIerrig, a woman of Triers, said to have the skin of a deer, and shewn in many parts of Europe. Soemmerring saw this person, and found the peculiarity to consist of numerous and large elevations of the skin, covered by thick and strong hairs. They were of the nature of the moles often seen on the face of very fair persons, and generally giving origin to hairs. He could not discover a single hair resembling (hat of a deer. Jics- chreibung tinigcr MisageburloUf ^. 3*. IN STATURE, PROPORTIONS, &C. 161 cartilage, and capable of distension and evacuation at the will of the animal*. It has no ligamentum teres in the hip- joint f. It has a membranous canal running along the sper- matic cord from the abdomen to the tunica vaginalis J, as other monkeys and quadrupeds have ; but this does not exist in the champanse §. The roof of the mouth is nearly black. I venture to assert that the differences only which have been just enumerated, without any others, would be amply sufficient to establish the distinction of species ; that no example can be adduced of animals deviating so far from the original model of their structure as to exhibit varieties like those just enumerated ; and consequently, that the dif- ferences in question can be accounted for only by referring the animals to species originally distinct. There are some points, in which man has been erroneously supposed to differ from animals. The approximation of the two eyes is not peculiar ; they are much nearer together in the simise. Many other mammalia, particularly among the quadru- mana, have cilia in both eyelids : this is the case in the elephant. Although the prominent nose is a striking character of the human face, particularly in comparison with the monkeys, whose very name (simiafrom simus) is derived from the flat- ness of this part, there is a species considerably surpassing man in the length of this feature ; — the long-nosed monkey, S. rostrata, or nasalis ||. * Campek in Philos. Trans, v. 69, p. 139. CEiivrcs; t. i. Be VOrang, ch. il. pi. ii. fig. 9 and 10. To the passage of the air'in expiration info these pouches, Camper ascribes the want of power of the orang-utang to produce articulated sounds. + Camper, (ILuvres, i: 153. % ^^^^' 1^9. ^ Tyson, p. 82. II BuFFON, Hist, des Quadriipedes ; SuppUm. t. vii. tab. 11, 12. The animal is also figured by Blumenbach, Ahbildungcn ; No. 13; and by Pennant, History of Quadrupeds., v. ii. p. 322, pi. 104 and 105, under the name of proboscis monkey. Tiie nostrils of this proboscis do not terminate, as in man, close to tiie upper lip ; but at the extremity of the prominence ; and the structure, in other respects, diilers essentially from that of (he human nose, M 162 CHARACTERS OF MAN, &C. The external cars are not incapable of motion in all men, nor are they moveable in all other mammalia ; in the ant- eaters, for example. Many quadrumana have an organ of touch, and an uvula, as well as man. Again there are some parts, which man alone, or with a few other mammalia, does not possess. Most of these, which are found chiefly in the domesticated kinds, were for- merly attributed to man, when human dissections, from want of opportunities, were uncommon. The panniculus carnosus, or thin subcutaneous stratum of muscular fibres covering the ventral and lateral parts of the trunk immediately under the skin — described by Galen and his followers, and even by Ves alius, the great restorer of anatomy and exposer of Galen's errors, as a part of the human body — does not exist in man, nor, according to Tyson, in the chimpans^. It is found in the monkeys. The rete mirabile of the cerebral arteries, included by Galen among the parts of the human body, was shewn by Vesalius not to belong to the human structure. The seventh or suspensory muscle of the eyeball, which is found in the four-footed mammalia, is not seen in man, as Fallopius observed ; neither is the allantois or membrana nictitans. That man has neither the ligamentum nuchas nor the in- termaxillary bone, has been already explained. The fora- men incisivum is common to the human species with qua- drupeds : it is small and single in the former j double and of considerable size in the latter. There are a few other parts, not found in many animals, and sometimes erroneously ascribed to man ; such as the pancreas Asellii, hepatico-cystic ducts, corpus Highmori, &c. CHAPTER VI. Differences in the Structure of same Internal Organs. The instrument of knowledge and reflection, the part by whicli we feel, perceive, judge, think, reason — the organ or organs connecting us with the external world, and executing the moral and intellectual department in our economy — claim our first attention. In spite of metaphysical subtlety, of all the chimeras and fancies about immaterial agencies, ethereal fluids, and the like, and all the real or pretended alarms so carefully connected with this subject, the truth, that the phenomena of mind are to be regarded physiologi- cally merely as the functions of the organic apparatus con- tained in the head, is proved by such overwhelming evidence that physiologists and zoologists have been led, almost in spite of themselves, to shew their belief in it, by the great attention they have paid to this part. The vast superiority of man over all other animals in the faculties of the mind, which may be truly considered as a generic distinction of the human subject — in my opinion a more unequivocal and important one than many of those, in compliance with which, diversity of genus and species is established in the animal kingdom — led physiologists at a very early period to seek for some corresponding diff'erence in the brains of man and animals. It has been asserted, from remote times, that the brain of man is larger than that of any animal : and I know no ex- ception to this assertion of Aristotle and Pliny, besides the elephant ; unless the larger cetacea should be as well supplied with brain, in proportion to tlieir size, as the smaller. Certainly, all the larger animals, with which we are more commonly acquainted, have brains absolutely smaller, and considerably so, than that of man. This in- deed may be easily shewn by a comparison of skulls ; by M 2 1G4 PECULIARITIES OF contrasting the compressed, narrow, elongated crania of brutes, hidden behind their enormous jaws and face, with the lengtl), breadth, and ample vault of the human " cerebri tabernaculum "*," whose capacious globular expanse sur- mounts and covers the inconsiderable receptacles of the senses and alimentary apparatus. In later times the subject has been investigated in a dif- ferent way — by comparing the proportion which the mass of the brain bears to the whole body. The result of this comparison In the more common and domestic animals was deemed so satisfactory, that, without prosecuting the in- quiry further, a general proposition was laid down, that man has the largest brain in proportion to his body. More mo- dern physiologists, however, in following up this compara^ tive view in a greater number of animals, have been consi- derably perplexed at discovering many exceptions to the ge- neral position. They found that several mammalia, as the dolphin, seals, some quadrumana, and some animals of the mouse kind, equal the human subject, and that some small birds even exceed him in this respect f. As these latter observations entirely overturned the con- clusion which had been before generally admitted, Soem- * Halleu. t It cannot be a very satisfactory mode of proceeding, to com- pare the body, of which the weight varies so considerably, accord- ing to Illness, emaciation, or embonpoint, with the brain, which is affected by none of these ohxumstances, and seems to remain con- stantly the same. Thus in the cat, the weight of the brain, com- pared to that of the body, has been stated as 1 to 156, by one ana- tomist ', as 1 to 82 by another : that of the dog, as 1 to 305, 1 to 47, &c. The following numbers, taken principally from Haller (^Element. Fhyswl. lib. x. sect. 1.) and CuviER {Lcgons d^AnaU Comp. Lee. ix. art. 5.), will shew that, In the proportionate mass of his brain, man is surpassed only by a few small, slender, and lean animals. Child of 6 years, 2lb. 28^.dr. j or A- HalLer. Adult, V^. Hali.er. From 2lb. Sgoz, to 3lb. Sjoz. SoE^^- MKRRING. INTERNAL STRUCTURE. THE BRAIN. 165 MERRING has furnished us with another point of compari- son, viz. that of the ratio, which the mass of the hrain bears to the bulk of the nerves arising from it. Let us divide the brain into two parts ; that which is immediately connected with the sensorial extremities of the nerves, which receives their impressions, and is therefore devoted to those common wants and purposes which we partake with animals. Orangs. Cliimpans^, of 26 inches in height, lloz. Idr. Tyson. — A proportion equal to the humane Gibbon (S, Lar), v?. Sapajous, or American monkeys with prehensile tails. Saimiri (S. sciurea), ^j Sai" (S. capuclna), ^V *? Ouistiti (S. jacchus), -jig^. Coaita (S. paniscus), V-r* Ajies —Mulhvouc (S. faunus), Vt? Callitrlche (S. saboea) and Patas (S. rubra), Vt ? (§• mona,) V^ j Mangabey (S. fullgi- nosa), -5?^. Baboons. — Macat]ue(S. cynomolgus),-gV? Magot (S.sylvanus), T-ir Great Baboon (S. sphynx), txtt' Lemurs. — Mococo (L. catta), -fy\-j Vari (L. macaco), V^. Bat (V. noctula), -g^V j Mole, -^V *? Bear, -r^^ j Hedgehog, -ri-^. Fox, -j-^3- \ Wolf, -tV-o- ? Martin, -s-f^: Ferret, -r." g* Beaver, T-rhr ? Hare, -^^ j Rabbit, -^^ — xr^ ? Water-rat, -ra-V? Rat, yV ? Mouse, Vy *? Field-mouse, -^V* Wild Boar, -g-yT ? Domestic, ^4-T5-—:rfT ? Elephant, ^^t,^— 7 or 10 lb. Stag, ^^^i Roebuck, (young), ^V ? Sheep, -^l-p, -riir> Ox, Calf, -^-f^ ; Horse, y^-^, ^^-^ ; Ass, xK- Dolphin (delphlnus delphis,) ^V> Vir> 15V, t^t ? Porpoise, (D. phoctena), -j'.^* Birds. — Eagle, -^^(,; Falcon, t-^^j Goose,^„j (HALrER)j Duck, ^ -rhr'y Cock, ^V? Blackbird, ^v ? Redbreast, V,^ j Chaffinch, Vy 5 a Fringilla, carefully weighed and examined by Haller, -^ j Sparrow, ^V ? Canary-bird, -rV Reptiles. — Turtle, ^g^- j Tortoise, -2'ftr ? Coluber-natrix, y^^ 5 Frog, x7^. Ztj/if^. — Shark, ^VjT^j ? Dog-fish, j 5'^^ j Pike, t/ot J Carp, ^ ■^. 166 rECULlARITIES OF INTERNAL STRUCTURE. The second division will include the rest of the brain, which may be considered as the seat of the mental phenomena. In proportion, then, as any animal possesses a larger share of the latter and more noble part — that is, in propor- tion as the organ of reflection exceeds that of the external senses — may we expect to find the powers of the mind more diversified and more fully developed. In this point of view man is decidedly pre-eminent: although in his senses and common animal properties he holds only a middle rank, here he surpasses all other animals that have been hitherto inves- tigated : he is the first of living beings. " All the simise," says this accomplished anatomist, " for I liave been fortu- nate enough to procure specimens of tlie four principal divi- sions, come after him ; for although the proportion of their brain to the body, particularly in the small species with prehensile tails, is equal to that of man, their very large eyes, ears, tongue and jaws, require a much larger mass of brain than the corresponding parts in the human subject ; and if you remove this, the ratio of the brain to the body is much diminished*. '' Animals of various kinds seem to me to possess a larger or smaller quantity of this superabundant portion of brain, according to the degree of their sagacity and docility. The largest brain of a horse, which I possess, weighs one pound seven ounces ; the smallest human brain that I have met with in an adult, two pounds five ounces and a quarter. But the nerves in the basis of the horse's brain are ten times larger than in the other instance, although it weighs less by fourteen ounces and a quarter. " But we are not hastily to conclude that the human species have smaller nerves than any other animals. In order that my ideas may be better understood, I shall state the following imaginary case. Suppose the ball of the eye * BLU'NfFABACH has figured the brain of the ribbed-nose baboon or man- drill (papio maimon), in the two first editions of his "work, De Gen. Hum. Var. Nat. tab. I. fig. 1. The deviation from the human character in the size of tlic nerves is verv strikins:. THE BRAIN. 167 to require 600 nervous fibrils in one instance ; and in an- other, half the size, 300 : further, that the animal with 600 fibrils possesses a brain of seven, and that with 300 a brain of only five drams. To the latter we ought to ascribe the larger brain, and a more ample capacity of registering the impressions, made on the organ of vision. For allowing one dram of encephalon to 100 fibrils, the brain, Vhlch is absolutely the least, will have an overplus of two drams, while the larger lias only one. That the eye, which is sup- plied with a double quantity of fibrils, may be a more per- fect organ of sense, will be readily admitted : but that point is not connected with the present question^*.'* Independently of weight and size, Soemmerring ob- served fifteen visible material anatomical differences be- tween the brain of the common tail-less ape and that of man f . It must be acknowledged, that the inquiries into the re- lative weight of the brain and the body, and tiie comparison between the former and the nerves connected with it, have not yet afforded any precise and clear information respecting the differences between man and animals, nor on the grounds of the infinitely various faculties that distinguish different animals. It can hardly be expected that these matters will receive any clear elucidation, while we continue so ignorant as at present of the functions executed by the different parts of the encephalon. The basis of the position so much insisted on by Soem- merring is an assumption that a certain bulk of nerve requires always the same proportion of brain for the execu- tion of its office — a datum by no means self-evident. The comparison of the nerves to the brain in general is not satis- factory : we should wish to know the relative proportions of • Ueher die Korperliche Verschiedcnhcit des Ncgers vom Europder ; p. 63—67. See also the dissertation of the same author, />e Basi Encephali; and J. G. Ebel, Ohs. ISfcurol. ex Amt. Comparata, p. 17 ; Francof. ad Viadr. 1788; or in Ludwig Scriptorcs Ncurologid. f Utbcr die Korp. Vcrsch. p. 77, note. 168 PECULIARITIES OF INTERNAL STRUCTURE. the cerebrum, cerebellum, and medulla oblongata. The lat- ter, indeed, is an important point ; as most of the nerves are immediately connected with it, few with the cerebrum, and none with the cerebellum, properly so called. The most striking character of the human brain is the prodigious developement of the cerebral hemispheres, to which no animal, whatever ratio its whole encephalon may bear to its body, affords any parallel *. It is also the most perfect in the number and develope- ment of its parts : none being found in any animal, which man has not ; while several of those found in man are either reduced in size, or deficient in various animals. Hence it has been said, that by taking away, diminishing, or chang- ing proportions, you might form, from the human brain, that of any animal ; while, on the contrary, there is none from which you could in like manner construct the brain of man. It approaches the most nearly to the spherical figure. That the nerves are the smallest in proportion to the brain has been already pointed out : the brain diminishes^ and the nerves increase, from man downwards. In the foetus and child the nerves are proportionally larger than in the adult. The assertion that it has the largest cerebrum in propor- tion to the cerebellum f does not seem to be quite correct. * On this point I apprehend, from the following passage, that the We\-- ZFXS agree uitli what is stated in the text : "Homini pro ratione longe plus masstp cerebri incsse, quam mammalibus, sive illam massoe cerebri partem, qua^ in interiore cerebro sitas, peculiariter formatas, Dive individiuis partes ambit, in hominr pro ratione majorem esse, quam in mammalibus."— De pe- nillori Struct. Cerebri Honiinis et Bndoriim, p. 259. +The following numbers indicate the comparative weights of the cerebrmn and cerebellum : — Man 1—9 Saimiri 1 — 1 4 Si 1—6 M::got 1—7 Baboon 1—7 S. Mona 1—8 Dog 1— 8j (at 1—6 Mole I— 1 Beaver 1 — 3 Rat \—3i IMouse 1 — 2 Hare 1—6 Wild Boar 1—7 Cow 1—9 Sheep 1—5 Horse 1—7 CuviERj Le^ iVAnat. Comp. ii. THE BRAIN. 1 C^) It has, however, the largest cerebrum in proportion to the medulla oblongata and spinalis*, with the single and indeed singular exception of the dolphin. It has the deepest and most numerous convolutions, ap- parently in consequence of its size, as the purpose of this structure seems to be that of affording a more extensive sur- face for the application of the vascular membrane, the pia mater. The convolutions become fewer and shallower as the brain diminishes in size: there are none in the rodentia; none in very small brains. It has the greatest quantity of medullary substance in pro- portion to the cortical. In the foetus, the cortical is much more abundant than in the adult. SoEMMERRiNG has shewu that that curious structure, the sandy or earthy matter of the pineal gland (acervulus pine- alis), belongs to the healthy natural state of the human brain, being found from the fourteenth year ; and that it is almost confined to manf. He found it, however, once in the fallow-deer (cervus dama) ; and Malacarne J met with it in the goat. An instance communicated by Caldani, of The VVenzei.s, whose accuracy seems to deserve the great- est confidence, represent some of these proportions differently. They have found the cerehrum, compared to the cerehellum, to he in man, as 6AV— S^^St to 1 j in the horse, 4| to 1 ; cow, 5i-H to 1 j dog, 6,V to 1 ; cat, 4-rV to 1 ? mole, 3f to 1 j mouse, 6i to 1. Lib. cit. tab. iv. ♦ The breadth of the medulla oblongata behind the pons Varolii, compared to the greatest breadth of the brain, is, In Man, as 1 — 7 Simla' sinica (Bonnet ? j 4 Chinois) c... J S. Cynomolgus. . . . > 1 — 5 Dog 6-— 11 or 3— S Cat 8—22 Rabbit 3_8— 1— 3 Pig 5—7 Sheep 5—7 Roe 1—3 Cow 5—13 Calf 2—5 Horse 8—21 Dolphin 1—13 In the latter animal, the breadth of the brain is twice its len;^th : — a pro- portion, of which there is no other Instance in the animal kingdom. f De Lapillis vel prope vel intra Glandulam Pinealcrn sitis ; Mogunt. 1785. X Encefclotomia tValeum Quadiupuli, p. 31. 170 PECULIARITIES OF INTERNAL STRUCTURE. an old man in whose brain it was deficient, is regarded by Blumenbach* as a rare anomaly of structure f. The position of the heart in biped man differs from that ♦ De G. II, Var, Nat. p. 44-. From the very accurate researches of the "Wexzels it appears that a deficiency of the acervulus is not so uiifrequent as had been represented by Soemmerring; and they found, on the other hand, that the latter excellent anatomist has not been correct in fixing (he fourteenth year as the date of its earliest appearance : they have met with it from the age of seven. Tlicy mention six instances, in which the acervulus did not exist. De penitiori Structura Cerebri //omznw e< Urw^orMW, Tubingoe, fol. lSI2,p, S16. + The human encephalon undergoes considerable changes after birth, in its entire mass, in the proportions of its parts, and in the texture and consis- tency of its substance. The gradual evolution of the mental faculties cor- responds to these alterations; which, indeed, accord with the slow deve- lopcment of the human frame in other respects, Tlie Wenzels have afforded accurate information on some points. In an embryo of five months they found a brain of 720 grains ; cerebrum of 683; cerebellum of 37, which is a ratio of the former to the latter as 18|-|- to 1 : at eight months the num- bers were 4960, 4610, 350, or as IS-/- to 1 : at the time of birth, as 6130, 5700, 450, or 12f to I : at three years, 15,240, 13,380, 1860, or 7^c_ to 1 : at five years, 20,250, 17,760, 2490, or 7-^^ to I. From fifteen to eighty- eight the highest numbers occurred in a youth of the former age; they were 24,420,21,720,2700, or 8_4_ to 1. Tab. S. Soeiimerring observes, in the explanation of his beautiful tabula baseos encephali, p, 13, that the human brain has reached its full developement at three years of age: the Wenzels afSrm that this is not the case till seven, when they observe, "cerebrum hominis et quoad totum et quoad si ngulas partes absolutum esse videtur." P. 247. If the perfect state of the brain be con- sidered to include the proportionate developement of parts, the entire size and weight, the consistence and cohesion of the mass, and the state of vascu- lar supply characterizing the adult, we must fix as its era a much later pe- riod than the seventh year. I apprehend that the brain of animals will be found nearly perfect in its organization at the time of birth^ and, conse- quently, that a comparison of man and animals, in this point of view, will disclose a remarkable point of distinction between them. The medullary stria? of the fourth ventricle are not seen at birth : their appearance in the first year, and that of the acervulus in the seventh, are regarded by the Wenzels as great peculiarities of the human brain, since that of the mam- malia exhibits no such developement of new parts after biith. Cap. 27. This seems to me a confined and inadequate view of a point, which, in itb full extent, is of great importance. HEART^ VAGINA, &C. 17 1 which it holds in quadrupeds. Its oblique direction to the left side, its flat surface resting on the diaphragm, and the firm attachment of its serous membrane to the tendinous centre of that muscle, present, in the former, a contrast to its straight situation in the middle of the chest, to its sup- port on the sternum, and to the want of attachment between the pericardium and muscle, which are even separated by a distinct interval in the latter; a contrast easily explained by the differences in the form of the thorax, and in the respec- tive attitudes in the two cases. The orangs (S. satyrus, troglodytes, and gibbon) have it placed as in man, and the pericardium attached to the diaphragm. In other simise the apex only is a little inclined to the left, and touches the muscle. The curvature of the sacrum and os coccygis gives rise to the peculiar situation and direction of the sexual organs, and particularly of the vagina in the human female. As these bones are extended in the same straight line with the spine in all other mammalia, the canal of the vagina follows the axis of the pelvis, lies nearly parallel to the spine, and has its external orifice directed downwards or backwards : the orifice of the urethra opens into the vagina itself. These arrangements fully explain to us why brutes discharge the urine behind, why they copulate backwards, and why parturition is so easy with them. In these points of structure the monkey kind agree with the mammalia in general, and differ from man. The axis of the vagina is directed downwards in them ; the urine is discharged within it (such at least, Blumenbach * found * De C. H, Var, Nat, sect. i. § T. The urethra does not, however, open within the vagina of the orang-utang. Camper mentions that the nymphac of this animal were ''comme r^unies ensemble," and that the urethra opened below them. (Eiwrcs, i. 102. According to Cuvier, the female urethra always opens at the external orifice of the vagina, and therefore holds the same situation, in respect to this canal, in all animals. The canal exterior to this termination of the urethra ho calls vulva. It is a simple entrance of little depth in the human subject; ralhcr larger in the baboons; equal in length to the vagina itself in 172 PECULIARITIES OF INTERNAL STRUCTURE. to be the case in the papio maimon and the simia cyno- molgus), and they are, consequently, retro-mi ngent and retro-copulant. Mr. Hunter, vvlio had had opportunities of observing the process, informs us that " monkeys always copulate backwards : this is performed sometimes when the female is standing on all fours; and at other times the male' brings her between his thighs when he is sitting, holding her with liis fore-paws */' Dr. Froriep, of Weimar, late p'nysician to the King of Wurtemberg, informed me that he had often seen monkeys copulate in the extensive menagerie of that monarch ; and that they performed the process backwards ; the male sup- porting himself by the feet on the calves of the female, so that he did not touch the ground. The incurvation of the sacrum and coccyx turns the human vagina forwards, so that its axis cuts that of the pelvis nearly at right angles, and its anterior opening is turned forwards : the urethra opens on its upper and front edge, not at all within the canal. Hence the human female differs from all other mammaliaf in not being retro- mingent and retro-copulant ; hence, too, although many inconveniences, to which she would have been otherwise exposed, particularly during pregnancy, are obviated, par- turition is rendered much more difficult, and a physical reason is found for that doom under which she labours, of bringing forth children in sorrow and in pain. some other monkeys, as the sapajous ; or even superior, as in the bear, Z/ff. d'Anat- Comp. v. 128. On account of the great depth of the syinp'iysis pubis in the orang-utans; (tAvo inches in an animal of little more than two feet, which is equal to its greatest depth in the tallest woman), lliu i.iLiiira of the orang-utang is even longer than that of the human female. Camper, ut supra, p. 107. * Animal Economy, p. 130. f Probably the cetacoa may form an exception to this statement. Our attention, however, is hardly extended to them in this comparison of man and animals. According to the representation of Stlller, the manati and the ursine seal (sea-cow and st>a-bcar) copulate in the human method. Nov. Comm> Acad. Scknt- Pcirop. v. ii. pp. 3V5, and 351. tIEART, VAGINA, &C. 17^ Although it cannot he deemed an internal organ, tliis seems the fittest place for mentioning the hymen, an interesting part of the female structure in many res])ects, and therefore more noticed and investigated tlian so small a fold of skin would have seemed to deserve. The general opinion of its non-existence in the otlier mammalia besides man, and the circumstance of its being found in women only at a particular period of life, and even then not univer- sally, have led many anatomists to deny its existence altogether. The question, however, can be so easily settled by direct evidence, that we are surprised to find Buffon still contesting the point. Though the opinion of this great naturalist is incorrect in point of fact, we cannot but admire the eloquence with which he inveighs against the disgraceful opinions and practices which have prevailed on this subject*. It has been generally asserted that this little part is found only in the human subject. In the female orang-utang * *' Les hommes, jaloux dcs pritnaut^s en tout genre, ont toujoiirs fait grand cas de tout ce qu'ils ont cru pouvoir poss^der exclusivement et les premiers : c'est cette espece de folie, qui a fait un efre r^el de la virginity des fiUes. La virgini'iL', qui est un etrc moral, une vertu qui nc consistc que dans la puretd du coeur, est devenu un objet ph3 slque dont tous les hommes se sont occup^s ; ils ont (^-tabll sur cela dcs opinions, des usages, des C(ir(^monies, dcs superstitions? ct raeme des jugemens, ct des peincs; les abus les plus illicites,les coutumes les plus des honnt^tes ont 6th autoris^es; on a poumis ^ I'examen des matro- nes ignorantes, et expos^ aux yeux de m^decins prevenus les parties les plus secretes de la nature, sans songer qu'une pareille ind^cence est un attentat contre la virginite; que c'est la violer que de chercher la reconnoitre; que toute situation honteuse, tout ^tat indecent, dont une fille est obligee de rougir intc^rieurement, est une vraie defloration. Je n'esp^re pas re^assir ^ dctruire les prejugds ridicules qu'on s'est formes sur ce sujet ; les chosfs, qui font plaisir a croire, seront toujours crues, quelques vaines et quelques d^raison- nables qu'elles puissent Hre ; cependant, comma dans unehistoire on rapporte non seulement la suite des ev^nemens, et les circonstances des faits, mais aussi I'origine des opinions et des erreurs dominantes, j'al cru que dans I'his- toire de I'homme, je ne pourrols me dispenser de parler de 1 "idole favorite a laquelle il sacrilie, d'examiner quellcs peuvent ctre les raisons de son culte, et de recherchcr si la virginite est un etrc reel, ou si ce n est qu'une divinity fabulcuse.'' 174 PECULIARITIES OF INTERNAL STRUCTURE. Camper* says that the hymen was not apparent^, although the individual was very young. BLUMENBACHf informs us that he could neither find any trace of this part^ nor those supposed remains of it called carunculfe myrtiformes, in monkeys or baboons; and that his search was equally fruitless in a female elephant, in which it had been reported that a hymen existed. Cuvier J, on the contrary, represents that several mammalia have a distinct membranous fold at the entrance of the vagina, and others a decided contraction in the same situation. It is not so easy to explain the use or purpose of this membrane, as to establish the fact of its existence. This little fold has indeed completely puzzled the physico-theo- logists, who have as yet assigned no rational explanation of it. The moral purposes alluded to by Haller § are quite ♦ CEuvres, i. 102. + Ds G. H. Var. Nat. Lect. i. § 8. X He states on the authority of Steller, that the northern manati has a strong semilunar fold at the orifice of the vagina, contracting the entrance of that canal; that the mare and ass have a similar structure; and that in the ouistiti (simiajacchus), the marikina (S. rosa]la),and the coaita (S. paniscus), there are two lateral semilunar folds, leaving between them a perpendicular slit. In the otter, dog, cat, and ruminants, he found a constricted circle. In the brown bear there was a thick lip-like fold of the internal membrane, reducing the entrance of the vagina to a simple transverse slit; and the hyena exhibited an analogous structure. A young hyrax had a very distinct circular hymen. Leg. (VAnat. Comp. t. v. p. 131—2. ^ " Vix tamen dubites, cum solo in homine sit repertus, etiam ad morales fines ei esse concessum signum pudicitice, quo et vitium illatum cognoscatur, et pura virgo decus snum possit tueri, et ipse maritus de castitate sponsx' facile convincatur,eo facilius, quod practerea in illibata virgine vagina angusfa sit. Etsi enim possit fieri ut parvus, ut laxus sit hymen, atque prima venus aliquando absque sanguine absolvatur, neque hymen rumpatur ; etsi arti- ficio porro in parum pudica femina sanguis possit olici ; etsi tenerae virgincs aliquando etiam in altero coitu sanguinem reddunt, et menses fluentcs vagi- nam laxant ; tamen in universum debet prima venus crucnta esse, eoque signo pudor virgineus adseri, cum vix possit plena venus obtineri, quin supe- rior margo partis majoris hymenis laceretur. Quare et Mosaicce leges, et multorum populorum consuetudo, hoc signum servata? castitatis et requirunt et ostentant, ct de exemplis in virginibus etiam pene trigenariis certus sum, qiiaj insigneni in prima venere sanguinis jacturam sunt passa;." Elem. Physiol, lib. 28. sect. 2. ^ 27. THE HUMAN ANIMAL ECONOMY. 175 unintelligible in our own species; and are still more in- applicable to the case of brutes. The clitoris and the nymphee have been supposed pe- culiar to the human female, as well as the hymen : the latter, indeed, are generally absent in the mammalia; but Blumenbach * informs us that a lemur, which he kept alive for many years, had them very closely resembling the human. The clitoris seems to be universally found in the mammalia: it is very large in the monkey kind, and in the carnivora ; and Blumenbach f saw it of the size of a fist in a balaena boops stranded on the coast of Holland. CHAPTER VII. Peculiarities in the Animal Economy of the Human Species — gene- ral extension over the Globe. Man naturally omnivorous — his long infancy and slow developement — hence suited to the social state. In the diversity of the regions which he is capable of in- habiting, the lord of the creation holds the first place among animals. His frame and nature are stronger and more flexible than those of any other creature; hence he can dwell in all situations on the surface of the globe. The neighbourhood of the pole and the equator, high moun- tains and deep valleys, are occupied by him : his strong but pliant body bears cold, heat, moisture, light or heavy air; he can tlirive any where, and runs into less remarkable varieties than any other animals which occupy so great a diversity of abodes: — a prerogative so singular, that it must not be overlooked. The situations occuj)ied by our species in the present times extend as far as the known surface of the earth. The * Liff. ciLi).2\. i Ibid 176 PECULIARITIES IN Greenlander and Eskiniau have reached between 70° and 80° of North latitude, and Danish settlements have been formed in Greenland in the same high latitude. Three Russians lived between six and seven years on Spitzbergen, between 77° and 78° N. L. * The Negro lives under the equator ; and all America is inhabited even to Tierra del Fucgo. Thus we find that man can exist and propagate his species in the hottest and coldest countries of the earth. The greatest natural cold ascertained by thermometrical measurement was i\mt experienced by the elder Gmelin in 1735, at Jeniseik : the mercury froze in the thermometer f. The sparrows and jays were all killed. When Pallas was at Krasnoiarsk, the quicksilver also froze in the ball of the thermometer ; and a large mass of pure mercury froze in the open air J. Our own countrymen experienced apparently as severe a degree of cold on the Churchill River in Hud- son's Bay. Brandy was frozen in the rooms where they had fires §. Yet the Canadian savages and the Eskimaux go to the chase in this temperature; and the inhabitants of the countries visited by Gmelin and Pallas cannot remain in their houses all the winter. Even Europeans accustomed to warmer climates can undergo such cold as I have just mentioned, with impunity, if they take exercise enough. The Danes have lived in Greenland in 7-° N. L. ; and the Dutch, under Heemskeiik, wintered at Nova Zembla in 76° N. L. Some of them perished ; but those who moved enough, and were in good health at first, withstood the dreadful cold, which the polar bear (ursus maritimus), appa- rently born for these climes, seems to have been incapable of supporting: for their journal states, that as soon as the sun sinks below the horizon, the cold is so intense that the bears are no longer seen, and the white fox (isatis, cam's * Dr. AiKiN on the attempts to winter in high Northern Latitudes : Man- chester Society's Memoirs; v. i. p. 96. + Flora Sibirica ; Prccf. \ Travels in Russia; pi. 3. ^ P/iilos. Trans. No. 465. THE HUMAN ANIMAL ECONOMY. 1^7 lagopus) alone braves the weather *. We have another example, in which three men remained between six and seven years in 'JS^ N. L.f. The power of the human body to withstand severe cold will appear in a more remarkable light, when we observe what heat it is capable of bearing, Boerhaave asserted, that a temperature of from 96° to 100° would be fatal to man. The mean temperature of Sierra Leone is 84° Fahr. Messrs. Watt and Winterbottom saw the thermometer frequently at 100°, and even 102° and 103° (in the shade), at some distance from the coast J. Adanson saw it at 1084° in the shade at Senegal in 17° N. L. § : and Buffon cites an instance of its being seen at 117|°. The country to the west of the Great Desert may be still hotter than Senegal, from the eft'ect of the winds which have sw^pt over the whole tract of its burning sands. When the sirocco blows in Sicily, the thermometer rises to 112°, according to Brydone. Dr. Chalmers observed a heat of 115° in South Carolina in the shade || : and Humboldt, of 110° to 115° in the Llanos or deserts near the Orinoco in South America **. Thus man can support all possible degrees of atmosphe- rical heat and cold : he has an equal power of supporting varieties of pressure. The ordinary pressure of the air, at the level of the sea, may be reckoned at 32,325 lbs. for the whole surface of the body, supposing the barometer at 30 inches. If we ascend to a height of 12,000 feet, of which elevation extensive tracts, inhabited by thousands, are found * Voyage de la Comp. des Indes ; pi. 1. A short account of the voyage is given by Mr. Barrow, in his Chronological History of Voyages into the Arctic Regions ; chap, ii.- The polar bear disappeared, and the white foxes were seen in great numbers, as soon as the sun set : when it rose again, the foxes went away, and the bears returned. + Dr. AiKiN, as above quoted. ^ Winterbottom's ^ccoimf o/6'ie Native Africans ; v. i. p. 32 — 3. ^ Voyage au Senegal. II On the Weather and Diseases of South Carolina. ** Tableau Physique des Regions Eqnatoriales. N 178 MAN NATURALLY OMNIVOROUS. in South America, the barometer stands at 20J inches, and the pressure is 21,750 lbs. Condamine and Bouguer, "fvitli their attendants, lived three v/eeks at a height of 2434 toises, or 14,604 French feet, where the barometer stood at 15 in. 9 lines, and the pressure must consequently have been 16',920lbs*. In the Peruvian territory, extensive plains occur possessing an altitude of 9000 feet ; and three-fifths of the vice-royalty of Mexico, comprehending the interior provinces, present a surface of half a million of square miles, which runs nearly level, at an elevation between 6000 and 8000 feet. Mexico is 7475, and Quito 9550 feet above the level of the sea. The hamlet of Antisana, 13,500 feet above that level, is the highest inhabited spot on the surface of our globe; but Humboldt ascended Chimbora9o, to 19,300 feet f. There are no instances of men living under a pressure much greater than what has been mentioned : the depths, to wliich tlie earth has been penetrated in the operations of minhig, are trifling in this point of view. In diving, however, the body is subject to, and can bear, several atmospheres; as, on the contrary, in balloons, men have ascended beyond any point of elevation on the surface of the earth J, and have consequently been exposed to a much more considerable diminutionN^f the ordinary pressure than what I have stated above. As the pliysical capabilities of his frame enable man to occupy "every variety of climate, soil, and situation, it fol- lows of necessity, that he must be omnivorus, that is, ca- pable of deriving sufficient nourishment and support from all kinds of food. The power of living in various situ- ations would be rendered nugatory by restriction to one kind of diet. * Mem. deV Acad, des Sciences, a.nn6e 17-44; p. 262 — S. + Tableau Phys.des Regions Equatoriales ; and Tableaux de la Nature. X The height of 23,040 feet above the level of the sea, reached by INI. Gay LussAc in his second ascent, although considerably higher than the summit of Chimbora^o, may however be surpassed by some peaks of the Himmaleh mountains; if the recent suppositions concerning their altitude should be hereafter verified. MAN NATURALLY OMNIVOROUS, 179 If It was the design of Nature, that the dreary wastes of Lapland, the naked and barren shores of the Icy Sea, the ice-bound coasts of Greenland and Labrador, and the frightful deserts of Tierra del Fuego, should not be left entirely uninhabited, it is impossible to suppose that either a vegetable or even a mixed diet is necessary to human subsistence. How could roots, fruits, or other vegetable productions be procured, where the bosom of the earth is closed the greater part of the year, and its surface either covered with many feet of snow, or rendered impenetrable by frost of equal depth ? Experience shews us that the constant use of animal food alone is as natural and whole- some to the Eskimaux, the Samoides, the inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, &c. &c. as the most careful admixture of vegetable and animal matters is to us. We even find that the Russians, who winter on Nova Zembla, are obliged to imitate the Samoides, by drinking fresh rein-deer blood, and eating raw flesh, in order to preserve their health. In the Memoir already quoted. Dr. Aikin informs us that these practices were found most conducive to health in those high northern latitudes. Hence, we shall be less surprised at find- ing men in certain situations living and enjoying health on what seem to us the most filthy and disgusting objects. The Greenlander and the inhabitant of the Archipelago, between north-eastern Asia and north-western America, eat the whale, often without waiting for cookery. The former bury a seal, when they catch one, under the grass in summer, and the snow in winter, and eat the half- frozen half-putrid flesh with as keen a relish as the European finds in his greatest dainties. They drink the blood of the seal while warm, and eat dried herrings moistened with whale oil *. In the torrid zone, on the contrary, circumstances are very unfavourable to raising and supporting those flocks and herds of domesticated animals, which would be neces- sary to supply the numerous population with animal food. The number, fierceness, and strength of beasts of prey, the periodical alternations of rains and inundations, * CuANz, Gesch. von Gronland. N 2 180 MAN NATURALLY OMNIVOROUS. with tlie long-continued operation of a vertical sun, wliose direct rays dry up all succulent vegetables and all fluids, are the principal and insurmountable obstacles. The de- ficient supply of flesh is most abundantly compensated by numerous and valuable vegetable presents; by the cocoa- nut, the plantain, the banana, the sago-tree; by the potatoe, yam, cassava, aqd other roots ; by maize, rice, and millet ; and by an infinite diversity of cooling and refreshing fruits. By these precious gifts, Nature has pointed out to the na- tives of hot climates the most suitable kind of nourishment : here, accordingly, a vegetable diet is found most grateful and salubrious, and animal food much less wholesome. In the temperate regions of the globe all kinds of animal food can be easily procured, and nearly all descriptions of grain, roots, fruit, and other vegetable matters ; and, when taken in moderation, all afford wholesome nourishment. Here, therefore, man appears in his omnivorous character. As we pass from these middle climes towards the poles, animal matters are more and more exclusively taken; towards the equator, cooling fruits and other produce of the earth constitute a greater and greater share of human diet. The diversity of substances composing the catalogue of human aliments *, offers a strong contrast to the simple * To this long li^^t, which, already comprehendino; most of the substances in the two organic kingdoms of Nature, so fully justifies us in deno- minating man an omnivorous animal, we have to add, on the autho- rity of recent trials in Germany, the wood of various trees. The ligneous fibres of the beech, birch, lime, poplar, elms, fir, and probably others, when dried, ground, and sifted, so as to form an impalpable powder like coarse flour, are not only capable of affording wholesome nourishment to man or animals, but even, with some admixtures, and some culinary skilly constitute very palatable articles of food. If cold water be poured on some wood flour, inclosed in a fine linen bag, it becomes milky, and considerable pressing or kneading is required to wash out from the flour all the starch- like matter it contains. Like starch, this matter slowly subsides in cold water ; and it forms, when boiled with water, a thick tenacious paste, which will firmly agglutinate the leaves of pasteboard. The following publications have appeared on the subject: viz. Ober- LECUNER, Jisfabricandi Fnimentimi verwn ; Salzburg, 1805. Wic kann man sic/i bey grouser Thcutiung und Ilungcrsnoth ohne Gctreid gcsunds& MAN NATURALLY OMNIVOROUS. 181 diet of most other animcils, which, in their wild state, are confined to one kind of food, either animal or vegetable, and are often restricted to some very small part of either king- dom. Hence, it has been conceived, that man also ought to confine himself to one sort, that he probably did so in Ids natural state, and that the present variety in his bill of fare is the consequence of degeneration or departure from nature. The question of the natural food of man has, therefore, been much agitated. The nature of an animal is only to be learned by an observation of structure, actions, and habits. From the powerful fangs and jaws, the tremendous talons, the cou- rage, and the vast muscular strength of the lion, and his constant practice of attacking living prey, we pronounce his nature to be ferocious, predatory, and carnivorous. From evidence of the same sort, we determine the nature of the hare to be mikl, timid, and herbivorous. In a similar way we conclude man to be naturally omnivorous ; finding that he has instruments capable of procuring, masticating, and digesting all descriptions of food, and that he can subsist in health and strength on flesh or vegetables only, or on a mixture of both. It is alleged in reply, that man in society is artificial and degenerate ; and the object of inquiry is stated to be, what does he feed on before civilization, in his original, unsophisticated condition? Generally on animal food, the produce of the chase or the fishery ; because vegetable food cannot be obtained in sufficient certainty and abundance, until something like settled habits of life have begun, until the arts, at least that of agriculture, have commenced. If Brod verschaffen? Salzburg, 181 6. Atttenreith, Glilndliche Anleitung zur lirod'zubereitung, aiis Holz ; Stuttgard, 1817. The last work, by Professor Autenreith, of Tubingen, is analyzed in the Salzburg medicinisch cldrurgisc/ie Zcitung, 1817, v. 3, No. 56. The bark of trees has been long occasionally used as a substitute, in times of scarcity, for other food. Professor Von Buch has described the prepa- ration and effects of the Norwegian Barke Brod, which seems hovvevei* a very imperfect and unwholesome kind of nutriment. — Travels through Norway and Lapland ; p. 87. 182 MAN NATURALLY OMNIVOROUS. the rudest barbarism be the most natural state of man^ the New Hollanders and the inhabitants of Van Dieman's Land, arc the most unexceptionable specimens ; raised, and but just raised, above the level of brutes. These savages are very thinly scattered, in small numbers, and at wide intervals, along the coasts of the great austral continent ; and derive their support from the sea. They are not, how- ever, pure ichthyph agists, as they sometimes get a kangaroo, a bird, or a few roots, and sometimes the large larvje of an insect from the bark of the dwarf gum-tree (eucalyptus resinifera) : sometimes they mix their roots with ants, and their lava into a paste *. The individuals, whom we send to New South Wales, are not the best specimens of our iron age, yet they are far beyond these children of nature, in physical and moral attributes. The Greenlanders, the Kurilian and Aleutian islanders, the wandering hordes of Asia, and the hunting tribes of North America, are perhaps too much civilized to be admit- ted as examples of natural man : they are all carnivorous. If the practices of savage and barbarous people are to be the criterion, we must deem it natural to eat earth, " The Ottomaques," says Humboldt f, " on the banks of the Meta and the Orinoco, feed on a fat unctious earth, or a species of pipe-clay, tinged with a little oxyd of iron. They collect this clay very carefully, distinguishing it by the taste: they knead it into balls of four or six inches in diameter, which they bake slightly before a slow fire. Whole stacks of such provisions are seen piled up in tlieir huts. These clods are soaked in water, when about to be used ; and each individual eats about a pound of the mate * Collins' Account of the English Colony in New South Wales ; Ap- pendix, No. 4. Their habitations, if that rame be deemed applicable to a hole in a tree or rock, or to a piece of bark stripped from a single tree, bent and laid on the ground ; and the rest of their domestic and social economy, as pourtrayed in the same work, arc quite in unison v,\lh their bill of fare. + Tab. Phys. dcs Regions Equatorialcs' MAN NATURALLY OMNIVOROUS. 183 rial every day. The only addition, which they occasionally make to this unnatural fare, consists in small fish, liztirds, and fern-roots. The quantity of clay that the Ottomaques consume, and the greediness with which they devour it, seem to prove that it does more than merely distend their hungry stomachs, and that the organs of digestion have the power of extracting from it something convertible into animal subsistence." The same practice has been observed in other places *. Is it a just point of view to regard the savage state exclu- sively as the state of nature ? Is civilization to be considered as opposed to and incompatible with the nature of man ? A power of improvement, of advancement in arts and sciences, that is, the capability of civilization, or perfectibi- lity, as it has sometimes been called, is recognized in all hu- man beings; its degree is very various in individuals and races. All have lived in society, which strongly tends to promote and assist the developement of this power. Social life and progressive civilization, instead of being unnatural to man, are therefore parts, and very valuable parts of his nature, as much as the erect stature and speech ; as much as ferocity and solitary life are the nature of predacious animals, or mild- ness and herding together are of many herbivorous ones. It is as much the nature of man to form societies, to build up political associations, to cultivate arts and sciences, to spread himself over the globe, and avail himself of both organized kingdoms for his support, as it is that of the bee and ant to establish their communities, to gather honey and lay up provisions, or that of any other animals to perform the actions by which they are respectively characterized. These considerations lead to the conclusion, that pro- gressive advance and develo])ement, and the employment of all kinds of food, are as natural to man, as stationary * " I saw one man, whose stomach was already well lined, but who, in our presence, ate a piece of steatite, which was very soft, of a greenish colour, and twice as large as a man's fist. We afterwards saw a number of others eat of the same earth, which serves to allay the sensation of hunger by filling the stomach." Labillardiere, Voyage in search o/La Perdu se, v. 2, 214. 184 MAN NATURALLY OMNIVOROUS. uniformity and restriction to one species of aliment are to any animals. In discussing this question, we sometimes meet with po- sitions respecting the influence of animal or vegetable diet, on the developement of the bodily and mental powers, which are quite unsupported by direct proof: and some have even sought for a support to their systems in the fictions of poetry. " The Pythagorean diet,'' says Buffon, " though extolled by ancient and modern philosophers, and even recommended by certain physicians, was never indicated by nature. If man were obliged to abstain totally from flesh, he would not, at least in our climates, either exist or multiply. An entire abstinence from flesh can have no etfect but to enfeeble nature. To preserve himself in proper plight, man requires not only the use of this solid nourishment, but even to vary it. To obtain complete vigour, he must choose that species of food which is most agreeable to his constitution ; and, as he cannot preserve himself in a state of activity, but by procuring new sensations, he must give his senses their full stretch, and eat a variety of meats, to prevent the disgust arising from an uniformity of nourishment." We are told, on the other hand, that in the golden age man was as innocent as the dove ; his food was acorns, and his beverage pure water from the fountain. Finding every where abundant subsistence, he felt no anxieties, but lived independent, and always in peace, both with his own species and the other animals. But he no sooner forgot his native dignity, and sacrificed his liberty to the bonds of society, than war and the iron age succeeded that of gold and of peace. Cruelty and an insatiable appetite for flesh and blood were the first fruits of a depraved nature, the corruption of which was completed by the invention of manners, arts, and sciences. Either immediately, or re- motely, all the physical and moral evil, by which indivi- duals are afilicted, and society laid waste, arose from these carnivorous practices. Both these representations are contradicted by the only criterion in such questions, an appeal to exj)erience. That MAN NATURALLY OMNIVOROUS. 185 animal food renders man strong and courageous, is fully disproved by the inhabitants of northern Europe and Asia, the Laplanders, Samoiedes, Ostlacs, Tungooses, Burats, and Kamtschadales, as well as by the Eskimaux in the northern, and the natives of Tierra del Fuego in the southern extremity of America, which are the smallest, weakest, and least brave people of the globe, although they live almost entirely on flesh, and that often raw. Vegetable diet is as little connected with weakness and cowardice, as that of animal matters is with ])hysical force and courage. That men can be perfectly nourished, and their bodily and mental capabilities be fully developed in any climate, by a diet purely vegetable, admits of abundant proof from experience. In the periods of their greatest simplicity, manliness, and bravery, the Greeks and Romans a])pear to have lived almost entirely on plain vegetable preparations ; indifferent bread, fruits, and other produce of the earth, are the chief nourishment of the modern Italians, and of the mass of the population in most coun- tries of Europe : of those more immediately known to ourselves, the Irish and Scotch may be mentioned ; who are certainly not rendered weaker than their English fellow- subjects by their freer use of vegetable aliment. The Negroes, whose great bodily powers are well knov^n, feed chiefly on vegetable substances ; and the same is the case witli the South Sea Islanders, whose agility and strength were so great, that the stoutest and most expert English sailors had no chance with them in wrestling and boxing. The representations of the Pythagoreans respecting the noxious and debilitating effects of animal food, are, on the other hand, the mere offspring of imagination. We have not the shadow of a proof, unless we admit Ovid's Meta- morphoses and other poetical compositions, that this state of innocence, of exalted temperance, of entire abstinence from flesh, of perfect tranquillity, of profound peace, ever ex- isted, or that it is more than a fable, designed to convey moral instruction. If the experience of every individual were not suificient to convince him that the use of animal 186 MAN NATURALLY OMNIVOROUS. food is quite consistent with tlie greatest, strength of body and most exulted energy of mind, this truth is proclaimed by the voice of all history. A few hundreds of Europeans liold in bondage the vegetable-eating millions of the East. If the Romans in their earliest state employed a simple vegetable diet, their glorious career went on uninterruptedly after they had become more carnivorous : we see them winning their way, from a beginning so inconsiderable that it is lost in the obscurity of foible, to the empire of the world; we see them, by the power of intellect, establish- ing that dominion, which they had acquired by the sword, and producing such compositions in poetry, oratory, phi- losophy, and history, as are at once the admiration and despair of succeeding ages; we see our own countrymen rivalling them in arts and in arms, exhibiting no less signal bravery in the field and on the ocean, and displaying in a Milton and Shakspeare, in a Newton, Bacon, and Locke, in a Chatham, Erskine, and Fox, no less mental energy. Yet v/ith these proofs before their eyes, men are actually found, who would have us believe, on the faith of some insulated, exaggerated, and misrepresented facts, and still more miserable hypotheses, that the developement, form, and powers of the body, are impaired and lessened, and the intellectual and moral faculties injured and per- verted by animal food. On this subject of diet a question naturally presents itself, v/hether man approaches most nearly to the carnivo- rous or herbivoroLis tribes in his structure ? What kind of food should we assign to him, if we judged from his organ- ization merely, and the analogy it presents to that of other mammalia ? Physiologists have usually represented that our species holds a middle rank in the masticatory and digestive apparatus, between the flesh-eating and the lierbi- vorous animals ; a statement which seems rather to have been deduced from what we have learned by experience on this subject, than to result fairly from an actual comparison of man and animals. The molar teeth, being the instruments employed in MAN NATURALLY OMNIVOROUS. 187 dividing and preparing the food, must exhibit, in figure and construction, a relation to the nature of the aliment. They rise, in the true carnivora, into sliarp pointed promi- nences, and those of" the lower shut within tliose of the upper jaw : when the series is viewed together, the general outline may be compared to the teeth of a saw. These animals are also furnished with long, pointed, and strong cuspidati or canine teeth, which are employed as weapons of ofFenq.e and defence, and are very serviceable in seizing and lacerating their prey : they constitute in some animals, as the lion, tiger, &c. very formidable wea- pons. The herbivorous animals are not armed v/ith these terrible canine teeth : their molares have broad fiat surfaces, opposed in a vertical line to each other in the two jaws. Plates of enamel are intermixed with the bone of the tooth in the latter; and, as its superior hardness makes it wear less rapidly than the other textures of the teeth, it appears on the grinding surface in rising ridges, which must greatly increase the triturating effect. In carnivorous animals the enamel is confined altogether to the surface of the teeth. The articulation of the lower jaw differs in the two cases as much as the structure of the teeth. In the carni- vora it can only move backwards and forwards ; all la- teral motion being precluded by rising edges of the glenoid cavity : in the herbivora it has, moreover, motion from side to side. Thus we observe, in the flesh eaters, teeth calcu- lated only for tearing, subservient, in part at least, to the procuring of food, as well as to purposes of defence, and an articulation of the lower jaw, that precludes all lateral motion. In those which live on vegetables, the form of the teeth and the nature of tlie joint are calculated for the la- teral or grinding motion. The former, having rudely torn and divided the food, swallow it in masses, while in the latter it undergoes considerable comminution before it is swallowed. The teeth of man have not the slightest re- semblance to those of the carnivorous animals, except that their enamel is confined to the external surface. He pos- sesses, indeed, teeth called canine, but they do not exceed 188 MAN NATURALLY OMNIVOROUS. the level of the others, and are obviously unsuited to the purposes w^hich the corresponding teeth execute in carni- vorous animals. The obtuse tubercles of the human molares have not the most remote resemblance to the pointed pro- jections of these teeth in carnivorous animals ; they are as clearly distinguished from the flat crowns with intermixed enamel of the herbivorous molares. In the freedom of lateral motion^ however, the human inferior maxilla more nearly resembles that of the herbivora. The teeth and jaws of man are in all respects much more similar to those of monkeys, than of any other animals. A skull, apparently of the orang-utang, in the Museum of the College, has the first set of teeth : the number is the same as in man, and the form so closely similar, that they might easily be mistaken for human. Tn most other simise the canine teeth are much longer and stronger tlian in us ; and so far these animals have a more carnivorous character. The points and ridges of the molares In simiae are distin- guished by their sharpness from the peculiar obtuse tubercles of the human molares. The length and divisions of the alimentary canal are very different according to the kind of food. In the proper car- nivorous animals the canal is very short *^, the large intes- tine cylindrical, and the coecum not larger than the rest. The form of the stomach and the disposition of its openings are calculated to allow a quick passage of the food. In tlie herbivora the whole canal is long f 3 and there is either a complicated stomach, or a very large coecum and a saccu- lated colon : the stomach, even where simple, is so formed as to retain the food for a considerable time. In comparing the lengtli of the intestines to that of the body in man, and iu other uiiimals, a difficulty arises * The length of the body, in a straight line from the snout to the anus, compared to that of the intcsitines, varies in the carnivora, according to CuviER, from 1 : 3 to 1 : 5.8 ; excepting the hyasna, where it is as 1 : 8.3. Lecons (V Anatomie Comp. ili. 450. t In the ruiniii:intia, the comparative K'ngths of the body and intestines vary between 1 ; 11 and 1 ; 28: in the solipeda, between 1 : b ani 1 : 10. Ibid, 433 and 4. MAN NATURALLY OMNIVOROUS, 189 on account of the legs, which are included in the mea- surement of tlie body In the former, and not in the latter. The great depth of the cranium in man makes a fur- ther addition to the length of body, and thereby dimi- nishes the proportion which the intestine bears to it. As our legs are half the height of the body, that should be re- duced one half, when it is compared to that of animals measured from the head to the anus ; or the length of tlie intestines may be doubled. When allowance is made for this circumstance, man will be placed nearly on the same line with the monkey race, and will be removed to a con- siderable distance from the proper carnlvora. Soemmerr- ING * states that the intestinal canal of man varies from three to eight times the length of the body. In Tyson's chim- panse of 26 inches, the canal measured 159 inches, or about six times the length of the body f. In two sapajous and two monkeys the intestines were respectively 62 and 96 inches ; as the body is said in all to have been about 14 inches from the head to the anus, its proportion to the intestines will be in the former as 1 : 4-^-'^ in the latter as 1 : 6^4 J. From these as well as other instances it is apparent that the comparative length of the alimentary canal in simise is less than in man §. * De Corp. Hum. Fab. t. vi. p. 200. + /Inat. of a Pygmy, p. 32. X Memoire.s pour servir a Vllist. Nat. lies Animaux; 4to. part. ii. page 225. § The body, from the snout to the anus is to the intestines, in the Gibbon (S. Lar),as 1—8 Sajou (Cercopithecus) I — 6 Coaita (S. Paniscus) I — 6.3 Patas (S. Patas) 1—6.5 Callitriche (S. Sabaea) 1—6 Malbrouk (S. Sinica) 1 — 6 Masaque (S. Cynomolgus) 1 — 6.7 Magot (Barbary Ape. S. Inuiis) 1 — 5.4 Mandril (Ribbed-nose Baboon, S. Maimon) 1 — 8.2 CuviKH, Leg. iVAnat. Comp. iii. 448. If we take the measuremeut of Soehihbkrivg, and double the length 190 MAN NATURALLY OMNIVOROUS. The form of the stomach and caecum, and the structure of the whole canal, are very much alike in man and the monkey kind. The orangs (S. satyrus, troglodytes, and gibhon) have the appendix vermiformis, which the others want. Thus we find that, whether we consider the teeth and jaws, or the immediate instruments of digestion, the hu- man structure closely resembles that of the simise ; all of which, in their natural state, are completely herbivorous *. Man possesses a tolerably large coecum, and a cellular colon, which, I believe, are not found in any carnivorous animal. I do not infer from these circumstances that man is de- signed by nature to feed on vegetables, or that it would be more advantageous to him to adopt that diet. The hands and the arts of man procure for him the food, which carnivorous animals earn by their teeth. The processes of cookery bring what he eats into a different state from that in which it is employed either by carnivorous or herbivorous animals. Hence the analogy in the modes of procuring and preparing food is too loose for us to place much confidence in the results of these comparative views. We must trust to experience alone for elucidating the great problem of diet ; its decision has been long ago pronounced, and Avill hardly now be reversed. It is again a different inquiry, which diet is on the whole most conducive to health and strength ? Which is best of the intestines, in consequence of the legs being included, the proportion ■vvillbe iumanfrom 1 : 6 to 1 : 16. If the valvulte conniventes are pe- culiar to man, this peculiarity will be equivalent to a considerable increase of length in the canal. * Mr. Abel's orang-utang appears to have naturally preferred fruit: lie yielded on ship-board to the temptation of meat, and seems to have quickly become as carnivorous as his companions. " His food in Java was chieily fruit, especially mangostans, of which he was excessively fond. He also sucked eggs with voracity ; and often cm- ployed himself in seeking them. On board ship his diet was of no definite kind. He ate readily all kinds of meat, and especially raw meat ; was very fond of bread, but always preferred fruits when he could obtain them." MAN NATURALLY OMNIVOROUS. 191 calculated to avert or remove disease ? Whether errors iu quantity or quality are most pernicious ? The solution of these and other analogous questions can only be expected from experimental investigation. Mankind are so averse to relinquish their favourite Indulgences, and to desert esta- blished habits, that we cannot entertain very sanguine ex- pectations of any important discovery in this department : we must add to this, that there are many other causes affecting human health besides diet. Before venturing to draw any inferences on a subject beset with so many obsta- cles, It would be necessary to observe the effects of a purely animal and a purely vegetable diet on several individuals of different habits, pursuits, and modes of life ; to note their state, both bodily and mental ; and to learn the condition of two or three generations fed in the same manner. Recurring to the subject which has been already ad- verted to — the extension of the great human family over the wliole habitable globe — let us inquire a little into the causes of a phenomenon, which so remarkably distinguishes man from all animals ; — this power of existing and multi- plying in every latitude, and in every variety of situation and climate. Does it arise from physical endowments, from any peculiar capabilities of the human organization ; — from strength and flexibility of the animal machinery ? or from the effects of human art and contrivance in affordinj^ protection from extremes of heat and cold, from winds and rains, from vapours and exhalations, and the other de- structive influences of local situation ^ Is it, in short, the result of physical constitution, or of reason ? I think that Journey in China; p. 325. At present (December 1818) his diet is vege- table, both from his own choice, and because it agrees much l)cst with him. Of some species of South American simiae it is incidentally mentioned by Humboldt, that they live on fruits ; Recueil d'Obs. de Zoologic, &c. p. 308. of the S. trivirgata ; p. 313. of the S. chiropoius ; p. 318, and of the S. melanocephala. It appears that some will occasionally take animal food, p. 320, and that theTiti (S. sciurea) will eat insects as well as fruit, p. 333. This little animal immediately distinguislied, in some plates of natural his- tory, the insects on which it liad been accustomed to prey, from other similar objects. 192 PECULIARITIES IN both these causes arc concerned;— that the original source of an attribute, which so strikingly characterizes our species, is to be sought in the properties of the human frame ; and that this original power of the bodily fabric is assisted and fully developed by the mental prerogatives of man. In what way do the Greenlander, tlie Eskiraau, and the Canadian * employ remarkable talents or invention to protect themselves against the cold ? They brave the winter with open breast and uncovered limbs, and devour their whales and seals drest, raw, or putrid. The Negro f is healthy and strong under a vertical sun, with the soles of his feet bare on the burning sands. On the other hand, the fox, the beaver, the marmot, and the hamster, seek the shelter of dwellings, which they dig for themselves. In this comparison, in respect to protection from external in- fluences, man enjoys no peculiar privilege. The mind, indeed, employs the excellent structure of the body, lifts man above the rest of the creation, accommodates him to all places, gives him iron, fire and arms, furs, and screens from the sun, &c. ; but with all this could never make him what he now is, the inhabitant of all climates, if he did not pos- sess the most enduring and flexible corporeal frame. The lower animals, in general, have no defence against the evils of a new climate, but the force of nature. The arts of hu- man ingenuity furnish a defence against the dangers that surround our species in every region. Accordingly, we see the same nation pass into all the climates of the earth ; reside whole winters near the pole 3 plant colonies beneath * The Knisteneaux (situated north of the great lakes of Canada) often go to the chase in the severest frost, covered with ordinary slight clothing, Mackenzie, Travels in North America ; preliminary History of the Fur Trade, p. 94. Two Indians (Americans) slept on the snow in an ordinary light dress, when the thermometer at sunrise was 40 below 0. The man suffered no in- convenience : the boy had his feet frozen, but they were recovered by cold water. Lewis and Clarke's Travels, Mo. •^. 112. + The women and children on the coast of Sierra Leone wear nothing on their head, either in rain or sunshine. The ipean heat is only 84 ; but the thermometer rises in thid, + Ibid. VARIETIES Ot TUB HUMAN SI'KCIES. 213 our view over tlie animal kingdom at large, and to compare with man the various living beings wliich more nearly re- semble him. The whole proceeding must be governed by the principles of general physiology. This disquisition will perhaps be deemed superfluous by those who regard the Hebrew Scriptures as writings com- posed with the assistance of divine inspiration, and there- fore commanding our implicit assent ; who receive, as a narrative of actual events, authenticated by the highest ScUiction, the account contained in Genesis of the formation of the world, the creation of man and animals, and their dispersion over the face of the globe. The Mosaic account does not however make it quite clear that the inhabitants of all the world descended from Adam and Eve *, Moreover, the entire or even partial inspira- tion of the various writings comprehended in the Old Tes- tament has been and is doubted by many persons, including learned divines, and distinguished oriental and biblical scho- lars. The account of the creation, and subsequent events, has the allegorical figurative character common to eastern compositions; and it is distinguished among the cosmogo- nies by a simple grandeur and natural sublimity, as the rest * We are told, indeed, that " Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living." But in the first chapter of Genesis, we learn that God created man male and female ; and this seems to have been previously to the formation of Eve, which did not take place until after the garden of Eden had been prepared. Again, we learn in the fifth chapter of Genesis, that " in the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; male and female created he them ; and blessed them, and called their name Ada-w, in the day when they were created. We find also that Cain, after slaying his brother, was married, although no daughters of Eve are mentioned before this time. " Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bare Enoch." Indeed it is said (ch. 5. V. 4), that " the days of Adam, after he had begotten Seth, were eight hun- dred years, and he beget sons and daughters." This, it should seem, took place after the birth of SETH,and consequently long after Cain had his wife; for Seth was not born till after the death of Abel. If Cain had sisters prior to that period, from amongst whom he might have taken a wife, Moses has not noticed them. 214 VARIETIES OF THE HUMAN SPliCIKS. of tliesc writings are by appropriate beauties in their respec- tive parts, not inferior to those of any human compositions. To the grounds of doubt respecting inspiration, which arise from examination of the various narratives, from know- ledge of the original and other oriental languages, and from the irreconcilable opposition between the passions and sen- timents ascribed to the Deity by Moses, and that religion of peace and love unfolded by the Evangelists, I have only to add, that the representations of all the animals ^ being brought before Adam in the iirst instance *, and subse- quently of their being all collected in the ark f? if we are to understand them as applied to the living inhabitants of the whole world, are zoologically impossible. The collection of living beings in one central point, and their gradual diffusion over the whole globe, may not be greatly inconsistent with what we know of our ow^n species, and of the few more common quadrupeds, which accom- pany us in our various migrations, and are able to sustain with us great varieties of climate, food, situation, and all external influences. But when we extend our survey to the rest of the mammalia, we find at all points abundant proofs of ani- mals being confined to particular situations, and being so completely adapted, by their structure and functions, by their whole organization, economy, and habits, to the local peculiarities of temperature, soil, food, &c. that they can- not subsist where these are no longer found. In proportion as our knowledge of species becomes more exact, the proofs * " And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air, and brought them to Ada:.i to see what he would call them ; and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. " And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field." Gen. ii. 19, 20. + " And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee: they shall be male and female. " Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creep- ing thing of the earth after his kind: two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive." Gm. vi. 19, 20. VARIETJES OF THK HUMAN SFKCIES. 215 of this locality are rendered stronger ; and the examples of admirable conformity between the organic capabilities of animals, and the circumstances of the regions which they inhabit, are multiplied and strengthened. The peculiar adaptation of the camel to the sandy deserts in which he is placed, strikes the most cursory observer. The herds of antelopes and other ruminant animals, and the great troops of solidungular quadrupeds, are not less suited to the boundless plains of Asia and Africa ; the vast as- semblages of elk and buffalo, to the uninhabited wilds of America; the tiger, to the jungles and the thickets of the East Indies ; and the troops of sapajous, with their prehen- sile tails, to the lofty forests of Guinea and Brazil. Even when the external circumstances are nearly alike, remote regions are occupied, in most cases, by distinct genera or species. The lion, so common in Africa, is hardly found in Asia, while the tiger is peculiar to the lat- ter : the elephants and rhinoceroses of these two quarters of the world are specifically distinct. The instances of America, New Holland, and some other islands, afford unanswerable arguments against the creation of all animals in one spot. None of the mam- malia of the southern hemisphere, the torrid zone, or even the two northern temperate regions, are common to the two continents. When the Spaniards landed in the New World, they did not find a single animal they were ac- quainted with : not one of the quadrupeds of Europe, Asia, or Africa. On the other hand, the puma ^, the jaguar f? the tapir, the cabiai J, the lama ||, the vicugna §, the sapa- jous, were creatures altogether new to them. No quadru- * Couguar (Felis discolor Lixx.). + Felis on^a L. American tiger ; nearly a match in size and strength for the royal tiger of Bengal. :*: Cavia capybara L. II Camelus Llacma L. the camel of Peru, and the only beast of burden in the country at the time of the Spanish conquest. The guanaco is the wild lama. § Paco ; camelus vicunna, L., producing the fine soft and fawn-coloured wool. -16 VAiUKTIES OF THE HUMAN Sl'ECIES. peds are found in both continents, except such as dwell north of the Baltic in the Old, and of Canada in the New World ; such, in short, as are capable of bearing tlie cold of those re- gions where the two continents approximate to each other. Here, indeed, we must guard against the mistakes which the inconsiderate application of the same names to animals really different, though more or less analogous to each other, might occasion. We read of American lions; but the creature so called (the puma), although a carnivo- rous animal, is widely different from the lion of Africa ; the American monkeys again form a very distinct family, without any specific affinity to those of the Old World, A similar phenomenon was again experienced in our own times, on first exploring the coasts of New Holland and the adjacent isles. A dog was indeed found here, whether of the same species with those we are acquainted with, and introduced from the neighbouring islands, is not perhaps yet clearly ascertained. This great southern con- tinent contained no other mammlferous animals previously known to naturalists : but, on the contrary, it has furnished about forty species, altogether new : of which the kanga- roos, the phascolomys *, the dasyuri, the perameles, the flying phalangers f, the ornithorhynchi, and the echidnse, have astonished zoologists by the novelty and singularity of their conformation, contrary to all the rules hitherto established, and at variance with all their systems J. Even the island called Van Diemen's Land, although situated so near to new Holland, and in some degree connected to it by intervening islands, has its own peculiar species §. The orang-utang is found only on the island of 13orneo ; * Wombat, Dldelphis ursina of Shaw. + Petaurus, Shaw. + CuviER Regne Animal; on the order mrtrsupiaux ; t. i. p. 169, ct suiv, § " En effet, tons les animaux, que nous avons recueillis sur la terre do Diemen, et qu'on puet regarder comma plus particuli^rcmcnt propres au sol, tels -que les mammiferei, Ics reptiles, &c. sont sp^cifiquemcnt diffdr^is des animaux de la Nouvelle Hollande ; la plupart m^me des espfeces, qui peu. plent ce continent, n'existcnt pas sur la grandc ilc qui ravoisine." Peron, Voyage de Dccouvcrles aiix Tenes Australcs ; v. ii. p. 165. VARIETIES OF TUB HUMAN SPBCIES. 2l7 and the makis are confined to that of Madagascar, while the neighbouring continent of Africa has none of them, but numerous monkeys instead. Even marine animals are confined to particular situa- tions, although it might appear so probable, o priori, that the waves and currents of the ocean would carry them into all situations, and the medium in which they live seems so favourable for their transportation. Peron and Le Sueur assert that there is no well known animal of the northern hemisphere, which is not specifically distinct from every other equally well-known of the southern ; and that this is true even of those possessing the lowest and simplest organization *. If all the difficulties connected with the facts just re- cited, and with the numerous analogous onesf, which * " Personne plus que nous, il est pennis de le dire, n'a recuelli d'ani- maux, de rh<^misphfcre austral ; nous les avons tous observ& d^crits, et figur<5s sur les lieux; nous en avons rapport^s plusieurs milliers d'ospfeccs en Europe ; elles sont d(^pos^cs dans le Musdum d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris. Que Ton compare ces nombreux animaux avec ceux de notre hdinisph^rc, le problfemc sera bient6t r^solu, non seulenient pour Its cspJ^ces d'une organisation plus parfaite, mais encore pour toutes celles qui sont beaucoup plus simples, et qui, sous ce rapport, sembleroient devoir Hre moins varices dans la nature. Qu'on examine, nous ne dirons par les doris, les aplysies, les salpas, les n(5reides, les amphinoraes, les amphitrites, et cette foule de mollusques et dcs vers plus composes qui se sont successivement oflerts a Rotre observation ; qu'on de- scende jusqu'aux holothuries, aux achnies, aux b6oes, auxmdduscs; qu'on s'abaisse m^me, si Ton veut jusqu'a ces (/ponges infonnes, que tout le monde s'accorde a regarder comme le dernier terme de la degradation, ou plut6t de ia simplicity de I'organisation animale; parmi cette multitude, pour ainsi dire effrayante, d'animaux antarctiques, on verra qu'il n'cn est pas un seul qui se retrouve dans les mers bordales ; et de cet examen bien r^ttdchi, de cettg longue suite de comparaisons rigoureuses, on sera forc^ de conclure, ainsi que nous avons du nous-mCmes le faire, ' qu'il n'est pas une seule espece d'ani- maux marins bien connue, qui v^itable cosmopolite, soit indistinctemcnt propre a toutes les parties du globe.' " — Notice sur les Habitations dcs Ani- maux Marins ; in the Voyage aux Terres Australes^ t. 2. p. 348—9. t Farther illustrations of this important subject may be seen in Dr. Prichard's ' Researches on the Physical History of Man,' chap. iii. sec. 2 & 3. ZoniERMANN Geographischc Geschichte, 8cc. Rudolphf, Beyirage zur Anthropologic unci allgcmeinm Naturgeschitchcy No. iii., and in the paper of Peron and Le Sueur, already quoted. 218 VARIETIES OF THE HUMAN SP£CIBS. every department of natural history could furnish, were removed, insurmountable obstacles would still be found to this hypothesis of the whole globe having received its sup- ply of animals from one quarter. How could all living beings have been assembled in one climate, when many, as the white fox (isatis), the polar bear, the walrus, the manati, can exist only in the cold of the polar regions, while to others the warmth of the tropics is essential ? How could all have been supplied with food in one spot, since many live entirely on vegetables produced only in certain districts ? How could many have passed from the point of assemblage to their actual abode, over mountains, through deserts, and even across the seas ? How could the polar bear, to whom the ice of the frozen regions is necessary, have traversed the torrid zone ? If we are to believe that the original creation comprehended only a male and female of each species, or that one pair only was rescued from an universal deluge, the contradictions are again in- creased. The carnivorous animals must have soon perished witli hunger, or have annihilated most of the other species. Such an assumption, in short, is at variance with all our knowledge of living nature. Why should we embrace an hypothesis so full of contradictions ? — to give to an allegory a literal construction, and the character of revelation ^ which is so much tlie less necessary here, because we do not fol- low the same rule in other points. The astronomer does not pourtray the heavenly motions, or lay down the laws which govern them, according to the statements in the Jewish Scriptures ; nor does the geologist think it neces- sary to modify the results of experience according to the contents of the Mosaic writings. 1 conclude, then, that the subject is open for discussion 5 and, at all events, if the descent of mankind from one stock can be proved independently of the Jewish books, the conclusion will tend collaterally to establish the authority of these ancient records. It may still be inquired whether history affords no data for determining this great problem ; whether the earliest VARIETIES OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 219 traditions and records may not enable us to trace the suc- cession of the human race from its origin downwards 5 or whether we may not be able to follow back particular tribes or nations to the period of their first descent or establish- ment. We soon find that these efforts are unavailing ; that neither the annals nor the traditions of any people reacli back to the remote ages when the various ramifications of the original stock — if there were any such — separated from each other, and took possession of the different countries where they are now settled. We cannot trace the branches of any such family, nor point out the time and manner in which they divided and spread over the face of the globe. Even among the most enlightened people, the period of authentic history is short, and every thing beyond that period is fabulous and obscure. The Jewish annals, in which it is not always easy to se- parate and distinguish what ought to be received as literally true, although of very high antiquity, merely relate to the transactions of a small tribe and some of their neighbours. The Indian and Chinese, also very ancient, are equally con- fined. The phrase " Graecia mendax" has long ago afforded a caution against placing much reliance on the early tradi- tions transmitted by the Greeks. In the introduction to his great work on language, Adelung * has summed up what history discloses to us on this subject ; and, as it has an important reference to the present object of inquiry, I hope the length of the extract will be excused. " Asia has been in all times regarded as the country where the human race had its beginning, received its first education, and from which its increase was spread over the rest of the globe. " Tracing the people up to tribes, and the tribes to fami- lies, we are conducted at last, if not by history, at least by • Mithridates, oder allgemeine Sprachenkunde, &c. Ir. th. Berlin, 1806. 2r. 3r. 4r. th. von J, S. Vater, Berlin, 1809—1817; a most important work in relation to the history of our species, and the affinities and migra- tions of various tribes. 220 VARIETIES OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. the traditions of all old people, to a single pair, from which families, tribes, and nations have been successively pro- duced. The question has been often asked. What was this first family, and the first people descending from it? Where was it settled ; and how has it extended, so as to fill the four large divisions of the globe ? It is a question of fact, and must be answered from history. But history is silent ; her first books have been destroyed by time ; and the few lines preserved by Moses are rather calculated to excite than to satisfy our curiosity. " In the first feeble rays of its early dawn, which are faintly perceived about 2000 years before the commence- ment of our present chronology, the whole of Asia, and a part of Africa, are already occupied with a variety of greater and smaller nations, of various manners, religion, and language. The warlike struggle is already in full activity : here and there are polished states, with various useful inven- tions, which must have required long time for their pro- duction, developement and extension. The rest of the human race consists of wild hordes, occupied merely with pastoral pursuits, hunting, and robbery : thus a kind of slave-trade is seen in the time of Abraham. Soon after, a few weak glimmerings of light discover to us Europe in a similar state of population, from the Don to the Pillars of Hercules ; here and there traces of culture, industry, and commerce: for instance, the amber trade in the Baltic, at least in the time of Homer, and that of the British tin. All this is perceived in remote obscurity, where only a few points of light occasionally shoot across, to shew us the germs of future history, which is still pro- foundly silent respecting the time and place of such events. Nothing is left for us, but humbly to assume the garb of ignorance, to look round us in the great archives of nature, and see if there are any documents which may at least lead us to conjectures. Happily there are such. " The present structure of the earth's surface teaches us, what MosEs confirms, that it was formerly covered to a certain depth with water, which gradually lessened, from VARIETIES OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 221 causes unknown to us, so that various spots became dry and habitable. The highest dry surface on the globe must, therefore, have been the earliest inhabited ; — and here Nature, or rather her Creator, will have planted the first people, whose multiplication and extension must have fol- lowed the continual gradual decrease of the water. " We must fancy to ourselves this first tribe endowed with all human fciculties, but not possessing all knowledge and experience, the subsequent acquisition of which is left to the natural operation of time and circumstances. As nature would not unnecessarily expose her first-born and unexperienced son to conflicts and dangers, the place of his early abode would be so selected, that all his wants could be easily satisfied, and every thing essential to the pleasure of his existence readily procured. He would be placed, in short, in a garden, or paradise. " Such a country is found In central Asia, between the 30th and 50th degrees of north latitude, and the 90th and 110th of east longitude (from Ferro) : a spot which, in respect to its height, can only be compared to the lofty plain of Quito in South America. From this elevation, of which the great desert Gobi, or Shamo, is the vertical point, Asia sinks gradually towards all the four quarters. The great chains of mountains, running in various directions, arise from it, and contain the sources of the great rivers which traverse this division of the globe on all sides : — the Selinga, the Ob, the Lena, the Irtisch, and the Jenlsey, In the north; the Jaik, the Jihon, the Jemba, on the west; the Amur and the Hoang-ho (or Yellow River), towards the east ; the Indus, Ganges, and Burrampooter, on the south. If the globe was ever covered with water, this great table land must have first become dry, and have appeared like an island in the watery expanse. The cold and barren desert of Gobi would not, indeed, have been a suitable abode for the first people; but on its southern declivity we find Thibet, separated by high mountains from the rest of the world, and containing within its boundaries all varieties of air and cli- 222 VARIETIES OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. mate. If the severest cold prevails on Its snowy moun- tains and glaciers, a perpetual summer reigns in its valleys and well-watered plains. This Is the native abode of rice, the vine, pulse, fruit, and all other vegetable productions, from which man draws his nourishment. Here, too, all the animals are found wild which man has tamed for his use, and carried with him over the whole earth ; — the cow*, horse t, ass J, sheep §, goat ||, camel ^, pig, * To determine the original stock of our domestic animals is one of the most difficult undertakings in zoology. I know no data on which the ox-kind can be referred to any wild species in Asia. Ctjvier lias concluded, from a minute osteological inquiry, that the wild-ox (urns or bison of the Ancients; aurochs of the Germans), formerly found throughout the greater part of tem- perate Europe, and still met with in the forests of Lithuania, of the Carpa- tliian and Caucasian chains, is not, as most naturalists have supposed, the wild original of our cattle; but that the characters of the latter are found in certain fossile crania ; whence he thinks it probable *' that the primary race has been annihilated by civilization, like that of the camel and dro- medary." Des Animaux Fossiles, v. 4 ; Riiminans Fossiles,^. 51. + Pallas Spicillg. Zool. fasc. xi. p. 5, note b. + Ibid, note c. S There are two or three wild species, nearly related to each other, which Bcem to have equal claims to be considered as the source of our sheep. Of these, the argali found in the great mountains of Asia strongly resembles the sherp. Pallas Spiceleg. Zool. fasc. xi. tab. 1. & 2. jj The wild goat (aegagrus) is met with in the mountains of Persia, where it has the name of paseng or pasan (whence the term pasahr, corrupted into bezoar, applied to their intestinal concretions), and probably elsewhere, even in the Alps of Europe, Cuvier, Menagerie du Museum, 8vo. v. 2. p. 177. The ibex (bouquetin) occupies the highest summits of the mountains of the old continent: that of Asia is described by Pallas, Spic. Zool. f. 11. p. 31 et seq. tab, iii. Another species inhabits the chain of Caucassus (capra Caucasica) ; Guldenst^edt, Comment. Petrop. 1779, pi. xvi, xvii. 5 In opposition to the assertion of Btiffon, who represents that the entire race is reduced to slavery, and who strangely regards the callosities of its chest and limbs as the result of its servile labours, Pallas reports, on the faith of the Bucharian merchants, and of the wandering nomades of Asia, tliat native wild camels are still found in the vast plains of the temperate part of this continent, and are distinguished from the domesticated animals by their superior size, spirit, and swiftness. The northern confines of India, and the deserts between it and China, seem to be the native abode of the Bactrian camel, or that with two protuberances. The wild camels about SPECIES AND VARIETY. 223 dog*", cat, and even the serviceable rein-deer f, his only- attendant and friend in the icy deserts of the frozen polar regions. Close to Thibet, and just on the declivity of the great central elevation, v^e find the charming region of Cashmire, where great elevation converts the southern heat into perpetual spring, and where Nature has exerted all her powers to produce plants, animals, and man, in the highest perfection. No spot on the whole earth unites so many- advantages ; in none could the human plant have succeeded so well without any care J." This spot, therefore, seems to unite all the characters of paradise, and to be the most appropriate situation in Asia for the birtli-place of the human race. Such is the general result of historical inquiry : it points out the East as the earliest or original seat of our species, the Balchasch Lake and Bogdo Mountain are probably produced from those which have been set at liberty by the Calrxiucks from religious motives, Fascic. xi. p. 4. note a. * Pallas seems fully convinced that the jackal, " copiosissimum in mii- verso oriente animal," is the source of our dogs, which he closely resembles in manner and disposition, being also very like some breeds in size and figure. *♦ Homini facillime adsuescit, nunquam, uti lupus et vulpes cicurati, infldi animi signa edens, lususve cruentans; canes non fugit, fed ardenter appetit, cum iisque colludit, ut pUine nullum sit dubium cum iisdem generaturum, si tentetur experimentum. Vocem deciderii caninoe simillimam habet ; homini Cauda eodem modo abblanditur, et in dorsum provolvi atque manibus demul- ceri amat. Ipse quoque ulnlatus ejus, cum latratu canum ejulabundo magL nam habet analogiam. Ergo dubium vix esse puto,hominis speciem, in eadem cum lupo aureo climate naturalitcr inquilinam, antiquitus hujus catulis cieu- ratis domesticos sibi educasse canes, quorum naturalis instinctus jam homini, quem feri non multnm time:it, amicus, et in venationem pronus erat." SpirJL Zool. fasc.xi. p. 1, note. These opinions are confirmed by the statements of Guldenst^ut, who found the ccecum and the teeth perfectly alike in the dog and jackal : it is not so in the wolf. The jackall makes water sideways; " odorat anuni alterius; cohaeret copula junctus." Nov. Comment. Petrop. v. 20, p. 459. tab. xi. + The rein-deer is only known at present in the coldest regions. Adelung could not, I think, have any sufficient authority for placing its origin in the region and climate which he here describes. :{: AuELUNG ; Ir. theil. Einleiiung, ^. 3 — 9. 224 ZOOLOGICAL ACCEPTATION OF the source of our domesticated animals, of our principal vegetable food, and the ^ "adle of arts and sciences: but it does not furnish tlie means of deciding whether the globe has been peopled from one or more original stocks, nor enable us to trace satisfactorily the mode in which tbeir dissemination has been accomplished. Before entering on the immediate object of this section, it is necessary to consider what is the precise acceptation of the terms species and variety in zoology ; what consti- tutes a species, and how varieties arise out of it. Animals are characterized by fixed and definite external forms, which are transmitted and perpetuated by genera- tion. The offspring of sexual unions is marked with all the bodily characters of the parents. However strong the impulse may be, which leads to the continuation of the species, there seems to be an equally powerful aversion to intercourse with those of other species. Hence, in the wild state, even the most nearly allied do not intermix ; as, the hare and rabbit ; the horse and ass ; the different kinds of mice, or of rats. Constant and permanent difference, therefore, is the essential notion conveyed by the word species-, and, provided it be invariably maintained, it is im- material whether that difference be great or small. Thus the specific distinction between the black rat (mus rattus) and the brown or Norway rat (m. decumanus), or between the domestic mouse (m. musculus) and the field mouse (m. arvalis), is as perfect as between either of these and the elephant. By the reproduction of the same characters, and the aversion to union with other species, uniformity is main- tained ; and the lapse of ages produces no deviation from the original model. Animals are just the same now, as at any, even the remotest period of our acquaintance with them. The zoological descriptions of Aristotle, composed twenty-two centuries ago, apply in all points to the indi- viduals of the present time ; and every incidental mention of animals, or allusion to their characters and properties, in the writings of historians, poets, fabulists, confirms this SPECIES AND VARIETY. 225 dentity of form and endowments. Every work of art, such as statues, paintings, sculptures ; and the actual relics, in tombs, mummies, &c.; all corroborate the proof*. These remarks are chiefly applicable to wild animals^ which remain in places most congenial to their nature ; where the climate, seasons, air, soil, supply of food, cor- respond to their organization, economy, and wants. Some of these, however, are capable of enduring greater diversity of situation than others ; and hence are exposed to consi- derable differences in various external agencies. *' The wolf and the fox/' says Cuvier f, " are found from the torrid zone to tigh northern latitudes ; but, in this wide extent, the principal difference is a little more or less beauty in the fur. I have compared the crania of northern and Egyptian foxes with those of France, and have found only individual differences. Wild animals confined within narrower limits, particularly those of the carnivorous order, vary still less. A fuller mane is the only circumstance distinguishing the hyena of Persia from that of Morocco." Variations in the quantity and quality ^of food may cause some slight differences : thus the tusks of elephants, or the horns of the deer kind, may be larger or longer where the aliment is more abundant and nutritious. There are, however, many animals which are no longer in their natural wild state, having been domesticated or reduced to slavery by man. Here the original form is no longer strictly preserved : deviations take place in size, colour, form, proportions, and qualities ; and the degree of * " I have carefully examined the figures of animals and birds engraven on the numerous obelisks brought from Egypt to ancient Rome. In the general character, which is all that can have been preserved, these repre- sentations perfectly resemble the originals, as we now see them. My learned colleague, Mr. Geoffroy St. Hillaire, collected numerous mummies of animals from the sepulchres and temples of Upper and Lower Egypt. He brought away cats, ibises, birds of prey, dogs, monkeys, crocodiles, and an ox's head embalmed. There is no more dilTerence between these relics and the animals we are now acquainted with, than between human mummies and the skeletons of the present day." — Cuvier, Recherches siir les Ossemens Fossiks; i. Disc. Prelim, p. 80. t Ibid. p. 75. a 226 ZOOLOGICAL ACCEPTATION OF the effect will of course be measured by the intensity and duration of the cause. The degree of domestication is very various. In some cases the animals do not breed in servitude ; consequently each individual must be reduced from the original wild state ; here no variation occurs. The elephant affords an example. The rein-deer is confined within narrow limits, as to tem- perature; and, since it cannot be removed from these, it varies little. There are degrees of domestication dependent probably on original capabilities of education. The cat, which is only partially enslaved, merely varies in the texture and colour of its fur ', and inconsiderably in size : but the skeleton of any tame eat differs from that of the wild in no essential point. The greatest differences are produced when man regu- lates the sexual intercourse of animals : by selecting indivi- duals to breed from, he can effect the most surprising changes In form and qualities ; as the examples of the pig, sheep, horse, cow and dog, will abundantly evince. The deviation has become at last so great, that the original stock from which the animals descended is doubtful. The herbivorous domestic animals, following us into all climates, and governed by us in their food, labour, and ex- ternal defence or protection, exhibit variations which, al- though apparently very considerable, are chiefly superficial. The size, the greater or less developement or entire want of horns, the nature of the hairy covering, and such other points, are the subjects of change. The skeleton, the form and connexions of the bones, the teeth, are never altered. The comparatively imperfect developement of the tusks in the pig, and the consolidation of the toes, are the most striking effects produced in this class of animals. " The strongest marks of human influence are seen in the animals of which man has made the most complete conquest ; — In the dog, who Is so perfectly devoted to us, that he seems to have sacrificed to us his individual charac- ter, interest, and feelings. Carried by man all over the world, subjected to the action of the most powerful causes. SPECIES AND VARIETY. 22/ and directed in sexual intercourse by the will of their mas- ter, the dogs vary in colour ; in the quantity of hair, which is sometimes entirely lost ; in their nature and properties ; in size, which may differ as one to five in linear dimensions, or more than one to a hundred in the mass ; in the form of the ears, nose, tail ; in the height of the limbs ; in the de- velopement of the brain, and consequent form of the head, which may be slender, with elongated muzzle and flat forehead — or short, with convex forehead ; so that the ap- parent differences between a mastiff and a spaniel, a grey- hound and a poodle, are greater than we find between any wild species of the same natural genus. Lastly, which is the maximum of variation hitherto known in the animal kingdom, there are races of dogs with an additional toe and corresponding metatarsal bone on the hind foot, as there are six-fingered families in the human species. Still, in all these variations, the relations of the bones remain the same, and the form of the teeth is never altered *." Thus we find that species must be taken in very different acceptations in wild and domestic animals ; — that while all the beings included under the same species exhibit, in the former case, a close and rigorous resemblance, admitting at most of slight diversities in colour, fur, size, and deve- lopement of some less important parts 5 wider deviations are allowed in the latter, than are observed between some wild animals acknowledged to belong to different species. It may be stated, in the abstract, that all animals which differ in such points only as might arise in the natural course of degeneration, that is, from recognized causes of variation, belong to the same species; while those diffe- rences which cannot be accounted for on this supposition must lead us to class the animals which exhibit them in different species. But the chief difficulty is to point out the characters by which, in actual practice, mere varieties may be distinguished from genuine specific differences. The transmission of specific forms by generation, and the aversion to unions with t hose of other kinds, soon led natu- * CuviEU Rtschcrchcs siir les Osstmens Fossiles ; i. Disc. Prelim, p. 7S. Q 2 228 ZOOLOGK AL A( CEPTA1ION OF ralists to seek for a criterion of speeies in breeding *. They established the rule, that those animals which copulate to- gether, and produce an offspring equally prolific with them- selves, belong to one and the same species, ascribing the differences which may exist between them to adventitious causes. The high authority of Buffon and Hunter, who adoptv'd this opinion, occasioned the criterion of breeding to be very generally relied on. If we admit this, the question respecting the human species would be immediately solved . for all the races breed together; and their offspring is prolific, either with each other, or with any of the original races. Indeed, we know no difference in productiveness between such unions and those of the same race. This rule, however, involves a petitio principii, in assuming that animals of distinct species never produce together a ])roiific offspring. Generally, indeed, hybrid animals, or the offspring of any two species, are incapable of generation ; and this is a powerful additional provision for preserving uniformity of species. There are, however, instances, both among the mammalia and birds, of individuals belonging to species universally held to be distinct, uniting and producing young, which were again prolific. Tliat the mule can en- gender with the mare, and that the she mule can conceive, was known to Aristotle. The circumstance is said to occur most frequently In warm countries ; but it has taken place in Scotland f. Buffon states that the offspring of the he-goat and ewe possesses perfect powers of reproduc- tion. We migiit expect these animals, with the addition also of the chamois (antelope rupicapra), to copulate to- getlier easily, because they are nearly of the same size, very similar in internal structure, accustomed to artificial domes- tic life, and to the society of each other from birth up- wards. There is a similar facility in some birds belonging ♦ Tiie principle has not escaped common observation : it is t Apressed in the English word breed, and in the German gattung (species), which signifies copulation. f Biiii ON, by Wood ; v. 4. p. 200, 205. SPIiCIES AND VARIETY. 229 to the genera fringilla, anas, and phasianus, where such unions are often fruitful, and produce prolific offspring. The cock and hen canary-birds produce with tlie hen and cock siskin and gold-finch * ; the hen canary produces with the cock chaffinch, bull-finch, yellow-hammer, and sparrow. The progeny in all these cases is prolific, and breeds not only with both the species from which they spring, but likewise with each other f. The common cock and the hen partridge, as well as the cock and the guinea- hen J, the pheasant and the hen §, can produce together. The anser cygnoides (Chinese goose,) copulates readily in Russia with the common goose, and produces a hybrid but perfectly prolific off'spring: the race soon returns to the characters of the common goose, unless crossed again with the Chinese species ||. It is true that these unnatural unions take place in ani- mals under the power of man, are accomplished with the assistance of contrivance and stratagem, and generally re- quire an attention to several preliminary circumstances ; it is also found, that, under artificial constraint and privation, unions of distinct species may take place without fecunda- tion, as of the hare and bitchy, the bull and mare** : they prove, however, sufficiently that this affair of generation will not afford the criterion we are in search of. It was soon found that this rule of reproduction could not be applied to domesticated animals, on account of their un- natural way of life; and hence Frisch, towards the begin- ning of the last century, confined it entirely to the wild ones. And here it is of little service : for how can we expect ever to bring together those wild species to ascertain the point, particularly when they inhabit different countries ; as, for * BuFFON, by Wood ; v. 14, p. 63. and followiiif^. + Ibid. p. 70. iflbid. v. 12, 61. ^ Pallas Spicil. Zool. f. xi. p. 36, note. 11 Ibid- Ant. Acad. Scient. Petrop. 1780; p. 83. note. P. 96. S I'allas saw this in the instance of a tame hare kept with dogs. SpU Zool. fase. xi. p. 36, note. **BurFON, V. 4. p. 221. 230 ZOOLOGICAL ACCEPTATION OF instance, the cliipans^ of angola and the orang-utang of Borneo ? Nor are- there so many doubts about these, as about the domesticated animals, which are thus excluded. The different breeds of dogs, for example, are referred by some to different species ; and they are indeed sufficiently marked by distinctive permanent characters to warrant the opinion, if the constancy of such characters were a suffi- cient proof of difference in species. Others, again, refer them all to the shepherd's dog ; and others include all the dogs, the wolf, fox, and jackall, in one species. The dog and bitch produce with the male and female wolf, and with the dog and bitch fox; and the offspring is prolific. Yet we cannot surely ascribe animals, which are marked in their wild state by such strong characters, of bodily formation, disposition, and habits— as the wolf, fox, and jackall, to one and the same species, without overturning all the funda- mental principles of zoology, however freely they may inter- mix, and however perfect the reproductive power may be in their offspring *. We may conclude, then, from a general review of the pre- ceding facts, that nature has provided, by the insurmount- able barriers of instinctive aversion, of sterility in the hybrid offspring, and in the allotment of species to different parts of the earth, against any corruption or change of species in * Pallas entertains the opinion that our sheep, dogs, and perhaps poultry, are factitious beings, not descended from any single wild original, but from a mixture of nearly-allied primitive species, whose hybrid ofl'springs have pos- sessed prolific powers. He observes that those domesticated animals, which either do not intermix with other species, or which produce with others unprolific progeny, are very little changed, however completely and anciently they may have been brought under the dominion of man ; or at least are not so changed as to cause any difficulty respecting their origin. This is the case with the horse and ass in all climates ; with the ox kind ; with the pig ; the camel and dromedary; and the rein-deer. He refers our sheep to intermix- tures of the Siberian argali (ovis ammon), the mouflon of Corsica and Sar- dinia, that of Africa, (ovis tragelaphus Cuv.),the wild goat of Persia (pa- seng, the bezoar animal, capra aegagrus), the bouquetin (capra ibex), and the wild goat of Caucasus (capra Caucasica), The dog he considers to have proceeded from the jackal, wolf, and fox. — Mcmoire sur la Variation dcs Jnimaux ', Acta Acad* Petrop. 17S0. SPECIES AND VARIETY. 231 wild animals. We must therefore admit, for all the species which we know at present, as sufficiently distinct and con- stant, a distinct origin and common date. On the other hand, the fruitful intermixture which art has accomplished, of some of these species, will not justify us in ascribing to them identity of race or origin, when we see them in the natural wild state distinguished by constant characters from the type of the neighbouring species, and always producing an offspring marked by these characters. Since neither the principle of breeding, nor the constancy of particular characters, are sufficient in all cases to enable us to judge of species — and since these fail, particularly in the domestic kinds, where their aid is principally required — we must resort at last to the criterion recommended by Blumenbach, and draw our notions of species in zoology from analogy and probability. If we see two races of animals resembling each other in general, and diffi^ring only in cer- tain respects, according with what we have observed in other instances, we refer them without hesitation to the same species, although the diffijrence should be so considerable as to affisct the whole external appearance. On the contrary, if the difference should be of a kind whicli has never arisen, within our experience of the animal kingdom, as a variety, we must pronounce them to belong to distinct species, even although there should be, on the whole, a great general resemblance between the two. " I see,'' says this acute and judicious naturalist, " a remarkable difference between the Asiatic and African elephants, in the structure of the molar teeth. Whether these inhabitants of such distant regions will ever be brought to copulate together, and whether this formation be universal, is uncertain ; but it exists in all the specimens I have seen or heard of; and I know no ex- ample of molar teeth changed in such a manner by degene- ration, or the action of adventitious causes : therefore I con- jecture, from analogy, that these elephants are not mere varieties, but truly different species. On the other hand, I hold the ferret (mustela furo) to be only a variety of tlie pole- cat (m. putorius), not so much because they produce toge- 232 ZOOLOGICAL ACCEPTATION OF ther, but because it has red pupils ; and the analogy of nu- merous other instances induces me to regard all the other mammalia, which are destitute of the colouring pigment of the eye, as varieties degenerated from their original stocks*." This method is the only satisfactory one of investigating the varieties of the human species. The diversities of phy- sical and moral endowment which characterize the various races of man, must be analogous in their nature, causes, and origin, to those which are observed in the rest of the animal creation ; and must therefore be explained on the same principles. There is no point of difference between the several races of mankind, which has not been found to arise, in at least an equal degree, among other animals, as a mere variety, from the usual causes of degeneration. Our instances are drawn chiefly from the domesticated kinds, which, by their association with man, lead an unnatural kind of life, are taken into new climates and situations, and exposed to va- rious other circumstances, altogether different from their original destination. Hence they run into varieties of form, size, proportions, colour, disposition, faculties; which, when they are established as permanent breeds, would be considered, by a person uninformed on these subjects, to be originally different species. Wild animals, on the contrary, remaining constantly in the state for which they were origi- nally framed, retain permanently their first character. Man cannot be called, in the ordinary sense of the term, a domesticated animal; yet he is eminently domestic. In- habiting every climate and soil, acted on by the greatest variety of external agencies, using every kind of food, and following every mode of life, he must be exposed still more than any animal to the causes of degeneration. I proceed to consider the circumstances in which the several races of men differ from each other, to compare them to the corresponding differences of animals, and to shew that the particular and general results of these inquiries * De Gen. Hum. Far. Nat. p. 70, 71. SPECIES AND VARIETY. 233 lead us plainly to the conclusion, that the various races of human beings are only to be regarded as varieties of a single species. Whether this one species owes its origin to one pair, a male and a female, is a question which zoology does not possess the means of solving ; a question which is of no more importance respecting our own species, tlian it would be in the case of the elephant, lion, or any other animal. CHAPTEH II On the Colour of the Human Species. — Structure of the Parts in ivhich the Colour resides — Enumeration of the various Tints. — Colour and Denominations ^- *^'^' ''* ^^^' 246 VARIETIES OF COLOUR the daughter of two Mulattoes, born in Nova Scotia^ who had all the Negro features, with woolly hair of a dirty white colour, and a skin equalling in whiteness that of an European, without any thing disagreeable in its appearance or texture. Her eyes were between a red and light hazel colour, and not much affected by light. There are no signs here of cachexia or lej^rosy ; nor are there any in the two Swiss youths described by Blumenbach, and before him by Saussure *. They seem indeed to be short for their age : the elder was twenty-two years old, with the stature of fifteen ; the younger seventeen, with that of twelve. Two writers of very different characters, who had both seen Afri- can Albinos, seem to have equally felt that the notion of disease was quite unfounded; and have used the very same words in conveying their strong o])inion to this effect : " Prctendre que ce sont des Negres nains, dont une espece de lepre a blanchi la peau, c'est comme si Ton disoit que les noirs eux-memes sont des blancs que la ISpre a noircis t«" " Casterum, " says Pallas, " hascc varietates iEthiopum albas non raagis morbosam naturam (quod Blumenbachio placuit) appellari posse i)uto, quam ipsa iEthiopum nigredo morbus est J:." This variety was first observed in the African, as the great difference of colour renders the variation more strik- ing : hence the individuals were termed Leucaethiopes §, or white Negroes, their i)eculiar constitution — for the devia- tion is by no means confined to the surface of the body — may be conveniently termed, after some modern authors, leucaethiopia. From their avoiding the light, tlie Dutch gave them (in the island of Java) the contemptuous appel- lation of Kakkerlakken, cockroaches, insects that run about in the dark ; and hence the French name Chacrelas. The Spaniards called them Albinos, and the French Blafards. * Voyages dans les ylfpes, iv. 303. + Voltaire Essai sur les Mceurs^ introduction. :J: Nova; Species Qua(lrupe(lu7ny p. 1 1, note. ^ Pliny mentions Leucaethiopes in liis Natural History, lib. v. sec. 8. ; and Ptolemy, lib. iv. cit. 6. But whether they mean Albinos, is donbtful. IN THE HUMAN SPECIES. 247 So far is this variety from being peculiar to the Negro, or even to the torrid zone, that there is no race of men, nor any part of the globe, in which it may not occur. Blumen- BACH * has seen sixteen examples of it in various parts of Germany ; and it has been also noticed in Denmark, Eng- land t, Ireland, France, Switzerland, Italy J, the Grecian Archipelago, and Hungary. It is probably more common in Africa than elsewhere : Dr. Winterbottom mentions eleven instances among the native tribes about Sierra Leone ; and Mr. Jefferson seven among the Negro slaves of America. The African Albinos do not present that entire absence of cohmring matter from the eye, which we observe in the European instances. Mr. Jefferson does not mention the colours of the eyes ; Ijut Dr. Winterbottom describes them as light blue or brown. They were as weak as the red eyes of our Albinos. Mr. BowDicH informed mc that the king of Ashantee has collected nearly a hundred white Negroes. Humboldt § says that examples of this degeneration are rare in the copper-coloured race. Yet they seem rather nu- merous, by Wafer's description, in the isthmus of Darien. In the gardens of a palace belonging to Montezuma, were found, at the time of the Spanish conquest, among rare birds, and other curiosities, " Albinesi d'ogni eta et d'ogni sesso ||.'' Dubois states that they are not uncommon among the Hindoos %, Cook met with them in several islands of the Pacific **. * De G. H. Var. Nat. p. 278. Medicinische Bibliothek. t. iii. p. 161 et seq. + An English Albino is shortly mentioned by Mr. Hunter ; Obsv. on certain Parts of the Animal Economy, p. 207. :}: Buzzi had the opportunity of dissecting one at Milan. I have not suc- ceeded in procuring his Dlssertazione sopra una Vatnetd particolare cfUomini bianchi Eliofobi^ 4 to. Milano, 1784. ^ Personal Narrative^ iii. 288. II Carli, Lettre Americane ; t. i, let. 5. 1 On the Character, Manners, 8^c. of the People of India; p. 199. ** At Otaheite ; Hawkesworth's Collection, ii. 99, 188 : at the Society Isles, and New Caledonia ; Voy. towards the S. Pole, ii. 1 14: at Ilapaee and Annamooka (Friendly Isles); Voyage to the Pacific, I 381. 248 VARIETIES OF COLOUR ^ In all cases, however, this leucaethiopic constitution has only occurred sporadically, or in detached instances, as a con- genital variety, from individuals of the ordinary characters in their respective races. It has indeed been asserted that whole tribes of Albinos exist in Africa '^, Java, Ceylon, and the isthmus of Darien f ; but no eye-witness reports such a fact ; and Wafer :{:, whose authority is often cited, ex- pressly mentions "that they are not a distinct race by them- selves, but now and then one is bred of a copper-coloured father and mother/' Hence the notion of entire leucae- thiopic nations may be regarded as completely unfounded. There is another description of men witli a very fair or white skin, yellow (flaxen) or red hair, and generally blue or light gray eyes (irides). Such individuals, when the health is good, and the circulation active, have a rosy tint, which is deeper and more florid in the face. The cutaneous capillaries are easily filled ; and their " eloquent blood" sympathizes with every mental emotion. The ancient and modern Germans, and the nations descended from them, the Belgians, Dutch, the Danes, Swedes, English, &c. have this character. Lastly, there is a most extensive race. Including nearly all the people enumerated in the first division, with the skin, although white, possessing more or less of a brown tint, accompanied with dark brown or black hair, and dark eyes. II. Yellow or olive (gilvus or buxeus, a middle tint, be- tween that of ripe wheat and boiled quince or dried lemon- peel) characterizes the Mongolian tribes, usually called, together with the inhabitants of great part of Asia, Tartars, (Tatars). * " Les Albinos sont a la v^rit^ une nation tr^s petite et tr^s rare ; lis habi- tent au milieu de I'Afrique, leur faiblesse ne leur permet guere de s'ecarter des cavernes oh. ils demeurent ; cependant les Negres en attrapent quelquc- fois, et nous les achetons d'eux par curiosity." Voltaire Essai sur les Mceurs^ introduction. + BuFFON by Wood ; vol. iii. pp. 328, 344, 4 19. % Loc. cit. IN THE HUMAN SPECIES. 249 III. Red or copper colour (bronze Fr. an obscure orange or rusty iron colour, not unlike the bark of the cinnamon- tree) prevails in various shades over nearly the whole con- tinent of America, and is almost confined to that division of the globe. IV. Brown or tawney {basan^ Fr. a middle tint between the colour of fresh mahogany and of cloves or chesnuts). It characterizes the Malays, and most of the inhabitants of the numerous islands scattered through the pacific Ocean. V. Black in various shades, from the sooty colour or tawny black, to that of pitch or ebony, or jet-black. This prevails very extensively on the continent of Africa, charac- terizing all the negro tribes. It is found also in the Negro- like natives of New Holland, Van Diemen's Land, Papua or New Guinea, the New Hebrides, and other islands of the South Sea ; and is seen, mingled with the national colour, in Brazil, California, and India. The New Caledonians constitute an insensible transition, with the chesnut-coloured islanders of Tongataboo, and the dark New Hollanders, from the tawny or brown Otaheiteans to the Papuas or Negroes of New Guinea. In describing these varieties, it is necessary to fix on the most strongly marked tints, between which there is every conceivable intermediate shade of colour. The opposite ex- tremes run into each other by the nicest and most delicate gradations ; and it is the same in every other particular, in which the various tribes of the human species differ. This forms no slight objection to the hypothesis of distinct species : for, on that supposition, we cannot define their number, nor draw out the boundaries that divide them ; whereas, in animals most resembling each other, the different species are preserved pure and unmixed. Neither does the colour, which I have described in general terms as belonging to any particular race, prevail so universally in all the indivi- duals of that race as to constitute an invariable character, as we should expect if it arose from a cause so uniform as an original specific difference : its varieties, on the contrary, point out the action of other circumstances. I'hus, al- 250 VARIETIES OF COLOUR though the red colour Is very prevalent on the American con- tinent, travellers have observed fair tribes in several parts ; as, Ulloa * and Bouguer f in Peru ,• Cook X and Van- couver § at Nootka Sound; Humboldt || near the sources of the Orinoco ; and Weld near the United States. The natives of New Zealand vary from a deepish black to an olive or yellowish tinge %, In the Friendly Islands many of the women are as fair as those of Spain or Portugal ; se- veral of both sexes are of an olive colour ; and many of a deep brown *'*. The domestic animals exhibit varieties entirely analogous to those which have been just enumerated ; a fact so fami- liarly known with respect to the sheep, pig, horse, cow, dog, cat, rabbit, &c., that it cannot be necessary to support the assertion by any details. The leucaethiopic constitu- tion occurs too in wild and domesticated animals, as well as in the human subject. It has been observed (not to mention the well-known examples of the rabbit, ferret, mouse, horse,) in the monkey, squirrel, rat, hamster, guinea-pig, mole, opossum, martin, weasel, roe ff, fox J J, rhinoceros §§, elephant ||||, badger, beaver If If, bear, * Voyage to South America ; i. 237. f Relation ahregee du Voyage, 8^c. ; in Acad, des Sciences, 1740, p. 274. He represents the Peruvians at the foot of the Cordilleras to be nearly as white as Europeans. + He represents the colour of their skin as not very different from that of Europeans, but with a pale dull cast. Voyage to the Pacific ; ii. 303. § Voyage; i. 395. II Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain; i. 144. H Anderson in Cook's Voyage to the Pacific ; i. 154. ** Cook's Voyage to the Pacific ; i. 3S1. + + Blumenbach de G. H. Var. Nat. sect. iii. § 78. XX Shaw's Zoology. ^% Barrow's Travels in South Africa ; i. 395. nil '' The white elephants are very rare, and highly valued ; they receive the greatest care and attention, and are regarded in some cases with a kind of religious respect. One of his Birman majesty's titles is, ' Lord of the white elephant.' " Symes' Embassy to Ava ; 8vo. v. ii. p. 390; and v. iii. p. S38. II ![ The beaver may deviate either into white or black. The white are very scarce ; the black are beautifully glossy, and more common. Hearne's Journey to the Northern Ocean, p. 241. IN THE HUMAN SPECIES. 251 camel*, buffalo f, and ass J. The crow, black-bird, ca- nary-bird, partridge, common fowl and peacock, are some- times the subjects of it; but it has never been seen in any cold-blooded animal. In the leucaethiopic mammalia and birds just enumerated, the nature and characters of the deviation seem to be per- fectly analogous to those of the human Albino. The pure whiteness of their skin and other integuments, and the red- ness of the iris and pupil, mark the same deficiency of co- louring matter. A white mouse possessed ])y Blumenbach also exhibited the intolerance of light, which has been no- ticed almost universally in the human examples : the ani- mal kept its eye-lids closed even in the twilight §. When two varieties copulate together, the offs[»ring re- sembles neither parent wholly, but partakes of the form and other properties of both. This cannot with propriety be termed hybrid generation, as authors apply that word to the animals produced by the copulation of different species ; as of the horse and ass, the canary-bird and jrold-finch. In this sense hybrids are never produced in the human species. " Non desunt," says Blumenbach, " historiae nefandje ho- minum cum brutis copulae, quando aut viri cum bestiarum femellis rem habuerunt, sive effrenata libidine rapti ||, sive ex vesana continentiae opinione ^, sive quod medicum usum *" One of the Camels was pure white, with blue eyes." Elphinstone's Account ofCaubul^ Introduction, p. 30. PALLAs'mentions the same fact. Tra- vels in the Southern Provinces of the Russian Empire. + Shaw's Zoology. t Buchanan's Journey from Madras, ^c. v. i. p. 7. ^ Commentation. Reg. Soc. Scient. Goetting. v.vii, p. S4. II Th. Warton ad Theocriti Idyll, i. 88. p. 19. '< Audivi ex docto quodam amico, qui per Siciliam insulam iter faciens, ibidem cum vetera mo- numenta, turn populi mores accuratius investigaverat, inter confessionis arti- culos a Siculis caprariis apudmontes vitam solituriam degentibus, etiamnum per sacerdotes proprios rite solere exigi, an rem cum hircis suis habuerint !" H Mart, a Baumgarten, Peregrinatio in Egyptum, Arahiam, 8^c. p. 73. •' Ex Alchanica Egypti egressi, venimus ad casale quoddara Belbes dictum, ubi carabenae eunti Damascum sumus conjuncti. Ibi vidimus sanctum unum Saracenicum, inter arenarum cumulos, ita ut ex utero matris prodiit, nudum sedentem. — Audivimus sanctum ilium, quem eo loco vidimus, publicitus ap- prime commendari: eum esse hominem sanctum, diviuumac integritate prse- cipuum, eo quod nee fo^minarum unquam esset nee puerorum,sed tantummodo asellarum concubitor atque mularura." 252 VARIETIES OF ( OLOUR ex cjusmodi facinore sperarent '*^ ; aut fcmlnas a brutorum mascuHsf siibactas esse relatum est, sive violent! stiipro id accident, sive sollicitantibus ex libidlne Insanicntibus femi- nist, sive prostituentibus seseex religiosa superstitione § ; nullum tamcn unquam a teste fide digno relatum comperi- mus exemplum, ubi fccunda evaserit ejusmodi copula, hy- bridumque ex hominis cum bestia immani coitu prognatum fuerit." Yet the laws of various countries have directed that the fruit of such unnatural intercourse should be burned, or otherwise destroyed. We can only speak, in the human subject, of such hybrids as proceed from copulation of the different varieties of one and the same species, as of a cart-horse and a racer, the green and white canary-birds, &c. These unions have a great effect in changing the colour, conformation, and other properties of the offspring, and are consequently em- ployed with wonderful advantage in improving the breeds of our domestic animals, particularly the horse, sheep, and cattle. Children produced from the copulation of different races exhibit the middle (or nearly so) between the two tints of their parents. This law holds good universally; climate not making the smallest difterence : Mulattoes precisely similar are produced from the union of Negroes and Euro- peans, whether in Africa, in the East Indies, in the sugar * Hoc fine Persas ischiade laborantes onagras inire Pallas auctor est, in Neuen Nordischt7i Beytragen^^. ii. page 38. + Phillips, speaking of the baboons of Guinea in Churchill's Collection f>f Voyages^ v. vi. p. 211. says, '* Here are a vast number of overgrown large baboons, some as big as a large mastiff dog, which go in droves of fifty and one hundred together, and are very dangerous to be met with, especially by women ; whom 1 have been credibly informed they have often seized npon, ravished, and in that kind abused, one after another, till they have killed them." + Ita feminas Kamtschadalicas quondam cum canibus coivisse Steller refcrt, in Beschreibung von Kamtschatka^ p. 2S9. ^ Ut Mendciiae femina', cumhiico sacro: dequo singular! ritu videsis uber- riuu! disserentcin D'HancArville in Rcchcrchcs sur VOrigine dts Arts de la Giecc^ t. i- p. 320. IN THE HUMAN SPECIES. 253 islands, in North America, or in Europe. From a refine- ment of vanity, the inhabitants of the Spanish colonies in America have enriched their language with terms for the finest shades, which result from the degeneration of the primitive colour ; and have also distinguished the offspring of the various dark-coloured races with the whites. In the first generation, the offspring of Europeans and Negroes are called Mulattoes {miildtre, Fr.) The word Creole (criollo) has been frequently confounded with this, even by good writers; but that name, originally applied by the first Negroes conveyed to America in the sixteenth cen- tury, to their children born in that country, and borrowed by the Spaniards from them to denote their own offspring in the New World *, belongs properly to the children of Euro- pean or Negro parents born in the East or West Indies. In colour, figure, and moral qualities, the Mulatto is a medium between the European and African. The colour is more or less yellow, brown, or tawny, according as the European father may have been fair or dark; and the coun- tenance has the middle form between that of both parents f. There is no redness of the cheek. The hair is curled and black, but much longer than that of the Negro: and the iris is dark. In cleanliness, capacity, activity, and courage, they are decidedly superior to the Negroes. Europeans and Mulattoes produce Tercerons (sometimes also called Quarterons, Moriscos, and Mestizos). The hair and countenance of these resemble the European ; the • Garcilasso del Origen de los Incas, p. 255. We can easily understand how the use of the word may have been extended in the West Indies to the animals which have been produced from stocks imported from the Old World. + Whether either colour or sex affects the offspring more strongly than the other, is an interesting question, which we have not the means of answering tatisfactorily. I find an opinion expressed, that in the union of the European and Negress the nobler blood predominates. Estwick, History of Jamaica; ii. 335. There is the same authority for an opinion that male and female Mulattoes do not produce so many children together, as if they were united respectively to Negresses and Europeans, Mr. Long, in his History of Jamaica, gives a similar testimony on this point, and that in strong terms. 254 VARIETIES OF COLOUR former has nothing of the grandmother's woolly curl: the skhi has a slight brown tint, and the cheeks are red. In the Dutch colonies they often have blue eyes and fair hair. The stain of the black blood is principally visible in the organs of generation ; the scrotum is blackish in the male, and the la])ia pudendi dark or purplish in tlie female. In political rights these class with the Mulattocs in the European colijnies. Europeans and Tercerons produce Quarterons or Qua- droons (ochavones, octavones, or alvinos), which are not to be distinguished frum whites : but they are not entitled, in Jamaica at least, to the same legal privileges as the Euro- peans or white Creoles, because there is still a contamination of dark blo^d, although no longer visible. It is said to be- tray itself sometimes in a relic of the peculiar strong smell of the great-grandmother. The genealogy of these hy1)rid races is carried into the fifth generation, the chiklren of Europeans and Quarterons being called Quinterons * (puchuelas Spar.). It is not cre- dible that any trace of mixed origin can remain in this case, according to the observations of the most judicious eye-wit- nesses concerning the third generation, viz. that in colour and habit of body they cannot be distinguished from their European progenitors. Accordingly, even the law is now satisfied, and considers them sufficiently whitened to enjoy its full protecti' m : they are legally white, and free. By an opp<^site course of proceeding the Mulatto offspring of the European and Negro may be reduced again to the characters of tlie latter. If the Mulatto be paired with a Negro, and the cliildren again and again with Negroes, the fourth generation is perfectly black. Thus, in obedience to that principle by which the pro- perties of the offspring depend on those of the parents, we have the power of changing one species into another by re- * The offspring of a Quadroon woman and white man is called Mestize, or Mustee, according to Edwards, Hist, of the West Indies; ii. IS : and Wm- TERBOTTOM, ^ccounf of tJic Native Jfricans ; i. 188. IN THE HUMAN SPECIES. 255 peated intermixture. If the offspring of a white woman and a black be matched with a black man, and this process be repeated two or three times, the form of the original mother is entirely lost, and that of the father substituted 5 or ^ vice versa. In this manner the colour of the race may be com- pletely changed in three or four generations ; while it never has been changed by climate, even in the longest series of ages. The offspring of an European and Indian (American) is named Mestizo * (mestee, Eng.). The hair is black and straight ; tJie iris dark : the skin varies according to the tint of the American parent. As the latter is by no means so dark-coloured as the Negro, the Mestizo is much lighter than the Mulatto. Many native Americans are nearly as fair as Europeans ; hence Mestizos are often not distinguishable by colour from Europeans. ^* A Mestizo," says Humboldt f, " is in colour almost a pure white, and his skin is of a particular transparency. The small beard, and small hands and feet, and a certain obliquity of the eyes, are more frequent indications of the mixture of Indian blood, than the nature of the hair." They have often some parts of the body darker than others ; and this is always the case with the organs of gene- ration in both sexes. European fathers and Mestee mothers produce Quarterons, Quatralvi, or Castlzos, corresponding to Tercerons in the Negro breed, and not distinguishable from Europeans J; Quarteron women with Europeans, Ochavons, or Octavons ; and Europeans with female Octavons, Pu- chuelos, which are not only not distinguishable in any respect from native Europeans, but also enjoy full legal rights and privileges in the Spanish colonies. * They also are sometimes called Mestindi, Metifi, Mamelucki. f Political Essay, v. i. p. 244. The testimony of Ulloa is to the same effect. « The inhabitants (of Conception) consist of Spaniards, and of Mes- tizos, who in colour are hardly distinguished from the former, both being very fair, and some have even fresh complexions." — Voyage to South America; ii. 237. if " If a Mestiza marry a white man, the second generation differs hardly in any thing from the European race." Humboldt, loc. cit. 256 VARIETIES OF COLOUR The offspring of Negroes and Americans are called Zambos or Sambos * ; and sometimes Mulattoes. Negroes with Mulattoes produce Zambosf de Mulatai(griffos, or cabros) : an European and Zambo, a Mulatto; an American and Zambo, a Zambaigo. The offspring of the Zambos are styled, in derision, by the Spaniards, Cholos ; tbat of a Negro aiid Zamba is called Zambo prieto (black Zambo X). " In a country governed by whites, the families reputed to have the least mixture of Negro or Mulatto blood are na- turally the most honoured. Thus, in (Spanish) America, the greater or less degree of whiteness of skin decides the rank of an individual in society, A white, who rides bare- footed on horseback, thinks he belongs to the nobility of the country. When a common man disputes with one of the titled lords of the country, he is frequently heard to say, ^Do you think me not so white as yourself?' It becomes, consequently, a very interesting business for the public vanity to estimate accurately the fractions § of European blood which belong to the different casts." " It often happens that the families suspected of being of mixed blood demand from the high court of justice (au- * " Tile descendants of Negroes and Indian women bear at Mexico, Lima, and even at the Havannah, the strange name of Chino, Chinese. On the coast of Ciiraccas, and, as appears from the laws, even in New Spain, they are called Zambos. This last denomination is now principally limited to the descendants of a Negro and a female IMulatto, or a Negro and a Cliincse female." IIuiiroldt, he. cit. + The oftspring of a Negro and Negress with a Mulatto man or woman is called in the English colonies Sambo. Edwards' Hist, of the West Indies ; V. ii. p. 18. J If a Mulatto and Terccron, or Terceron and Quartcron, intermix, the ofl^spring are called Tcnti en ayre by the Spaniards; because they remain in the same legal condition, neither advancing nor receding. Ulloa, Voyage i. 30. If a Terceron mixes with a Mulatto woman, or a Quartcron with a Ter- ceron woman, the offspring are called Saltatras, or retrogrades; because they take a step backwards towards the Negro blood. — Jbid. § Ti\e proportions are represented as follows according to the principles sanctioned by usage. IN THE HUMAN SPECIES. 257 diencia) to have it declared that they belong to the whites. These declarations are not always corroborated by the judg- ment of the senses. We see very swarthy Mulattoes, who have had the address to get themselves whitened (this is the valgar expression) . When the colour of the skin is too re- pugnant to the judgment demanded, the petitioner is con- tented with an expression somewhat problematical. The sentence then simply bears, ' that such individuals may con- sider themselves as whites (que se tengan por blancos)*." Where several races are brought together, as in some parts of Spanish America, and in some European-Asiatic settlements, their mixtures with each other, and the several crossings betv/een the original races and their various de- scendants, give rise to a vast number of mixed breeds, and every possible variety of colour. The dark races, and all who are contaminated by any visible mixture of dark blood, are comprised under the general denomination of people of colour. It is not, however, merely by this superficial cha- racter that they are distinguished ; all other physical and moral qualities are equally influenced by those of the parents. The intellectual and moral character of the Europeans is de- teriorated by the mixture of black or red blood ; while, on the other hand, an infusion of white blood tends in an equal de- gree to improve and ennoble the qualities of the dark varieties. The general law, that animals produce their like, by which Parents. Offspring. Degree of Mixture. Negro and European Mulatto 4- white i- black. European and Mulatto Terceion 4- ^ Negro and Mulatto Griffo, or Zambo... 4 black -^ white. European and Terceron... Quarteron -|- white ^ black. Negro and Terceron 1^ black ^ white. European and Quarteron. ..Quinteron 4.4 \^hite -^l^ black. Negro and Quarteron 44 black -rV^vhite, The two latter are respectively white and black; and of these the first are white by law, and consequently free in our West India islands. All remains of colour are so completely banished, that they arc not distinguishable from whites in any respect. * Humboldt, PoUt, Essay; i. 246, 247. S 258 VARIETIES OF COLOUR uniformity of species is maintained, suffers some exceptions Children do not always resemble their parents ; and hence we have occasionally persons produced in each race with characters approaching to those of the other races. Among tlie white races of Europe scattered instances of individuals with skins nearly as dark as those of the Mongols or South Sea Islanders are not unfrequent. I lately saw a girl whose dark olive skin and jet black hair, very much like those of a Chinese, joined to English features, made me suppose that there was some mixture of blood : it turned out, however, that her parents were both English ; the mother dark, but not of so deep a tint as the daughter, and the father fair. Among the Otahelteans, descended from the Malay race, individuals with light brown or sandy hair, and fair com- plexion, are not very uncommon *: and Forster saw, in the island of Otaha, a man with fair freckled skin and red hairf. Red-haired individuals have been observed in most of the dark nations, as the Wotiaks, Eskimaux, islanders of New Guinea and New Zealand, and the Negroes J. The origin of Albinos, particularly in the dark races, is a remarkable example of native variety of colour. In the mixed breeds, too, although the children generally partake of the character of both parents, they sometimes resemble one only ; and in such a case, the influence of the other is often observed in the second or third generation. Children may be seen like their grandsires, and unlike the father and mother. Fit quoque, ut iiiterdum similes existere avorum Possint, et referant proavorum saepe figuras, Inde Venus varias prod licit sorte figuras, IMajorumque refert voltus, vocesque, comasque. LucRET. lib. ii. * Forster Obsv.ona Voyage round the World; p. 229. + Ibid. 230. :♦: Bi.uMENBACH de G. II. Var. Nat. p. 169. He himself saw a Mulatto with red hair, of which he procured a specimen. A man of mulatto com- plexion, freckled, with strong red hair, disposed in small wiry curls, and born of black parents, was seen by AVuvterbotto^t, ii. 170 ; who met with others having red complexion and hair; i, 193. IN THE HUMAN SPECIES. 259 Thus It is possible that an African Albiness and an Euro- pean may produce together a true Mulatto*; the offspring receiving its dark tint through the mother, although she has it not herself. The offspring of a black and white may be either black or white, instead of being mixed ; and in some rare cases It has been spotted. A black man married a white woman in York : In due course of time she had a child that was entirely black, and very much like the father in colour and features, without the least participation in the features or colour of the mother. A negro was married in London to a white woman, who afterwards had a daughter as fair as any one born of white parents, and like the mother in features, but her right but- tock and thigh were as black as the skin of the father. Two Negro slaves having married in Virginia, the woman brought forth a white girl. The husband's father was white, his grandfather and grandmother black : and In every family related to them there had always been a white child f. A Negress had twins by an Englishman : one was per- fectly black, with short, woolly, curled hair ; the other was light with long hair J, Dr. WiNTERBOTTOM says, that in a family of six persons, which he knew, one half was almost as light-coloured as Mulattoes, while the other was jet black. The father was a deep black, the mother a Mulatto §. Variations of colour, analagous to those just enumerated, are of daily occurrence among animals, as In the production of black sheep, cats, horses, foxes, &c. White sheep may produce black lambs; and gray rabbits may bring forth either white (leucssthloplc) or black ones. The production of leucaethloplc animals from those of the ordinary colour is very common. In the beaver, which is a wild animal, * SxEDMAN'sSwrmflm, ii. 260. + These instances are related by Dr. Parsons in the Philos. Transact. V. 35 ; and seem to be of unquestionable authenticity. X White on the regular Gradation, p. 122. § On the Native /Africans, i. 1«8. S 2' 260 V^ARIETIES OF COLOUR we have either blaek or leacjBthiopic vvliite ones produced from the common animal. Dr. Buchanan says of the asses in the Carnatic, that " some are of the usual ash colour, whilst others are almost black, in which case the cross on the shoulders disappears. Milk-white asses are also to be found, but they are rare. These are not varieties as to species ; for blaek rndlviduals have sometimes ash-coloured colts ; and, on the contrary, black colts are sometimes pro- duced by ash-coloured dams*"." Two common peacocks produced fourteen young : tvv^o were white, the rest resembled their parents f. The native or congenital varieties thus produced are pro- pagated by generation, and become established as permanent breeds, if individuals with these new characters constantly intermix, and none others are admitted into the breed. Thus the leucsethiopic constitution has become fixed in the white rabbit and ferret ; and thus, before our eyes, as con- spicuous a deviation from the common stock has been formed, as any in the human race. Black rams are always rejected in breeding, because they v.ould transfer their co- lour to their progeny. In many parts of England all the cattle are of one colour : this arises from the long established custom of slaughtering all the. calves which have not the desired tint. There is no reason to doubt that, if the same plan were adopted with the human subject, that is, if per- sons marked by certain native peculiarities were united, their offspring again matched with similar individuals, and this constantly repeated, any native variety might be fixed as a permanent breed. Human Albinos are too few for this purpose : hence we have no race in our species like the ferret or white rabbit. The disposition to change is exhausted in one generation, and the characters of the original stock returned, unless the variety is kept up by the precaution above-mentioned of ex- cluding from the breed all which have not the new charac- ters. Thus, when African Albinos intermix with the com- * Journey from Madras through Mysore^ &c. ; v. i. p. 7. + BuFroN ; V. x'.'u p. 286, note. IN THE HUMAN SPEC IKS. 261 mon race, the offspring generally is black. The same cir- cumstance is seen in vegetables : the seeds of our fine cul- tivated apples almost always produce tlie common crab ; and the variegated holly can only be preserved as a variety by grafting : when we attempt to propagate it by seed^ it returns to the common green holly. In considering this as an explanation of the mode in which varieties of colour may have arisen in the human race, an objection will probably occur, that we do not, in point of fact, see Negroes, Ame- ricans, or Mongols, produced among the white races ; nor Europeans among the former. The theory of unity of the species would certainly be untenable, if it depended on proving that such varieties occur. But the Negro and the European are the two extremes of a very long gradation : between them are almost innumerable intermediate stages, which diiFer from each other no more than the individuals occasionally produced in every race differ from the generality of the race. That the common opinion, which refers the characteristic differences of colour in the varieties of the human species to climate, and particularly to the degree of solar heat, is entirely unfounded, will, I trust, be fully proved hereafter. Enough has now been said to shew that these differences depend on the breed ; and that the hue of the offspring follows that of the parents, excepting in the rare cases of native or congenital variety. The latter examples prove that colour is not an essential character of race ; that identity of tint is not necessary to establish descent from a common stock. These occurrences, together with the numerous ex- amples of the widest deviation in colour in animals confess- edly of the same species, fully authorize us to conclude, that, however striking the contrast may be between the fair Eu- ropean and the ebon African, and however unwilling the Ibrmer may be to trace up his pedigree to the same Adam with the latter, this superficial distinction is altogether in- sufficient to establish diversity of species. Examples occur of individuals spotted with different colours ; but they are by no means so common as those of '^G'2 VARIETIES OF COLOUR spotted animals. Persons of the black races are sometimes marked by patches of white, of various size and number, without any thing like disease of the skin. This circum- stance has been observed most frequently in Negroes, and generally begins in early infancy ; the individuals are called spotted or piebald Negroes, in French, Negres-pies. Blu- MENBACH has dcscribcd a man of this kind, whom he saw in London ; a servant to the person who kept the animals at Exeter Change. He was a young man perfectly black, excepting the umbilical and hypogastric regions of the abdo- men, and the middle of the lower limbs, including the knees and neighbouring parts of the thighs and legs, which were of a clear and almost snowy whiteness, but spotted with black, like the skin of a panther. His hair was of two co- lours. On the middle of the front of the head, from the vertex to the forehead, where it ended in a sharp point, there was a white spot, with a yellower tinge than those on the trunk and legs. The hair covering this was white, but re- sembled the rest in other respects *. On comparing the picture of this man with three others (a boy and two girls), he observes that the white spots occupied the abdomen and thighs, never appearing on the hands and feet, which parts, with the groins, are the first to turn black in the newly-born Negroes ; and that the arrangement of the white parts was symmetrical. Both the parents of this man, and of the others f, of whom Blumenbach had collected accounts, were entirely black ; so that Buffon's conjecture of this * De G.II. Var. Nat. sect. iii. \ 4S. Abbildimgcn natur-historischer Gegen- stanch; No 21. Another spotted Negro is delineated in Buffon, Supplement, t. iv.p.565, tab. ii. t Byrd, in the Philos. Transact, v. xix, p. 7SI, mentions a boy, in whom the spots were first seen in the fourth year, and progressively increased. Mr. Jefferson mentions a Negro, born black of black parents, on whose chin, when a boy, a white spot appeared. It continued to increase till he became a man, when it had extended over the chin, lips, one cheek, the under jaw, and neck of the same side. Notes on Virginia, p. 120. Another case is mentioned by Morgan in Transactions of the Philosophical Society of Phila- delphia, V. ii. p. 392. IN THE HUMAN SPECIES. 263 variety being produced by the cohabitation of a Negro with an Albiness, is groundless. These spots, in which the epidermis is perfectly healthy, and which are distinguisliable from the rest of the skin only by their whiteness, are not to be confounded with diseases of the organ, where the cuticle becomes scaly or branny, which are frequent in some of the black races. Nor are they peculiar to dark-coloured people. Blumenbach has seen two instances in Germans ; one of a youth, the other of a man sixty years old. They both had a rather tawny skin, marked here and there with various-sized spots of the clearest white. They appeared first in the former in infancy, and in the latter at the age of manhood. The skin differs in some other properties besides its co- lour. Travellers have described it as remarkably soft and smooth, and, as it were, silky in certain races : as in the Carib, Negro *, Otaheitean f, and Turk. It secretes a matter of peculiar odour in some races. " The Peruvian Indians," says Humboldt, " who in the middle of the night distinguish the different races by their quick sense of smell, have formed three words to express the odour of the Euro- pean, the Indian American, and the Negro : they call the first pezuna, the second poseo, and the third graio J." He adds, that the casts of Indian or African blood preserve the odour peculiar to the cutaneous transpiration of those pri- mitive races. * '* Their skins are always cool, at least more so than those of Europeans in the same climate ; and they are also remarkable for their sleekness and velvet-like softness." Winterbottom, Account of the Native Africans ; i. 180. + Hawkesworth's Collection of Voyages ; i. ii. p. 187. :}: Humboldt, Political Essay ; i. 245. CHAPTER III. On the Hair, Beard, and Colour of the IrL Every part of our frame deserves to be attentively consi- dered and investigated. The hair, whieh is found, in vari- ous form and quantity, over nearly the whole external sur- face, might seem at first view an excrescence hardly worthy of notice. We are soon struck, however, with the contrast between man and animals, in respect to this growth ; with its general abundance over the whole body in the latter, and the comparative nakedness of the former, while in the head these proportions are reversed, and its copious and long growth, to which there is nothing parallel in animals, forms a distinguished and peculiar ornament, imparting a charac- ter of dignity and majesty to the human head. It presents, again, well-marked varieties in the different races of men : compare tlie short woolly knots on the head of the genuine Negro, or the coarse, straight, and thin hair of an American or Mongolian, together with their beardless faces, to the ample growth of fine and undulated locks and the full beard which so gracefully adorn the head and face of the Cau- casian races. The physiologist will be interested in examin- ing the relation between the hair and the integuments; and in noticing the sexual distinctions, which are more or less strongly marked by this production. Implanted in the skin, and deriving from the cutaneous vessels the materials of its growth, the structure and proper- ties of the hair are closely allied to those of this organ. The horny substance composing it is very analogous to that of the cuticle ; and being equally destitute of vessels, nerves, sensibility, and all power of exhibiting vital processes may be regarded, like it, as dead matter. Each hair may be traced, through the cuticle and surface of the cutis, to a bulb situated partly in the corion of the AND COLOUR OF THE IRIS. 265 latter organ, and partly in the cellalar texture which uuites it to the subjacent parts. This bulb consists of a dense ex- ternal covering, in which the tubular root of the hair, and a conical vascular pulp, by which that root is secreted, are contained ^. The vascular body adds the new matter to the root of the hair, which is elongated by these additions, in the sauie way as the nail grows by its root. The conical vascular pulp, and the hollow of the hair in which it is lodged, are easily seen in the larger examples, which the whiskers of many mammalia afford. The precise relations of the cuticle and rete mucosum to the hair have not been ascertained ; it is not settled whether these coverings are simply perfo- rated, or whether productions of them are continued over the hairs. It is, however, clear that the colouring principle is of a common nature in the skin and hair ; and, moreover, that there is a connexion between them in texture. The colourless Albino has a soft white hair. In the first or white variety of the human species, every gradation from the fair to the dark is accompanied by correspondent alterations in the tint of the hair. This is true, not only of nations, but of individuals, in the white races. A light complexion and thin skin are accompanied with delicate fair or red hair; a dark one and thick skin with black hair, almost invariably, even in individuals of the same family ; a difference which, according to the philosophy of some writers, would be a sufficient ground for classing them in distinct species. The four coloured varieties of men have black hair, which is always stronger and coarser in texture than in the whites. This difference is particularly noticed by the Chi- nese, who contemptuously compare the hair of Europeans to the soft fur of the smaller animals. In Negroes, native Americans, and New Zealanders, I have found the texture much stronger than in the darkest Europeans. A striking * See the article h^ir in Comparative Anatoviij, in the Cyclopsedia of Dr. Kees ; contributed by Dr. Macartney, Professor of Anatomy in Trinity College, Dublin. 266 VARIETIES IN THE HAIR, BEARD, proof that the colour of the hair depends on that of the skin is afforded by the spotted Africans, in whom the hairs grovv- i'lig out of a white patch on the head are white *. The principal differences of the hair may be brought under the four following heads : — 1. Brownish, deviating into yellow (flaxen) or red on one side, and black on the other; copious, soft, long, and forming more or less distinct ringlets or undulations. It is seen in the temperate climates of Europe, and its light shades formerly attracted particular notice in the ancient Germans. The thin-skinned Albino has the softest and most colourless hair : in the Germanic race it is also very soft and light-coloured ; and red hair is usually found in conjunction with a thin and soft skin. The Celtic and Sclavonic races, which make up the chief population of Europe, the eastern Asiatics, and northern Africans, have generally, with a rather thicker and darker skin, stronger, black, or dark brown, and more or less curling hair. The lighter and darker kinds of hair will grow to very considerable lengths in Europeans, when not cut f. 2. Black, strong, straight, and thin in the Mongolian and American varieties. The greater part of the head is shaved by the Chinese ; the portion of hair which they leave, often reaches the ground. The same remark holds good of the Americans |. 3. Black, softer, dense, copious, and curled ; in most of the South Sea Islanders. 4. Black and crisp, so as generally to be called woolly ; * Blu-»ienbach Abbildungen N. H. Gegenstdnde, No. 21. White on the regular Gradation, &c.; p. 145. f White mentions an Italian lady, in whom the hair trailed on the ground when she stood upright : the same observation may be made of the Greek women. A Prussian soldier had it long enough to reach the ground ; and in an English lady it was six feet long. On the regular Gradation^ p. 93-4. t Mr. Hearne says, that the Nortli American savages leave a single lock on the head; and that he saw some, nearly six feet high, in whom, when let down, it would trail on n. de V Acad, des Sciences^ 1740, p. 274. § Journal Ilistorique^ p. 311. II In Ro-^KRTSos^s History of America; i,461. 5 De AhiponibuSf ii. 6, 25, & seq. ** " The Chilians, like the Tartars, have bnt little beard ; and the custom of plucking out the hair, as fast as it grows, makes (hem appear as if beard- less t for this purpose they always carry with them a small pair of pincers, which forms a part of their toilette. There are some of them, however, who have as thick a beard as the Spaniards. The hair which marks the age of puberty they have in still greater quantities than the beard. The opinion that a thin b-ard is the mark of a feeble body is not verified in the case of these people. The Indians are generally vigorous, and are better able to endure fatigue than the Creoles ; for which rejison they are always preferred in those employments that require strength." Natural History of Chili, p. 275. The Araucans '* have scarcely any beard ; and the smallest hair is never to be discerned on their faces, from the care they take to pluck out the little that appears." " The same attention is paid to the removing it from their bodies, where its growth is more abundant." Civil History of Chili, p. 55. +f "The Chaymas are almost without beard on the chin, like the Tun- gooses, and other nations of the Mongol race. They pluck out the few hairs that appear; but it is not correct to say that they have no beard, merely because they pluck out the hairs. Independently of this custom, the greater part of the natives would be nearly beardless." No controversy would have arisen on this point, if the correct account given by the first historians of the conquest of America had been sufliciently attended to. (See the Journal of PiGAFETTA, published by AsionETTi, 1 800, p. 18. BEyzom, StoriaiklMumlo T 274 VARIETIES OF THE HAIR, BEARD, There is some contradiction in the reports of travellers concerning the native North Americans : it is, however, easily explained on the probable supposition that the pro- portion of the beard varies in different tribes. Mr. Hearne observed, of those whom he saw on his journey to the Coj)per-Mine River, that " few of the men have any beard : this seldom makes its appearance till they are arrived at middle age ; and then in by no means equal quantity to what is observed in the generality of Europeans : the little they have, however, is exceedingly strong and bristly.'* He mentions the practice of eradication ; and adds, that " neither sex have any hair under their arm-pits, and very little on any other part of their body, particularly the women *.'* Mr. Mackenzie states that the Knisteneaux " very ge- nerally extract their beards ; and both sexes manifest a dis- position to pluck the hair from every part of their body and limbs f." Among the Chepewyans, " the men in general extract their beards ; but some are seen to prefer a bushy black beard to a smooth chin J.'* Respecting the Canadian Indians and the adjoining tribes Nuovo, 1557, p. 15. Bembo, Hist. Venet. Ibbl. p. S6.) "The Patago- nians and Guaranies in South America have beards. When the Chajmas, instead of extracting the little hair they have on the sicin, shave themselves frequently, their beard grows. I have seen this experiment tried with suc- cess by young Indians, who served at mass, and who anxiously wished to re- semble the Capuchin fathers, their missionaries and instructors. Most of the people, however, have as great an antipathy to the beard as the Eastern na. lions have veneration for it. This antipathy is derived from the same source as the predilection for flat foreheads, which is seen in so singular a manner in the statue of the Azteck heroes and divinities. Nations attach the idea of beauty to every thing which particularly characterizes their own physical conformation, tiieir natural physiognomy. Hence it results, that if nature have bestowed very little beard, a narrow forehead, or a brownish red skin, every individual thinks himself beautiful, in proportion as his body is desti- tute of hairs, his head flattened, and his skin covered with annotto or chica, or some other coppery red colour." Personal Narrative j ii. 23T. * Journey, eh. 9. p. 305. f Voyages, ^'c. p. 92. tmd.p. 120. AND COLOUR OF THE IRIS. 275 we have a curious statement in the Philosophical Transac- tions *, communicated by a celebrated Mohawk chief, named Thayandaneega, but better known to the English by the name of Captain Brandt, whose portrait is repre- sented in the First Part of Blumenbach's Delineations. " The men of the Six Nations have all beards by nature, as have likewise all other Indian nations of North America, which I have seen. Some allow a part of the beard on the chin and upper lip to grow ; and a few of the Mohawks shave with razors like Europeans ; but the generality pluck out the hairs of their beards by the roots, as soon as they begin to appear ; and, as they continue this practice all their lives, they appear to have no beard, or at most only a very few straggling hairs, which they have neglected to pluck out. I am however of opinion, that if the Indians were to shave, they would never have beards altogether so thick as the Eu- ropeans ; and there are some to be met with, who have ac- tually very little beard." The beardlessness of the natives at Nootka Sound is as- cribed by Cook f entirely to their practice of eradication 5 and the same opinion is expressed respecting the Chopun- nish, a tribe on Lewis's River, which joins the Columbia, by Captains Lewis and Clarke, who are of opinion that several of them would have good beards, if they adopted the practice of shaving J. Perouse § reports, that about one half of the adult Indi- ans in New California had beards, which in some were am- * For the year 1786 ; art. II. communicated by Mr. M'Causland, an army snrgeon, who had resided for ten years at Niagara, in the midst of the Six Nations, and who confirmed the statement of the American chief. + " Some have no beards at all ; and others only a thin one on the point of the chin. This does not arise from an original deficiency of hair in those parts, but from their plucking it out by the roots ; for those who do not destroy it, have not only considerable beards on every part of the chin, but also whiskers, or mustacliios running from the upper lip to the lower jaw obliquely down- wards." Voyage to the Pacifc, v. ii. p. 302. PI. 38, Man of Nootka Sound : PI. 46, Man of Prince William's Sound. I Travels to the Source of the Missouri, p. 556—7. ^ Voyage, \. ii. p. 197-8. T 2 27C VARIETIES IN THE HAIR, BEARt), pie ; tluit he could not ascertain whether the deficiency ob- served in the others arose from natural defect, or from the beard beini^ plucked out. The genuine negroes have very little growth of hair on the chin *, or on other parts of the body. In a full-grown lad of seventeen, there was not the smallest appearance of beard, nor of hair on any other part except the head. I never saw any hair on the arms, legs, or breasts of Negroes, like what is observed on those parts in Europeans. Although the South-Sea Islanders come under the dark- coloured division of the human race, they are not at all deficient in beard. The descriptions and figures of Cook concur in assigning to them, in many cases, a copious growth f. That a similar connexion in point of colour to that which I have just explained between the skin and the hair, exists also between the former organ and the eyes, was noticed by Aristotle, who observed that white persons have blue, and dark ones black eyes. Thus, in European countries, newly- born children have generally light eyes and hair, and both grow gradually darker together in individuals of dark com- plexion. Again, in proportion as the hair turns gray In the old subject, the pigmentum of the eye loses much of Its brown colour J. With the colourless skin and hair of the » De Bry states of the Con^o Negroes '' Barbae parum hiibent ; videas eniin trigesimum a»tatisageiites annum, qiiornm genas vix lanugo vcstire ccepit tenerrima." f The portrait of Potatow, an Otaheitean chief has beard enough for a Jewish Rabbi. Voyage towards the S. Pole, v. i/ p. 159, pi. 5G, New Zea- lander, v. ii. p. 152. pi, 55. See also the portrait of Tiarraii a New Zea- land chief, prefixed to Savage's Account of New Zealand. The representa- tions of the Tannese, Mallicollese, and New Caledonians have been already quoted ; note +, p. 272, Man of Mangeea ; folio atlas to the Voyage to the Pacific, p! . II. f Pigmentum nigrum is an incorrect expression as applied to the human eye, in which the matter in question, whether in the choroid membrane or on the uvea, is always brown. It is neither black, nor of a tint that could be mis- taken for it, even in the darkest races ; although it is of a deep black in our common quadrupeds. AND COLOUR OF THE IRIS. 277 Albinos, is combined an entire deficiency * of colouring matter in the eye ; so that tlie iris and choroid have a more or less red hue with a tendency to violet, from the colour of the blood in tlieir numerous capillaries. Different children of the same family not unfrequently have opposite complex- ions, where one of the parents is fair and the other dark : hence we may see brothers and sisters with different co- loured irides. Those animals only, in which the skin and hair are sub- ject to variety of colour, vary in that of the eyes. This is not confined, as the ancients thought, to man and the horse, but extends also to others, particularly of the domesticated kinds. Moreover, the iris sometimes exhibits more than one colour in those animals which have a spotted skin ; as was noticed by Molinelli f in dogs. Something of the same kind may be observed in sheep and horses -, but Blu- MENBACH says that it is most conspicuous in the rabbit ; the gray, or those which retain the native colour of their wild state, have brown irides ; those spotted with black and white have the irides evidently variegated ; and the white, like other leucc-ethlopic animals, have them, as is well known, of a pale rose colour. The three principal colours of the human eye were well laid down by Aristotle, viz. blue, passing in its lighter tints to what we call gray ; an obscure orange, which he calls the colour of the eye in the goat (F\\ yeux de chevre), a kind of middle tint between blue and orange, and some- times remarkably green in men with very red hair and freckled skin ; and lastly, brown in various shades, forming in proportion to its depth what we call hazel, dark, or black eyes. The red eyes of the leuciethiopic constitution may constitute a fourth division. ♦ In his " Observations on the Pigmentum of the Eye,'' Mr. Hunter speaks of the white pigmentum of the Albino, white rabbit, white mouse, ferret, &c. Obs. on the Animal Economy. It seems to me easily demonstrable, that there is no colouring matter in these cases ; and that the light rose colour of the iris, and the deeper violet red of the pupil, depend solely on the blood. + Comment. Instil. Bonnon. t. iii. p. 2S1. 2/8 DIFFERENCES OF FEATURES. These may all occur in different individuals of the same race, or even of the same family : and again, they are some- times confined to the distinct tribes of the same country within the limits of a few degrees. Thus Linn^us* de- scribes in Sweden the Gothlander, with light hair and gray- ish blue eyes -, the Fin, with yellow hair and brown iris ; and the Laplander with black hair and eyes. Blue eyes, as well as yellow hair (caerulei oculi, rutilae comae t)j have characterized the German race from the earliest times ; and the same combination is met with, in scattered instances, in the most remote nations. The iris of the Negro is the blackest we are acquainted with ; so that close inspection is necessary, in living individuals, to dis- tinguish it from the pupil. It is invariably dark in all the coloured tribes of men ; as well as in dark-complexioned individuals of the white variety. * Fauna Suecica^ p. 1. t Tacitus, Germ. 4. ^ Rutilus' is applied to splendid or shining objects, as fire and flame ; and denotes frequently the colour of gold, as in this case. Thus it has here the same meaning as the " auricorai" of Silius, applied to the Batavi, and the epithet " golden-haired," so common among the earlier Ger- man writers. CHAPTER IV. Differences of Features. — Forms of the Skull. — Teeth. — Attempted Explanations. Although it is a common and very just observation, that two individuals are hardly to be met with possessing exactly the same features, and although this variety, according with what we observe throughout all nature *, is a simple and ef- fectual provision for very important ends, yet there is gene- rally a certain cast of countenance common to the particular races of men, and often to the inhabitants of particular coun- tries. The five following varieties are established by Blu- MENBACHf, after a careful comparison of numerous draw- ings and of the various races themselves, in situations where commerce attracts them from all parts of the globe, as at London and Amsterdam. This distribution is only meant to indicate the most leading traits : details and minute par- ticulars are not therefore taken into consideration. 1. An oval and straight face, with the different parts mo- derately distinct from each other ; high and expanded fore- head ; nose narrow, and slightly aquiline, or at least with the bridge somewhat convex : no prominence of the cheek- bones ; small mouth, with lips slightly turned out, particu- larly the lower one ; a full and rounded chin. * " Prasterea genus humanum, mutasque natantes Scsuammigerum pecudes, et laeta armenta, feraeque, Et varia* volucres ; kctantia quae loca aquarum Concelebrant, circum ripas, fonteisque, lacusque ; Et quae pervolgant neuiora avia pcrvolitantes ; Ilorum iinum quodvis generatim sumere perge : Invenies tamen inter se diitare figuris. Nee raiione alia proles cognoscere matreui, Nee mater posstt prolem ; quod posse videmus, Nee minus atque homines inter se nota cluere." LUCRET. 1. ii. i Df Gcn> Human. Var. Nat. Sect. iii. § 56. 280 DIFFERENCES OF FEATURES. This is the kind of countenance which accords most with our ideas of beauty : it may be considered as a middle, de- parting into two extremes, exactly opposed to each other in most respects, yet agreeing in having a low and receding forehead. In one, the face is expanded laterally ; in the other, it is lengthened forwards or downwards. Each of these includes two varieties, which are most readily distin- guished by a profile view ; one, in which the nose and other parts run together ; and the other, in which they are more prominent and separate. 2. Broad and flattened face, with the parts slightly distin- guished, and as it were running together: the space between the eyes flat and very broad, flat nose, rounded projecting cheeks; narrow and linear aperture of the eyelids extending towards the temples (yeux brides, Fr.J, the internal angle of the eye depressed towards the nose, and the superior eyelid continued at that part into the inferior by a rounded sweep ; chin slightly prominent. This is the face of the Mongolian tribes ; commonly called in English the Tartar face, from the confusion of the Tartars (Tatars) with the Mongols. 3. Face broad, but not flat and depressed, with prominent cheek-bones ; and the parts, when viewed in profile, as it were more deeply and distinctly carved out. Short fore-head, eyes deeply seated, nose flattish, but prominent. Such is the countenance of most Americans. 4. Narrow face, projecting towards its lower part; nar- row, slanting, and arched forehead ; eyes prominent (afieur de t^te) ; a thick nose, confused on either side with the projecting cheeks {nez ^patc^J ; the lips, particularly the upper one, very thick ; the jaws prominent, and the chin retracted. This is the countenance of the Negro — the Guinea face. 5. The face not so narrow as the preceding, rather pro- jecting downwards, with the diflercnt parts in a side-view rising more freely and distinctly. The nose rather full and broad, and thicker towards its apex (bottle-nosed). The mouth large. This is the face of the Malays, particularly of the South Sea Islanders. DIFFERENCES OF FEATURES. 281 In his Abbildungen Natur-historischer Gegenstande, p. 1 . Blumenbach has given characteristic representations of these five varieties, engraved from accurate portraits of cele- brated individuals*. In features, as in colour, the different races are connected to each other by the most gentle gradations ; so that, al- though any two extremes, when contrasted, appear strikingly different, they are joined by numerous intermediate and very slightly differing degrees ; and no formation is exhibited so constantly in all the individuals of one race, as not to admit of numerous exceptions. We see, indeed, an astonishing difference, when we place an ugly Negro (for there are such as well as ugly Eu- ropeans) against a specimen of the Grecian ideal model ; but when we trace the intermediate gradations, the striking diversity vanishes. " Of the Negroes of both sexes," says Blumenbach, " whom I have attentively examined, in very considerable number, as well as in the portraits and profiles of others, and in the numerous Negro crania, which I pos- sess, or have seen, there are not two completely resembling each other in their formation : they pass, by insensible gra- dations, into the forms of the other races, and approach to the other varieties even in their most pleasing modifications. A Creole whom I saw at Yverdun, born of parents from * 1. Caucasian Variety. — Jusuf Aguiah Efendiy a Turk, formerly Am- bassador from the Porte at the Court of London. 2. Mongolian Variety. — Feodor Iwanowitsch, a Cahnuck, sent when young by the Empress of Russia to the Hereditary Princess of Baden, educated at Carlsruhe, and afterwards a celebrated Engraver in Rome. 3. American Variety. — Theyandaneega^a. Chief of the Mohawks or Six Nations, whose statement respecting one of the physical characters of his countrymen is quoted from Philosophical Transactions at p. 294. 4. Ethiopian Variety. — J.J. E. Capitein, aNegro, who received Holy Orders in Holland. 5. Malay Variety. — Omai, a native of Ulietea, one of the Friendly Is- lands, brought to England in 1773, and carried back by Cook in his last voyage. (Seeplates accompanying this work.) Vignettes illustrating the same subject are introduced in the Bcytrdge ziir Naturgcschichte; ir. theil. 282 DIFFERENCES OF FEATURES. Congo, and brought from St. Domingo by the Chevalier Treytorrens, had a countenance of which no part, not even the nose, and rather strongly marked lips, were very striking, much less displeasing; the same features with an European complexion, would certainly have been generally agreeable *." The testimony of Le Maire, in his journey to Senegal and Gambia, is to the same effect ; and there are Negresses, except in colour, as handsome as European women. Vaiixant says of the Caffre women, that setting aside the prejudice which operates against their colour, many might be accounted liandsome, even in an European country. The accurate Adanson confirms this statement, in his description of the Senegambians. " The women are equally well made with the men. Their skin is of the finest texture, and extremely soft. The eyes are black and large ; the mouth and lips small 5 and all the features well propor- tioned. Several are perfectly beautiful. They have much vivacity and an easy air, which is very pleasing f. The Jaloffs, according to Mungo Park, have not the pro- tuberant lip nor fiat nose of the African countenance J. We have also the testimony of another traveller concerning this tribe, to the same eftect : according t(; Moore §, they have handsome features, and neither broad noses nor thick lips. PiGAFETTA || statcs, that the Congo Negroes have not the thick lips of the Nubians, and that, except in colour, they are very like the Portuguese. Dam pier, in his account of Natal, describes the natives as having curled hair, but a long face, well proportioned nose, and agreeable countenance. The six Negro crania, -engraved in the two first decades of Blumenbach, exhibit very clearly this diversity of cha- racter in the African race : and prove, most unequivocally, * Beytr'dge zur Naturgeschichtc ; Ir. th. p. 89. + IlistoireNiiturcllc du Senegal, p. 22. I Travels into the Interior Districts of Africa; 8vo, edilioi), p. 23 Tiie Foulahs also have pleasing features, p. 25. ^ ZiMMERMANN, Gcogroph. Gcsckichte, v. i, p. 99. (1 Rclazionc del Rcame cU Congo; Roma, p. 12. DIFFERENCES OF FEATURES. 283 that the variety among individuals is certainly not less, but greater, than the differenee between some of them and many Europeans *. The same observations hold good of the American race. The most accurate observers treat with contempt the hyper- bolical assertion of some, that all the inhabitants of the New World have one and the same countenance, so that he who has seen one may say that he has seen all. " I cannot help smiling," says Molina, " when I read in certain modern authors, and those too accounted diligent observers, that all the Americans have one cast of counte- nance ; and that when you have seen one you know the whole. These writers have been too much influenced by the deceptive appearances of resemblance, consisting chiefly in colour, which immediately disappear when we confront individuals of two nations. The difference between an in- habitant of Chili and a Peruvian is not less than between an Italian and a German. 1 have found the Indians of Para- guay, of the Straits of Magellan, and of other parts, most obviously and strikingly distinguished from each other by peculiar lineaments f." We have further unexceptionable testimony to prove that the same variety of countenance is found in the Americans as in other races ; although it generally follows the model above described. In South America only we have the Caaiguas with flat noses, observed by Nic. del Techo ; the neighbouring Abipons, of whom many individuals have aquiline noses, by Martin Dobrizhoffer ; the Peruvians with narrow and aquiline noses, by Ulloa °, the Chilese with rather a broad nose, by Molina ; and the Islanders of Tierra del Fuego, with a very depressed one, by G. Forster. The truth of this representation is most fully attested by Humboldt, whose accuracy and extensive opportunities entitle his observations to the most implicit deference. In the faithful portrait which an excellent observer, Mr. Vol- ney, has drawn of the Canada Indians, we undoubtedly — r; -^ ■ * Dccas Craniarum, p. 22 ; Decas altera^ p. 13. + Sforia Naturale del Chili, p. 336. English Tiun?lation, 274-5. 284 FORMS OF THE SKULL. recognize the tribes scattered in the meudows of the Rio Apure and the Carony. The same style of feature exists, no doubt, in both Americas ; but those Europeans who have sailed on the great rivers Orinoco and Amazons, and have had occasion to see a great number of tribes assembled under tlie monastical hierarchy in the missions, must have observed, that the American race contains nations whose features differ as essentially from one another, as the nu- merous varieties of the race of Caucacus, the Circassians, Moors, and Persians, differ from one another. The tall form of the Patagonians is again found by us, as it were, among the Caribs, who dwell in the plains from the delta of the Orinoco, to the sources of the Rio Blanco. What a diffe- rence between the figure, physiognomy, and physical consti- tution of these Caribs, who ought to be accounted one of the most robust nations on the face of the earth, and are not to be confounded with the degenerate Zambos, formerly called Caribs, of the island of St. Vincent, and the squat bodies of the Chayma Indians of the province of Cumana ! What a difference of form between the Indians of Tlascala and the Lipans and the Chichlmecs of the northern part of Mexico *. An analagous variety of countenance has been noticed in the Friendly Islanders ; " their features are very various, insomuch that it is scarcely possible to fix on any general likeness by which to characterize them, unless it be a fulness at the point of the nose, which is very common. But, on the other hand, we met with hundreds of truly European faces, and many genuine Roman noses amongst them f. Individuals in Europe often have the countenance exactly resembling the Negro or Mongol face. From our survey of the countenance we proceed, by a natural and easy transition, to a consideration of the bony head. It Is sufliclently obvious that there must be a close connexion between the external soft parts of the face, or the features, and the bony fabric, or mould, on which they * Political Essay, v, 4. p. 142. + Cook's Voyage to the Pacific; i. 38. FORMS OF THE SKULL. 285 are formed and supported ; — that the size and configuration of the latter must determine those of the former*. We venture to affirm, that a blind man, if he knew the vast dif- ference which exists between the face of a Calmuck and that of a Negro, would be able to distinguish their skulls by the mere touch ; nor could you persuade any person, however ignorant of the subject, that either of these belonged to a head similar to those from which the divine examples of the ancient Grecian sculpture were copied. Differences equally striking are found in the cavity of the cranium ; of which the general capacity and particular forms depend entirely on the size and partial developement of the brain. Hence our zoological study of man will be greatly assisted by carefully examining genuine specimens of the skulls of different nations, which are easily prepared and preserved, may be conveniently handled and surveyed, considered in various points of view, and cempared to each other. Such a comparison will shew us that the form of the cranium differs no less than the colour of the skin, or other characters ; and that one kind of structure runs, by gentle and almost inobservable gradations, into another ; yet that there is, on the whole, an undeniable, nay, a very remark- able constancy of character in the crania of different nations, contributing very essentially to national peculiarities of form, and corresponding exactly to the features which cha- racterize such nations. Hence anatomists have attempted to lay down some scale of dimensions, to which the various forms of the skull might be referred, and by means of which they might be reduced into certain classes. With the exception of a few desultory observations, which are scattered through the works of different writers, Daubenton's Paper, " Sur la Difference du grand Trou * 1 do not speak of the original formation, nor mean to assert that the particular forms of the soft parts depend on tliose of the bones, as their cause- for numerous phenomena rather tend to prove the reverse of that position, or that the soft parts influence the configuration of the bones. I only wish to point out the relation between them, and to state, that either being known, it will be easy to determine the other. •286 FORMS OF THE SKULL. Occipital dans V Homme et daiis les autres Animanx," in the Memoirs of the Roycd Academy of Sciences for 1764, contains the first attempt at any general remarks on the subject ; and this, indeed, is more important in pointing out the differences between the human structure and that of animals, than in defining the characters of the skull in the different races of mankind. Camper has attempted a more general view, by means of his facial line and angle already described (see Chap. IV.). But what he has said cannot be considered even as approximating to a systematic account of the national varieties of the skull. It is suffi- ciently obvious, that his method is applicable to such varieties only as differ from each other in the size and pro- minence of the jaws; that it will not at all exhibit the characters of tliose which vary in the opposite way, viz. in the greater or less breadth of the face, while the upper, posterior, and lateral aspects of the cranium are entirely disregarded. It often happens, that crania of the most different nations, which differ toto ccslo from each other on the whole, have the same facial line ; and, on the contrary, that skulls of the same nation, which agree in general cha- racter, differ very much in the direction of this line *. Camper could not, indeed, have fully explained this sub- ject, because he had no sufficient collection of crania for the purpose. His dissertation contains an engraving of a skull, which he calls that of a Calmuck, and adduces as a repre- sentative of all the natives of Asia. The characters of this skull are completely Negro, and the very reverse of those ♦ The crania of a Negro and of a Pole, represented in the Decades of Bi.u- MENBACH {Dec. altera^ tab. x. Dec. tcrtia tab. xxW.) possess exactly the same facial line ; yet the general character of the two skulls rs most opposite when we compare the narrow and kccl-ehaped Ethiopian to the broad square form of the Lltluianian. There are, in the same work, two Negro crania of very different facial lines, which, when viewed in front, betray their Ethiopic origin most incontcstaI)ly, by the same characters of a narrow and compressed cranium and arched forehead. In short, this criterion of the facial line, which I have already shewn to be quite insufticicnt as a key to the intellectual rank of animals, is equally, if not more unserviceable, in its application to the varieties of man. y !V^' ,e^\ W ..•v^'"^>^ c-^4li T' '■'fnu/tY.t i FORM«^> OF THE SKULL. 287 which distinguish the Calmuck. Besides this, he hrings forward one Negro skull : and tliese two are all that it contains, except European heads. We are indebted to Blumenbach for the completcst body of information on this subject, which he has been enabled to illustrate most successfully by an unrivalled col- lection of the crania of different nations from all parts of the globe. His admirable work on the varieties of the human species, contains a short sketch of the various formations of the skull in diiferent nations ; but he has treated the subject at greater length and with more minute detail in his Decades Cranlorum, where the crania themselves are represented of their natural size. He states that, in the examination and classification of his Immense collection, he finds it every day more and more difficult, amidst such numerous differences in the propor- tion and direction of various parts, all of which contribute more or less to the national character, to reduce these to the measurements or angles of any single scale. Since however, in distinguishing the characters of the different crania, such a view will gain the preference to all others, as it ofl'ers at one glance the most numerous and important points, and such as contribute especially to the comparison of national characteristics, he has found, by experience, that to be the best adapted to this purpose, which is ob- tained by placing the different crania, with tlie zygomas perpendicular, on a table in a row, and contemplating them from behind. When skulls are thus arranged, those cir- cumstances which contribute most to the formation of the national character, viz. the direction of the jaws and cheek- bones, the breadth or narrowness of the head, the advancing or receding outline of the forehead, are all distinctly per- ceived at one view. This method of considering the bony head he calls norma verticalls. The great expanse of the upper and exterior part of the cranium, hiding the face, characterizes the Georgian. In the Ethiopian, the narrow slanting forehead allows the face to come into view ; the M O a; G O L I A N V A K 1 III! i m ? <^ \^ FORMS OF THE SKULL. 287 which distinguish the Calmuck. Besides this, he hrings forward one Negro skull : and these two are all that it contains, except European heads. We are indebted to Blumenbach for the completest body of information on this subject, which he has been enabled to illustrate most successfully by an unrivalled col- lection of the crania of different nations from all parts of the globe. His admirable work on the varieties of the human species, contains a short sketch of the various formations of the skull in different nations ; but he has treated the subject at greater length and with more minute detail in his Decades Cranlorum, where the crania themselves are represented of their natural size. He states that, in the examination and classification of his immense collection, he finds it every day more and more difficult, amidst such numerous differences in the propor- tion and direction of various parts, all of which contribute more or less to the national character, to reduce these to the measurements or angles of any single scale. Since however, in distinguishing the characters of the different crania, such a view will gain the preference to all others, as it offers at one glance the most numerous and important points, and such as contribute especially to the comparison of national characteristics, he has found, by experience, that to be the best adapted to this purpose, which is ob- tained by placing the different crania, with the zygomas perpendicular, on a table in a row, and contemplating them from behind. When skulls are thus arranged, those cir- cumstances which contribute most to the formation of the national character, viz. the direction of the jaws and cheek- bones, the breadth or narrowness of the head, the advancing or receding outline of the forehead, are all distinctly per- ceived at one view. This method of considering the bony head he calls norma verticalls. The great expanse of the upper and exterior part of the cranium, hiding the face, characterizes the Georgian. In the Ethiopian, the narrow slanting forehead allows the face to come into view • the 288 FORMS OF THE SKULL. checks and jaws are compressed laterally, and elongated in front. In the Tungoose, on the contrary, the maxillary, malar, and nasal bones are widely expanded on either side ; and the two latter are on the same horizontal level with the glabella =^; the forehead being still low and slanting. In the first, or white variety of man, to which Blumen- BACH has given the epithet Caucasian, — including the an- cient and modern inhabitants of Europe, the western Asia- tics, or those on this side of the Caspian Sea, the rivers Ob and Ganges, and the northern Africans ; in a word, nearly all the inhabitants of the world as known to the ancients — the skull presents the finest intellectual organization ; pro- portions indicating the greatest predominance of the rational faculties over the instruments of sense and of the common animal wants. The upper and front parts of the skull are more developed than in any other variety ; and their ample swell completely hides the face when we survey the head according to the norma verticalis. The facial line must, therefore, be nearly vertical ; and the facial angle nearly a right angle. The face is comparatively small, and its out- lines rounded, without any thing harsh or unpleasantly pro- minent. The cheek-bones are small, and do not stand out, but descend in a nearly straight line from the external an- gular process of the frontal bone. The alveolar margin of the jaws is rounded ; and the front teeth are perpen- dicular in both. The chin is full and prominent. Since this conformation is exhibited in the various nations of Europe, its leading traits must be familiar. As a speci- men, I refer to the skull of a Georgian f woman in the third decade of Blumenbach's work, because it comes from a quarter near the supposed original seat of our race, and from a tribe celebrated for personal beauty. From the elegance and symmetry of its formation, it may be regarded * The space between the frontal sinuses. + Decas Tertia; No. x\i. The representations in the Tabulee Scehti et Musculorum Hominis^ and in the Tab. Ossiuni Ilumanorum of ALnnvus, also exemplify the characters of this variety. r / "^,v CAUCASIAN VARIETY. 289 as the model of a female head ; and is certainly fey- prefer- able in this point of view, to that of *' The bending statue which enchants the world." Gall and Spurzheim judiciously observed, tliat the head of the Venus was too small for an intellectual being; and that the goddess of love was thus represented as an ideot. In this Georgian head, the physical and moral attributes are well combined ; the personal charms, which enchant the senses, are joined to those rational endowments which com- mand esteem and respect, and satisfy the judgment. The form of this head is of such distinguished elegance that it attracts the attention of all who visit the collection in which it is contained. The vertical and frontal regions form a large and smooth convexity, which is a little flattened at the temples : the forehead is high and broad, and carried forwards perpendicularly over the face. The cheek-bones are small, descending from the outer side of the orbit, and gently turned back. The superciliary ridges run together at the root of the nose, and are smoothly continued into the bridge of that organ, which forms an elegant and finely- turned arch. The alveolar processes are softly rounded, and the chin is full and prominent. In the whole structure there is nothing rough or harsh ; nothing disagreeably pro- jecting. Hence it occupies a middle place between the two opposite extremes of the Mongolian variety, in which the face is flattened, and expanded laterally ; and the Ethiopian, in which the forehead is contracted, and the jaws also are narrow and elongated anteriorly. Blumenbach observes, that the form of this head cor- responds exactly to that of the marble statue of a nymph in the collection of the late Mr. Townley, of which he posses- ses a plaster cast. It tends also to confirm the testimony of the numerous travellers who have unanimously concurred in extolling the beauty of the inhabitants of Georgia and the neighbouring countries. The expressions of Chardin are so warm and animated, that I subjoin the original passage. " Le sang de Georgie est le plus beau de Torient, et je puis ij 290 FORMS OF THE SKULL. dire dii monde. Jc n'ai pas remarquc un visage laid en ce pais-la, parrni Tun et I'autre sexe ; maisj'yen ai vu d'an- geliques. La nature y a repandu sur laplupart des femmes des graces qu'on ne voit point alUeurs. Je tiens pour im- possible de les regarder sans les aimer. L'on ne peut pein- dre de plus cbarmans visages, ni de plus belles tailles, que celles des Georgiennes *." The characters above described belong to the. following people, whether ancient or modern, viz. the Syrians and Assyrians, Chaldeans, Medes, Persians^f, Jews J, Egyptians, Georgians, Circassians, Mingrelians, Armenians §, Turks ||, Arabs, Afghans, Hindoos of high cast, Gipsies %, Ta- tars**, Moors and Berbers in Africa, Guanches in the Ca- nary Islands, Greeks, Romans ff, and all the Europeans except the Laplanders. The enumeration includes all the human races in which the intellectual endowments of man have shone forth in the greatest native vigour, have received the highest cultivation, and have produced the richest and most abundant fruits in philosophy, science and art, in re- ligion and morals, in poetry, eloquence, and the fine arts, in civilization and government — in all that can dignify and en- noble the species. We cannot, therefore, wonder that they should in all cases have not merely vanquished, but held in permanent subjection, all the other races. Much uncertainty has prevailed respecting the physical characters of the ancient Egyptians ; and some have main- tained the opinion that they were Negroes JJ;. The ques- tion is certainly interesting, particularly if it should appear * Voyages en Perse; t. i. p. 171. Edition of 1735. f Blumenbach, Dec. xxxiv. + Ibid. 11, xxviii. & xxxv. ^ Ibid. xli. (I Ibid. ii. 5 A genuine Transilvanian Gipsey ; ibid. xi. ** Ibid. xii. Sandifort, Museum Acad. Lugduno-Bat. v. i. tab. ii. if Roman Praetorian soldier; ibid, xxxii. ±^ VoLNEY seems to assimie it as a settled point, that the anci?nt Egyp- tians were Negroes. " How are we astonished when v/c behold the present barbarism and ignorance of the Copts, descended from the profound genius of CAUCASIAN VARIETY. 291 that this opinion is well grounded. That a race ever de- voted, within the period embraced by authentic history, to slavery, or to an independent existence not much better, and possessing, under the most favourable circumstances, only the rudiments of the common arts, and the most imper- fect social institutions, should have accomplished, in the re- motest antiquity, undertakings which astonish us even now by their grandeur, and prove so great a progress in civiliza- tion and social life, in arts and sciences — that they should have subsequently lost all traces of this surprising progress, and never have exhibited the smallest approximation to such a pre-eminence in any other instance — would be a fact ex- tremely difficult to explain. the Egyptians, and the brilliant imagination of the Greeks ; when we reflect, that to the race of Negroes, at present our slaves, and the objects of our ex- treme contempt, we owe our arts, sciences, and the very use of speech ; and when we recollect, that in the midst of those nations who call themselves the friends of liberty and humanity, the most barbarous of slaveries is justified ; and that it is even a problem, whether the understanding of Negroes be of the same species with that of white men !" Travels in Syria and Egypt; chap. vi. The researches of Meiners into the anciept authorities lead to the conclu- sion that there was a great conformity, both in bodily formation and in cus- toms and political institutions, between the Egyptians and Indians (Hindoos); and a less marked affinity between the former and the Ethiopians. But it is not clear what race of men was meant by that term : for the ancient liisto- rians speak of Negro Ethiopians, of another African Ethiopian race with long hair, and of Asiatic Ethiopians. De veterum Egyptoriim Origine ; in Com- mentation. Reg. Soc. Scicnf. Goetting. v. x. Dr. PpacH\RD has brought together, wiJh great learning and industry, ail the ancient testimonies that can illustrate this question ; and has examined and collated them so carefully, that nothing further can be expected from this quarter. The results are thus summed up : "We may consider the general result of the facts which we can collect concerning the physical characters of the Egyptians to be this ; that the national configuration prevailing in the most ancient times was nearly the Negro form, with woolly hair ; but that in a later age this character had become considerably modified and changed, and that a part of the population of Egypt resembled the modern Hindoos. The ge- neral complexion was black, or at least a very dusky hue." JResearches into the Physical History of 31 an, p. 3S8. In the seventh and eighth chapters of this work the most extensive and learned researches are employed to prove the affinity between the ancient Egyptians and Indians ; and to shew that both were marked by the characters of the Negro race. u2 2.92 FORMS OF THE SKULL. Egypt was venerated, even by antiquity, as the birth-place of the arts ; and still retains innumerable monuments of their former splendour, after so many ages of desolation. Her principal temples, and the palaces of her kings, still exist, although the least ancient of them were constructed be- fore the war of Troy. With our present experience of the capacity of Negroes, and our knowledge of the state in which the whole race has remained for twenty centuries, can we deem it possible that they should have achieved such prodi- gies ? that Homer, Lycurgus, Solon, Pythagoras, and Plato, should have resorted to Egypt to study the sciences, religion, and laws, discovered and framed by men with black skin, woolly hair, and slanting forehead ? The situation of Egypt favours the notion of a mixed po- pulation, which may have flowed in at various times from different quarters of Africa, Asia, and Europe. The Caucasian races of Arabia, Syria, and the surround- ing parts, must have found their way into this fertile and flou- rishing country: the Red Sea offers an easy medium of com- munication both with Arabia and India ; while the freest access exists on the south and west to the Negroes and Berbers of Africa. Hence specimens of various races may be naturally expected to occur among the mummies ; and may have afforded models to the painter and sculptor. If, however, among the myriads of embalmed bodies, of the sculptured figures which covers the walls of temples and pa- laces, and of other works of art, we should meet with one or two of Negro formation, are we thence to conclude that the original Egyptians were Negroes ? or that men of the latter race possessed those distinguished powers of knowledge and reflection, which the early history of this wonderful country compels us to assign to its ruling race ? Ought we not rather to draw our conclusions from th.e most prevalent forms, those vvhich are most numerous and abundant in the oldest specimens ? If among a profusion of mummies and figures, bearing the stamp of the Caucasian model, a few should occur with a little dash of the negro character, may we not suppose the individuals who furnished the pattern of the CAUCASIAN VARIETY. 293 latter to have been in Egypt, as they have been everywhere, slaves * to the race of nobler formation ? To give the few Negroes the glory of all the discoveries and achievements of this first civilized race, and overlook the more numerous, individuals of different character, would be in opposition to the invariable tenour of our experience respecting human nature. Tn the course of his inquiries into the natural history of man, this subject attracted the attention of Blumenbach, who has been fortunate enough to procure the opportunity of examining several mummies. He gave an account of some of these in the Philosophical Transactions for 1794. Having afterwards met with another very perfect specimen, he published a more enlarged and detailed essay on the whole subject in his Contributions to Natural History, part ii. Goett. 12mo. 1811. He expresses his surprise that professed and judicious antiquaries, such as Winkelmann and D'Hankerville, should have ascribed one common character of national phy- siognomy to the ancient Egyptian works of art, and should have dispatched it, shortly and decisively, in two lines. " I think," he continues, "that we cannot fail to recog- nize at least three principal differences, which, indeed, like all varieties of formation in our species, run together by numerous gradations, yet are marked, in their strongest forms, by very distinct characters. They are the Ethiopian, the Indian, and one resembling the Berbers, or original in- habitants of the Barbary states. " The first is marked by prominent jaws, thick lips, a broad flattened nose, and projecting eyes. Such, according to Ledyard, Volney, Larrey, and other competent au- thorities, are the characters of the modern Copts f; such * Slavery is coeval with our earliest records. See Genesis; 25, ix. 26- xii. 5. + Tlie Copts, who are regarded as the descendants of the ancient Egyptians, have "a yellowish dusky complexion, which is neither Grecian nor Arabian ; they have all a puflFed visage, swoln eyes, flat noses, and thick lips ; in short, the exact countenance of a Mulatto." Volney, Travels in Syria and Egypt, I do not, however, find the Negro character expressed in (he delineation 294 FORMS OF THE SKULL. too, according to the best descriptions and delineations in NoRDEN, VoLNEY, Denon, and others, is the countenance of the great sphinx at Gizeh, and of many other ancient works of Egyptian art. The Egyptians themselves, accord- ing to the well-known passage of Herodotus *, had these characters : and Lucian f gives a similar description of a young Egyptian at Rome J. " Ethiopian form must be here understood in that wide acceptation which we give to the expression ' Ethiopian race,"* in tlie arrangement of the human species ; and not in the more marked but narrower sense of what the English call the true Guinea face. Indeed, the physiological cha- racters of the Negro, taken in a general sense, are as loosely defined as his geographical description: for, among Negroes, there are several who, in smoothness of the hair and general beauty of form, excel many Europeans. " A complete contrast to this Ethiopian form is presented in the Hindoo-like character of other old remains, which consists of a long slender nose, long and narrow aperture of the eye-lids running upwards to the temple, ears placed high on the head, short and slender trunk, and long legs. The female figure on the back of Capt. Lethieullier's mummy in the British Museum is a characteristic repre- sentation of this form, and accords entirely with the well- known national make of the Hindoos. of Copts by Denon, Voyage dans la Haute et Basse Egypte; pi. 105. No. ii., pi. 108. No. ii. and iii. ; nor in those of the great Description de VEgypte ; see Etat Moderne^ vol. ii. Costumes and Portraits. Neither have I siic- ceeded in discovering representations of Negroes among the almost number- less sculptures of the ancient buildings represented in both these works. The human figures are marked by traits of a form altogether different. ♦ He argues that the Colchlans must have been a colony of Egyptians, be- cause they were uiT^oiy^oBq v.aX o^XoTpi^e? — black-skinned and woolly-haired. Lib. ii. + Navigium, S. Vota ; c. ii. % Blumenbach refers in a note to two figures with marked Negro form ; one is engraved as a vignette to the preface of his Contributions, part ii ; and the other is described by P. a S. BARTH0L0ivi2B0,in his Mumiographia Obici- nna, p. 51. CAUCASIAN VARIETY. '295 " A very conipeteiit judge, the learned P. a S. Bartho- i.oMMo, after carefully comparing together the various Egyptian works of art in the rich Italian collections, not only fully admits the justice of my three-fold division, but particularly confirms the strong contrast between tlie Ethio- pian formation and that Hindoo character so v/ell known to him from his long residence in Hindostan *. " In accordance with this distinction, long smooth hair 1ms been found in some mummies, and short curled hairf in others. " The third and commonest kind of form resembles neither of the foregoing, and is characterized by a peculiar bloated habit, swoln and rather loose cheeks, short chin, large projecting eyes, and fleshy body. (See the vignette at the end of the Preface.) I call this the Berber character, because the great analogies which constitute the surest basis for conclusions respecting the descent and affinities of people, viz. those of form, language, and agreement in cus- toms of marked peculiarity, are all here united J." I proceed to an osteological examination of the mummy heads ; which, if performed with accuracy and discrimina- tion, will supply us v/ith sure data, as far as they go. We shall find that the bodies thus preserved have the charac- ters of the Caucasian variety ; and we shall hardly discover, among a great multitude of examples, a single unequivocal instance of Negro formation. In his Decades Craniorum, No. I. and XXXI., Blu men- bach has represented two Egyptian skulls. The first bears no marks of Ethiopian origin, nor does the author assign to it any such characters. " In universum hujus cranii habitus eundum characterem prae se ferre videtur, quern et ingentia iEgyptiacje artis veteris opera spirant, non quidem elegantem et pulchellum, ast magnum.'' p. 13. * ^ Stat ergo ea Veritas, prsEter iEthiopicum vultum in Egypto, ej usque mumiis et monumentis, adrnittendum esse characterem quendam Indicuui, qui Egyptiis non minus gentilitius et nativus est qu im /Ethiopicus." + For this fact Gryphius is quoted. i Page 130—137. 296 FORMS OF THE SKULL. The European or Caucasian character of the second is quite obvious ; yet, in the description, there appears a desire of fixing on it some mark of Negro descent. " Quod vero universum vultum attinet, differt quidem ille satis lu- culenter a genuino isto Nigritarum, qui Anglis vulgo facies Guineensis audit; Mthiopici tamen aliquid spirat, ita ut propius absit ab Habessinico, qualem curata icon exhi- bet, proxime autem ab eo, quern tot antiquissima iEgyp- tiacie artis monumenta pr^e se ferunt/' The Abyssinians, to whom a comparison is here made, are of Arab descent, and have all the characters of tlie Caucasian variety. SoEMMERRiNG dcscribcs the heads of four mummies which he has seen : two of them differed in no respect from the European formation ; the third had the African character of a large space marked out for the temporal muscle : no other proof of Negro descent is mentioned : and what is stated concerning the face rather contradicts the supposition : the characters of the fourth are not par- ticularized. " Caput mumiae, quod Cassellis, in museo servatur, nil fere ab Europseo differt*. " Caput etiam mumiie in theatro anatomico Marpurgensi servatum, cujus exacta delineatio ad manus est, nil a capite Europffio deflectit. " Pulcherrima et optime servata, forsan virilis mumiae calvaria optimse aetatis, qua me Mieg, Professor Basileensis benevole donavit, quseque olim in collectione F. Plateri fuit, distincte formam Africanam, alte progredlente vestigio insitionis musculi temporalis, rcpraesentat ; vertex non est compressus, neqiie ossa faciei robustiora sunt ossibus Euro- pcEorum. Densum ordinem integri pulchri dentes sistunt, non nisi inferiores incisores et canini oblique priora et infe- riora versus attenuati sunt, plurimum vero medium inciso- rum par, brevioribus ea de causa coronis instructum. " Calvaria mumiae hominis senis confecti, ab eodem Mieg mihi data, ^gyptiacam ossium faciei formam minus * Bruckmann's Nachricht von eincr Mumie ; Brunswick, 1782. 4to. CAUCASIAN VARIETY. 297 accurate repraesentat, verum denies incisores exteriores in- feriores, et denies canini modo quern supra indicavi, se ha- bent; distant nimirum Inter se, et in planum sunt atte- nuati *." Denon states, of the female mummies, " que leurs che- veux etoient longs et lisses ; que le caractere de la tete de la plupart tenoit du beau style. Je rapportois mie t^te de vicille femme, qui ^toit aussi belle que celles Sibylles de Michel Ange f." The embalmed heads from the catacombs of Thebes (Quournah), engraved in the great French work, are of the finest European form, to which their abundant, long, and slightly-flowing hair fully corresponds. There is a male head, with the broad and fully developed forehead, small perpendicular face, and all the contours of our best models J." " L'angle facial se rapproche beaucoup d'un angle droit ; et les dents incisives sont plant^es verticalement, et non in- clin^es ni avancees, comme elles le seroient dans une t6te de Negre.*' The nose is finely arched ; the jaws perpendi- cular ; the mouth and chin well formed. The front and profile views of a female head § are of the same character ; the face completely European, the hair copious, and disposed in small masses or locks, a little turned. The same remarks are applicable to another head ||, of which a section is also exhibited. The skulls of four mummies in the possession of Dr. Leach of the British Museum, and casts of three others, agree with those just mentioned in exhibiting a formation not differing from the European, without any trait of Negro character. Lastly, so far as osteologlcal proofs go, the question may be considered as completely decided by the strong evidence of CuviER. * De Corporis Humani Fabrica; t. i. p. 70, 71. + Voyage, p. 252. X Description de I'Egypte ; Antiquities , t. ii. pi. 49. ^ Ibid. pi. 50. II Ibid. pi. 51. 298 FORMS OF THE SKULL. " It is now clearly proved — yet it is necessary to repeat the truth, because the contrary error is still found in the newest works — that neither the Gallas (who border on Abyssinia), nor the Bosjesmen, nor any race of Negroes, produced that celebrated people who gave birth to the civi- lization of ancient Egypt, and from whom we may say that the whole world has inherited the principles of its laws, sciences, and perhaps also religion. " Bruce even imagines that the ancient Egyptians were Cushites, or woolly-haired Negroes : he supposes them to have been allied to the Shangallas of Abyssinia. " Now that we distinguish the several human races by the bones of the head, and that we possess so many of the ancient Egyptian embalmed bodies, it is easy to prove that, whatever may have been the hue of their skin, they be- longed to the same race with ourselves ; that their cranium and brain were equally voluminous ; in a word, that they formed no exception to tliat cruel law, which seems to have doomed to eternal inferiority all the tribes of our species which are unfortunate enough to have a depressed and com- pressed cranium. " I present the head of a mummy, that the Academy may compare it to those of Europeans, Negroes, and Hot- tentots. It is detached from an entire skeleton, which I did not bring on account of its brittleness ; but its comparison has furnished the same results. I h^ve examined, in Paris^ and in the various collections of Europe, more tlian fifty heads of mummies, not one amongst them presented the characters of the Negro or Hottentot*.** By examination of the bony head, we learn that the Guanches also, or the race which occupied the Canary Islands at the time of their first discovery by the Euro- peans in the fourteenth century, belonged to the Caucasian variety. The name Guanches signifies men, or sons, in * Extrutl (V Observaliflm faUcs sur le Cadcivrc (Vnne Femme connu a Paris el a Londrts sotis le nom de Venus Hottenlotte. Memoircs du Museum d'Hist. Nat. t. iii. p. 173, 174. CAUCASIAN VARIETY. 299 their language. The Spaniards, who conquered tliem, repre- sent them as a people of strength and courage, of powerful bodies and intelligent minds, advanced in social institutions, and of pure morals. They made the bravest resistance to their European invaders, who did not completely subject them until after a hundred and fifty years of repeated con- tests. They had a tradition of their descent from an an- cient, great, and powerful people. We now know them, as we do the Egyptians, only by their mummies *, the race being completely extinct. The entire head, engraved in Blumenbach's fifth decade t> offers no essential difference from the European form. The testimony of Cuvier is to the same effect. " I present to the Academy the head of a Guanche ; a speci- men of that race which inhabited the Canaries before they were conquered by the Spaniards. Some authors, believ- ing the tales of Timaeus concerning the Atlantis, have re- garded the Guanches as the wreck of the supposed Atlan- tic people. Their practice of preserving dead bodies in the mummy form might rather lead us to suspect some affinity to the ancient Egyptians J. However that may be, * The body of Avhich Blumenbach's engraving exhibits a head, appears to him to be that of a female. "When brought from its su'oterranean abode on the island of TenerifFe to London, it was entirely and curiously sewed up in goat skins, according to the usual practice of this ancient aboriginal race. (See ViERA Noticias de las Islas de Canaria ; Glass's History of the Ca- nary Islands; GoLBERY, Voyage en Jfrique; i. p. 88 — 95.) It was sur- prisingly dry, and perfectly inodorous, although the muscles and skin, the contents of the head, thorax, and abdomen, in short, all the soft parts, had been preserved. So powerful had the process of exsiccation been, that the entire body weighed only seven pounds and a half; although a female skele" ton of the same stature, in its ordinary state of dryness, would weigh at least nine pounds," Dec. .5. p. 7. + No. xlii. + Although the Gaunches were separated from the Egyptians by the entire breadth of northern Africa, they not only resembled them in the singular practice of preserving the dead, which was entrusted in both cases to the priests, and in some of the ornaments bestowed on the mummies, but also in language. From a vocabulary of the Tuariks, near Egypt, collected by 300 FORMS OF THE SKULL. their head, like that of the Egyptian mummies, demonstrates their Caucasian origin*." The latter point is fully confirmed by two Guanche skulls in the possession of Dr. Leach. The form of the cranium has not yet been sufficiently studied and observed to enable us to say that the several very different nations included under the Caucasian variety are or are not characterized by particular modifications of this cavity. There are, however, some peculiarities so striking, that they immediately attract notice. The completely globular form of the skull in the Turk is one of these ; It is exemplified in an engraving of Blumenbach's first decade f, rorresponding exactly to a skull which 1 have seen. The cranium (properly so called) is perfectly globular; the occiput can be hardly said to exist, as the foramen magnum is placed very near the posterior part of the basis cranii ; the forehead is broad, and the glabella prominent. The posterior part of the head is very high and broad. The proportions of the face are symmetrical and elegant. The alveolar part of the upper jaw-bone is singularly short; not measuring more than the breadth of the little finger under the nose. The basis of the lower jaw is remarkable for its shortness; the facial line nearly vertical, so that the preponderance of the parts placed in front of the occlpito-atloidal articulation is reduced as much as possible. Two other Turkish skulls in Blumenbach's possession have exactly the same shape ; which is very general in living Turks, and is always visible in good portraits of them. This peculiarity of form has been observed by several authors : it is indeed so striking, that it could hardly have escaped HoRNEMANN, Mr. Marsden traced an affinity between them and the Ber- bers or Numidians, with whose language it is well known that the small re' mains of the Guanche tongue agree. Blumenbach, loc. cit. p. 8. Ade- LUNG, Mithridutes ; vol, iii. part 1. page 59, 60. * CiJViEK, loc. cit. SoEMMERRiNG mentions that the head of a Guanche mummy at Cassel has the Negro characters; but enters into no further detail. De Corp. Ihimani Fabric, t. i. p. 71. t No. ii. CAUCASIAN VARIETY. 301 observation. " It appears," says Vesalius, " that most nations have something peculiar in the form of the head. The crania of tlie Genoese, and, still more remarkably, those of the Greeks and Turks, are completely globular in their form. This shape, Vv^hich they esteem elegant, and well adapted to their practice of enveloping the head in the folds of their turbans, is often produced by the midwives at the solicitation of the mothers *." A corresponding statement to this account is given by Baron Asch, in a letter to Blumenbach. He says that the midwives at Constantinople commonly inquire of the mother, after parturition, what form she would like to have given to the head of the child ; and that they generally prefer that which results from a tight circular bandage, as they think that their turbans sit better when the head has that round shape f. That the old women should have told such a story, and that the Baron should have believed them, is not surprising ; but it seems to me very extraordinary that a physiologist, and one well acquainted with nature, should have given credit to this old wife's tale. A single glance at his own engraving of this beautiful head, at the symmetrical and elegant formation of the whole fabric, the nice correspon- dence and adjustment of all parts, the perfect harmony between the cranium and face, and in all the details of each, demonstrate most unequivocally that it is a natural forma- tion, and a very fine work of nature too. There is not the minutest vestige of artificial impression : and I can have no hesitation in asserting the impossibility of inducins: by bandage, pressure, or artifice of any kind, such a form on a head of a different original configuration. In the passage" already quoted, Vesalius goes on to ob- serve, " that the Germans had generally a flattened occiput and broad head, because the children are always laid on their backs in the cradles ; and that the Belgians have a more * De Corporis Humani Fabricn ; p. 23. cd.of 1555. + Bi.iTMENB-vcH, Dec. i. p. in. 302 FORMS OF THE SKULL. oblong form, because the children are allowed to sleep on their sides." These practices account just as well for the German and Belgian forms, as the manoeuvres of the Con- stantinople midwives do for the spherical skulls of the Turks. 1 have, however, seen German heads of a globular form ; remarkably high and broad behind ; resembling the Turkish cranium in this respect, and in the approximation of the great occipital foramen to the posterior part of the basis cranii. SoEMMKRRiNG says that he finds no well-marked diffe- rences between the German, Swiss, French ^', Swedish f? and Russian X skulls in his collection ; except that the orbits arc contracted in the Russian, their margins quadrangular, and the teeth small. In the skull of a Pole, figured by Blumenbach §, the smallness of the orbits is a remarkable feature. That no striking difference has been discovered on com- paring together one or two casual specimens of each of the nations above mentioned, does not authorize us to conclude that no differences exist. On the contrary, if the brain be the seat of our intellectual and moral functions, which no- body at present seems to doubt ; and if tlie several propen- sities, sentiments, and intellectual powers are the functions of certain parts of this organ, which is at least a probable doctrine; we shall be much surprised to find tliat no dis- tinctions are observable in the shape of the cranium between English, French, Germans, Italians, &c. The only mode of ascertaining the point satisfactorily would be to collect a considerable number of heads of each nation, or of accurate casts or portraits ; and to select, for this purpose, indivi- duals of genuine descent, whose organization has not been modified by foreign intermixture. My friend Mr. George Lewis, whose quickness in distinguishing forms, and * Sandifort Muaeum Jrnd. Lugd. Bat. v. i. tab. G. + Ibid. tab. 4. X Ibid. t. 9. C Decad. iii. No. 22. MONGOLIAN VARIETY. 303 readiness and accuracy in pourtraying them to the very life, are well known, observed, in a tour through France and Germany, that the lower and anterior part of the cranium is larger in the French, tlie upper and anterior in the Ger- mans ; and that the upper and posterior region is larger in the former than in the latter. He was also struck with the very fine forms of tlie skull in Italians, which coincides com- pletely with what I have seen of them in this country. Our decision then, on this very interesting subject, must be post- poned at present, and await the result of more numerous and accurate comparisons. Into minuter differences, such as the high cheek-bones of the Scotch, the aquiline noses of the Jews and Arme- nians, &c. 1 do not propose to enter. In the four following varieties of the human race we observe, on comparing them to the Caucasian, a much less perfect developement of the upper and interior parts of the cranium, and very often a greater size of the face. This and similar observations are to be taken in a general sense ; individual modifications are numerous in all the varieties, so that both the Caucasian and the dark-coloured divi- sions furnish examples of individuals, which exhibit, in each case respectively, the characters of the other ; yet in many of the dark races, a low, narrow, and retreating fore- head is a very striking and general character. The second, or Mongolian variety, includes those Asiatics who do not come under the first division, and the inhabi- tants of the northern parts of x\merlca and Europe. The forehead is low and slanting, and the head altogether of a square form. The cheek-bones stand out widely on either side. The glabella and ossa nasi, which are flat and very small, are placed nearly on the same plane with the malar bones. There are scarcely any superciliary ridges. The entrance of the nose is narrow ; the malar fossa forms but a slight excavation. The alveolar edge of the jaws is ob- tusely arched in front ; the chin rather prominent. This formation is most strikingly exhibited in the Mongolian tribes, which are widely scattered over the continent of 304 FORMS OF THE SKULL. Asia, and which have generally, but erroneously, been In- cluded, with others of different origin and formation, under the name of Tartars (Tatars) ; whereas the last-mentioned tribes, properly so called, belong to the first division of the human race. The Calmucks and other Mongolian nations which overran the Saracen empire under Zenghis Khan, in the thirteenth century, and had entered Europe, are de- scribed in the Historia Major of Matthew Paris, under the name of Tartars; whereas that appellation, or rather Tatars, properly belongs to the western Asiatics, who had been vanquished by the Mongols. The error, however, arising from this source, has been propagated down to the present day ; so that in the works of the most approved naturalists, as Buffon and Erxleben, wefindthe charac- * London, 1686, foL p. 530. The description is contained in a letter sent by an ecclesiastic from Vienna, in 1243, to his archbishop in France, and speaks " de horribili vastatione inhumanae gentis, quam Tartaros vocant." These barbarous hordes had at that time entered Hungary, and penetrated even to Vienna. His description of their corporeal characters corresponds to the portrait which, from Buffon downwards, so many naturalists have drawn of the Mongolian tribes, under the name of Tartars : — *' Habent autem Tartari pectora dura et robusta, facies macras et palli- das, scapulas rigidas et erectas, nasos distortos et breves, menfa proeminentia, et acuta, supcriorem mandibulam humilem et profundum, dentes longos et raros, palpebras a crinibus usque ad nasum protensas, oculos inconstantes et nigros, aspectas obliquos et torvos, extremitates ossosas et nervosas, crura quoqjie grossa, sed tibias breviores, statura tamen noibis aquales; quod enim in tibiis deficit, in superiori corpore compensatur." Blumenbacii, from whose Second Decade, p. 7, I have borrowed this quotation, observes, '< that the writer obviously speaks, not of the genuine Tatars, but of a people most widely different from them, namely, the Mon- gols or Calmucks, whose only affinity to them consisted in the name by which then, and even now, the two races are improperly confounded. All the characters, therefore, which naturalists have assigned to the Tatars, beloug to the totally different Mongolian race. We know, on the contrary, that the Tatars are a handsome people, conspicuous for the beauty and symmetry of their countenance, as is evinced in the skull here represented (No. 12), which presents a complete contrast to the Mongolian characters of several speci- mens in this collection." Further information on the origin of this confusion of names may be pro- cured from J. E. FiscHF.R Conjectural de Gentc et Nomine Taiarornm, in his Quccstiones PeU-opolilance ; also from his Sihirische Gesvhichte, t. 1. MONGOLIAN VARIETY. 305 ters of the Mongolian race ascribed to what they call the Tartars. The mistake has not been detected, even by the most celebrated and classical modern historians ; for Dr. Robertson * speaks of Zenghis as the Emperor of the Tartars. For the illustration of this variety I refer to the engrav- ing of a Calmuck's skull in Blumenbach's work {Dec. alter. No. 14) ; and that of a Burat child (No. 29.) The cranium is nearly globular ; the face broad and flattened 5 the forehead flat and wide ; the malar bones standing out laterally ; the orbits very large and open ; the superciliary arches elevated ; the general habit of the skull in a manner swoln (quasi inflatus et tumidus). " The whole character of this skull corresponds to the well-known Calmuck countenance, and agrees perfectly with the engraving of a Calmuck skull published by J. B. de Fischer f 5 but nothing can be more difl"erent from it than the figure J in Camper's posthumous work on the facial line, which he brings forward as a representation of a head of the same race, and considers as a type of the formation prevailing over all Asia, North America, and the numerous islands of the Pacific Ocean. Without noticing the latter opinion, which is contradicted by the slightest acquaintance with the native inhabitants of these various regions, I shall merely observe, that I am well convinced that the skull in question belongs to that variety of the human race which is the most widely diff^erent from the Calmuck, viz. to the Negro. Although no national form is so constant as not to be exposed to many deviations, and hence we meet among Europeans with individuals approaching to the Negro or Mongol characters, yet the form of the Calmuck head is so completely contrary to that of the Negro, and the figure in question bears so genuine and unequivocal an Ethiopian * History of America ; v. i. p. 45. + Dissertatio Osteologica de Moiio quo Ossa se vicinis accommodant Par- iibus. Lugd. Bat. 1743. 4to. tab. 1. :{: Traite Physique des Differences reelleSy &c. ; tab. i. fig. 4; tab. Hi. fig. 3. X 30^) FORMS OF THE SKULL. character, that I am convinced the excellent author must have been deceived, and consequently that his work, besides European, contains only two African skulls*." The head of a Yakut f, from the remotest parts of Siberia exhibits the same characters. A square face ; large orbits, separated by a very considerable ethmoid bone ; the nasal bones small, and running together above into a point. This is followed by the skull of a Tungoose X, of that de- scription which are called Rein-deer Tungooses. The face is flattened, and of great breadth across the cheeks 5 the fore- head depressed ; the olfactory apparatus very considerable. The decades of Blumenbach contain also figures of ano- ther Calmuck§, of a Burat child || a year and a half old, of a Don Cossack %, a Daurian or Chinese Tungoose **3 and an ancient inhabitant of Southern Siberia ff; all exemplify- ing, in a more or less marked manner, the characters of the Mongolian variety J J. The same characters are strongly expressed in the skull of a Lapland female §§ ; and prove unequivocally that this race belongs to the Mongolian variety. The third, or Ethiopian variety, comprehends all the Afri- cans which are not included within the first or Caucasian division ; all of whom partake more or less of the well-known Negro form. The front of the head, including the forehead and face, is * Dec. alt. p. ix, x. t Ibid. tab. 15. | Ibid. tab. 16. ^ Tab. 5. 11 T. 29. f T. 4. ** T. 23. + + T. 33. This skull was taken from one of the very ancient burial places which are found near the workings of old mines in the mountainous parts of Siberia, and are ascribed by the natives to Tschudae or barbarians. They are particularly described by Pallas, Rcise ilurch verschiedene Provinzen des Russischen Reichs', t. iii. p. 608 et seq. Neither history nor tradition has preserved any meraorials of the people whose remains and works are found in these situations. The lightness of the skull, from the entire loss of the ani- mal substance, corresponds with this fact in proving the high antiquity of this race; and its physical characters accord with those of the tribes who now occupy the same regions. ■^^ A Calmuck skull of very characteristic forna is represented in E. San- DiFORT Museum ^cademicum Lugd. Bat. v. i. tab. 1. ^^ Dec. quinta ; tab. 43. EUROPEAN VARIETY. 307 compressed laterally, and considerably elongated towards the front ; hence the length of the whole skull, from the teeth to the occiput is considerable. It forms, in this re- spect, the strongest contrast to that globular shape which some of the Caucasian races present, and which is very re- markable in the Turk. The capacity of the cranium is reduced, particularly in its front part, where it appears as if the forehead had been sliced off. The face, on the contrary, is enlarged. "I measured," says Soemmerring, " several Negro, and nearly all my European crania, in order to compare the ca- pacity of the respective cerebral cavities. I found in the former ; 1st, that the measure taken by carrying a string from the root of the nose, along the middle of the forehead and the sagittal suture, to the posterior edge of the foramen ovale, the length of the face being equal, was much shorter; 2dly, that the horizontal circumference, measured by a string carried round the head above the eye- brows and the superior edge of the temporal bone, was much less ; 3dly, that neither the long diameter from the forehead to the oc- ciput, nor any transverse diameter between the parietal or the temporal bones, is equal to the corresponding one in the European*.*' The frontal bone is shorter, and, as well as the parietal, less excavated and less capacious than in the European ; the temporal ridge mounts higher, and the space which it in- cludes is much more considerable. The front of the skull seems compressed into a narrow keel-like form between the two powerful temporal muscles, which rise nearly to the high- est part of the head ; and has a compressed figure, which is not equally marked in the entire head, on account of the thickness of the muscles. Instead of the ample swell of the forehead and vertex, which rises between and completely surmounts the comparatively weak temporal muscles of the European, we often see only a small space left between the two temporal ridges in the Ethiopian. * Ueber die korperliche Verschiedenhcit des Negers vom Europder ; ^50. X 2 308 FORMS OF THE SKULL. The foramen magnum is larger, and lies farther back in the head : the other openings for the passage of the nerves are larger. The bony substance is denser and harder ; the sides of the skull thicker, and the whole weight consequently more considerable. The bony apparatus employed in mastication, and in form- ing receptacles for the organs of sense, is larger, stronger, and more advantageously constructed for powerful effect, than in the races where more extensive use of experience and reason, and greater civilization, supply the place of animal strength. If the bones of the face in the Negro were taken as a basis, and a cranium were added to them of the same relative magnitude which it possesses in the European, a receptacle for the brain would be required much larger than in the lat- ter case. However, we find it considerably smaller. Thus the intellectual part is lessened ; the animal organs are en- larged ; proportions are produced just opposite to those which are found in the Grecian ideal model. Tlie facial angle of the skull of a Negro in the Collection of Mr. Abernb thy is 65°. The narrow, low, and slanting forehead, and the elon- gation of the jaws into a kind of muzzle, give to this head an animal character which cannot escape the most cursory examination. A similar head, with a similar facial angle, has been figured by Ed. Sandifort *". It is sufficiently obvious, that on a vertical antero-posterior section of the head, the area of the face will be more considerable in proportion to that of the cranium, in such a skull, than in the fine European forms. The larger and stronger jaws require more powerful mus- cles. The temporal fossa is much larger ; the ridge which bounds it rises higher on the skull, and is more strongly marked, than in the European. The thickness of the mus- cular mass may be estimated from the bony arch, within which it descends to the lower jaw. The zygoma is larger, * Museum Acad. Lnsd. Bat. T. 1. tab. 3. ETHIOPIAN VARIETY. 309 stronger, and more capacious in the Negro ; the cheek-bones project remarkably, and are very strong, broad, and thick : hence they afford space for the attachment of powerful mas- seters. The orbits, and particularly their external apertures, are capacious. Both entrances to the nose are more ample, the cavity it- self considerably more capacious, the plates and windings of the ethmoid bone more complicated, the cribriform lamella more extensive, than in the European. The ossa nasi are flat and short, instead of forming the bridge-like convexity which we see in the European. They run together above into an acute angle, which makes them considerably resem- ble the single triangular nasal bone of the monkey. In the Negro skull, in Mr. Abernethy's collection, before referred to, they are nearly consolidated together in their whole length. The superior maxillary bone is remarkably prolonged in front : its alveolar portion and the included incisor teeth are oblique, instead of being perpendicular, as in the European. The nasal spine at the entrance of the nose is either in- considerable or entirely deficient. The palatine arch is longer and more elliptical. The alveolar edge of the lower jaw stands forward, like that of the upper ; and this part in both is narrow, elongated, and elliptical. The chin, instead of projecting equally with the teeth, as it does in the Euro- pean, recedes considerably, like that of the monkey. The preceding description of the Negro cranium must be taken in a general sense, with an allowance for exceptions and individual modifications : it is drawn from strongly- marked examples, and cannot therefore be received as uni- versally and strictly applicable. We seldom meet with in- stances in which the animal character is so strongly pour- trayed as in this subject. The depression, narrowness, and flatness of the forehead, the great size and projection of the jaws, are carried here to an extraordinary and very striking degree. Travellers inform us that several Africans differ from the European formation in little more than colour; so that the peculiar construction of the head, on the faith of 310 FORMS OF THE SKULL. which some would class these people as a distinct species, is by no means a constant character. This diversity of form is abundantly proved by delinea- tions of Africans executed by the best artists ; and is well illustrated by the engravings which Blumenbach has pub- lished of six African heads *, all differing from eacb other, and exhibiting as much variety as we see in Europeans. They vary considerably in the developement and prominence of the forehead, in the size and arching of the nasal bones, in the projection of the jaws and teeth, the formation of the chin, and in other points ; and fully justify his conclusion, " genuinos iEthiopes, si craniorum formam spectes, non minus certe, imo vero magis passim inter seipsos ab invlccm difFcrre, quam nonnulli eorum a multorum Europseorum capitis forma diiferunt f." The tribes in the south of Africa, that is, near the European colony at the Cape — the Hottentots, Kafifers, Bosjesmen, &c» are not yet enough known to enable us to decide whether they ought to be arranged under the Ethiopian variety, or whether they belong to a different type. Blumenbach has figured and described a skull in his last decade X : and more recently, Cuvier has published an account of a female head. In some points these two specimens differ from each other remarkably. In the male Bosjesman's head represented by Blumen- bach, the cranium is less compressed than in the Negro, The orbits and cheek-bones are wide, the jaws not at all pro- minent, the incisor teeth with their alveoli and chin in the same perpendicular line. The latter is remarkably narrow and sharp. The nasal bones are very small, and nearly in the same plane with the nasal processes of the superior maxillse. " The bony head of our female Bosjesman," says Cu vier^ " presented a striking combination of the traits of the Negro with those of the Calmuck. In the Negro, the mouth is pro- minent, the face and cranium compressed laterally : in the * Dec. prima; tab. 6, 7, 8. Dec. altera; tab. 17, 18, 19. i Dec. altera; p. 13- X ^^'^' ?"iw«a ; tab. 45. % < > AT i/ I -.:m Pit / ■ ■ '■n.(.m||/,|W t«%, ^ihluhtiViy J.SnuOuiej Soiuid j ETHIOPIAN VARIETY. 311 Calmuck, the jaws are flattened, and the face wide, in both, the bones of the nose are smaller and flatter than in the Eu- ropean. Our Bosjesman had the jaws more projecting tlian the Negro, the face wider than the Calmuck, and the nose flatter than either. In the latter respect particularly, her head came nearer to that-of the monkey than any I ever saw. From these general arrangements many particular traits of structure result : the orbits are very wide in proportion to their height ; the entrance of the nostrils has a peculiar form ; the palate has a larger surface ; the incisor teeth are more oblique ; the temporal fossa more extensive, &c. I also find that the occipital foramen is proportionally larger than in other heads ; which, according to the views of SoEMMERRiNG, would indicate an inferior nature*." The characters of the Ethiopian variety, as observed in the genuine Negro tribes, may be thus summed up : 1. Nar- row and depressed forehead ; the entire cranium contracted anteriorly ; the cavity less, both in its circumference and transverse measurements. 2. Occipital foramen and con- dyles placed farther back. 3. Large space for the temporal muscles. 4. Great developement of the face. 5. Promi- nence of the jaws altogether, and particularly of their alve- olar margins and teeth ; consequent obliquity of the facial line. 6. Superior incisors slanting. 7- Chin receding. 8. Very large and strong zygomatic arch projecting towards the front. 9. Large nasal cavity. 10. Small and flattened ossa nasi, sometimes consolidated, and running into a point above. In all the particulars just enumerated, the Negro struc- ture approximates unequivocally to that of the monkey. It not only difters from the Caucasian model, but is distin- guished from it in two respects ; the intellectual characters are reduced, the animal features enlarged and exaggerated. In such a skull as that of the Negro in the Collection of Mr. Abernethy, which is strongly characterized, no per- son, however little conversant with natural history or phy- * Ext rait d' Observations sur la Venus Hottentotte : Nem. du Museum, p. 270, 271. ^ 33J .From an. (hrorinalJjra-H'Z ETHIOPIAN VARIETY. 311 Calmuck, the jaws are flattened, and tlie face wide, in both, the bones of the nose are smaller and flatter than in the Eu- ropean. Our Bosjesman had the jaws more projecting than the Negro, the face wider than the Calmuck, and the nose flatter than either. In the latter respect particularly, her head came nearer to that-of the monkey than any I ever saw. From these general arrangements many particular traits of structure result : the orbits are very wide in proportion to their height; the entrance of the nostrils has a peculiar form ; the palate has a larger surface ; the incisor teeth are more oblique ; the temporal fossa more extensive, &c. I also find that the occipital foramen is proportionally larger than in other heads ; which, according to the views of SoEMMERRiNG, would indicate an inferior nature*." The characters of the Ethiopian variety, as observed in the genuine Negro tribes, may be thus summed up ; 1. Nar- row and depressed forehead ; the entire cranium contracted anteriorly ; the cavity less, both in its circumference and transverse measurements. 2. Occipital foramen and con- dyles placed farther back. 3. Large space for the temporal muscles. 4. Great developement of the face. 5. Promi- nence of the jaws altogether, and particularly of their alve- olar margins and teeth ; consequent obliquity of the facial line. 6. Superior incisors slanting. 7« Chin receding. 8. Very large and strong zygomatic arch projecting towards the front. 9. Large nasal cavity. 10. Small and flattened ossa nasi, sometimes consolidated, and running into a point above. In all the particulars just enumerated, the Negro struc- ture approximates unequivocally to that of the monkey. It not only differs from the Caucasian model, but is distin- guished from it in two respects ; the intellectual characters are reduced, the animal features enlarged and exaggerated. In such a skull as that of the Negro in the Collection of Mr. Abernethy, which is strongly characterized, no per- son, however little conversant with natural history or phy- * Ext rait ((''Observations sur la V^nus Hottentotte : Nem. du Museum^ p. 270, 271. 312 FORMS OF THE SKULL. slology, could fail to recognize a decided approach to the animal form. This inferiority of organization is attended witli corresponding inferiority of faculties ; which may be proved, not so much by the unfortunate beings who are de- graded by slavery, as by every fact in the past history and present condition of Africa. I state these plain results of observation and experience without any fear that you will find in them either apology or excuse for Negro slavery. In the warm and long disputes on this subject, both parties have contrived to be in the wrong, in the question regarding the Negro faculties. The abolitionists have erred in denying a natural inferiority, so clearly evinced by the concurring evidences of anatomical structure and experience. But it was only an error of fact ; and may be the more readily excused, as it was on the side of humanity. Their opponents have committed the more serious moral mistake of perverting what should constitute a clami to kindness and indulgence into justification or palliation of the revolting and antichristian practice of traffic in human flesh ; a practice branded with the double curse of equal degradation to the op])ressor and the oppressed. This very argument, which has been used for defence, seems to me a tenfold aggravation of the enormity. Superior endowments, higher intellect, greater capacity for knowledge, arts, and science, should be employed to extend the blessings of civi- lization, and multiply the enjoyments of social life; not as a means of oppressing the weak and ignorant, of plunging those who are naturally low in the intellectual scale still more deeply into the abyss of barbarism. When we see a strong and well-armed person attack one equally powerful and well-prepared, we are indifferent as to the issue ; or we may look on with that interest which the qualities called forth by the contest are calculated to inspire. But, if the strong attack the weak ; if the well-armed assail the defenceless ; If the ingenuity, knowledge, and skill, the superior arts and arms of civilized life, are combined to rob the poor savage of his only valuable property, per- ETHIOPIAN VARIETY. 313 sonal liberty, we turn from the scene with indignation and abhorrence. They who possess higher gifts should remember the con- dition under which they are enjoyed : " From him to whom much Is given, much will be expected.'* What a commen- tary on this text is furnished by Negro slavery, as carried on and permitted by religious nations, by Christian kings, Catholic majesties, defenders of the faith, &c. ! In the two following varieties, the figure of the skull is not so strongly characterized as in the three which have been already considered. They form, indeed, two intermediate gradations between the European and the Mongolian on one side, and the African on the other. The fourth, or American, variety includes all the Ameri- cans, excepting the inhabitants of the northern parts of the continent, which I have placed in the Mongolian division. In this variety the cheeks are broad, but the malar bones are more rounded and arched than in the Mongolian ', and not expanded to such an extent on either side, nor possess- ing such an angular form. The forehead is small and low; the orbits deep ; and the nasal cavity, in many cases at least, very large. The entire bony apparatus of the face is in general much developed. Blumenbach has published several specimens, in which the characters just enumerated are exemplified. Tab. 9. is the head of a North- American savage executed for murder at Philadelphia. It is remarkable for the flatness and de- pression of the vertex, the developement of the region above the ear, and the great size of the olfactory apparatus. Blu- menbach considers that the latter circumstance explains the anecdotes related by travellers of their extraordinary acuteness in the sense of smelling. The form of this skull entirely agrees with the engraved portraits of eight Cherokee Indians *, all of whom have pro- minent cheeks, and the upper part of the skull depressed. * There is an engraving, by Basire, of seven; Lond. 1730. Thayen- DANEEGA, a chief of the Six Nations, is represented in an engraving by Siiith, from a painting by Romney, 1779. 314 FORMS OF THE SKULL. The head of an American, from an Indian burial-place on the eastern bank of the Mississippi, about 40° north latitude, Tab. 38. presents a conformation approaching more to the Caucasian than to the Mongolian. In a race, of which the characters are intermediate between two others, we may reasonably expect that some individuals will ap- proximate to one, and some to the other variety. TheEskimaux* and the Greenlanders f form a transi- tion from the American to the Mongolian variety : they have broad cheek-bones, large jaws and face, and small flattened nose. The size of the head altogether, and par- ticularly the cranium. Is larger In the latter than in the former. The figures of Blumenbach correspond to the best descriptions of these people, in which the largeness of their heads is noticed. The head of an ancient Aturian, brought by Humboldt J from the subterranean excavations In the granite rocks at * Tab. 24 and 25 are engravings of two Eskimaux crania from the Danish colony of Nain on the coast of Labrador. The strong characters of these crania, and the marked affinity which they exhibit to the American and Mongolian races, concur with all accurate descriptions of the physical charac- ters of the people in refuting the strange opinion of Robertson {Hist, of America; v. 2. p. 40), that the Eskimaux are descendants from the Normans. Blumenbach, Dec 3. p. 8 — 10. A similar skull from Hond Eyland (Dog's Island), near Disko, in Baffin's Bay, is described by Win slow, Mem. de I'' Acad, des Sciences, 1722. t The heads of a Greenland man and woman are represented in tab. 36 and 37 : they came from the Danish colony Godhavn, on the west coast of Greenland. " They are large, and the cranium in particular is ample, and elongated posteriorly. The bone is remarkably thin and light, in proportion to the size. The orbits are large ; the nasal bones long but very narrow." Ibid. Dec. 4. p. 12. J Blumenbach, Dec. 5. tab. 46. In one of the caverns visited by this indefatigable and enlightened traveller, there were the remains of six hundred bodies, each of which was contained in a basket or bag. These remains con- sisted either of the bones alone, of their natural white colour, or reddened by annatto, or of the same preserved in tlie way of mummies, with a mixture of bitumen and leaves. There were, moreover, sarcophaguscs of unbaked clay, five feet long and three wide, painted with figures of crocodiles, and full of bones. The situation of these caverns is 5° 39 N. lat. 51° W. long, from Fcrro. p. 14. AMERICAN VARIETY. 315 the cataracts of the Orinoco in New Andalusia, exemplifies the low slanting forehead, as well as other points of the Ame- rican formation. The entrance of the nose and the whole apparatus of smelling are very large. The heads of a Brasi- lian man and woman* have the low forehead, broad face, and large nose of the American variety. In a general roundness of figure they agree with the descriptions of the natives of Brasil. The head of the man is very ingeniously and perfectly preserved entire, in the state of a mummy. It is not sepa- rated from an entire embalmed body, but must have been cut off immediately after death, as the skin of the neck is equally drawn in all directions towards the foramen mag- num, and fixed there by the bituminous matter employed in the process. The skin preserves that copper colour verging to black which distinguishes the Brasilians. The hair is shaved round the vertex : what is left on the top of the head, and about the ears, is short, strong, and of the deepest black. A thin beard appears on the upper lip and part of the chin. The orbits and mouth are filled with a bituminous mass : it hangs by a cotton string fixed to the mouth. The slit in the external ear is filled with portions of cotton. A splendid ornament, composed of the finest feathers of the red tantalus, the toucan, and the most brilliant parrots, covered the forehead f. There is no American, nor indeed any other race, in which the forehead is so low as in the Caribs. And in order to exaggerate a character, which they deemed beauti- ful, they have had recourse to artificial means of flattening this region, at the time when the bones are soft and capable of yielding to artificial pressure. As the same character of a low forehead characterizes all the Americans in a greater or less degree, similar attempts to increase this natural defect have been made by other tribes, as well as the Caribs, in both North and South America. ♦ Blumenbach, tab. 47 and 48. + Dec. quinia, p, 15 and 16. AMERICAN VARIETY. 315 the cataracts of the Orinoco in New Andalusia, exemplifies the low slanting forehead, as well as other points of the Ame- rican formation. The entrance of the nose and the whole apparatus of smelling are very large. The heads of a Brasi- lian man and woman* have the low forehead, broad face, and large nose of the American variety. In a general roundness of figure they agree with the descriptions of the natives of Brasil. The head of the man is very ingeniously and perfectly preserved entire, in the state of a mummy. It is not sepa- rated from an entire embalmed body, but must have been cut off immediately after death, as the skin of the neck is equally drawn in all directions towards the foramen mag- num, and fixed there by the bituminous matter employed in the process. The skin preserves that copper colour verging to black which distinguishes the Brasilians. The hair is shaved round the vertex : what is left on the top of the head, and about the ears, is short, strong, and of the deepest black. A thin beard appears on the upper lip and part of the chin. The orbits and mouth are filled with a bituminous mass : it hangs by a cotton string fixed to the mouth. The slit in the external ear is filled with portions of cotton. A splendid ornament, composed of the finest feathers of the red tantalus, the toucan, and the most brilliant parrots, covered the forehead f. There is no American, nor indeed any other race, in which the forehead is so low as in the Caribs. And in order to exaggerate a character, which they deemed beauti- ful, they have had recourse to artificial means of flattening this region, at the time when the bones are soft and capable of yielding to artificial pressure. As the same character of a low forehead characterizes all the Americans in a greater or less degree, similar attempts to increase this natural defect have been made by other tribes, as well as the Caribs, in both North and South America. * Blumenbach, tab. 47 and 41 + Dec. quinta, p. 15 and 16. 316 FORMS OF THE SKULL. The skull of the Carib, in the Hunterian Collection now belonging to the College Museum, presents no evidences of any artificial change of figure. The developement of the anterior cerebral lobes must have been more imperfect in this individual, than in any other example which I have seen. Setting aside what we should term this natural defect, the organization is perfect. The bony substance is dense, com- pact, and hard ; and the entire skull consequently very heavy. The size of the head, and the strong muscular im- pressions, correspond, as well as the hardness of the bone, with the accounts, which eye-witnesses have furnished, of the colossal stature and great strength of this race *. The frontal bone is rather prominent at the glabella ; it con- tinues, nearly horizontally, backwards from the orbits, rising a little towards the vertex. A slight convex protuberance on each side marks the situation of the anterior cerebral lobes. The temporal fossa is large, and the skull conse- quently not wide in its lateral measurement. Although thus contracted at its upper and fore part, the bony re- ceptacle of the brain swells out below and behind, into its usual size : the fossae cerebelli are large. This singular formation is attended with a change in the distribution and support of the weight. I have already mentioned, that in the human head the parts in front of the occipital condyles are heavier than those behind ; so that the head falls forwards when left to itself, and is only re- tained in equilibrio, in the erect posture, by muscular con- traction. (See page 164.) In this Carib skull, however, the parts behind preponderate, and that very decidedly ; so * " The Caribbees, properly speaking;, those who inhabit the Missions of the Cari, in the Llanos of Cumana, the banks of the Caura, and the plains to the north-CKst of the sources of the Orinoco, are distinguished by their almost gigantic stature from all the other nations I have seen in the New Con- tinent." Humboldt, Personal Narraiive ; v. iii. p. 286. These people were called Caribbees (Carives) by the first navigators, and are still known by that name throughout Spanish America; although the French and Germans have transformed it into Caraibes, and the English have shortened it into Caribs. Ibid^ 2S4. AMERICAN VARIETY. 317 that, I apprehend, the eyes must be liabitually duected upwards ; which is the more probable, as the orbits in some degree, look upwards, even when the zygomas are hori- zontal. The face is characterized by its great size and strength, and the marked developement of all its parts. What the front of the skull has lost seems compensated here. The nasal bones are not very small nor flat ; the cavity is ample; the jaws and teeth powerful. The superior maxillary bone is very long from the orbit to the alveoli, and slopes regularly forwards in this part. Another Carib skull in the College Museum coincides with this in the form of the forehead, in the direction of the eyes upwards, and in the preponderance of the parts placed behind the foramen magnum. The same character is seen in a skull engraved in the Journal de Physique^ : but the representation is too badly executed to admit of a satisfactory determination whether it is a natural formation, or the effect of art. Its very general existence in the native tribes of America is expressly and strongly pointed out by Humboldt. " There is no race on the globe, in which the frontal bone is more de- pressed backwards, or which has a less projecting forehead, than the American. This extraordinary flatness is to be found among nations, to whom the means of producing arti- ficial deformity are totally unknown ; as is proved by the crania of Mexican Indians, Peruvians, and Atures, brought over by Mr. BoNPLAND and myself, and of which several were deposited in the Museum of Natural History at Paris." He thinks that " the custom of flattening the head had its origin in the idea that beauty consists in such a form of the frontal bone, as to characterize the race in a decided manner. — The Aztecs, who never disfigure the heads of their children, represent their principal divinities, as their hieroglyphical manuscripts prove, wth a head much more flattened than any I have seen among the Caribs f." * yipril, 1780. V. 34. tab. 1. t Political Essay, \. i. p. 154, and note. 318 FORMS OF THE SKULL. That, In compliance with a strange notion of beauty, attempts are made by these people to flatten their fore- heads still further, and that for tliis purpose they subject children's heads to pressure immediately after birth, and continue it for some time, is proved by the most respectable and abundant testimony. In certain crania very unequivocal marks of this process are found; actual Indentations of the forehead, producing a degree of deformity quite different from natural depression of the skull, or from the instances of malformation which are occasionally seen. Some, indeed, have argued that even these are natural forms, and have boldly denied the possibility of producing the effect by such means as those described ^. The bones are the most solid parts of our frame, and form a kind of firm support and foundation, on which the softer structures rest. Yet physiological experiments, and the phenomena of disease, prove that they change more easily than the softer parts of the body. Their elements are continually detached and removed in an insensible man- ner by the absorbents; while the loss thus occasioned is repaired by the deposition of other particles newly secreted from the blood. This continual change in the bony mate- rials of the body is well Illustrated by the experiment of mixing madder with the food of animals. Soon after tins has been begun, the bony substance is found of a pink colour throughout ; and this dye is as quickly removed when the madder is no longer administered. The short period in which such changes are brought about, forms a striking contrast to the Indelible nature of the marks pro- duced In the cutis by gunpowder and other colouring mat- ters. The uninterrupted exchange of particles, carried on in the bones from the period of their first formation, allows * Sabatier, Traiie d'' Anatomie^i. i. p. 25. Campek in Kleinere Schvifteny V. i. p. IT. Arthauo in Journal dc Physiqucy April 17S9. Dissertation sur la Conformation tie la Tele des Caraibes^ el sur quelques Usages bizarres. attrihuees a des Nations Sauvases. AMERICAN VARIETY. 319 them to accommodate themselves to the neighbouring parts, and to become, as it were, formed and fashioned by their action. The conformation of the head affords the most unequivocal proof of this circumstance. The internal sur- face of the cranium exhibits a mould of tlie lobes and con- volutions of the brain, to which it was adapted ; and the external surface displays the most manifest impressions from the actions of muscles, as well as traces of the form of the features, the general configuration of which may be easily conjectured from a view of the bony skull. In like manner, the shape of the bones may be affected by the pressure of tumours, by collections of pus in their cavities, by constant weights, as that of the trunk bearing on the lower limbs, before their substance is hard enough. Hence we cannot doubt that the cranium may experience a partial change of figure, if a given external pressure can be kept up for some time ; and the comparative softness of its texture at birth renders that a very favourable period for such attempts. The objection will occur, that the functions of the brain would be suspended by an effectual pressure; — that the infant's life would be endangered. They who have seen a child's head after it has passed through a small pelvis in a difficult labour, under which circumstances it is often found squeezed into an oblong shape, will not entertain much apprehension for the effects of such manoeuvres as are said to be practised on the Carib and other American newly- born infants. It is not necessary, however, to suppose the force so considerable, as to effect tlie figure of the bone at the time : I should rather apprehend that the ultimate effect is produced by the continued action of a gentle pressure; as the thigh and leg of a rickety child slowly yield to the weight of the body. The change of form is produced organically, not mechanically. Should it be objected, that such unnatural violence would prevent or impede the developement of the brain, and could not be borne without fatal results ; I reply, that if the fact can be established, the supposition on v/hich this objection rests must be ungrounded. And that it is so, I am further 320 FORMS OF THE SKULL. induced to believe by cases of large bony tumours growing within the skull, and encroaching on the brain, without causing any of those inconveniences or dangers which a small sudden pressure often produces. In the newly-born child, too, when the sutures are all open, the brain, if pre- vented from growing in one direction, may expand easily in other qnarters. I conclude, therefore, that the thing Is possible : and I shall add the evidence, which seems to me quite sufficient to prove that it is true. Besides the Carib skull, which I have already described, in which the forehead indeed is extremely low, but the con- tinuity of outline, regularity of form, symmetry and har- mony of parts, prove that it is a natural organization ; there are many others, in which the regular outline is interrupted, the smooth convexity of the skull harshly and abruptly dis- turbed, an uneven rising and sinking surface substituted for the naturally uniform swell of the forehead; and a con- figuration is thus produced, such as would naturally arise from the alleged artificial process, but totally different from any thing in the works of nature. Various modes of proceeding are described ; the dif- ferences in this respect, in the method of application, the length and constancy of the process, the resistance of the skull and brain during the pressure, and the degree of re- covery after Its cessation, account for the individual diver- sities in these compressed skulls. The tenth plate of Blumenbach's first decade is the head of a male Carib from the island of St. Vincent's '^ ; in * This is the race which occupied the W^est-Indian islands at the time of their first discovery by Columbus, and agreed in physical characters with the Caribs of the Continent already alluded to (p. 316, note*), from whom thi^y were originally derived. European hostility and encroachment con- fined the last small remnant of this unfortunate race on a part of the island of St. Vincent's. They were here distinguished, under the name of Red Caribs, from the descendants of some Negroes who escaped from a shipwreck, and whose numbers were perhaps augmented in other ways, who were called Black Caribs. The latter are merely Negroes. The hostilities of the two races have been very fatal to the former ; who are now nearly extinct. — 1m)wauus, History of the West Indies; 1. p. 411. Ak^ ^ AMERICAN VARIETY. 321 which the frontal bone, originally very low, presents a broad indentation about its middle. The enumerated cha- racters are, a depressed forehead (frons retropressa) ; orbits surprisingly large, patulous, and looking upwards, as is seen in hydrocephalic patients ; the orbital plate of the frontal bone slanting downwards, and the superciliary margin very obtuse." P. 26. In his second decade *, Blumenbach has figured the skull of a female Carib from the same island as the preced- ing, where the forehead is much lower, and the orbits are, in like manner, directed upwards. How strikingly it deviates from the author's expressions : — " prodigiosum plane cra- nium" — "horridaet fere raonstrosa hujus capitis distortio." The contraction of the front seems to have been compen- sated by expansion of the lateral and posterior parts ; so that this head, when placed on the vertebral column, must evidently have preponderated backwards. A head, in all points very similar to this, is in the posses- sion of Dr. Leach : a broad flat surface above, or rather behind the eyes, seems to mark out the situation and action of the pressure. The preponderance of the parts behind the occipital condyles is the same. The kindness and liberality of Mr« Cline enable me to describe a very interesting specimen in his Collection ; and thus to illustrate, by direct contrast, the difference between the natural and artificial form of the Carib head. The arti- ficial excavation of the frontal bone, and the superficial risings denoting the anterior cerebral lobes, are obvious on the first inspection. It is clear too, that this individual would have had naturally a very low forehead. A violent and unnatural bulge behind and at the sides seems to shew that the contraction -in front has been compensated by an equivalent extension in those quarters. The figure of the occipital bone is so changed, that the external transverse ridge, which naturally forms the posterior boundary of the basis cranii, is now far within that boundary. The face is * Tab, 20. p. 15. Y Sketch or a S/iuU in, the Museum of S9 Thomas's JiMpual. AMERICAN VARIETY. 321 which the frontal bone, originally very low, presents a broad indentation about its middle. The enumerated cha- racters are, a depressed forehead (frons retropressa) ; orbits sur])rlsingly large, patulous, and looking upwards, as is seen in hydrocephalic patients ; the orbital plate of the frontal bone slanting downwards, and the superciliary margin very obtuse." P. 26. In his second decade *, Blumenbach has figured the skull of a female Carib from the same island as the preced- ing, where the forehead is much lower, and the orbits are, in like manner, directed upwards. How strikingly it deviates from the author's expressions : — " prodigiosum plane cra- nium" — "horrida et fere monstrosa hujus capitis distortio." The contraction of the front seems to have been compen- sated by expansion of the lateral and posterior parts ; so that this head, when placed on the vertebral column, must evidently have preponderated backwards. A head, in all points very similar to this, is in the posses- sion of Dr. Leach : a broad flat surface above, or rather behind the eyes, seems to mark out the situation and action of the pressure. The preponderance of the parts behind the occipital condyles Is the same. The kindness and liberality of Mr. Cline enable me to describe a very interesting specimen in his Collection ; and thus to illustrate, by direct contrast, the difference between the natural and artificial form of the Carib head. The arti- ficial excavation of the frontal bone, and the superficial risings denoting the anterior cerebral lobes, are obvious on the first inspection. It is clear too, that this individual would have had naturally a very low forehead. A violent and unnatural bulge behind and at the sides seems to shew that the contraction- in front has been compensated by an equivalent extension in those quarters. The figure of the occipital bone is so changed, that the external transverse ridge, which naturally forms the posterior boundary of the basis cranii, is now far within that boundary. The face is * Tab. 20. p. 15. Y 322 FORMS OF THK SKULL. broau across the eyes and cheeks ; the interval between th.e orbits wide ; those cavities are large, shallow, and directi-'d upwards. The facial angle is 66°. The distance from the posterior edge of the vonaer to the corresponding vertical point of the head is only 2j- inches : the transverse measure- ment at the same point, 6 inches ; across the coronal su- ture, 6J inches. The distance from the alveolar edge of the superior maxilla to the back of the occiput is 8 inches; from the occiput to the posterior edge of the foramen magnum, Si ; to the anterior, 4|. When the skull is supported on the condyles, the back part greatly preponderates. This skull, like that which Dr. Leach possesses, came from the island of St. Vincent's. It was presented to Mr. Cline by a surgeon of Tobago, who stated that the indivi- dual had been chief of the Red Caribs in St. Vincent's ; that he used to come to Tobago on the commercial and other business of his tribe ; that he was well known there, and regarded as an intelligent, well-informed, and prudent cha- racter *. A more detailed knowledge of the two Carib men, whose skulls are above described, would be highly interesting in physiology. A head precisely similar to this of Mr. Cline has been figured by Hanauld, in the Memoirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences f. The inferences, to which these and similar specimens lead, are comipletely supported and confirmed by the una- nimous testimonies of the most judicious and respectable travellers ; which cannot be set aside without a degree of scepticism that would equally prevent us from believing all that is stated on such authority. Labat relates, " that the Caribs are all well made and proportioned ; their features are sufficiently agreeable, ex- cepting the forehead, which appears rather extraordinary, * Besides the skull which is figured by Mr. Arthaud in the Journal de Physique, t. 34, he mentions another, in which ther ■ was a large depression in the centre of the os frontis ; p. 2b3. + 1700, p. 371. tab. 16. fig. 1. AMERICAN VARIETY. 323 being very flat, and as it were depressed. These people are not born so ; but they force the head to assume that form, by placing on the forehead of the newly-born child a small plate which they tie firmly behind. This remains until the bones have acquired their consistence ; so that the fore- head is flattened to that degree, that they can see almost perpendicularly above them, without elevating the head '^. CoNDAMiNE informs us, that " the appellation Omaguas in the language of Peru, as well as Cambevas in tliat of Brazil, given to the same people by the Portuguese of Para, signifies ' flat-head ;' For they have the strange custom of pressing between two plates the forehead of their newly-born children, in order to give them this singular shape, and make them, as they say, resemble the full moonf." A collateral proof of these practices is afforded by their having been noticed and expressly prohibited by the Spa- nish ecclesiastical councils (as related by Blumenbach), two hundred years ago. In the history of the third synod of the diocese of Lima, held in July 1585, a decree was passed against the Indian practice of disfiguring the head. " Cupientes penitus extirpare abusum et superstitionem, quibus Indi passim infantum capita formis imprimunt, quas ipsi vocaot caito, oma, opalta ; — statuimus et preecipimus," &c. &c. reciting various punishments, as, for instance, that any woman found guilty, " frequentet doctrinam per con- tinuos decern dies mane et vesperi, pro prima culpa ; pro secunda vero per viginti, " &c. X * Voyage aux Isles de VAmeriquc., t. 2. p. 72. Blumenbach also cites the authority ofOviEuo Historia General de las Indias ; 1535, p. 25. and Rayjiond Breton, Dictionnaire Caraibe Francois ; 1665. 8vo. pp. 58, 92, 145,289. The same custom, which belonged originally to the red-coloured natives of the West Indies, has been adopted by the free Negroes or Black Caribs of St. Vincent's. See Thsbault de Chanvalon, Voyage a la Mar- tinique, p. 39; and Amic in Journal de Physique^ v. 39. p. 132. f 3Iemoires de VAcad. des Sciences, 1745, p. 427-8. Ulloa gives the same testimony respecting the Omaguas; Travels in South America, v. i. p. 394. also ToRQUEMADA Monarchia Yndiana ; t. iii. p. 623, :j: J. S. DE Aguirre Colleciio maxima Conciliorum omnium Ilispania; et Novi Orbis, ed. 2. Romse, 17 55. fol. t. vi. p. 294- Y 2 324 FORMS OF THE SKULL. This custom has prevailed as much in North as in South America, and in the islands. Adair says, that the northern savages " flatten their heads in divers forms ; but it is chiefly the crown of tlie head they depress, in order to beautify themselves, as their wild fancy terms it ; for they call us Long-heads, by way of contempt. They fix the tender infant on a kind of cradle, where his feet are tilted above a foot higher than a horizontal position ; his head bends back into a hole made on purpose to receive it ; when he bears the chief part of his weight on the crown of the head, upon a small bag of sand, without being in the least able to move himself*." Lastly, the very interesting narrative of the journey to the source of the Missouri, performed by Messrs. Levtis and Clarke, informs us that the attempts at beautifying the head, by flattening its fore-part, have been and are very extensively practised among nearly all the tribes situated on the west of that great range of mountains, running nearly parallel to the west coast of America, from which the wa- ters flow on one side the Pacific, and on the other into the Mississippi and its various tributary streams. *' The most distinguishing part of their physiognomy is the peculiar flatness and width of their forehead ; a peculi- arity which they owe to one of those customs by which na- ture is sacrificed to fantastic ideas of beauty. The custom, indeed, of flattening the head by artificial pressure during infancy, prevails among all the nations we have seen west of the Rocky Mountains. To the east of that barrier the fashion is so perfectly unknown, that there the western In- dians, with the exception of the Alliatan or Snake Nation, are designated by the common name of Flat-heads. — Wherever it may have begun, the practice is now universal among these nations. Soon after the birth of the child, the mother, anxious to procure for her infant the recom- mendation of a broad forehead, places it in the compressing * History of the North American Indians, p. 8. See also Lavvson's Jlis- tory of Carolina, p. 33 ; and Charlevoix, History de la Nouvelle France, t.iii. pp. 187, 323. AMERICAN VARIETY. 325 machine, wiicre it is kept for ten or twelve months; tliough the females remain longer than the boys. The operation is so gradual, that it is not attended with pain ; but the im- pression is deep and permanent. The heads of the children, when they are released from the bandage, are not more than two inches thick about the upper edge of the forehead ; and still thinner above : nor, witli all its efforts, can nature ever restore its shape; the heads of grown persons being often in a straight line from the nose to the top of the forehead*." Besides this general statement, applying to the western tribes altogether, these enterprising travellers note the existence of the practice on many particular occasions ; as among the Skilloots (p. 389) ; the Wahkiacums (p. 392) ; the Sokulks, where the head was so flattened, that the fore- head runs straight from the nose to the crown (p. 351); and the Chinnooks, whose heads they speak of as having been flattened in a most disgusting manner. In one tribe which they saw on the Pacific, they expressly mention that the custom did not exist (p. 428). That nothing might be wanting to this part of the proof, the very bandages employed by the Caribs have been brought into Europe. A description and figures of them may be seen in the Journal de Physique f. * Travels to the Source of the Missouri, chap, xxiii. See also Meares, of the natives about Nootka Sound ; Voyages from China to the North West Coast of America, p. 249. + Aug. 1791, p. 132, tab. 1. & 2. The account is written by Dr. Amic, a physician of Guadaloupe, who had seen and conversed w ith both Red and Black Caribs in the West Indies. In mentioning the answers which they gave to his enquiries, he says, " Contre mon attente elles se reduisirent tnutes a m'assurer qu'ils ne devoient Tapplatisseinent de leur front qua la pression d'une planche garni'' de coton, qu'on fixoit sur cette partie pour Tempecher d'acquerir la convcxite, qui lui est naturelle. C'etoit-la me dirent ils le ca- ract^re de leur nation. Pour rimprimcr on fait aux enfans porter cette planche jusqu'a ce qu'ils soient assez grands, pour qu'il ne s'efTace pas. Je remarquai parmi eux un jeunc homme de seize a dixsept ans, dont le front dioit bomb6 comme celui d'un N^gre. II repondit a nion observation, que pour ne pas !e dtfigurer comme les autres, son mhve n'avoit pas voulu le sou- mettre a un vicil coutume." P. 133. 326 FORMS OF THE SKULL. The fifth, or Malay, variety Including the inhabitants of the numerous Asiatic islands, and those of the Great Pacific Ocean, constitutes an intermediate link between the Euro- pean and Negro. The cranium is moderately narrowed and slanting at its anterior and upper part; the face large, and all its parts fully developed ; the jaws more or less prominent. It must be confessed, that the numerous tribes, included within the boundaries of this variety, differ considerably from each other; and, consequently, that the whole cannot fall within any one clearly-marked character. The Papua race are described as having all the appearance of Negroes. I have seen no skull, nor any representation of one, belonging to a native of New Guinea. The New Hollanders certainly partake of the Negro form, yet are easily distinguishable from African Negroes. In the two heads engraved by Blu- MENBACH *, the foreliead rather slants above the eyes, but the head rises to a considerable height at the coronal suture. The nose is not so flat, nor the zygoma so prominent, as in the African. The alveolar edge of the upper jaw projects in front ; the chin is not cut off, as in the Negro. The crania of New Hollanders which I have seen correspond with these. In some, as in a female skull in the College Museum, the superior incisors are placed as obliquely as in the Negro ; but none have so low a forehead and vertex as some of that race. The Otaheitean skull f does not differ in any essential points from the European formation, so far as the cranium goes. The front and lower part of the forehead may be a little contracted and slanting. The face is altogether large, and the upper jaw fully developed : its alveolar portion, too, projects slightly in front. The head of a native of Nukahiwah t, one of the groupe called the Marquesas Islands, presents a very beautiful and symmetrical organization corresponding to tiie descriptions of the great stature, fine proportions, and strength of these islanders. Except that the face is larger, its lower part * Tab. 27 & 40. t Ibid. tab. 26. \ Ibid tab. 50. AMERICAN VARIKTY. 327 especially, more considerable and prominent than in the best models of the Caucasian variety, and that tlie jaws and teeth altogether have a marked projection, this head is not very essentially distinguished from that form. The fore- head Is indeed more slanting than in the intellectual Euro- pean h.eads ; but the whole structure has unequivocal marks of an organization calculated for strength. The skull of a Buggess*, from the island of Celebes, has the low slanting forehead, large face, and prominent jaws of the true Negro ; but it combines the lateral expansion, particularly across the cheeks, of the Mong-olian variety. The arrangement of skulls under the five general forms just described is, in a great measure, arbitrary. It must not, therefore, be taken in a strict sense : we must not expect to find all the individuals comprised under each of these varieties, decisively distinguished by the assigned characters from all others. In the endless diversity of individual forms, many instances are met with, in each variety, of organiza- tions approaching to those of the others ; so that among many Europeans and Negroes we might select skulls in which it would be difficult to determine the predominant character. The two intermediate forms between the Cau- casian middle, and the Ethiopian and Mongolian extremes, complete the series of gradations. Of the numerous tribes or nations in each division, some come nearer to one and some to the other of the two immediately adjoining varieties. Thus the natives of some of the islands of the South Sea are hardly to be distinguished in countenance and h.ead from Europeans ; while others approach as near to the Negroes. The Marquesas, the Society, Friendly, and Sandwich Islanders, might be almost arranged under the Caucasian variety ; while the natives of New Guinea, New Holland, Van Dieman's Land, New Britain, &c. Loulsiade, &c. have strong claims to be admitted into the Ethiopian division ; and those of Solomon Islands, the New Hebrides, and New Zealand, form so many points of transition between the * BLUMKNUACH, tab. 49. 328 CAUCASIAN VARIETY. two. The same observation holds good of the other va- rieties. Hence, if we had numerous specimens of each, we might arrange tlicm in such a manner, that the interval between the most perfect Caucasian model, and the most exaggerated Negro or Mongolian specimens, should be filled with forms conducting us from one to the other by almost imperceptible gradations. We must therefore conclude, that the diversities of features and of skulls are not sufficient to authorize us in assigning the different races of mankind in which they occur, to species originally different. This conclusion will be strengthened by the analogies of natural history. The differences between human crania are not more considerable, nor even so remarkable, as some varia- tions which occur in animals confessedly of the same species. The head of the wild boar is widely different from that of the domestic pig. The different breeds of horses and dogs are distinguished by the most striking dissimilarities in the skull ; in which view the Neapolitan and Hungarian horses may be contrasted. The very singular form of the skull in the Paduan fcnvl is a more remarkable deviation from the natural structure than any variation which occurs in the Imman head. The oblique position of the anterior incisors in the Ne- groes and some other tribes, which have prominent jaws, is the only national difference I know of in the teeth. Their size and form exhibit merely individual differences. The complete and minute correspondence of the teeth in num- ber and form, through all races of men, is a strong argu- ment for the unity of the species. Blumenbach* has pointed out what he conceived to be a peculiarity in the teeth of some Egyptian mummies, which first attracted his notice on examining two specimens in the vcar 1779. The incisors, instead of possesing their ordinary thin cutting edges, were thick in their bodies, and resem- * Von den Zd/inen dcr alien jEgyptkr, und von den Mumien, in the Gulling. Magazin der WissenscJi. und Lilteratiir. p. I . De Gtn. Hum, Var. Nat. sect. iii. ^ 64. 'lieytrdge zur NaUa-geschichte, part ii. Ucber den JEgi/pticn Mumien^ § 1 1. DIFFERENCES OF THE TEETH. 329 bled truncated cones ; the cuspidati were not pointed, as is usual, but broad and flat on the masticating surface, and very similar to the neighbouring bicuspides. The same circumstances have been observed in other specimens, as in a mummy at Cambridge, described by Middleton*, in another at Cassel f ; and in a third at Stuttgard J. Blu- MENBACH observed a similar structure in the head of a young mummy, which he opened in London § ; and in an- other which he received as a present from Mr. Turner, of Cambridge ||. " There must," he observes, " be great dif- ferences in the crania of various mummies, when it is con- sidered that the practice of embalming the body after death prevailed in Egypt for many ages, during Vvdiich great vicis- situdes occurred in the government and inhabitants of the country; consequently we cannot reasonably expect to find this formation of the teeth in every specimen ; yet it con- stitutes a singular variety, and deserves mention, as it may assist in distinguishing the mummies of some particular age and nation. It would be difficult to assign a satisfac- tory cause for this peculiarity ; yet we may not improbably ascribe it in great part to the kind of food taken by the Egyptians, which Diodorus Siculus expressly describes to have consisted of vegetables, roots, &c. Hence the teeth must have been worn down ; and it has been observed th^t these organs, when reduced by attrition, or purposely diminished in length, grow thicker, both in man and animals ^. A similar formation of the teeth was noticed by Wins- low ** in the cranium of a Greenlander from the Isle of * Monument Jntiq. in Works^ v. iv. " Quod vero singulare et prodigii fere loco habendum, (denies) anteriores s. incisores, non acuti illi quidem atque ad incidendum iiptl, sed perinde ac maxi Hares latl plane atque ob tusi sunt." + Bruckmann's Nachtricht von einer Mumle ; Braunschweig. f Blumenbach Bcjjtrdge ; part ii. page 98. ^ Philosophical Transactions, 1794. part ii. p. 184. II Dec. quarta Craniorumy p. 4. 5 De G. H. Var. Nat. sect iii. ^ 64. »* Mem. de VAcad. des Sciences de Paris; 1722, p. 323. 330 DIFFERENCES OF THE TEETH. Dogs (Hond-Eyland), on the west coast of Greenland. " The incisors," says this anatomist, " are flat from before back- wards, and short, instead of having a cutting edge ; hence they resemble grinders more than cutting teeth." Mr. RiECKE, who presented me with this cranium, said that the inhabitants of Hond-Eyland eat their meat raw. "They move their jaws in a very singular manner, and make seve- ral grimaces while chewing and swallowing. It was the ob- servation of this spectacle that induced him to seek for an opportunity of discovering whether these islanders possessed any peculiarity of construction in their jaws or teeth." This account is confirmed by two Eskimaux crania* in the possession of Blumenbach, which exhibit the same worn appearance of the teeth. It is well known, he observes, that the Eskimaux are derived from the same race with the Greenlanders, and that their name has its origin from their practice of eating raw flesh. A similar configuration of the inferior incisors was found in the head of the Guanche mummy figured in Blumen- bach's Fifth Decade, tab. xlii. p. 8. I have seen the same configuration in the heads of Egyp- tian mummies, and in other instances ; and am fully con- vinced that there is no real original difference in the form of the teeth in these cases 5 and that the observed peculiarity is entirely owing to the mechanical attrition which the teeth had experienced in all the examples. As the incisors are wedge-shaped, and increase gradually in thickness from their cutting edge to the gums, when half worn away they lose their natural appearance of cutting teeth, and resemble in form those found in the crania above-mentioned. If the teeth are naturally large and strong, the appearance will be more marked. We cannot admit an original difference of form, until it is proved by the exhibition of entire teeth in which the enamel has not been worn away from the masti- cating surface. At all events, the notion that the teeth grow thicker in consequence of the attrition of their surface, is not admissible. No point is more clearly ascertained, than * Dec. tcrtia, tab. 24-3. DIFFERENCES OF THE TEETH. 3:^1 that these organs have no powers of growth, or organic change; and that they experience no alteration, after ap- pearing through the gum, but tliat of mechanical wearing or chemical decay. That their substance possesses neither vessels nor nerves, is, I think, fully proved by what I have stated in another place*. The assertion of Buffon, Erxleben, and others, that the teeth of the Calmucks are longer, and separated by wider intervals from each other, is contradicted by the specimens of their crania in the possession of Blumen- BACH. Certain colours and forms are given to the teeth artifi- cially, in some instances, by way of ornament. Mr. Marsden t informs us that the Sumatrans commu- nicate to the teeth a jetty blackness by tlie cmpyreumatic oil of the cocoa-nut shell 5 and that they even abrade the enamel, that they may receive and retain the dye more perfectly. The very general practice among the Malays and Asiatic islanders, of chewing the areka-nut, betel-leaf, and chunam or lime;};, turns the teeth black, unless great pains are taken to prevent it, and covers them with a brownish black incrustation. From one or the other of these causes the teeth are blackened in the Javanese §, the Eirmans ||, Tun- quinese %, and Buggesses**. Some Negro tribes file their teeth so as to make them conical and sharp-pointed JJ ; some tile avv^ay their inner * In Dr. Rees's CydopcEdia, art. CRANm>i. + History of Sumatra ; ed. 3. p. 53. -\. The practice is described particularly by Da.mpier, Voyages^ v. i. p, 318. '* It tastes rough in the mouth, and dyes the lips red, and the teeth black ; but it preserves them, and cleanseth the gums." See also v, ii. p. 54. § Blumenback, tabr 39. Hawkesworth's Collection of Voyages^ v. 3. pp. 286, 347. jl Sy.mks, Embassy to Avu ; v. ii. p. 235. 5 Dampier, v. ii. p. 41. ** Blumenbach, tab. 49. f+ Churchill's Voyages^ v. 5. pp. 139, 143, 385. Philos. Trans- V. Ixxiii. p. 92. Winteubottow on the Native Africans ; v. i. p. 104. The Sumatrans also do it ; Marsden, p. 53. 332 DIFFERENCES OF THE TEETH. edges *, or notch them f; some even grind them away, down to the gums %. A more or less complete abrasion of the enamel is very common among the Asiatic islanders §. The observations in the following chapter respecting the varieties of form in general, include the subjects of na- tional features and form of the skull. I shall only make a few remarks here on some attempts at explaining the latter subjects. Climate has generally been brought forwards as the cause of the varieties that distinguish man. It has been almost universally represented as the source of difterences in colour, and not much less depended on for solving the great pro- blem of varieties of form. " The enquiry into the causes of difference of features is exposed," says Blumenbach, " to such serious difficulties, that we can only expect to ar- rive at a probable solution." " That climate is the principal agent in producing diffe- rence of features, is proved to my satisfaction by three arguments. *' 1. In the natives of certain regions, a national coun- tenance is so common and universal in persons of all con ditions, that it can be referred to no other cause. The Chinese may serve as an example ; the characteristic flattened countenance being as general among them, as great sym- metry and beauty are among the English and Majorcans. " 2. Unless I am greatly deceived, there are instances of people who, after leaving their old abodes, have in progress of time assumed new features, corresponding to their new situations. Thus the Yakuts are referred, by those who » Tuckey's Narrative of a Voyage to th Congo, pp. SO, 124. + Jbid. p. 210. + Vancouver found in the natives of Trinidad Bay, on the north-west coast of America, " that all tlie teeth of both sexes were, by some process, ground uniformly down horizontally to the gums." v. ii. p. 247. It was also observed by Perouse, Voyage round the World, v, ii. p. 13S. ^ In Magindanao; Forrest, Voyage to New Guinea, p. 23T ; in Celebes ; Blumenbach, dec. 5. t ib. 49 ; in Java, Hawkeswortii, v. lii. p. 349, Blumenbach de G. II. Var. Nat. p 231. OF FEATURES AND SKULLS. 333 have investigated northern antiquities, to the Tatar race : but their countenance is now completely Mongolian, ac- cording to the reports of the most accurate observers, and to a Yakut skull in my collection. Thus also it has been observed that the Creole offspring of European parents in the West-Indian islands have, in some degree, exchanged their native British features for those characteristic of the American aborigines, and have acquired their deeper eyes and higher cheeks. He adds, that the northern invaders, who have at diiFerent times entered India, have gradually assumed the character which the climate has impressed on the native Hindoos. " 3. Nations, which can be deemed only colonies of one and the same race, have acquired different characteristic countenances in different climates. It is now proved that the Hungarians and Laplanders come from one stock. The latter have acquired, in their northern abodes, the cast of countenance peculiar to the inhabitants of those cold re- gions ; while the former have assumed a more elegant for- mation in their milder seats near Greece and Turkey *." That so able a writer could find no better proofs in sup- port of his opinion, only shews how completely unfounded that opinion is. The fiat face of the Chinese not only extends throughout that vast empire, which covers nearly forty degrees of latitude and seventy of longitude, but also over the neighbouring regions of central and northern Asia, the north of Europe and of America : over a very large portion of the globe, including every possible variety of heat and cold, eleva- tion and lowness, moisture and dryness, wood, marsh, and plain. That European "Creoles in the West Indies, in America, and in the East, have preserved their native features in all instances where no intermixture of blood has occurred, is proved by the uninterrupted experience of the Spaniards, Portuguese, and English, who have had foreign colonies, in * Dc G. JL Far. Nat. sect. iii. ^ 57. 334 DIFFERENCES OF climates most different to their own, longer than any other nation. If the Yakuts, which are now decidedly Mongolian in their features, had originally the Caucasian formation, and if the northern invaders of India have assumed the Hindoo countenance, the change must have been effected by inter- marriages. All who have visited India, and attentively ex- amined its various people, unanimously represent that the Afg'hauns and Mongols of pure blood are, at this moment, just as distinct in features from the Hindoos, as the parent races are in their original seats. Respecting the case of the Hungarians and Laplanders, if we admit their descent from one stock, which is pro- bable, let us next ascertain what the amount of the diffe- rences between them may be, and then inquire whether mixture witli otlier races may not have produced these. Blumenbach proceeds to observe, that the intermixture of races has a great effect in modifying the natural counte- nance ; and that the ancient Germans, the modern Gipsies, and the Jews, afford examples of peculiar and distinctive casts of countenance being preserved in every climate. These well-known facts are quite sufficient to overturn the hypotliesis which refers the differences of features to climate ; and a short examination of the races in any part of the world will soon supply numerous additional ones. Indeed, I do not know a single well-established fact or sound argument in its favour *. Some have even attempted to shew how climate might operate in producing national features. " En effet," says VoLNKY, " j'observe que la figure des Negres represente precisement cet etat de contraction que prend notre visage lorsqa'il est frappe par la lumiere et une forte reverberation de chaleur. Alors le sourcil le fronce ; la pomme des joues s'eleve ; la paupiere se serre ; la bouche fait la moue. Cette contraction, qui a lieu perpetuellement dans le pays nud et * Tills subject will be resumed in the chapter on the causes of the varieties of the human ?pccies. FEATURES AND SKULLS. 335 chaud des N(^gres, n'a-t-elle pas dii devenir le caractere propre dc leur figure*?" Unfortunately for these specu- lations, the Negro features occur in numerous tribes spread over a great extent of country, with various climates, and in many instances where the heat is by no means excessive: the character too is permanent, after any number of gene- rations, vrhen the Negroes are taken into otlier climes. Again, the most opposite features occur under similar cli- mates in different parts of the world. There are races with flattened countenances, as well as with narrow and elongated visages, in hot countries. The whole notion is, however, so fanciful and so unphilosophic, that it hardly deserves serious attention ; and I therefore regret to find that the idea is so far countenanced by an instructive writer on this subject, that he speaks of the numerous gnats which annoy the New Hollanders as contributing to the formation of their peculiar physiognomy. The custom of carrying the children on the back has been referred to, in order to explain the flat nose and swoln lips of the Negroo In the violent motions required in their hard labour, as in beating or pounding millet, &c., the face of the young one is said to be constantly thumping against the back of the mother. This account is seriously quoted by Blumenbach. The testimonies concerning the employment of pressure, in order to flatten the nose, are so numerous and circum- stantial, that we cannot doubt of the attempt being made. It is practised among the Negroes, Hottentots, Brasilians f, Sumatrans J, and South-Sea Islanders § : we have, however, * Voyage en Stjrie et Egijpte^ t. i. p. 74. + De Lery, Voyags.en la Terre du BresU ; pp. 98, 265. + Marsden, History of Sumatra ; p. 44. § " The figure of the nose seems to have been an object worthy the atten- tion of the midwives at Otaheite ; and since they are of opinion that a some- what broad flat nose is ornamental, they depress the nose immediately after the birth of the child, and repeat this action upon it while it is still tender." The women of the Hottentots Sfjueeze the noses of their children flat with their thinnb (Kolee, Dsscription of the Cape, of Good Hope; i. 5rms, that it greatly excited our astonishment. Many of them might very well have been placed by the side of the moit celebrated chef d'ceuvres of antiquity, and they would have lost nothing by the comparison.'' Lvngsdorff's Voyagas and Travels in various Parts of the TVorhl, v. i. p. 108. SOUTH-SEA 15JLANDERS. 315 Circumference of the upper part of the thigh .... 35 calf 171 ■ ankle at its smallest part ... 10 upper part of the arm 13| -^ lower ditto 13^ hand 1 li neck 16 0* The natives of New Holland f and Van Diemen's LandJ; are small in stature, with long and slender limbs : which seems to be owing in part to the bad quality and deficient quantity of their food (see p. 182). It is always of the least nutritious kind, and scarce ; and this scarcity is often aggravated to actual famine, under which the miserable natives are reduced to the appearance of spectres §, and probably often perish from inanition. With these differences in stature and proportions, we may reasonably expect to find various degrees of bodily strength combined. The Spaniards, in their first intercourse with the New World, found the natives, in general, much feebler than » Voyages and Travels in various Parts of the World, p. 109. " We were told," says Langsdorff, " that the chief of a neighbouring island, by name U PC A, with equally exact proportions as Mufah, was a head taller, so at least Roberts and Cabri both assured us : if they were correct, this man must be nearly seven Paris feet high." The vigour and activity of Mufau seem to have been equal to his stature: "though he had never, till now, been on board an European ship, he ran up the mainmast many times together of his own accord, and threw himself from it into the sea, to the great astonish- ment of the spectators. He had actually gone up one day with the intention of throwing himself from the topmast gallery, but Captain Krusenstern called him back, and would not permit it. It was impossible to see, without equal shuddering and astonishment, how he would spring from such a height, and balance himself in the air for some seconds, witli his feet drawn up against his body, so .is to keep his head up : from the force of the fall, and the great weight of his body, he came with so violent a plunge into the water, that several seconds elapsed before he again appeared on the surface." p. 170. + Collins, Account of the English Colony, &c. p. 553. Peron's Voy- age de Decouvertes ; i. \. tab. 20. X Cook, Voyage to the Pacific; v. i. p. 96. ^ Collins, lib. cit. Pero.v, v. i. p. 463, rt suiv. MG VARIETIES OF FIGURE. themselves ; and the inability of the former to sustain the severe labour of the mines, led to the introduction of Afri- can slaves, one of whom was equal to three or four Indi- ans *. In engagements between troop and troop, or man and man, the Virginians and Kentuckians have always shewn themselves stronger than the American savages f. Hearne, Mackenzie, Perouse, Lewis, Clarke, and others, have found the same inferiority of physical force in various parts of the North American continent. The testimony of Pallas respecting the Mongolian tribe of the Burats is very remarkable : " Their appearance is generally effeminate ; and they are mostly so small in stature and weak, that five or six Burats are often unable to effect what a single Russian can accomplish. This want of power is not the only circumstance which proves, in the Burats and other Siberian nomadic people, that a mere animal diet is unnatural, and incapable of maintaining in perfection the physical prerogatives of our species. The body in all these people is remarkably light in comparison to its size. You can raise and hold up the children with one hand, when those of the Russian boors of the same age could only be lifted with both hands. Even adult Burats, compared to the Russians, are astonishingly light ; so that the horses, which are not indeed powerful, when tired by a Russian rider, recover themselves if a Burat takes his place |. In order to procure some exact comparative results on this point, Peron took with him on his voyage an instru- ment called a dynamometre, so constructed, as to indicate, on a dial-plate, the relative force of individuals submitted to experiment. He directed his attention to the strength of the arms and of the loins, making trial with several indi- viduals of each kind, viz. twelve natives of Van Dieman*s * IIerrera, Dec. 1. lib. ix, cap. 5. + VoLNEY, Tableau des Etats-unis ; i. i. p. 447. X Sammlungcu Ilistor. Nac/iricht,p. 171-2. DIFFERENCES IN BODILY STRENGTH. 347 Land, seventeen of New Holland, fifty-six of the island of Timor, seventeen Frenchmen belonging to the expedition, and fourteen Englishmen in the colony of New South Wales. The following numbers express the mean result in each case ; but the details are all given in a tabular form in the original. STRENGTH ^_ — ^ of the Arms. of the Loins. Kilogrammes. Myria grammes. 1. Van Diemen's Land 50.6 2. New Holland 50.8 10.2 8. Timor 58.7 ^\.Q 4. French 69.2 15.2 5 English 71.4 16.3* The highest numbers in the first and second class were respectively, 60 and (^2 ; the lowest in the English trials, 63, and the highest 83, for the strength of the arms. In the power of the loins, the highest amongst the New Hollanders was 13, the lowest of the English 12.7, and the highest 12.3. These results offer the best answer to the declamations on the degeneracy of civilized man. The attribute of superior physical strength, so boldly assumed by the eulogists of the savage state, has never been questioned or doubted. Al- though we have been consoled for this supposed inferiority by an enumeration of the many precious benefits derived from civilization, it has always been felt as a somewhat degrading disadvantage. Bodily strength is a concomitant of good health, which is produced and supported by a regular sup- ply of wholesome and nutritious food, and by activ^e occu- pation. The industrious and well-fed middle classes of a civilized community may, therefore, reasonably be expected to surpass, in this endowment, the miserable savages, who are never well fed, and too frequently depressed by abso- lute want, and all other privations. * PiiitoN, Voyage^ t. 1. chap. 20. p. 440, et suiv. ; t. Additions and Cor- rections, p, 460, et suiv, 348 VARIKTIKS OF PROPORTION I In the first Section, Chap. V. I have pointed out a dif- ference between the structure of the human subject, and that of the monkey, in the relative length of the arm and fore-arm. The latter is always the shortest in man ; while the two are equal in our near neighbours, or the fore-arm is even tlie longest. The Negro holds, in this respect, a middle place, about equidistant from Europeans and monkeys. " I measured," says Mr. White, " the arms of about fifty Negroes, men, women, and children, born in very differ- ent climates, and found the lower-arm longer than in Eu- ropeans, in proportion to the upper-arm and to the height of the body. The first Negro on the list is one in the Lu- natic Hospital at Liverpool: his fore-arm measures 12 J* inches, and his stature is only 5 feet 10^ inches. I have measured a great number of white people, from that size up to 6 feet 4^ inches, and, among them, one who was said to have the longest arms of any man in England ; but none of them had a fore-arm equal to that of tlie black lunatic. " I have measured the arms of a great number of Euro- pean skeletons, and have found that the os humeri or upper arm exceeds in length the ulna, which is the longer bone of the fore-armj by 2 or 3 inches ; in none by less than 2, in one by not less than 6i inches. In my Negro skeleton the OS humeri is only la inch longer than the ulna. In Dr. Tyson's pigmy, the os humeri and ulna were of the same length ; and in my skeleton of a common monkey the ulna is f of an inch longer than the os humeri f." Of a Negro skeleton in the very valuable collection of Mr. Langstaff, the entire height is 5 feet 7| inches : the humerus measures 12 J inches, the ulna 11|. In the indi- vidual mentioned at p. 312, the upper-arm was 13 inches, the ulna 11^. * The ulna of the ^^iant in the College Museum is only one inch longer than this. See page 1 84. f White on the Regular Gradation; p. 52, and foilowin-. See also the tables, pp. 45 and 46. NEGRO LEGS, HANDS, AND FEET. 349 The comparative results of several measurements are placed in succession in the following list : — Stature. 1 1 Length of Os Humeri, Length of Ulna. Feet. Inches. Inches. Inches. 6 u 16 121 6" 1 154- IH 6 15 IH 5 91 14 11 5 7 124 10 5 H 12i lOA 5 121 91 5 4 13 94 5 121 81 5 8 13 91 5 5 121 10 5 101 15 12-^ 5 54- 131 111 5 8 13 121 5 12 101 4 11 11 91- 5 71 124 111 5 4 12-1 101 5 131 91 2 2 51 51 2 7 9 10 Less than 30 81 9 2 2 41 5 An Englishman Ditto Ditto Ditto Ditto Ditto Ditto Englishwoman Ditto European male skeleton . . Ditto A Negro, at the Lunatic Hospital, Liverpool .... Another, from Virginia . . Another, from the Gold Coast Another Negro skeleton Another A Lascar Venus de Medici Tyson's Chimpanse (Simia troglodytes) Mr. Abel's orang-utang . . Camper's ditto Mr. White's monkey .... The legs of the Hindoos are said to be long, and those of the Mongolian nations short, as compared with those of our own race. The ancients noticed that certain defects of form were very frequent in the legs of the Egyptians, Ethiopians, and Negro slaves. SoEMMERRiNG obscrvcs, that in the Negro the bones of the leg seem pushed outwards under the femoral condyles ; so that the knees appear rather further apart, and the feet are directed outwards. This is the case in both his Negro skeletons, and in more than twelve living Negroes whom he examined *. It is seen in the cast of the Negro belong- * yon iler Korperl. Vtrsch. ^ 42. 350 VARIETIES OF FIGURE, itig to the College Museum. The tibia and fibula are more convex in front than in Europeans * . The calves of the leg are very high, so as to encroach upon the hams. The feet and hands, but particularly the former, are llat ; the os calcis, instead of being arched, is continued in nearly a straight line with the other bones of the foot, which is re- markably broad. " Both hands and feet terminate in beau- tiful but very long, and therefore almost ape-like, fingers and toes ; and they had all sesamoid bones, which are cer- tainly rare in Europeans f ." " The only peculiarities,'' observes Winterbottom X, " which struck me in the black hand and foot, were the largeness of the latter, the thin- ness of the hand, and the flexibility of the fingers and toes.'' Unseemly thickness of the legs is not uncommon among the Negroes ; and the feet exhibit numerous chinks and fissures, which, as they occur principally in the soles, must probably be referred to the effect of the burning sands. In the sole of a healthy Negro, who died at Cassel, B lumen- bach found the epidermis " mirum in modum crassa, rimo- sa, et in multifidas lamellas dehiscens §." Peculiarities of form are traceable, in some instances, to particular practices. "The only and very common defect observable among the Calmucks (says Pallas) is curvature of the thighs and legs, arising from their sitting, even in the cradle, on a kind of saddle, in a riding attitude, and being accustomed to riding as soon as they are able to go alone II ." The curvature of the legs, which is found, not only in the Negroes, but in the Hindoos ^, Americans**, and in many * Mr. White has represented the bones of the leg and foot of the Negro and European in a comparative view : On the Regular Gradation, pi. 1, + SOEMMERRING, ibid. :f Jccount of the Native Africans, vol. ii. p. 257. ^ De Gen. Hum. Var. Nat. p. 246. note b. \ Snmmlungen, &c. th. I. p. 98. H This curvature of the leg and deficiency of the calf are represented to me, by that accomplished artist Mr, Daniel, as the only faults in the Indian form ; which he describes as very far exceeding that of Europeans in elegance and fine proportions. ** Chawalon, Voyage a la Martinique, p. 58. In the Pescherais of HANDS, FEET AND EARS. 351 other cases, arises from the practice of squatting ; that is, of resting the body on the lower limbs, the ankles and knees being bent to the utmost. The weight of the trunk in this attitude, which is painful and indeed insupportable to those who are not accustomed to it, rests on the back of the leg ; hence the form of the calf is spoiled by it. Smallness of, the hands and feet has been remarked by careful observers in many races. Thus it has been found, when the Hindoo sabres have been brought to England, that the gripe is too small for most European hands *. The Chinese were amused by the largeness and length of Mr. Abel's hands. He adds, " Those of all tlie Chinese, when compared to the hands of Europeans, are very small. When placed in mine, which are not excessively large, wrist against wrist, the ends of their fore-fingers scarcely extended beyond the first joints of minef." Mr. Chappell observes of the Eskimaux, that " the most surprising peculiarity of these people is the smallness of their hands and feet J." Humboldt says that " the Chaymas, like almost all the Native nations (of America) I have seen, have small slen- der hands §." Similar observations have been made re- specting the New 'Hollanders and Hottentots |1. Tierra del Fues^o, Forster observes that the lower limbs are by no means proportioned to the upper parts ; that the thighs are thin and lean, the legs bent, the knees large, and the toes turned inwards. Obs. made on a Voyage round the World, p. 251. Cook describes the Natives of Nootka Sound as having small, ill-made, and crooked limbs, with large feet badly shaped, and projecting ankles. He ascribes these circumstances to their sitting so much on their hams and knees. Voyage to the Pacific, v. 2, p. 303. Lewis and Clarke found broad, thick, flat feet, thick ankles, and crooked legs, in the Western-American tribes generally. They ascribe the latter deformity to the universal practice of squatting, or sitting on the calves of their legs and heels. Travels, chap. 23. * Hodges, Travels in India, p. 3. + Narrative of a Journey in the Interior of China, p. 91. :}: Narrative of a Voyage to Hudson'' s Bay, p. 59. ^ Personal Narrative, v. 3. p. 226. See also Ulloa, Noticias Ameri- canas; v. 2 ; and Morse's American Geography, v. I. jj Barrow's Southern Africa^ v. 1. p. 13T. 352 VARIETIES OF FIGURE. I am not acquainted with any natural differences in the form or size of the ears as characterizing the several races of men. It is well known that they stand off further from the head, and are in some degree moveable in savages ; also that the lobulus is enlarged and monstrously elongated by various artificial means in many instances. These practices may have given rise to the fables of some older writers con- cerning the enormous ears of certain people. In some instances, a slit is made in the external ear, pa- rallel to and near its circumference, and extending through almost its whole length. This is not only subservient to de- coration by holding ornaments, but is also converted to the convenient purpose of receiving knives or other useful articles *. The Brasilians inserted gourds in the slits of their ears, increasing the size until the fist could be put through, and the ears reached the shoulders. When they prepared for battle, these ornamental appendages were fastened behind the head f. CoNDAMiNE and Ulloa saw the lobuli extended to four or five inches in length, so as to touch the shoulders in many cases. The perforations were seventeen or eighteen lines in diameter X, Similar practices prevail extensively in the Asiatic and South-Sea Islands, where persons are seen with the lobuli reaching the shoulders, and having slits large enough for the hand to pass §. I shall shortly mention here some other modes of orna- mental bodily embellishment, which have been practised ♦ See portrait of a New-Zealander in Hawkes worth's Collection of Voy- ages, V. 3. pi. 13. Also pi. 11 . in the Atlas of Cook's Voyages to the Pacific. + Soothey's History ofBrasil, v. i. pp. 135, 136, and 631 note 36. I Memoires de V Acad, de Sciences ; 1745. p. 433. Travels in South Ame- rica,\.\. p. 395. A similar account is given by Adair, Hist, of the North- American Indians,^. 171. ^ FoRSTER, Obs. on a Voyage round the World, p. 592. A man at Tanna wore thirteen ear-rings of turtle-shell, an inch in diameter, and three quarters of an inch broad. Cook's Voy. towards the South Pole^ v. i. p 290, pi. 46 and 47. Man and woman of Easter Island, with elongated lobuli. EFFECTS OF ART — TATTOOING. 353 chiefly among tribes in a more or less rude state. The flat- tening of the forehead, the dyeing and filing of the teeth, have been ah-eady noticed : see Chapter IV. Sect. II. The operation of tattooing, or puncturing and staining the skin, has prevailed in various degrees in most parts of the world ; but it has been adopted most extensively and ^generally in the South-Sea Islands, where it is considered as highly ornamental. The art is carried to its greatest perfection in the Washington or New-Marquesas Islands ; where wealthy and powerful individuals are often covered with various designs from head to foot*. The elegance and symmetry of the tattooed figures are as much admired by them, as those of dress are by us. We may pardon their simplicity in attaching so much value to the multiplicity and arrangement of these punctures, when we consider that those satisfactory tests of personal merit, the stars, ribbons, and orders, of which more civilized men are so justly proud, are not yet known to them. " For performing the opera- tion, the artist uses the wing-bone of a tropic-bird (phaeton etherus,) which is rendered jagged and pointed at the end like a comb, sometimes in the form of a crescent, sometimes in a straight line, and larger or smaller accord- ing to the figures he designs to make. This instrument is fixed into a bamboo handle about as thick as the finger, with which the puncturer, by means of another cane, strikes so gently and dexterously, that it scarcely pierces through the skin. The principal strokes of the figures to be tattooed are first sketched u-on the body with the same dye that is afterwards rubbed into the punctures, to serve as guides in the use of the instrument. The punctures being made so that the blood and lymph ooze through the orifice, a thick dye, .composed of ashes from the kernel of the burning nut (aleurites triloba) mixed with water, is rub- bed in. This occasions at first a slight degree of smarting * Langsdorff's Voyages and Travels, &c. v. i. chap. 5. The dfsi«-ns, which are symmetrically arranged, and shew no inconsiderable taste, are exhibited in two plates, at pp. 119 and 122. See also Haukesworth's Collection, v. iii. pi. 13. for the tattooed head of a New Zealander. A A 354 VARIETIES OF FIGURE. and inflammation ; it then heals, and, when the crust comes off after some days, the bluish or blackish-blue figure appears." '^ When once the decorations are begun, some addition is constantly made to them at intervals of from three to six months ; and this is not unfrequently con- tinued for thirty or forty years, before the whole tattooing is completed. We saw some old men of the higher ranks, who were punctured over and over to such a degree, that the outlines of each separate figure were scarcely to be dis- tinguished, and the body had an almost Negro-like appear- ance. This is, according to the general idea, the height of perfection in ornament, probably because the cost of it has been very great, and it therefore shews a person of superlative wealth *." The colour of the tattooed figures resides in the cutis or true skin ; the cuticle is not affected. Contrary to what we should have inferred, from the generally-assumed prin- ciple of constant change in the component particles of ani- mal bodies, these marks are indelible ; they are neither ex- tinguished, nor rendered fainter by lapse of time, and can be got rid of only by excision. Another mode of ornamenting the skin by means of raised cicatrices is principally practised in Africa. Winter- bottom informs us, that in the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone it is peculiar to the female sex ; " that it is used upon the back, breast, abdomen, and arms, forming a va- riety of figures upon the skin, which appears as if embos- sed. The figures intended to be represented are first drawn upon the skin with a piece of stick dipped in wood-ashes, after which the line is divided by a sharp-pointed knife. The wound is then healed as quickly as possible, by wash- ing it with an infusion of bullanta." " These incisions or marks are generally made during childhood, and are very common on the Gold Coast, where each nation has its pe- culiar mode of ornamenting themselves, so that by the dis position of the marks it is easy to know which country the * Langsdorff, p. IIS— 120. EFFECTS OF ART TATTOOING. 355 person belongs to : for the most part, the females possess the greatest number of these painful ornaments *." In the recent voyage up the Congo, the embossed cica- trices were found a very common ornament. Captain TucKEY observed, on entering the river, " that all the visi- tors, whether Christians or idolaters, had figures raised on their skins in cicatrices f." As he proceeded further, he found that " the cicatrices or ornamental marks on the bodies of both men and women were much more raised than in the lower part of the river. The women in particular had their chest and belly, below the navel, embossed in a manner that must have cost them infinite pain X-" The septum narium is sometimes perforated, and a piece of bone or wood worn in the aperture, often of consider- able magnitude. But the most singular practice is that of the women on the north-west coast of America, who make a large horizontal slit in the lower lip, parallel to the open- ing of the lips, and penetrating into the mouth ; they wear in it ornaments of different kinds, but generally oval pieces of wood a little concave on the two surfaces, and grooved at the edge. The smallest of these additional mouths, as described by Vancouver §, was 2| inches long; the largest 3^1^ inches by U. Capt. .Dixon brought home one of the lip-ornaments, which measured 3^ inches by 2i. It was inlaid with a small pearly shell, and surrounded with a rim of copper ||. The natives of the neighbouring Fox Islands seem deter- * Account of the Native Africans ; v, i. p. 106 — 7. + Narrative of an Expedition, &c. p. 80, 124. t Ibid. p. 182 — 3. The custom is retained by the Black Caribs in the West Indies; Amic. in Journal de Physique, Aug. 1791. § Voyage, v. ii. p. 280. II Voyage, p. 208. Also pp. 172, 186. Perouse, Voyage, v. 2. p. 139 and following. Langsdorff's Voyages and Travels, v. ii. p. 115. The same practice exists in the Archipdago between America and Kams- chatka: Coxe's Account of the Russian Discoveries; 3d ed. pp. 34, 35, 104, 138, 176, 197. A A 2 S56 VARIETIES OF FIGURE. mined to unite all kinds of personal embellishment. " They make three incisions in the under lip ; they place in the mid- dle one a flat bone, or a small coloured stone ', and in each of the side-ones a long pointed piece of bone, which bends and reaches almost to the ears. They likewise make a hole through the gristle of the nose, into which they put a small piece of bone in such a manner as to keep the nostrils ex- tended. They also pierce holes in the ears, and wear in them what little ornaments they can procure*." The barbarous Chinese custom of contracting the feet of women, and the great extent to which their irrational pur- pose is accomplished, are well known. While the Euro- peans were expressing their surprise at such an absurdity, and pitying the sufferers, they were constantly permitting under their own eyes the equally, If not more pernicious practice of tight stays ; by which I have seen the figure of the thorax completely and permanently altered at its lower part f. When the male New-Hollanders approach the age of pu- berty, they have one of the front incisors of the upper jaw knocked out, with a curious set of ceremonies described and delineated by Mr. Collins J. The women of these people and of some others, particularly in the South Sea, are often seen to have lost one or two joints of the little finger. The exact nature and object of both these mutila- tions are not understood. Many travellers have spoken of the large and pendulous mammae of the females of certain barbarous tribes, particu- larly in Africa. There is no original differences in these cases ; the Hottentots and Negresses, previously to child- bearing, have bosoms as finely formed as any women ; but after this time the breasts become very loose and flaccid, * CoxE, p. 176, 177. A similar custom prevailed among the Brazilians* SouTHEY, History of Brazil^ v, i. p. 11. + These small-waisted damsels are placed by Li\n^,i.is among the monstrous varieties of our species ; '* junceae puellae, abdomine attennato, Europcre." ^ Account uf the English Colony, &c. Appendix; with eight illustrative engravings. SO that they can turn them under or over the shoulder, and suckle their infants on their backs. This practice, and that of long-continued suckling, probably tend to increase the elongation. In speaking of the Shangallas, Bruce says that "after a few days, when the child has gathered strength, the mother carries it in the same cloth upon her back, and gives it suck with her breast, which she throws over her shoulder ; this part being of such a length, as in some to reach almost to the knees */' Captain TucKEvf noticed the "pendent flaccidity of bosom" which belongs to the African women, and which is thought ornamental by the girls of the Zaire, or rather pro- moted by them as a token of womanhood J." Dr. SoMERViLLE § says that the breasts of the Hottentot women, at the time of puberty, " become long, round, and firm ; the nipple scarcely projecting from the areola, which is more extensive than in other females. Soon after this period, and particularly during utero-gestation, the nipples increase, and do not again entirely shrink. After one or two births, the breasts are flaccid, wrinkled, and pendulous, hanging down sometimes to the groins, like bags suspended from the neck." When the Hottentot Venus was stripped naked, " the breasts, which she used to raise and confine by her dress, shewed their large pendent masses, terminated by black areolae of more than four inches in breadth, and marked by radiated wrinkles Ij." Mr. Barrow, in speaking of the Namaaqua Hotten- tots, says that " the breasts are disgustingly large and pendent: the usual way of giving suck, w^hen the child is * Travels to the source of the Nile; 2d ed. v. iv. p. 35. + Expedition to explore, &c. pp. 18, 124. •^ '* Au Senegal les jeunes filles font leurs efforts pour falre tomber leur gorge afin qu'on les croye femmes, et qu'on les respecte d'avantage." Lami- RAL, VJfrique, p. 45. ^ Medico-Chirurgical Transactions^ s. vii. p, 157. j] CuviEU, in 3Icmoires du Museum d' Hist. Nat. t. ill. p. 265. 358 VARIETIES OF FIGURE carried on tlie back, is by throwing the breast over the shoulder *.'' Ulloa t observed Negresses in South America carrying their children on their backs, and passing the breasts to them for suckling under the arm or over the shoulder. This fact is reported by numerous and respectable travel- lers ; and has been confirmed to me so positively, both in the Negro and Hottentot races, by eye-witnesses, that I am surprised to find it contradicted by Dr. Winterbottom ; who says, '' I never saw an instance where women could suckle their children upon their backs, by throwing their breasts over their shoulders ; and it may be affirmed that such a circumstance would occasion as much astonishment on the western coast of Africa as it would in Europe |." This assertion is rather more general than could be war- ranted by the author's experience, which seems to have been principally confined to the Nova-Scotia Negroes, settled in Freetown, Sierra Leone. We can only infer from it;, there- fore, that the fulness and elongation of the breasts are not universal in the African race. Some of the accounts, indeed, bear an evident air of ex- aggeration: Bruce's expressions are rather strong: but what are we to think of the assertion that tobacco-pouches, manufactured from the breasts of the Hottentot females, are sold in great numbers at the Cape of Good Hope § ? On the other hand, similar conformations have been oc- casionally noticed in some European countries. " I saw, " says LiTHGOW, " in Ireland's north parts, women travayling the way, or toyling at home, carry their infants about their neckes, and laying the dugges over their shoulders, would give sucke to the babes behind their backes, without taking them in their armes : such kind of breasts, me thinketh, were very fit to be made money-bags for East or West-In- dian merchants, being more than halfe a yard long, and as * Travels in the Interior of S outturn Africa^ v. i. p. S90. + Travels in South America, v. i. p. 32. + Account of the Native Africans^ v. ii. p. 264. ^ ^lEvirzKhh Beschreibung des Forgebirges der guten Hoffnung ^ t. ii.p.564. MAMMJE ORGANS OF GENERATION. 359 well wrought as any tanner, in the like charge, could ever mollifie such leather *." A large size of the breasts has been observed in the Morlachian women by Fortis; and is alluded to by Juve- nal as a well-known circumstance, in speaking of the Egyptians : — *' In Meroe crasso majorem infante papillam," The Portuguese women of modern days are said to be re- markable in the same way ; while the Spaniards, in the last century at least, took pains to compress these parts, in order to prevent too great a luxuriance. To the disgrace of London, even in this pious age of so- cieties for suppressing vice and distributing Bibles, a philo- sophic foreigner has found in her streets a proof of the effects of too early venereal excitement in enlarging the breasts ; and has commemorated the fact in a classical work, which must convey the scandal over the whole learned world. " Contraria cura ambitum mammarum augeri posse nullum dubium est ; quantum vero prseterea Venus quoque prasmatura eo conferre possit memorabili sane exemplo im- puberes et nondum adultae puellae mercenariae docent, quae Londinum, praesertim ex vicinis maxime suburbiis conflu- unt, et quaestum corpore facientes ingenti numero plateas noctu pervagantur f." There are no essential differences in the organs of gene- ration : their construction and functions are the same in the various races of mankind. The Negroes, indeed, have ge- nerally been celebrated for the size of a principal member of this apparatus. " Nigritas mentulatiores esse vulgo fertur. Respondet sane huic asserto insignis apparatus genitalium ^Ethiopis, quem in supellectili mea anatomica servo. Num vero constans sit haec praerogativa et nationi propria nescio J." Two specimens in the College Museum strongly confirm the common opinion, which is also corro- * Rare Adventures and painefuU Peregrinations, p. 433. f Blusienbach de G. //. Var. Nat. sect. iii. § GT, t I^)'d. p. 240. 360 VARIETIES OF FIGURE. borated by Mr. White *, both from dissection and observa- tion of living Negroes. He mentions an instance wliere the part in question was found, on dissection, to be twelve inches long. In the living and dead Negroes whom I have seen, there has been no deviation in size from the European formation ; but I have never injected the part. Mr. White observes that many Negroes have no frsenum prseputii; and that in others it is small and imperfect f- It has been supposed that the Hottentot women have something peculiar in this part of their organization ; that they are distinguished from all other daughters of Eve, by being furnished with a natural fig-leaf of skin, produced from the lower and front part of the abdomen, and covering the sinus pudoris. It has been called a natural apron (tablier, Fr.; ventrale cutaneum ; schurze, Germ.) Al- though the native country of these females has been so much visited by Europeans from all quarters, for a long series of years, and the structure, according to ordinary descriptions, must be very recognizable, there is a singular discordance among travellers concerning this interesting point in natural history. Some affirm, others altogether deny its existence ; and of the former, hardly any two agree in the precise nature of the peculiarity ; some referring it to the labia, some to the nymphse, others to a peculiar or- ganization ; some deeming it natural, others artificial. This discordance is accounted for, in great measure, by two circumstances. First, that the peculiar organization is not visible in the ordinary attitude of the body, being con- cealed between the thighs X ; and, secondly, that it is con- fined to a particular tribe. It does not exist in the Negroes where the female organs of generation differ from the Euro- * On the Regular Gradation, p. 61. + Ibid. p. 62. Tyson states that the chimpanse h.ad no fia>nuin ; Anat. of a Pigmie, p. 45. The exact structure of this part is not mentioned by Camper. X The Hottentot Venus displayed her charms to the French savans at the Jardin du Roi, where " she had the complaisance to undress herself, that she ORGANS OF GENERATION. 3G1 pean only in colour, in the Kaffers, the Booshuanas, at least not in a conspicuous degree, or in the Hottentots gene- rally ; but it belongs to that particular tribe of Hottentots who are called Bosjesmen, or Boschismen. This name, which is equivalent to Bushmen, was given by the Dutch to a diminutive race, strongly resembling the Hottentots in general formation. They are wild and fugi- tive beings, frequently engaged in rapine and plunder, and retiring for security into deserts and thickets 5 whence their name seems to have been derived *. Perpetual warfare subsisted between these Bushmen and the Dutch, who hunted and destroyed them with as little ceremony as the other wild game of the country. That they remained in the most savage state, and were very rarely seen in the Dutch colony, is easily understood from these circumstances. On the authority of Le VAiLLANxf, and of drawings communicated to him by Sir Jos. Banks, Blumenbach J describes the peculiarity to consist in an elongation of the labia, and represents it as produced by artificial means. More careful and accurate examinations, both in Africa and Europe, have proved most clearly that it resides in the nymphae, which acquire a length of some inches, and that the formation is natural. Sonnerat had already represented the matter nearly cor- rectly. " Le tablier fabuleux qu'on pr^te a leurs femmes, et qu'on dit leur avoir ete donn^ par la nature, n'a point de reality ; il est vrai qu'on apergoit dans certaines une ex- might be drawn naked. On this occasion, the most remarkable peculiarity of lier formation was not observed : she kept her ' tablier' carefully con- cealed, cither between her thighs, or still more deeply 5 and it was not known, till after her death, that she possessed it." Cuvier, Memoires du Museum I p. 264 — 5. * Cuvier says they .were called Bushmen " parce qu'ils ont coutume de se faire des esp^ces de nids dans des toufles de brousaillcs." Where lie heard of these human nests I cannot conjecture. Mr. Barrow simply states " that they are known in the colony by the name of Bosjesmans, or men of the bushes, from the concealed manner in which they make their approaches to kill and to plunder." Travels in South Africa^ v. i. p. 234. + Voyege dans V Intcrieur d'Jfnque^ p. 371. X De G. H. Vai. Nat. sect. iii. ^ 68. 362 VARIETIES OF FIGURE crolssance des nymphes qui quelquefois pend de six pouces mais c'est une phenomene particulier, dont on ne peut pas, faire une ret^le generale *." " Tlie well-known story, " says Mr. Barrow, " of the Hottentot women possessing an unusual appendage to those parts that are seldom exposed to view, which belonged not to the sex in general, is perfectly true with regard to the Bosjcsmans. The horde we had met with possessed it to a woman ; and, without the least offence to modesty, there was no difficulty in satisfying curiosity. It appeared, on ex- amination, to be an elongation of the nymphae or interior labia, more or less extended according to the age or habit of the person. In infancy it is just apparent, and in general may be said to increase in length, with age. The longest that was measured somewhat exceeded five inches, which was in a subject of a middle age. Many were said to have them much longer. These protruded nymphee, col- lapsed and pendent, appear at first view to belong to the other sex. Their colour is that of livid blue, inclining to a reddish tint, not unlike the excrescence on the beak of a turkey, which indeed may serve to convey a tolerably good idea of the whole appearance, both as to colour, shape, and size. The interior lips or nymphae in European subjects, which are corrugated or plaited, lose entirely that part of their character, when brought out in the Hottentot, and become perfectly smooth. Though in the latter state they may possess none of those stimulating qualities, for which some anatomists have supposed nature to have formed them, tliey have at least the advantage of serving as a protection against violence from the other sex ; it seeming next to impossible for a man to cohabit with one of these women without her consent, or even assistance f." Mr. Barrow adds, that " the elongated nymphae are found in all Hottentot women ; only they are shorter in those of the colony, seldom exceeding three inches, and, in * Voyage dans les Indes Orient ales ^ t. ii, p. 93. + Travels into the Interior of Southern Jfrica, v. i. {}. 21S — 9. ORGANS OF GENERATION. 363 many subjects, merely appearing as a projecting orifice, or an elliptical tube of an inch or less in length. In the has- taard (offspring of European father and Hottentot mother) it ceases to appear *.'' He observes again, of the Namaa- quas, that " they had the same conformation of certain parts of the body as the Bosjesman women, and other Hot- tentots; in a less degree, however, than is usual in the former, and more so than in those of the latter f. This account is fully confirmed by the accurate descrip- tions of Dr. SoMERViLLE J, who speaks from ample oppor- tunities of observation and dissection. He states, that the mons veneris is less prominent than in Europeans ; and either destitute of hair, or thinly covered by a small quantity of a soft woolly nature ; that the labia are very small, inso- much that they seem sometimes to be almost deficient : that the loose, pendulous, and rugous growth, which hangs from the pudendum, is a double fold, and proved by the situation of the clitoris, at the commissure of these folds, as well as by all other circumstances, to be the nymphae ; and that they descend in some cases five inches § below the margin of the labia. The description, by Cuvier ||, of the individual exhibited in London and Paris, under the name of the Hottentot Venus, agrees entirely with Dr. Somerville's account. He found the labia small ; a single prominence descended be- tween them towards the upper part : it divided into two lateral portions, which passed along the sides of the vagina to the inferior angle of the labia. The whole length was about four inches. This formation has often been ascribed to artificial elonga- * Travels into the Interior of Southern Africa, p.28()— 1. + Ibid. 389. X Medico-Chirurgical Transactions, v. \n. p. 157. § In one of Blumenbach's drawings, the length is 6| inches (Rhynland measure). Vaillant speaks of their reaching 9 inches. 11 3Iem. du Museum, t. iii. p. 266. When Peron visited the Cape of Good Hope, he turned his attention to this subject; but his statements, as contained in the second volume of the Voyage dcs Decouvertcs, &c. chap. 34, publitshed after his death, are quite erroneous-. 364 VARIHTIKS OF FIGURE. tion. " The testimony of the people themselves/' says Mr. Barro^y, " who have no other idea than that the whole human race is so formed, is sufficient to contradict such a supposition ; but many other proofs might be ad- duced to shew that the assertion is without any foundation in truth. Numbers of Bosjesman women are now in the colony, who were taken from their mothers when infants, and brought up by the farmers, who, from the day of their captivity, never had any intercourse whatsoever with their countrymen, nor knew, except from report, to what tribe or nation they belong ; yet all these have the same confor- mation of the parts naturally, and without any forced means ■^. Dr. SoMERViLLE observcs, that if any practice of elonga- ting the nymphge had existed among the Hottentots, it could not have escaped his knowledge ; that they do not wn'sh to have them long, nor take any pains for that purpose. They who have them longest are not thought the more beau- tiful ; nor are those slighted in whom they are short f. This extension of the nymphse in the Bosjesman and Hottentot females will appear the less remarkable, when we consider that their size varies in Europeans ; that they often project beyond the labia, and are of an inconvenient length. A considerable developement of these organs is more com- mon in warm climates ; and has been noticed in the Ne- groes, Moors, and Copts, among whom it has been the practice for females to be circumcised J. This point is even * Travels, &c. p. 279, 280. + Lib.cit. p. 158. X In the Appendix, No. 1. entitled " An Account of Circumcision as it is practised on the windward Coast of Africa/' to the second volume of his very interesting Account of the Native Africans, Dr. Winterbotto:iI in- forms us, that this operation is performed on the females as well as the m:iles, and that it is equally common to both sexes in many parts of Arabia ; at Bag- dad, Aleppo, and Surat, in Egypt, Abyssinia, and the neighbouring countries. " Among tiie INIahommedan Nations on this part of the coast (Sierra Leone), the operation consists in removing the nymphae, together with the prseputium clitoridis ; not the clitoris itself, as has been imagined." p. 239. Brlce, who gives a similar account of the circumcision, or, as he calls it, excision, prac' tiscd in Abyssinia, refers the origin of the custom to a natural redundancy, or ORGANS OF GENERATION. 365 noticed by Pliny. When the Abyssinians were converted to Christianity, in the sixteenth century, the Catholic mis- sionaries thought tit to forbid circumcision, deeming it a relic of Judaism. As the taste of the men had been formed on the old practice, they did not approve this innovation, and the Catholic girls found that they should get no husbands. In this dilemma, the College of the Propaganda sent a sur- geon from Rome to examine and report ; and, in conse- quence of his statement, the Pope authorized a renewal of the ancient custom. Although it is not immediately connected with the gene- rative organs, I may mention here another striking peculi- arity in the same women : I mean the vast masses of fat accumulated on their buttocks, and giving to them the appearance of extraordinary and unnatural appendages. " The great curvature of the spine inwards, and extended posteriors, are characteristic of the whole Hottentot race ; but in some of the small Bosjesmans they are carried to a most extravagant degree." — " The projection of the poste- rior part of the body, in one subject, measured five inches and a half from a line touching the spine. This protube- rance consisted of fat, and when the woman walked, had the most ridiculous appearance imaginable, every step being accompanied with a quivering and tremulous motion, as if two masses of jelly were attached behind*." The vibration of these substances at every movement was very striking in tlie Hottentot Venus : they were quite soft to the feel. She measured more than eighteen inches (French^ across the haunches ; and the projection of the hips exceeded six inches. Dr. SoMERViLLE found, on dissection, that the size of the buttocks arose from a vast mass of fat interposed be- exccss of the parts on r;hich it is performed. Dr. Winterbottom, however, asserts, that on the windward coast of Africa there is no physical reason for it ; the redundancy mentioned by Bruce, being more rarely met with in these countries than in Europe ; and where the custom of circumcision is unknown, which is probably over the greater part of the continent, no complaint is made on this head." p. 241. * Barrow, lib. clt. p. 281. 366 FABULOUS VARIETIES. tween the skin and muscles ; and that it equalled four fingers breadth in thickness *. Cuvier f describes the pro- tuberance to be produced by a mass of fat, traversed in vari- ous directions by strong cellular threads, and easily removed from the glutei. The Hottentot Venus stated that this deposi- tion of fat does not take place till the first pregnancy ; and this statement is confirmed by the testimony of Mr. Barrow J. It seems almost superfluous to add, that the sacrum and OS coccygis have the same size, figure, and direction in these as in other females ; that the latter bone is not turned backwards, much less prolonged into any resemblance or even approach to a tail. If the Negroes and Hottentots approximate in some points to the structure of the monkey kind, as they very certainly do, this particular of the elongated nymphas is ra- ther an instance of the opposite description : for the corres- ponding cutaneous folds are barely visible in the simiae. The tremulous masses of fat, with which the glutei are loaded, constitute^ on the contrary, according to Cuvier § , " a striking resemblance to those which appear in the female mandrills, baboons, &c. ; and which assume, at certain epochs of their life, a truly monstrous developement.'' The most analogous animal structure, however, is that of the sheep, of which such vast and numerous flocks are reared by the pastoral tribes of Asia. In this variety a large mass of fat covers the buttocks, occupying the place of the tail ; the protuberance is smooth or naked below, and appears when viewed behind as a double hemisphere, the coccyx being just perceptible to the touch in the notch between the two. It consists merely of fat ; and fluctuates in walking, when very large, like the buttocks of the Hot- tentots. The mass sometimes reaches the weight of thirty or forty pounds. Pallas ||, who has described this breed * Barrow, lib. cit. p. 160. + Ibid. p. 269. t Ibid. p. 1 58. h Li^' "■'• P' 268. II Spicilegia Zoologica ; fascic. U. p. 63, et seq. There are breeds of sheep in Persia, Syria, Palestine, and some parts of FABULOUS VARIETIES. 367 of sheep very well, calls it ovis steatopyga, or fat-buttocked sheep. The peculiarity is lost by crossing the breed with other sheep ; and it becomes considerably diminished, when the animals, being purchased by the Russians and conveyed to their towns, quit their native pastures, and change their mode of life As this fat-buttocked sheep is universally held to be a mere variety, we cannot deem the analogous structure of the Bosjesmen and Hottentots to aiford any adequate ground for referring those tribes of human beings to a distinct spe- cies. The developement of the nymphse, and the other va- rieties enumerated in this chapter, are merely analogous to the variations observed in corresponding points among our domestic animals. The works of the older cosmographers, and even the nar- ratives of comparatively recent travellers, make mention of human varieties much more remarkable than any which I have recounted. Such are the African Blemmycs, or people without heads ; the Arimaspi and Cyclops, with one eye ; the Monosceli, with one leg; the giants and pigmies, the Monorchides, the Anorchides, Triorchides, Hermaphro- dites *, the Cynocephali, Cynomolgi, &c. &c. which are spoken of by Herodotus, Pliny, Pomponius Mela, Ptolemy, and many others. The proverbial licence as- sumed by travellers, their ignorance or disposition to deceive, their carelessness in receiving or communicating facts, and the credulity and love of the marvellous in their readers, are all favourable to the production and diffusion of such stories. In proportion as distant regions become well known, such monstrosities disappear; and the progress of natural know- ledge will gradually consign all these marvellous tales to ob- livion. The great mass of information, which we now pos- sess, concerning the animal creation in general, respecting Africa, in which the tail is not deficient as in the ovis steatopyga, but retains Hs usual length, and becomes loaded with fat. * I have considered this subject in the article ' Generation' of Dr. Rees's Cyclopcedia, , 3G8 FABULOUS VARIETIES. afford us critical rules, by which the truth or falsehood of any extraordinary narratives can be easily and certainly de- termined. We need not Xvasteany more time on the fabu- lous varieties above alluded to : yet there is one, which has found believers even in our own times : I allude to the men with tails, who having been again and again spoken of by various authors, were defended and patronized not long ago by Lord Monboddo. Not to mention, that the exis- tence of a tail in man would be quite inconsistent with aU the rest of his structure, and more particularly with all the arrangements both of the hard and soft parts composing or contained in the pelvis, we may observe that nearly all, who have spoken of the homines caudati, do so, not from their own observation, but from the reports or information of others. While, on the other hand, they who pretend to have had occular testimony of the fact, mention it in such a manner, and with such circumstances, as obviously to destroy their own credit ; and they differ most widely from each other ev^en when speaking of th? same people*. Again, the most intelligent and accurate travellers, in de- scribing the same people, either make no mention of the prodigy, or else characterize it as a pure fiction. Thus, instead of finding the existence of any race of men with tails authenticated by credible witnesses, there is no example even of a single family displaying such an anomaly, although there are well-known instances of families with six fingers on each hand. * These remarks are exemplified by Blumenbach, in the statements >vhich have been published concerning the tails of the Formosans: I>e G. H. far. Nat. sect. iii. § 76. lie also succeeded in tracinj^ to its source the en- graved representation of a man with a tail, and in proving that it was ori- ginally the figure of a monkey, transmitted from one author to another, and humanized a little at each step. Martini, in his version of Buffon, took a plate from the Amocnitates of Lintv,eus ; who took it from Aldrovandus, who took it from Gesner, who took it from a German description of the Holy Land {Reyss in das Gelobte Land; Mentz, 1486), in which it re- presents a quadrumanous monkey, which, with other exotic animals, was seen in (he journey. This quadrumanous simia had been gradually trans- formed, by those who successively copied the engravings, into a human two- lianded being. Ibid, note p. 571. DIFFERENCES OF STATURE. 369 The consideration of monstrous productions belongs to pathology and pliysiology, rather t^^an to the natural history of our species. I have given a description of them, with some remarks on their production, in the fifth volume of the Medico-chirurgical Transactions. CHAPTER VI. Differences of Stature. — Origin and Transmission of Varieties in Form. No part of the natural history of man has been more con- fused and disgraced by fables and hyperbolical exaggera- tion, than the present division. Not to mention the pig- mies and giants of antiquity, the bones of different large animals, ascribed to human subjects of immoderate'stature, even by such men as Buffon, sufficiently prove our asser- tion. The accuracy of modern investigation has, however, so completely exposed the extravagance of such suppositions, that they do not require very detailed consideration. There is no fixed law determining invariably the human stature ; although there is a standard, as in other species of animals, from which the deviations, independently of dis- ease or accident, are not very considerable in either direc- tion. In the temperate climates of Europe, the height of the human race varies from four feet and a half to six feet. In dividuals of six feet and some inches are not uncommon in this and other European countries. Occasional instances have been known, .in various parts of the world, of men reaching the height of seven, eight, or even nine feet; and ancient, and even modern authors, speak of the human sta- ture reaching ten, and even eighteen feet. The latter re- presentations are grounded on large bones dug out of the earth. These, together with the common propensity to believe and report what is marvellous, and the notion that B B 370 DIFFERENCES OF STATURE. mankind have undergone a physical as well moral degene- racy since their first formation, have led to a very common belief that the human stature in general is at this period less than it was in remote ages *. We are warranted in suspect- ing the accounts of such great elevation above the ordinary stature in the human species, by observing that nature, within the time of v/liich we have any authentic records, exhibits no such disproportions in other species. We find, too, that the height of these giants is reduced, as we ap- proach modern times, to what we have opportunities of observing now; so that we may probably affirm, that no sufliciently authenticated example can be adduced of a man higher than eight or nine feet. The large bones, on which the notions about giants have been in many instances founded, have been discovered, by the accurate examinations of modern science, to belong to extinct species of animals of jtlie elephant and other allied kinds. Of the loose and unphllosophical manner, in which these matters have generally been inquired into, we have a specimen in the supposed bones of a barbarian king. Kabicot, an anatomist of some celebrity, in a work, entitled Gigautosteologia, describes some huge bones found near the ruins of the castle of Chaumont in Dauphiny, in a sepul- chre, over which was a grey stone, inscribed " Teutoboc- CHUS Rex." This skeleton, he says, was twenty -five feet and a half high, and ten feet broad at the shoulders. Rio- LAN, in his Gigantomachia, disputes this measurement, and ailftrms that the bones belong to tlie elephant. In the long controversy which ensued, it never occurred to either of the learned disputants to describe or represent the bones exactly. It is surprising that Buffon should have figured and described the fossil bones of large animals as remains of human giants, in the supplement f of his classical work. * The notion of diminished stature and strength seems to have been just as prevalent in ancient times as at present. Plixy observes of the human height, " Cuncto mortalium generi niinorcm indies fieri ;"' vii. 16. A most alarming prospect, if it had been wtll founded. Homer more than once makes a \eTy disparaging comparison of his own degenerate cotemporaries to (he powerful heroes of the Trojan -\var. + Tom. v. DIFFERENCES OF STATURE. 871 Together with others, he mentions those dug'up at Lucerne, in the sixteenth century, and still preserved tliere. Blu- MENBACH found thcsc, on the first view, to be elephants' bones. Felix Plater, an excellent physician and anato- mist of his time, after carefully examining and measuring these bones, declared that they belonged to a human giant of seventeen feet ; and had a drawing made of this skele- ton, according to his opinion of its dimensions; which draw- ing is still preserved in the Jesuits' College at Lucerne f. That men in general were taller in the early ages of the world than at present, or that examples of very tall men were then more frequent than now, has been asserted with- out any proof. The remains of human bones, and particu- larly the teeth, which are unchanged in the most ancient urns and burial-places, the mummies, and the sarcophagus of the great pyramid of Egypt, demonstrate this point clearly ; and every fact which we can collect, from ancient works of art, from armour, as helmets and breast-plates, or from buildings designed for the abode and accommodation of men, concurs in strengthening the proof. Blumenbach has the skull and bones of an old person taken out of a burial-place of the most remote antiquity of Denmark (ex antiquissimo tumulo Cimbrico), and corresponding in size to the modern standard. That we cannot have degenerated in consequence of the habits of civilized society is clear, be- cause the individuals of nations living in a way so different from us, as the native Americans, Africans, and South Sea Islanders, &c. do not exceed us in stature. Indeed, it has been generally observed of these races, that they are shorter than the Europeans. In mentioning individuals who have exceeded the ordi- nary height, it is necessary to confine ourselves, in order to avoid what may be fabulous or exaggerated, to instances in our own times. One of the King of Prussia's gigantic guards, a Swede, measured 8| feet ; and a yeoman of the Duke John Frederic, at Brunswick Hanover, was of the * Dc G. IT. Far. IVnf. p. 251. BB 2 372 DIFFERENCES OF STATURE. same height. Gilly, who was exhibited as a show, mea- sured 8 feet (Swedish*). J. H. Reichardt, of Friedberg near Frankfort, was 8 feet 3 inches : his father and sister were both gigantic f. Several Irishmen, measuring from 7 to 8 feet and upwards, have been exhibited in this country. The individual whose skeleton is in the College Museum was 8 feet 4 inches. A female of Stargard, named La Pierre, was 7 f'^^t (Danish t). Martin Salmeron, a well-proportioned Mexican giant, the son of a Mestizo by an Indian woman, measures 7 feet 3| inches, and is well proportioned §. Bebe, the dwarf of Stanislaus, King of Poland, was 33 inches (French), and well-proportioned. His spine became curved as he approached manhood ; he grew weak, and died at twenty-three ||. The Polish nobleman, Borwlaski, who was well-made, clever, and skilled in languages, measured 28 Paris inches. He had a brother of 34 inches, and a sister of 21 ^[. A Friesland peasant at twenty-six years of age had reached 29 Amsterdam inches. C. H. Stoberin, of Nu- remberg, was nearly 3 feet high at twenty, well propor- tioned, and possessed of talents. Her parents, brothers, and sisters, were dwarfs **. Of numerous other instances on record, most seem to have been diseased, and particularly rickety individuals ; so that they may be classed among pathological phenomena. The men who have considerably exceeded the ordinary standard, have neither possessed those proportions in their form which we account elegant, nor has their strength by • jibhandl. der Konigl. Schvced. Akademie ; 1765. p. 319. + LuDWiG Naturgeschichte der Menschen-Species, p. 151. X Ibid. See also Haller, Eltm. P/iysiol. Vih. SO. sect. 1. ^ 17. ^ Humboldt's Political Essay, book ii. chap. 6. II BuFFON, Hist. Nat. t. 15. p. 176. H Memoirs of the celebrated Dwarf, Jos. Boriclaski, &c. Lond. 178S. ** Lavater's Physiognom. Fragment. 4. p. 72. Ludwig Naturges- chichte, &c. p. 154. D!Fb"ERKN( ES OF STATURE. 3/3 any means corresponded to their size. The head, in these cases^ is below the ratio wliich it should bear to the body, according to vvliat we deduce from men of ordinary stature : hence the brain must be comparatively smaller. It is a general observation, that very large men are seldom dis- tinguished by extent or force of mental power. The dwarfs, again, are mostly ill-made ; the head, in particular, is too large. There are very few instances of what we can deem healthy well-made men, with all the proper attributes of the race, much below the general standard. Some varieties of the human race exceed, and others fall short of, the ordinary stature in a small degree. The source of these deviations is in the breed ; they are quite inde- pendent of external inBuences. In all the five human varieties, some tribes and nations are conspicuous for height and strength ; others, for lower stature, and Inferior mus- cular power. But in no case is the peculiarity, whether of tallness or shortness, confined to any particular temperature, climate, situation, or mode of life. In the Caucasian variety, there are no strongly-marked deviations from the ordinary standard, in either direction. Some parts of Sweden and Switzerland, the mountains of tlie Tyrol and Salzburg, are rather distinguished for the tall- ness of their inhabitants ; while the Finnish race in the north of Europe may be short in the same proportion. The ancient Germans were remarked for their great stature : " magna corpora" is the expression of Tacitus, which is also corroborated by the testimony of Caesar. Large bodies and limbs, as well as undaunted courage, are the attributes assigned to them by Pomponius Mela; " immanes animis et corporibus." We have no data for determining their precise stature : there is, how^ever, no proof that it exceeded the tallest of the present German races, so that some of their finest and most robust men may have somewhat exceeded six feet. Modern Saxony and the Tyrol could probably furnish an equal proportion of such individuals. The Inhabitants of America exhibit more conspicuous 371 DIFFKRENCES OF STATURE. exHinplcs both of tall and sliort races. Ulloa observes of the Peruvians, that men and women are generally low, but well- proportioned *. Cook calls the Pecherais of Tierra del Fuego "a little, ugly, half-starved race 3" and adds, " I did not see a tall person among them f." The Western American tribes of Nootka Sound, near the Columbia, and further north, are described by Cook J, Lewis, and Clarke §, as low in stature. •'The Chaymas of South America," says Humboldt, " are in general short ; and they appear so particularly, when compared, I shall not say with their neighbours the Carib- bees, or with the Payaguas or Guayquilits of Paraguay, equally remarkable for their stature, but with the ordinary natives of America. The common stature of a Chayma is ]. 57 met. or 4 feet 10 inches French (about 5 feet 2 inches English). Their body is thick-set, shoulders extremely broad, and breasts flat. All their limbs are round and fleshy II ." He adds, in a note, that " the ordinary stature of the Guayquilits or Mbayas, who live between 2(f and 22° south latitude, is, according to Azzara, 1. 84 met. or 5 feet 8 inches French (6 feet j inch English). The Payaguas, equally tall, have given their name to Payaguay or Paraguay." The same accurate observer informs us, respecting the Ca- rlbbees of Cumana, that they are distinguished by their almost gigantic size from all the other nations he has seen in the New World %. Among the native tribes in the cold regions north of Ca- nada, Mr. Hearne** saw individuals of 6 feet 3 and 4 inches. Mr. Bartram found the Muscogulges and Cherokees of * Voyage to South America, v. i, p. '267. + Cook's Voyage toivards the South Pole ; v. ii. p. 183. Also Forsteh Obs. on a Voyage round the World ; p. 250. t Voyage to the Pacific; v. ii. pp.301, 366. ^ Travels to the Source of the Blissouri, cli. 23. II Personal Narrative, v.iii. pp. 222, 223. H Persortal Narrative, v. iii. p. 286. *» Journey to the Frozen Ocean; p. 351, note. DIFFERENCES OF STATURE. 375 North America, between 31^ and 35° north latitude, taller than Europeans ; many being* above 6 feet, and few under 5 feet 8 or 10 inches *. The Patagonians f, or, according to their indigenous name, the Tehuels, who occupy the south-eastern part of South America, have been the most celebrated for their colossal stature ; and really seem to be the tallest race of human beings. Their height, however, has been exagge- rated by some, while others have denied that it exceeded the ordinary standard. Pigafetta X^ who accompanied Magalhaens on the first circumnavigation of the globe, gives them the height of 8 Spanish feet (7 feet 4 inches English). Subsequently to this period, for two centuries and a half, the narratives of European travellers are so strangely contradictory and inconsistent with each other on the subject of these Patagonians, that they afford a lesson inculcating most strongly the necessity of caution and diffi- dence in employing such reports §. It is sufficient for the present purpose to represent what appears the probable state of the case, after weighing and critically considering the most unexceptionable testimonies. The Patagonians seem to be a tall but not gigantic race, and to possess a remarkably muscular frame. The only indi- viduals ever seen in Europe were brought to Spain towards the end of the sixteenth century, and seen at Seville by the * Ti-nvcls, p. 482. + The name of Patagonians is said by BLu:iiENBACH to have been given to them by the Spaniards, berause they deemed them allied to the neighbouring tribe of Chonos, and from their lower limbs being covered with gnanaco skins, so as to resemble the hairy legs of animals, which are called in Spanish, patas. De G. H. Far. Nat. p. 254. t Viaggio /florno il 3Iondo, in the Collection of Ramusio, v. i. p. 358. §The opposing testimonies of various Spanish, French, English, and Dutch navigators, who have spoken of the Patagonians, from the time of their being first noticed by Pigafetta, to the voyages in the last century, are brought together in the French Histoire des Navigations aux Terres Australes ; and the statement may he seen in English, in Dr. Haw kesworth's general intro. duction to the accoynt of the voyages undertaken by order of his Majesty, &c. 3 vols. 4lo. 376 DIFFERENCES nF STATURE. classical traveller Van Linschoten, who says they were well-formed and large in the body. The variety in the statements of different travellers makes it difficult to assign any particular height ; but we are authorised in representing • it as commonly reaching 6 feet, being often 5 or 6 inches higher, and sometimes even 7 feet. Bougainville says that none were under 5 feet 6 inches, and none over 5 feet 1 1 inches ; which, in English measure, are about 5 feet 11 and 6 feet 4^ inches *. Commerson -f, however, who was with him, makes some of the highest 6 feet 4 inches (6 feet 9-10 Eng.). Bougainville says that their broad shoulders, large head, and stout limbs, made them appear like giants. They were robust and well made, with strong muscles, firm and compact flesh. Commodore Byron says of one who appeared to be the chief of the party, " I did not measure him ; but if I may judge of his height by the proportion of his stature to my own, it could not be much less than 7 feet X- An English- man of 6 feet 2 inches appeared among them as a pigmy among giants. They were large and muscular in pro- portion §. Captain Wallis measured several of them carefully: one of them was 6 feet 7 inches : several were 6 feet 5 inches, and 6 feet 6 inches, but the stature of the greater part was from 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet Ij. Carteret's ^ statement coincides with this. « Voy. autour du Monde, 4to. p. 126. The crew of the Etoile had seen several, in a preceding voyage, 6 feet high (nearly 6 feet 5 English). Ibid. De I.A GiRAODAis represented the least of those he saw, in 1766, as 5 feet 7 inches French, or more than 5 feet 1 1 inches English. Pernetty's //2S<. of a Voyage to the Falkland Islands, p. 288. The least of those seen by Doclos Guyot were of the same size ; the rest considerably taller. Ibid. p. 273. + Letter to Lalande in the Journal Enclopedique, 1772. ■^ Hawkesworth's Collection of Voyages, \. i. p. 28. ^ Ibid. p. 32. II Ibid. p. 374. H Philosophical Transactions, v. 60. " We measured the height of many of these people : they were in general all from 6 feet to 6 feet 5 inches, al- DlFFEllKNCES OF STATURE. 377 Falkner, who lived some time in the country, describes the Cacique Cangapol as 7 feet some inclies high. When standing on tip-toe, he couhl not reach to the top of his head. He did not recollect ever to have seen an Indian above an inch or two taller than Cangapol *. The stature of the Patagonians was measured with great accuracy by the Spanish officers in 1785 and 6 : they found the common height to be 6^ to 7 feet; and the highest was 7 feet H i»ch f. Falkner says that this tribe, which he calls Puelches, live inland. When we consider this fact, and that their habits are wandering, we shall not be surprised that some of those who have visited the coast have not met with them ; but have found, instead of the tall Patagonians, Americans of ordinary stature belonging to other neigh- bouring tribes. After surveying the tall and muscular frames of the Pata- gonians, Caribbees, Cherokees, and many other American tribes, what shall we think of the notion brought forward and defended by many learned men, including even a Buffon and a Robertson, that the New World is unfavourable to the formation and full developement of animal existence ? The former writer asserts, that the animals common to the Old and New World are smaller in the latter; that those peculiar to the New are all on a smaller scale ; that those which have been domesticated in both, have degenerated in America ; and that, on the whole, it exhibits fewer species. He ex- tends the same kind ©f assertion and reasoning to the hu- man species, which he describes as dwarfish, puny, and weak in body, and destitute of all mental vigour, capacity, and talent J. All these representations are fully and clearly refuted by Mr. Jefferson §, who has displayed as much though there were some who came to 6 feet 7 inches, but none above that." " Altogether, they are the finest set of men I ever saw any where," p. 22, 23- * Description of Patagonia. + Viaje al Estrecho de MagalhAens ; Madrid, 1788, 4to. pp. 325 et seq, I Ilistoire Naturelle.t. 18. p. 100— '56. k N'uteson Virginia, p. 72—94. 378 DIFFERENCES OF STATURE. eloquence and sound reasoning in vindicating the savage nations of America from the aspersions of the great French naturalist, as he showed energy and perseverance in assert- ing the liberties of his own countrymen ; wisdom and firm- ness in fulfilling the duties of their chief magistrate. In the following remarks he has brought forwards the mammoth in opposition to those learned theories : the reasoning is equally applicable to the Patagonians, Caribs, and other tribes of powerful men, which, being in actual existence, afford a safer ground of conclusion respecting the present capabilities of the climate, soil, and air of America, than those colossal remains of an extinct species, which may have belonged to a very different order of things. " It (the mammoth) should liave sufiiced to rescue the earth it inhabited, and the atmosphere it breathed, from the imputation of impotence in the conception and nourishment of animal life on a large scale; to stifle in its birth the opinion of a vvriter, the most learned of all in the science of animal history, that, in the New World, living nature is much less active, much less energetic, than in tb.e Old : — as if both sides of the globe were not warmed by the same genial sun ; as if a soil of the same chemical composition was less capable of elaboration into animal nutriment in America that in the ancient continent; as if the fruits and grains from that soil and sun yielded a less rich cliyle, gave less extension to the solids and fluids of the body, or pro- duced sooner in the cartilages, membranes, and fibres, that rigidity which restrains all further extension, and terminates animal grow^th. The truth is, that a pigmy and a Patago- nian, a mouse and a mammoth, derive their dimensions from the same nutritive juices ; the difference of increment depends on circumstances unsearchable to beings with our capacities. All races of animals seem to have received from their Maker certain laws of extension at the time of their formation. Their elaborative organs were formed to pro- duce this, while proper obstacles were opposed to all further progress. Below these limits they cannot fall, nor rise above them. What intermediate station they shall take, DIFFERENCES OF STATURE. 379 may depend on soil, climate, food, or selection in breeding : but all the manna of heaven would never raise the mouse to the bulk of the mammoth." Similar differences of stature to those which I have de- scribed in the American, occur also in the Ethiopian variety. That of the Negroes in general does not differ essentially from our own. The Hottentots at the southern extremity of the country are the smallest of the species in Africa. The whole race is shorter than Europeans, yet not so invariably but that tall individuals sometimes occur. Thus Latrobe mentions one of six feet in height*. The Bosjesman tribe, however, are remarkably short, even among the Hottentots. Two individuals seen by Lichtenstein were scarcely four feet high f. Mr. Barrow says, that " In their persons they are extremely diminutive. The tallest of the men (in a horde or kraal containing 150 individuals) measured only 4 feet 9 inches, and the tallest woman 4 feet 4 inches. About 4 feet 6 Inches is said to be the middle size of the men, and 4 feet that of the women. One of these that had several children measured only 3 feet 9 inches X-" To shew how little the varieties of our species depend on climate, situation, or other external influences, we find the neigbouring tribe to the Hottentots, the KafFers, distin- guished for height and strength. These qualities, however, are more conspicuous in the men than In the women, and the same remark holds good in other instances. Langs- DORFF was surprised at finding the Marquesan women defi- cient in those personal qualities which were so remarkable in the men ; and could hardly suppose them to be the mothers of the very fine males whom he saw. '' The KafFer women were mostly of low stature, very strong- limbed, and particularly muscular in the leg ; but the good humour that constantly beamed upon their countenances made ample amends for any defect in their persons. The men, on the contrary, were the finest figures I ever beheld ; * Journal of a Visit to South Africa, Ho. p. 282. + Travels in Southern Africa, chap. 8. + Barrow's Southern Jfrica^x. i. p. 277. 380 DIFFERENCES OF STATURE. they were tall, robust, and muscular 3 their habits of life had induced a firmness of carriage, and an open manly manner, which, added to the good-nature that overspread their features, shewed them at once to be wholly unconscious of fear, suspicion, and treachery. A young man about twenty, of 6 feet 10 inches high, was one of the finest figures that perhaps was ever created. He was a perfect Hercules ; and a cast from his body would not have dis- graced the pedestal of that deity in the Farnese palace*." He states in another place, that " there is perhaps no nation on earth, taken collectively, that can produce so fine a race of men as the Kaffers : they are tall, stout, muscular, well-made, elegant figures. They are exempt, indeed, from many of those causes that, in more civilized societies, con- tribute to impede the growth of the body. Their diet is simple ; their exercise of a salutary nature ; their body is neither cramped nor encumbered by clothing ; the air they breathe is pure ; their rest is not disturbed by violent love, nor their minds ruffled by jealousy; they are free from those licentious appetites which proceed frequently more from a depraved imagination than a real natural want ; their frame is neither shaken nor enervated by the use of intoxicating liquors, which they are not acquainted with : they eat when hungry, and sleep when nature demands it. With such a kind of life, languor and melancholy have little to do. The countenance of a Kaffer is always cheerful ; and the whole of his demeanour bespeaks content and peace of mind f." LicHTENSTEiN % givcs a Similar description of this peo- ple ', and mentions one individual as 7 feet high (Rhynland measure.) The several people classed under the Mongolian variety are shorter in stature than the Europeans; but, like the nations belonging to the other varieties, they exhibit differ- ences in this respect. The Chinese and Japanese are nearly of the same height with ourselves. * Barrow's Southern Jfrica, v. i. p. 169. + Ibid. V. i. p.205. ;}: Travels in Southern Jfrica, cli. 16 ami 18- DIFFERENCES OF STATURE. 381 The Mongols, Calmucks, Burats, and other tribes of central Asia, are shorter. The Lewchews are a very dimi- nutive race, the average height of the men not exceeding 5 feet 2 inches at the utmost *. The Laplanders and Sa- moides, in Europe ; the Ostiacs, Yakuts, Tungooses, and Tschutski, in Asia ; the Greenlanders and Eskimaux of America — all, indeed, who inhabit high northern latitudes, are equally short, measuring from 4 to a little more than 5 feet t ; and they agree remarkably in other characters, al- though occupying countries so distant from each other. It has been long ago reported, that a nation of white dwarfs, called Quimos or Kimos, exists in tlie interior of Madagascar ; but no direct testimony on the subject has been offered to che public ; and Flacourt, who visited the island in the seventeenth century, has treated the report as fabulous J. Lately, this nation of dwarfs has been again brought forwards ; Commerson, who accompanied Bou- gainville as naturalist, and the Count De Modave, go- vernor of the French settlement at Fort Dauphin, having declared their belief in its existence §. The only fact ad- duced in proof of this point is, that the governor purchased a female slave, of light colour, about three feet and a half high, with long arms reaching to her knees. Blumenbach || thinks it probable that this individual must have been mal- * Macleod's Voyage of the Alceste^ &c. p, 1 10. t " Such a person as Niels Sura, at Kautokejno (in Lapland), w ho measured 5 feet 8 inches English, may not be again found among many hundreds of them." VoN Buch. Travels, p. 354. ^ Histoire de la grande lie de Madagascar. Paris, 1658. ^ The statements of Commerson, who died at Madagascar, and of Mr. De Modave, are introduced into the Voyage d JIadagascar et aux Indes Oritntales, par. xVf. I'Abbe Rochon, Paris, 1791. A letter of Commerson tb Lalande is also appended to the Voyage autoiir du Monde of Bougainville. 1! De G.II. Var. Nat. sect. iii. § 73. Le Gentil, vi^ho was in Madagascar at the same time with Commerson, altogether disbelieves the existence of any such dwarfish people. Voyage dans les Mers de VJnde, t. 2. p. 503. And Sonnerat, who saw the individual mentioned in the text, considered it merely as an individual formation ; Voyage aux Indes Orientales, t. 2. p. 57. 382 ORIGIN AND TRANSMISSION formed, and in a state somewhat similar to that of the Cre- tins of Salzburg and the Valais. Without, therefore, deny- ing the existence of some tribe which may have given origin to the reports respecting the Quimos, we may safely con- clude, that no proof has yet been brought forward, that any race of white long-armed dwarfs exists in the island of Ma- dagascar. On reviewing the facts detailed in the foregoing pages, we see, that, although the various races of men differ from each other in stature, as well as in other points, these diffe- rences are confined within narrower limits in man than in the species of domestic animals ; and consequently, that they do not prove diversity of species. The pigs taken from Europe to the island of Cuba have grown to twice their original size ; and the cattle of Paraguay have experienced a very remarkable increase. It is hardly necessary to men- tion the contrast between the small Welsh and the huge cart horses, or the Flanders breed of those animals ; or be- tween the Scotch or Welsh, and the Holstein cattle. Perhaps the horse affords the most remarkable instance of difference in stature. Mr. Pennant * says, that " in the interior parts of Ceylon there is a small variety of this ani- mal, not exceeding thirty inches in height, which is some- times brought to Europe as a rarity." The Paduan fowl is twice the size of the common poultry. In further proof that the diversities of stature in mankind afford no sufficient argument of original specific difference, we may observe tliat individuals often occur in each race, differing from each other quite as widely as the generality of any two races differ. Nay, we may even see two brothers as much unlike each other in this respect as the Laplander and the Patagonian. In endeavouring to account for the diversities of features, proportions, general form, stature, and the other particulars mentioned in the three preceding chapters, I must repeat an * Historii of Quadnipeds, vol. i. p. 2. OF VARIETIES IN FORM. 383 observation already made and exemplified in speaking of colour ; namely, that the law of resemblance between pa- rents and offspring, which preserves species, and maintains uniformity in the living part of creation, suffers occasional and rare exceptions ; that, under certain circumstances, an offspring is produced with new properties, different from those of the progenitors ; and that the most powerful of these causes Is that artificial mode of life which we call the state of domestication. A question here naturally suggests itself, how this comes about? How does It happen that any circumstances In the mode of life Influence the result of the generative process ? The reply to this Inquiry must be deferred until the internal mechanism of the animal motions shall be more completely laid open ; until we are able to shew how the capillaries of the mother form the germ of a new being out of materials presented by the common mass of nutritive fluid ; and how the vessels of this embryo, when more advanced, fashion the nutritive supply derived from the mothers Into a new set of organs, and give to the whole a more or less accurate resemblance to the bodies of both parents. At present we can only note the fact, that the domestic condition produ- ces in great abundance, not only those deviations from the natural state of the organization which constitute disease, but also those departures from the ordinary course of the generative functions which lead to the production of new characters In the offspring, and thus lay the foundation of new breeds. The domestic sow produces young twice a-year ; the wild animal only once. The former frequently brings forth monstrous foetuses, which are unknown In the latter. Oar pigs, too, are invaded by a new kind of hy- datids *, dispersed -through the substance of all the organs, constituting what is called the measles in pork. The creation of these must be referred to an epocha posterior to that of the species in which they are found, as they do not exist In its natural state. * They are represented by BLU:in:Ni3ACH, in his Jbbildungen Natur-His- torischcr Gegenstdnde ; No. 39. 384 ORIGIN AND TRANSMISSION Native or congenital peculiarities of form, like those of colour, are transmitted by generation. Hence we see a general similitude in persons of the same blood ; and can distinguish one brother by his resemblance to another, or know a son by his likeness to the father or mother, or even lo the grandfather or grandmother. All the individuals of some families are characterized by particular lines of coun- tenance ; and we frequently observe a peculiar feature con- tinued in a family for many generations. The thick lip introduced into the Imperial house of Austria, by the mar- riage of the Emperor Maximilian with Mary of Burgundy, is visible in their descendants to this day, after a lapse of three centuries. Haller observes, that his own family had been distinguished by tallness of stature for three ge- nerations, without excepting one out of numerous grand- sons descended from one grandfather *. Individuals are occasionally produced with supernume- rary members on the hands or feet, or on both 5 and from these, whether males or females, tlie organic peculiarity frequently passes to their children. This does not con- stantly happen, because they intermarry with persons of the ordinary form ; but if the six-fingered and six- toed could be matched together, and the breed could be preserved pure by excluding all who had not these additional members, there is no doubt that a permanent race might be formed constantly possessing this number of fingers and toes. Pliny has mentioned examples of six-fingered persons among the Romans : such individuals received the addi- tional name of sedigitus or sedigita. C. Horatius had two daughters with this peculiarity f. Reaumur speaks of a family in which a similar structure existed for three genera- tions, being transmitted both in the male and female lines J. Mr. Carlisle has recorded the particulars of a family, in which he traced supernumerary toes and fingers for four generations. They were introduced by a female, who had * Elem. Physiol, lib. 29. sect. ii. ^ 8. i Hist. Nat. lib. xi. 99. i Art defaire eclorre les Oiseaux clomestiques, t. 2. p. 377 et suiv. OF VARIETIES IN FORM. 385 six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot. From her marriage with a man natm'ally formed, were produced ten children with a supernumerary member on each limb ; and an eleventh, in which the peculiarity existed in both feet and one hand, the other hand being naturally formed. The latter married a man of the ordinary formation ; they had four children, of which three had one or two limbs natural, and the rest with the supernumerary parts, while the fourth had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. The latter married a woman naturally formed, and had issue by her eight children, four with the usual structure, and the same number with supernumerary fingers or toes. Two of them were twins, of which one was naturally formed, the other six-fingered and six-toed *. Another remarkable example of the occurrence of a sin- gular organic peculiarity, and of its hereditary transmission, is afforded by the English family of porcupine men, who have derived that name from the greater part of the body being covered by hard dark-coloured excrescences of a horny nature. The whole surface, excepting the head and face, the palms and soles, is occupied by this unnatural kind of integument. The first account of this family is found in the Philosophical Transactions, No. 424 f ; and consists of the description of a boy, named Edward Lambert, fourteen years old, born in Suffolk, and exhibited to the Royal So- ciety in 1731, by Mr. Machin, one of the secretaries. " It was not easy to think of any sort of skin or natural integu- ment that exactly resembled it. Some compared it to the bark of a tree ; others thought it looked like seal skin ; others like the skin of an elephant, or the skin about the legs of the rhinoceros; and some took it to be like a great wart, or number of warts uniting and overspreading the whole body. The bristly parts, which were chiefly about the belly and flanks, looked and rustled like the bristles or * Philos. Transact. 1814. part 1. p. 94. f The account is accompanied with a figure of the back of the hand, and a magnified view of the excrescences ; pi. I . p. 299. CC 3g6 ORIGIN AND TRANSMISSION quills of a hedgehog, shorn off within an inch of the skin." These productions were hard, callous, and insensible. Other children of the same parents were naturally formed. In a subsequent account, presented to the society twenty- four years afterwards by Mr. H. Baker, and illustrated with a figure of the hands, this man is said to continue in the same state. He was a good looking person, and enjoyed good health ; every thing connected with his excretions was natural ; and he derived no inconvenience from the state of his skin, except that it would crack and bleed after very hard work. He had now been shewn in London under the name of " The Porcupine Man." "The covering," says Mr. Baker, "seemed most nearly to resemble an innumer- able company of warts, of a dark-brown colour, and a cylin- drical figure, rising to a height (an inch, at their full size), and growing as close as possible to one another, but so stiff and elastic, that when the hand is drawn over them they make a rustling noise." They are shed annually, in the autumn or winter, and succeeded by a fresh growth, which at first are of a paler brown. " He has had the small-pox, and been twice sali- vated, in hopes of getting rid of this disagreeable covering ; during which disorders the warts came off, and his skin ap- peared white and smooth, like that of other people ; but on his recovery it soon became as it was before. His health at other times has been very good during his whole life. He has had six children, all with the same rugged covering as himself; the first appearance whereof in them, as well as in him, came on in about nine weeks after the birth. Only one of them is living, a very pretty boy, eight years of age, whom I saw and examined with his father, and who is exactly in the same condition *." Two brothers, John Lambert, aged twenty-two, and Richard, aged fourteen, who must have been grandsons of the original porcupine man, Edward Lambert, were * Philos. Trans, v. 49. p. 21. A reprcs-ntatioii of the hand is also given by Edwards, in his Gleanings of Natural History, v. i. p. 212. OF VARIETIES IN FORM. 387 shewn in Germany, and had the cutaneous incrustation al- ready described. A minute account of tliem was published by Dr. W. G. Tilesius *, who mentions that the wife of the elder, at the time he saw him, was in England pregnant. Let us suppose that the porcupine family had been exiled from human society, and been obliged to take up their re- sidence in some solitary spot or desert island. By matching with each other, a race would have been produced, more widely different from us in external appearance than tlie Negro. If they had been discovered at some remote period, our philosophers would have explained to us how the soil, air, or climate, had produced so strange an organization ; or would have demonstrated that they must have sprung from an originally different race ; for who would acknowledge such bristly beings for brothers ? The giants collected hy Frederic William I. for his regiment of Guards produced a very tall race in the town wdiere they were quartered: in the language of Dr. Johnson, they " propagated procerity f." This resemblance of offspring to parents, in native pecu- liarities of structure, prevails so extensively, that those mi- nute, and in many cases imperceptible, differences of organi- zation or vital properties, which render men disposed to particular diseases, are conveyed from father to son for age after age. This is matter of common notoriety with respect to scrofula, consumption, gout, rheumatism, insanity, and other affections of the head. There is more doubt in some other cases, as hare lip, squinting, club-foot, hernia, aneu- rism, cataract, fatuity, &c. ; of which, however, there are * Beschreibung und Abhildung der beiden sogenannten Stachelschweinmens- chen ; Altenburg, fol. 1S02. with two plates, containing several figures. They are also described by Blumenbacb, in Voigt's Neues Magazin, v. iii. part 4. f " The Guards of the late King Frederic William of Prussia, and like- wise those of thepresent monarch, who are all of an uncommon size, have been quartered at Potsdam for fifty years past. A great number of the present inhabitants of that place are of very high stature, which is more especially striking in the numerous gigantic figures of women." Fokstf.r's Observations made on a Voyage round the World; p. 248-9. c c2 388 ORIGIN AND TRANSMISSION many well autlicntlcated examples*. There is an heredi- tary blindness in a family in North America, which has always affected some individuals for the last hundred years f. I have attended, at different times, for complaints of the urinary organs, a gentleman, whose father and grandfather died of stone. In small and secluded communities, where marriages take place within what we may regard only as a more extensive family, hereditary varieties are blended, and produce one form, which prevails through the whole circle. The opera- tion of this principle may be clearly perceived in several small districts : it will act with more efficacy, and conse- quently, be more discernible in larger collections of men, where differences of manners, religion, and language, and mutual animosities, forbid all intermarriages with surround- ing people. In the course of time the individual peculiarities are lost, and a natural characteristic countenance or form is established, wliich, if the restrictions of intercourse are ri- gidly adhered to, is constantly more and more strengthened. The ancient Germans, according to the description of Taci- tus, were such a people ; and his short, but expressive sketch of their character, most aptly confirms the preceding view : " Ipse eorum opinionibus accedo, qui Germanise po- pulos nuUis aliis aliarum nationum connubiis infectos, pro- priam et sinceram et tantum sui similem gentem extitisse arbitrantur. Unde habitus quoque corporum, quanquam in tanto hominum numero, idem omnibus ; truces et caerulei oculi, rutilae comte, magna corpora." De Morib. Germ. 4. The Gipsies afford another example of a people spread over all Europe for the last four centuries, and nearly confined in marriages, by their peculiar way of life, to their own tribe. In Transylvania, where there is a great number of them, and the race remains pure, their features can consequently be more accurately observed : in every country and climate, however, which they have inhabited, they preserve their dis- * Hallf.r, Elem Phusiol. loc. cit. i Nnc York Medical Repository, v. iii. No. I. (3F VARIEIIES IN FORM. ^89 tinctive character so perfectly, that they are recognized at a glance, and cannot be confounded with the natives. But, above all, the Jews exhibit the most striking instance of a peculiar national countenance, so strongly marked in almost every individual, that persons the least used to physiogno- mical observations detect it instantly, yet not easily under- stood or described. Religion has, in this case, most success- fully exerted its power in preventing communion with othei races ; and this exclusion of intercourse with all others has preserved the Jewish countenance so completely in every soil and climate of the globe, that a miracle has been thought necessary to account for the appearance. In what other way can we explain the difference between the English and Scotch ? Would it be more reasonable to suppose that they descended from different stocks; or to ascribe the high cheek-bones of the latter to the soil or climate? As, on the one hand, a particular form may be perpe- tuated by confining the intercourse of the sexes to indivi- duals in whom it exists, so, again, it may be changed by introducing into the breed those remarkable for any other quality. Connexions in marriage will generally be formed on the idea of human beauty in any country ; an influence, this, which will gradually approximate the countenance to- wards one common standard. If men, in the affair of mar- riage, were as much under management as some animals are in the exercise of their generative functions, an absolute ruler might accomplish, in his dominions, almost any idea of the human form. The great and noble have generally had it more in their power than others to select tlie beauty of nations in mar- riage ; and thus, while, without system or design, they gra- tified merely their own taste, they have distinguished their order, as much by elegant proportions of person, and beau- tiful features, as by its prerogatives in society. " The same superiority, " says Cook, " which is observable in the erees or nobles in all the other islands, is found here (Sandwich Islands). Those, whom wc saw, were, without exception. 390. ORIGIN AND TRANSMISSION perfectly well formed ; whereas, the lower sort, besides their general inferiority, are subject to all the variety of make and figure that is seen in the populace of other countries *." In no instance, perhaps, has the personal beauty of a people been more improved, by introducing handsome indi- viduals to breed from, than in the Persians, of whom the no- bility have, by this means, completely succeeded in washing out the stain of their Mongolian origin. " That the blood of the Persians," says Chardin, " is naturally gross, ap- pears from the Guebres, who are a remnant of the ancient Persians, and are an ugly, ill-made, rough-skinned people. This is also apparent from the inhabitants of the provinces in the neighbourhood of India, who are nearly as clumsy and deformed as the Guebres, because they never formed alliances with any other tribes. But, in the other parts of the kingdom, tlie Persian blood is now highly refined by frequent intermixtures with the Georgians and Circassians, two nations which surpass all the world in personal beauty. There is hardly a man of rank in Persia who is not born of a Georgian or Circassian mother ; and even the king himself is commonly sprung, on the female side, from one or other of these countries. As it is long since this mix- ture commenced, the Persian women have become very handsome and beautiful, though they do not rival the ladies of Georgia. The men are generally tall and erect, their complexion is ruddy and vigorous, and they have a graceful and an engaging deportment. The mildness of the climate, joined to their temperance in living, has a great influence in improving their personal beauty. This quality they in- herit not from their ancestors ; for, without the mixture mentioned above, the men of rank in Persia, who are de- scendants of the Tatars, would be extremely ugly and de- formed t'" There is no one of the varieties above enumerated, which does not exist in a still greater degree in animals confess- * Voyage to the Pacific ; book iii. chap. 6. Forster gives a similar rtpre- sentation of the Otaheiteans ; Obs. on a Voyage round the World, p. 229. t Voyage en Perse ; t. 2. p* 34. OF VARIETIES liN FORM. 391 ediy of the same species. What differences in the figure and proportion of parts in tlie various breeds of horses — in the Arabian, the Barb, and the German 1 How striking the contrast between the long-legged cattle of the Cape of Good Hope and the short-legged of England ! The same difference is observed in swine. The cattle have no horns in some breeds of England and Ireland : in Sicily, on the contrary, they have very large ones. A breed of sheep, with an extraordinary number of horns, as three, four, or five (ovis polycerata), occurs in some northern countries ; as, for instance, in Iceland, and is accounted a mere variety. The Cretan breed of the same animal (ovis strepsiceros) has long, large, and twisted horns. We may also point out the solidungular swine, with undivided hoof, as well as others with three divisions of that part ; the five-toed fowl (gallus pentadactylus) ; the fat-rumped sheep of Tatary and Thibet ; and the broad-tailed breed of the Cape, in which the tail grows so large, that it is placed on a board, supported by wheels, for the convenience of the animal ; and the rumpless fowl (gallus ecaudatus) of America, and particularly Virginia, which has undoubtedly descended from the English breed. The common fowl, in different situations, runs into almost every conceivable variety. Some are large, some small ; some tall, some dwarfish. They may have a small and single, a large and complicated comb ; or great tufts of feathers on the head. Some have no tail. The legs of some are yellow and naked ; of others, covered with feathers. There is a breed with the feathers reversed in their direction all over the body ; and another in India with white downy feathers and black skin. All these exhibit endless diversities of colour. A breed of sheep was lately produced in America, the origin and establishment of which confirm the positions already brought forwards. An ewe produced a male lamb of singular proportion and appearance. His offspring, by other ewes, had, in many instances, the same cha- racters with himself. These were, shortness of the 392 ORIGIN AND TRANSMISSION limbs * and length of the body ; so that the breed v/as called the otter breed, from being compared to that animal. The forelimbs were also crooked, so as to give them in one part, the appearance of an elbow ; and hence the name ' ancon* (from ccyKuv) was given to this kind of sheep. They were propagated in consequence of being less able to jump over fences. " They can neither run nor jump like other sheep. They are more infirm in their organic construction, as well as more awkward in their gait, having their fore-legs always crooked, and their feet turned inwards when they walk." " When both parents are of the otter or ancon breed, their descendants inherit their peculiar appearance and proportions of form. I have heard but of one questionable case of a contrary nature." " When an ancon ewe is impregnated by a common ram, the increase resembles wholly either the ewe or the ram. The increase of a common ewe, impregnated by an ancon ram, follows entirely the one or the other, without blending any of the distinguishing and essential peculiarities of both." " Frequent instances have happened where common ewes Iiave had twins by ancon rams, when one exhibited the com- plete marks and features of the ewe, the other of the ram ; the contrast has been rendered singularly striking, when one short-legged and one long-legged lamb, produced at a birth, have been seen sucking the dam at the same time f." The formation of new varieties, by breeding from indivi- duals in whom the desirable properties exist in the greatest degree, is seen much more distinctly in our domestic ani- mals than in our own species, since the former are entirely in our power. The great object is to preserve the race pure, by selecting for propagation the animals most conspi- cuous for the size, colour, form, proportion, or any other property we may fix on, and excluding all others. In this * Sir EvERARD Home foiuitl that the bono of the fore-leg iu one of these sheep was larger, but not so long as that of a miuh smaller Welsh sheep. Thompson's Annals of Philosophy, v. i. + Col. IIuMHHRF.Ys On a New Breed of Sheep Philos. Trans. 1813. pt. 1. OF VARIEriES IN FORM. 393 way we may gain slieep valuable for their fleece; or for their carcass', large or small ; with thick or thin legs; just such, in short, as we choose, within certain limits. The importance of this principle is fully understood in rearing horses. The Arabian preserves the pedigree of his horse more carefully than his own ; and never allows any ignoble blood to be mixed with that of his valued breeds ; he attests their unsullied nobility by formal depositions and numerous witnesses*. The English breeder knows equally well that he must vary his stallions and mares according as he wishes for a cart-horse, a riding-horse, or a racer ; and that a mistake in this point would immediately frustrate his views. The distinguished and various excellences, which the several English races of these useful animals have acquired, shew what close attention and perseverance can accomplish in the improvement of breed. Blood is equally important in the cock ; and the intro- duction of an inferior individual would inevitably deterio- rate the properties of the offspring. The hereditary transmission of physical and moral qua- lities, so well understood and familiarly acted on in the domestic animals, is equally true of man. A superior breed of human beings could only be produced by selections and exclusions similar to those so successfully employed in * " Several things concur to maintain this perfection in the horses of Arabia ; such as the great care the Arabs lake in preserving the breed genuine, and by permitting none but stallions of the first form to have access to the mares : this is never done but in the presence of a witness, the secretary of the emir, or some public officer; he attests the fact, records the name of the horse, mnre, and whole pedigree of each ; and these attestations are carefully pre- served, for on them depends the future price of the foal." A copy of a public legal certificate given to the purchaser of an Arabian horse is added in a note. Pennant's British Zoology, v. ii. Appendix 1. Equal attention is paid to the breed of horses by the Circassians, who distinguish the various races by marks on the buttock. To imprint the cha- racter of noble descent on a horse of common race, is a kind of forgery punished with death. Pali,as, Travels in the Southern Provinces of the Russian Empire ; ch. xiv. 394 ORIGIN AND TRANSMISSION. rearing our more valuable animals. Yet^ In the human species, where the object is of such consequence, the prin- ciple is almost entirely overlooked. Hence all the native deformities of mind and body, which spring up so plentifully in our artificial mode of life, are handed down to posterity, and tend, by their multiplication and extension, to degrade the race. Consequently, the mass of the population in our large cities will not bear a comparison with that of savage nations, in which, if imperfect or deformed individuals should survive the hardships of their first rearing, they are pre- vented by the kind of aversion they inspire from propaga- ting their deformities. The Hottentots have become almost proverbial for ugliness ; and one of their tribes, the Bosjes- men^ are plainly ranked by an acute, and intelligent travel- ler " among the ugliest of human beings *." The nume- rous sketches of Bosjesmen and Hottentots taken by Mr. S. Daniel, have been very kindly and politely shewn to me by his brother Mr. W. Daniel. In form, variety, and ex- pression of countenance, they are not at all inferior to our cockneys; while, in animation, in beauty, symmetry and strength of body, in ease and elegance of attitude they are infinitely superior. This inattention to breed is not, however, of so much consequence in the people, as in the rulers ; in those to whom the destinies of nations are intrusted ; on whose quali- ties and actions depend the present and future happiness of millions. Here, unfortunately, the evil is at its height : laws, customs, prejudices, pride, bigotry, confine them to intermarriages with each other ; and thus degradation of race is added to all the pernicious influences inseparable from such exalted stations. What result should we expect, if a breeder of horses or dogs were restricted in his choice to some ten or twenty families taken at random ? if he could not step out of this little circle, to select finely-formed or high-spirited individuals ? How long a time w^ould elapse before tlie fatal eff'ects of this in-breeding would be con- * Barrow, Travels in Southern Jfrica; v. i. p. 277, DIFFERENCES IN THE ANIMAL ECONOMY. 395 spicuous in the degeneracy of the descendants ? The strongest illustration of these principles will be found in the present state of many royal houses in Europe : the evil must be progressive, if the same course of proceeding be continued. I shall cite a single example to prove what will, to most persons, seem unnecessary ; namely, that mental defects are propagated, as well as corporeal. " We know," says Haller, " a very remarkable instance of two noble fe- males, who got husbands on account of their wealth, al- though they were nearly ideots, and from whom this men- tal defect has extended for a century into several families ; so that some of all their descendants still continue ideots in the fourth and even in the fifth generation *.'' CHAPTER VII. Differences in the Animal Economy. — •Diseases.— External Senses. Language. There are tio essential differences between the various races of the human species in the execution of the animal functions. The circumstances which have been hitherto noticed in this part of the subject are plainly referable, for the most part, to the effect of climate, mode of life, ex- ercise of the organs, or other external causes, and not to any original diversity. I have already alluded to the peculiar odour of the cuta- neous secretion in- the Negro (p. 264). It is said, by those who are well acquainted with this race, to be very charac- teristic, and to be transmitted to the offspring, as well as their other peculiarities, in the mixed breeds. It has been also observed, that they sv/eat much less than Europeans. * Ele7n, Physiol lib. 29. sect. ii. § 8. ^9G DIFFERENCES IN THE ANIMAI- ECONOMY. The lice, whicli infest the bodies of Negroes, are darker coloured and larger than those of Europeans*; but I be- lieve that naturalists have not yet ascertained whether tliey are of the same or of different species, in the two cases. It is hardly necessary to allude to the erroneous notion of the seminal fluid being black in Negroes ; this, how- ever, is expressly stated by Herodotus, but properly con - tradicted by Aristotle. The blood and the bile have the same colour and obvious external characters in the dark as in the white races. I am not aware that any comparative chemical examinations of these or the other animal fluids have been made. Dr. WiNTERBOTTOMf observed no difference between African and European women in respect to the menstrual discharge. The earlier maturity of the former seems to be simply the effect of climate : it is equally observable in the white iiaces which occupy warm countries. The very easy labours of Negresses, native Americans, and other women in the savage state, have been often no- ticed by travellers. This point is not explicable by any prerogative of physical formation ; for the pelvis is rather smaller in these dark-coloured races than in the European and other white people. Simple diet, constant and labo- rious exertion, give to these children of nature a hardiness of constitution, and exempt them from most of the ills which afflict the indolent and luxurious females of civilized societies. In the latter, however, the hard-working women of the lower classes in the country often suffer as little from child-birth as those of any other race. Analogous dif- ferences, from the like causes, may be seen in the animal kingdom. Cows kept in towns, and other animals deprived of their healthful exercise, and accustomed to unnatural food and habits, often have difficult labours, and suffer much in parturition. ♦ Losg's Illstoiy of Jamaica. White on th? Regular Giadafian^ p. "iD^ note. SoE\iMEKRiN(> iiber die korperliche Vcrschiedenhiil. p. S, note. + Acxouni of ihe Native Africans^ v. ii. p. 259. DIFFERENCES IN THE ANIMAL ECONOMY. 397 Accurate observers in many parts of the world have re- marked, that the dark races are characterized by the rare- ness, and almost entire absence, of personal deformity; all the individuals being well-made, and many exhibiting the finest models of symmetry and beauty. The mode of life will account in great measure for this physical prerogative, which hunting, pastoral, and even agricultural tribes, enjoy over their more polished brethren of highly-civilized com- munities and larg 2 cities *. Humboldt considers that some- thing is also due to natural strength of constitution. After stating the great freedom from deformity in the Peruvian Indians, in a passage which I have already quoted ( see p. 206), he proceeds to observe, that " when we examine savage hunters or warriors, we are tempted to believe that they are all well-made, because those who have any natural deformity either perish from fatigue, or are exposed by their parents ; but the Mexican and Peruvian Indians, those of Quito and New Grenada, are agriculturists, who can only be compared with the class of European peasantry. We can have no doubt, then, that the absence of natural deformities among them is the effect of their mode of life, and of the constitution peculiar to their race. All men of very swarthy complexion, those of Mongol and American origin, and especially tlie Negroes, participate in the same advantage. We are inclined to believe that the Arab- Euro- pean [Caucasian] race possesses a greater flexibility of organization; and that it is more easily modified by a great number of exterior causes, such as variety of aliments, cli- mates, and habits ; and consequently has a greater tendency to deviate from its original model f." I am not aware that any difference has been ascertained between the various races of man in the average length of * Thus Dr. SoMERvix LE says of the Hottentots ; " Huic genti, fasciarum in infantibus, pileorum in setate provectioribus, nuUus iisns, Deformitas raris- siraa est, nisi ex casu aliqiio- Thorav amplus, corpus erectum, artiis torosi et agiliores multo quam facile crediderlnt quibus vcstitus arctior est famlli- aris." Med.co-Chir. Trans, v. vii. p. loG. f Political Essni/, v. i. p. 152-3. 398 DIFFERENCES IN DISEASE. life. Very old persons are sometimes seen among tlie dark as well as among the white people. " It is by no means uncommon," says Humboldt, " to see in Mexico, in the temperate zone, half-way up the Cor- dillera, natives, and especially women, reach a hundred years of age. This old age is generally comfortable ; for the Mexican and Peruvian Indians preserve their strength to the last. While I was at Lima, the Indian Hilario Pari died, at the village of Chiguata, four leagues distant from the town of Arequipa, at the age of 143. He re- mained united in marriage for 90 years to an Indian of the name of Andrea Alea Zar, who attained the age of 117. This old Peruvian went, at the age of 130, from three to four leagues daily on foot." Mr. Edwards informs us that the Negroes in the West Indies often attain a great age*; and Mr. Barrow saw Hottentots more than a hundred years oldf. Although the general uniformity in structure and func- tions, throughout the species, must be expected to produce a general similarity in diseases, the obvious organic varia- tions in the several races lead us to look for some modifica- tions in the morbid phenomena. But the concurring in- fluence of other causes, such as climate, diet, mode of life, and moral agencies, renders it difficult to distinguish what maybe owing simply to peculiarity of organization. This discrimination can only be accomplished by a long series of patient observations on numerous individuals of each race, and under similar circumstances in different parts of the world. In his Treatise on Tropical Diseases, Dr. Mosely ob- serves that "the locked jaw appears to be a disease entirely of irritability. Negroes, who are most subject to it, what- ever the cause may be, are void of sensibility to a surprising degree. They are not subject to nervous diseases. They * History of the West Indies^ v. ii. p. 100, an example of a Negress onehundrcd and twenty years old; v. iii. p. 247, another strong and hearty at the age of ninetj-five at least. + Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa, v. i. pp. 383, 398. DIFFERENCES IN DISEASE. 399 sleep sound in every disease, nor does any mental disturbance ever keep them awake. They bear chirurgical operations much better than white people ; and what would be the cause of insupportable pain to a v/hite man, a Negro would almost disregard. I have amputated the legs of many Negroes, who have held the upper part of the limb them- selves." Negroes are so seldom affected by the yellow fever, tliat they have often been said not to be susceptible of it ; and there have been instances in which, under a very general prevalence of the complaint, not one has fallen sick. On other occasions, some have been seized with this fever ; but the number has been small, and they have recovered more easily than the whites. If the yellow fever be a highly inflammatory affection, produced by those external causes which are peculiar to hot climates, we shall not be surprised that Negroes, v/ho are organized for, and habituated to such climates, enjoy, when contrasted with the whites, a comparative exemption from its destructive attacks. A singular instance is recorded, in the Philosophical Transactions *, of a very fatal inflammatory fever, which appeared in two islands on the coast of North America (Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard), and was confined en- tirely to the Indian (American) population ; not a single white person having been affected on either island. The whole number of Indians on Nantucket was 840 ; of these 258 had the distemper in the course of six months, and only 36 recovered. Of those who did not take the disease, 40 lived in English families, and 8 dwelt separate. In Martha's Vineyard, it went through every Indian family into which it came, not one escaping it. Of 52 persons affected, 39 died. A few individuals of mixed breed (Eu- ropean and Indian), and one of In^lian and Negro, had the distemper, but recovered. None indeed died, but such as were entirely of Indian blood : hence it was called ' the Indian sickness.' ____^ * Vol. 54, for the year 1761; p. 386. 400 DIFFERENCES IN THE EXTERNAL SENSES. In three Negroes, who died of disease, Soemmerring found the same morbid ajjpearances ; and they were pecu- liar. They all perished with symptoms of consumption. Besides induration and abscess of the lungs, they had , thickening of tlie coats of the intestines, and deposition of a steatomatous matter in them. In the first, there were caseous concretions in several parts of the abdomen; and the small intestines seemed as if covered by a layer of fat. The bronchial glands were greatly diseased. In the second, the intestinal canal and peritoneum were everywhere united by adhesions, and beset with rather hard yellowish-black tubercles, of various size and form : the mesenteric glands were diseased. In the third, the appearances were nearly similar ; the abdominal viscera all adhering together, and covered by a kind of adipous stratum *. I have seen similar appearances to these in the bodies of some Negroes. The morbid change of the bowels, of which the coats are thickened by a black and yellow newly deposited substance, is different from any thing I have seen in Europeans. Monkeys are carried off in these climates by consump- tion, and tubercular affections of the abdominal viscera. They exhibit morbid appearances analogous to those just mentioned ; to which, affections of the bones are often added. The general unhealthy condition of the frame in both cases would, I apprehend, be termed scrofula by no- sologists ; and its cause is probably the coldness of the cli- mate, together, in the case of the animals, with confinement, impure air, and unnatural food. The disease called the yaws is a peculiar morbid produc- tion of Africa, and has been conveyed by the Negro slaves to the West Indies, where it seems to be communicable to Europeans f. The dark-coloured races exhibit in general a great acute- ness of the external senses, which is in some instances * Ueber die Korperliche Verschiedenheit ; ^ 67, 68. f Dr. Bateman's Practical Synnpsis ; ord. vii. No. 9. DIFFERENCES IN THE EXTERNAL SENSES, 401 heightened by exercise to a degree ahnost incredible. In the unsettled life of wandering tribes, the chief occupations are, hunting, war, and plunder. The members of tbe com- munity are trained from their earliest infancy to these pur- suits; and their progress in the necessary accomplishments determines not only tbe degree of their own personal enjoy- ment and security, but also their influence over others, and their rank in the association. The astonishing perfection of their sight, hearing, and smelling, must be referred, I apprehend, to the constant exercise of the organs ; as their capability of enduring violent or continued exertion, in per- forming long journeys, is the simple result of habit. Both are very interesting in a physiological view; and acquaint us with the extent of our powers, which are very imperfectly developed in the members of civilized societies. Mr. Collins * has mentioned the quick-sightedness of the New Hollanders ; and another traveller has borne tes- timony to the same effect. " The quickness of their eye and ear is equally singular: they can. hear and distinguish objects which would totally escape an European. This cir- cumstance renders them very acceptable guides to our sports- men in the woods, as they never fail to point out the game before any European can discover it f." In describing a New Zealander, who accompanied him to England, Mr. Savage says, " It was worthy of remark how much his sight and hearing were superior to other persons on board the ship : the sound of a distant gun was distinctly heard, or a strange sail readily discernible, by Moy- HANGER, when no other man on board could hear or per- ceive them X," We learn from Mr. Barrow, that the Hottentots, " by the quickness of their eye, will discover deer and other sorts of game when very far distant ; and they are equally expert in watching a bee to its nest. They no sooner hear the hum- * Account of the English Colony of IV. S. Wales ; pp. 553, 584. f TuRNBiJLL, Voyage round the World ; 2d edition, p. 92. + Some Account of New Zealand ; p. 101. D D 402 DIFFERENCES IN THE EXTERNAL SENSES. miiig of the insect, than they squat themselves on the ground, and having caught it with the eye, follow it to an incredible distance *." He relates the following anecdote of one whom he had left behind ill on a journey : " He had fallen asleep about the middle of the preceding day, and had not awakened till night. Though very dark, and unacquainted with a single step of our route, he had found us by following the track of the waggon. At this sort of business a Hottentot is uncom- monly clever. There is not an animal among the numbers that range the wilds of Africa, if he be at all acquainted with it, the print of whose foot he cannot distinguish. The print of any of his companions' feet he would single out among a thousand f." Dr. SoMERViLLE confirms this statement, and refers the superiority of the Hottentots in these points to constant exercise of the organs J. In his frequent intercourse with the Nomadic tribes of Asia, Pallas had the best opportunities of observing their capabilities. '^The Calmucks," he says, "have a fine nose, a good ear, and an extremely acute eye. On their journeys and military expeditions they often smell out a fire or a camp, and thus procure quarters for the night, or obtain booty. Many of them can distinguish, by smelling at the hole of a fox or other animal, whether the creature be there or not. By lying flat, and putting their ear to the ground, they can catch at a great distance the noise of horses, of a flock, or of a single strayed animal. But nothing is so sur- prising as the perfection of their eyes, and the extraordinary distance at which they often perceive, from inconsiderable heights, small objects, such as the rising dust caused by cattle or horsemen, more particularly as the undulation of * Travels in Southern Africa, v. i. p. 160. + Ibid. p. 370. I '' NonnuUi feras venandi aut hostcs eflTiigiendi perpctua fere consuetudine, liac facultate (visus) adeo pollebant, ut in cainpis arenosis vestigia observare possent, lib) aliis nihil oranino appareret : banc facultatem enim, iitpote turn ad victiun, turn ad salutetn ipsam proisus necessariam, assidue exercent, et sic minim in modum acumit." Medko-Chir. Trans, v. vii. p. 155-6. DIFFERENCES IN THE EXTERNAL SENSES. 403 the boundless steppes or plains, and the vapours which rise from and float upon them in warm weather, render things very obscure. Li the expedition which the Torgot Vice- chan Ubaschi led against the Cubanians, tlie Calmuck force would certainly have missed the enemy, if a com- mon Calmuck had not perceived, at the estimated dis- tance of thirty versts, the smoke and dust of the hostile army, and pointed it out to other equally experienced eyes, when the Commander, Colonel Kischinskoi, could discern nothing with a good glass. They pursue lost or stolen cattle or game by the track for miles over deserts. Kirgises or even Russians, in the wild parts of the empire, are equally able to follow and discriminate tracks by the eye. This, indeed, is not difficult on soft ground, or over snow ; but it requires great practice and skill to choose the right out of several Intermingled traces, to follow it over loose sand or snow, not to lose It In marshes or deep grass, but rather to judge from the direction of the grass, or from the depth of the print in snow or sand, how long it has been made *." Representations, equally surprising, of the perfection of the senses, are confirmed to us by the most unexceptionable authorities in the case of the North American savages, and of other wild races. The dlfiferences of language are as numerous as the other distinctions which characterize the several races of men. The various degrees of natural capacity, and of intellectual progress ; the prevalence of particular faculties ; the nature of surrounding circumstances ; the ease or difficulty with which the different wants and desires are gratified ; will produce not only peculiar characters in the nature and construction of language, but in its copiousness and deve- lopement. In the formation of the sound, or voice, and in Its utterance in an articulated form, or speech, no further varieties are observed, than the different combinations of the several * Sammlungcn Hhtor. Nachricht. Th. 1. pp. i 00, 10!. ]> D 2 '104 DIFFERENCES OF LANGUAGE. organs concerned in the process will easily explain. The pronunciation of the Hottentots has generally been deemed very singular by European observers * ; who compare it to the clucking of a turkey, or the harsh and broken noises produced by some other birds. They have numerous gut- tural sounds, produced deep in the throat, and pronounced with a peculiar clack of the tongue, which is quickly struck against and withdrawn from the teeth or palate. They combine their aspirated gutturals with hard consonants, without any intervening vowels, in a manner that Europeans cannot imitate ; it is never acquired, except occasionally by the child of a colonist when accustomed to it from youth. Adelung represents that their honey palate is smaller, shorter, and less arched than in the other races ; and that tlie tongue, particularly in the Bosjesmen, is rounder, thicker, and shorter f. One of the most curious points \n ihe subject of lan- guage is the continued existence in a large portion of Asia, very anciently civilized, and considerably advanced at least in the useful arts, of simply monosyllabic languages. Their words are merely radical sounds of one syllable, not admit- ting of inflexion or composition, so that all modifications and accessory ideas must be either overlooked or imper- fectly expressed by tedious and awkward circumlocution. Such are the languages of Thibet, the contiguous immense empire of China, and the neighbouring countries of Ava, Pegu, Slam, Tungquin, and Cochin-Chlna. " These exten- sive regions, and these only in the whole world, betray in their present language all the imperfection of the first attempts at speech. As the earliest efforts of the InfLuit are merely sounds of one syllable, so the first adult children of Nature stammered out their meaning in the same way : * Barrow's and Lightens ikix's Travels in Southern Africa. Similar descriptions are given by Sparmann, Thunburg, and Le Vail- LANT. Dr. SoMERViLLE observes the peculiarity of the Hottentot utterance, to which, he s:iys, nothing similar is heard in any other part of the worlds- Medico-Chir. Trans, v. vii. p. 135. + Milhridatcs; 3r. Theil ; 1°. Abtheilung, p. 292-3. DIFFERENCES OF LANGUAGE. 405 the people of Thibet, China, and the ncighbourino- southern countries, go on speaking as they learned some thousands of years ago, in tlie cradle of the species. There is no separation of ideas into certain classes, such as produce the distinction of the parts of speech in more perfectly-formed languages. One and the same sound signifies joyful, joy, and to rejoice; and that through all persons, numbers, and tenses. No attempt is made, by affixing sounds expressive of relations or accessory notions to the simple monosyllabic root, to give richness, clearness, and harmony to the poor language. On the contrary, the mere radical ideas are set down together, and the hearer must guess at the connecting links. As there are no inflexions, the cases and numbers are either noted, or they are marked, under urgent circum- stances, by circumlocution. They form plurals as children do, either by repetition, as tree tree, or by adding the words much or other ; as tree much, tree other. I much, or / other, means we. Be heaven I other Father who, is the mode of expressing " Our Father which art in heaven * ! That languages of such poverty, which merely place together the most essential ideas without connecting them, must open a wide field for ambiguity and obscurity in civil life, and be totally inapplicable to the purposes of science, is imme- diately apparent. Hence tlie people who speak them must ever remain children in understanding. However the Chinese may exert themselves, so long as they are impeded by this imperfect language, they must be unable to appro- priate to themselves the sciences and arts of Europe f.^' We are again surprised at discovering that this peculiar lan- guage is not connected with the peculiar organization of that variety, (the Mongolian) to which the people enumerated above, belong. The tribes immediately adjoining the latter on the north — for example, the proper Mongols, the Calmucks, and the Burats — although they have at all times occupied the regions close to Thibet, and have obviously derived their language from this quarter, are no longer confined » Adej^ung ; Mithridatcs, v> i. p. IS. f Ibid. p. 2S. 406 DIFFERENCES OF LANGUAGE. to such an imperfect instrument of thought and communi- cation as a monosylhibic language affords. They have inflexions and derivations, both for nouns and to express times *. The same observations are applicable to the Mandsliurs f, or Mantchoos. The Japanese, too, another numerous people of Mon- golian formation, have a well-formed polysyllabic language, without any resemblance to that of the Chinese J. The monosyllabic language of so large a portion of Asia appears the more remarkable, when it is contrasted with the languages of the native Americans, who, in the form of the head, approach closely to the characters of the Mongolian variety. In the capability of inflexion and composition, and in the consequent length of words §, many of the Ame- rican tongues ofter a complete contrast to those of China, Thibet, &e. America is also distinguished from the old Continent by the great number of its diff'erent languages. Mr. Jeffer- son II states, that there are twenty radical languages in Ame- rica for one of Asia. " More than twenty languages are still spoken in the kingdom of Mexico, most of which are at least as different from one another as the Greek and the German, or the French and Polish. The variety of idioms spoken by the people of the new Continent, and which, without the least exaggeration, may be stated at some hun- dreds, oft^ers a very striking phenomenon, particularly when we compare it to the few languages spoken in Asia and Europe %.'' * Adeluxg, Mithridates,^. 50 L f Ibid. p. 514. + Ibid. p. 572. ^ Humboldt informs us that Notlazomahuiztespixcatatzin is the term of respect used hy the Mexicans in .addressing the priests. Political Essay, v. i. p. 139. note. || Notes on Virginia, p. 104. 5 Political Essay, v. i. p. 138. This statement is corroborated Ijy Vater, who observes, that *'• in Mexico, where the causes producing insulation of the several tribes have been for a long time in a course of diminution, Clavigero recognized thirty-five diffe- rent languages {Suggio ili Storia Americana, t. iii. append, ii. c. 3. p. 282). And those with which we are acquainted by written accounts are quite radically distinct, and almost unconnected with each other." Mithridates, V. iii. p. 273. DIFFERENCKS IN MORAL QUALlTlliS. 407 The causes of these diversities, and the relations between the form and structure of the brain, the appetites, sentiments, moral and intellectual character, of the several human races, and the genius of their languages, are important subjects for future inquiry. It will be sufficient to assert, in refer- ence to the present subject, that no difference of language hitherto observed, affords any argument against unity of the species. We can have no difficulty in arriving at this conclusion, when we find, as in America, numerous com- pletely distinct tongues in the several families of one great, and, in all essential points, uniform race ; and when we discover, moreover, so strong a contrast as that which the monosyllabic languages of Asia and the complicated long words of so many American languages present, in nations whose organic traits are so similar. CHAPTER VIII. Diferences in Moral and Intellectual Qualities. After surveying and describing the diversities of bodily formation exhibited in the various races of men, and allud- ing to a few physiological distinctions, we naturally proceed to a review of their moral and intellectual characters, to exa- mine whether the latter exhibit such peculiarities as the nu- merous modifications of physical structure lead us to expect ; whether the appetites and propensities, the moral feelings and dispositions, and the capabilities of knowledge and re- flection, are the same in all, or as different as the cerebral organs, of which they are the functions* ? If the physical * See Lecture iv. p. 97 and following, on the Functions of the Brain ; Section i. Chap. iv. on the Characters of the Human Head; Chap. vi. on the Structure of the Brain ; and CnAp.vii. on the Mental Faculties of Man, 408 DIFFERENCES IN frame and the moral and intellectual phenomena of man be entirely independent of each other, their deviations will ex- hibit no coincidence : the noblest characters and most dis- tinguished endowments may be conjoined with the mean- est organization : if, on the contrary, the intellectual and moral be closely linked to the physical part, if the former be the offspring and result of the latter, the varieties of both must always correspond. The different progress of various nations in general civi- lization, and in the culture of the arts and sciences ; the dif- ferent characters and degrees of excellence in their literary productions, their varied forms of government, and many other considerations, convince us, beyond tlie possibility of doubt, that the races of mankind are no less characterized by diversity of mental endowments, than by those differences of organization which I have already considered. So power- ful, however, has been the effect of gov^ernment, laws, edu- cation, and peculiar habits, in modifying the mind and cha- racter of men, that we experience great difficulty in distin- guishing between the effects of original difference, and of the operation of these external causes. From entering at large and minutely Into this interesting subject, I am as much prevented by want of the necessary information, as by the immediate object and limited length of these Lectures. To pass it over in silence, would be omitting the most important part of the natural history of our species — one of the most interesting views in the com- parative zoology of man. I shall therefore submit a few re- marks, to illustrate the point of view in which the pheno- mena have appeared to myself; and shall be happy if they incite any of my readers to a further prosecution of the inquiry. The distinction of colour between the white and black races is not more striking, than the pre-eminence of the former in moral feelings and in mental endowments. The latter, it is true, exhibit generally a great acuteness of the external senses, which, in some instances, is heightened by exercise to a degree nearly incredible. Yet they indulge^ MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL aUALlTIES. '109 almost universally, in disgusting debauchery and sensuality ; and display gross selfishness, indifference to the pains and pleasures of others, insensibility to beauty of form, order, and liarmony, and an almost entire want of what we com- prehend altogether under the expression of elevated senti- ments, manly virtues, and moral feeling. The hideous savages of Van Diemen's Land, of New Holland, New Gui- nea, and some neighbouring islands, the Negroes of Congo and some other parts, exhibit the most disgusting moral as well as physical portrait of man. Peron describes the wretched beings, whom he found on the shores of Van Diemen's Island, and of the neighbouring Island Maria, as examples of the rudest barbarism ; " with- out chiefs, properly so called, without laws or any thing like regular government, without arts of any kind, with no idea of agriculture, of the use of metals, or of the services to be derived from animals ; without clothes, or fixed abode, and with no other shelter than a mere shed of bark to keep off the cold south winds ; with no other arms but a club and spear *." Although these and the neighbouring New Hollanders are placed in a fine climate and productive soil, they derive no other sustenance from the earth than a few fern-roots and bulbs of orchises ; and are often driven by the failure of their principal resource, fish, to the most revolting food, as frogs, lizards, serpents, spiders, the larvae of insects, and particu- larly a kind of large caterpillar found in groups on the branches of the eucalyptus resinifera. They are sometimes obliged to appease the cravings of hunger by the bark of trees, and by a paste m.ade by pounding together ants, their larvae, and fern-roots f. Their remorseless cruelty, their unfeeling barbarity to women and children, their immoderate revenge for the most trivial affronts, their want of natural affection, are hardly redeemed by the slightest traits of goodness. When we add, * Voyage de Decouvertes aux Terres Australes ; t. i. cha^. 20. + Collins, ^ccouH^ of the English Colony in New South Wales. Appendix. See also Turnbull's Voyage round the World; 2d ed. eh. 8. 410 DIFFERENCES IN that they are quite insensible to distinctions of right and wrong, destitute of religion, without any idea of a Supreme Being, and with the feeblest notion, if there be any at all? of a future state, the revolting picture is cemplete in all its features * . What an afflicting contrast does the melan- choly truth of this description form to the eloquent but delu- sive declamations of Rousseau on the prerogatives of natu- ral man, and his advantages over his civilized brethren ! The same general character, with some softening, and some modifications, is applicable to most of the native Ame- ricans, of the Africans, and of the Mongolian nations of Asia ; to the Malays, and the greater part of the inhabitants of the numerous islands scattered in the ocean between Asia and America. In the most authentic descriptions, we every- where find proofs of astonishing insensibility to the pains and joys of others, even their nearest relations ; inflexible cruelty, selfishness, and disposition to cheat ; a want of all sympathetic impulses and feelings : the most brutal apathy and indolence, unless roused by the pressure of actual physical want, or stimulated by the desire of revenge and the thirst of blood. Their barbarous treatment of women, the indiscri- minate and unrelenting destruction of their warfare, the in- * Mr. Collins, who had ample oppnriunities of observing this race, and who seems to have contemplated them with an unprejudiced mind, says, " I am certain that they do not worship sun, moon, or stars ; that, however ne- cessary fire may be to them, it is not an object of adoration ; neither have they any respect for any beast, bird, or fish. I never could discover any object, either substantial or imaginary, that impelled them to the commission of good actions, or deterred them from the perpetration of what we deem crimes. There indeed existed among them some idea of a future state ; but Hot connected in any wise with religion ; for it had no influence whatever on their lives and actions." Lib. cit. p. 54T. Whether they had any know- ledge of right and wrong, was doubtful. They had words for good and bad, as applied to useful or hurtful objects. The sting-ray, which they never ate, was bad ; the kangaroo good. Their enemies were bad; their friends good ; cannibalism was bad: when our people were punished for ill-treating tl»em, it was good. " Midnight murders, though frequently practised among them, whenever revenge or passion were uppermost, they reprobated ; but ap- plauded acts of kindness and generosity, for of both these they were capable." ibid. 549. MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL QUALITIES. 411 fernal torments inflicted on tlieir captives, and the horrible practice of cannibalism, fill the friend of humanity by turns with pity, indignation, and horror. With the deep shades of this dismal picture, some brighter spots are mingled, which it is a pleasing task to select and particularize. The inferiority of the dark to the white races is much more general and strongly marked in the powers of know- ledge and reflection, the intellectual faculties — using that expression in its most comprehensive sense — than in moral feelings and dispositions. Many of the former, although little civilized, display an openness of heart, a friendly and generous disposition, the greatest hospitality, and an observ- ance of the point of honour according to their own notions, from which nations more advanced in knowledge might often take a lesson with advantage. Many of the Negroes possess a natural goodness of heart and warmth of affection : even the slave-dealers are ac- quainted with their differences in character 5 and fix their prices, not merely according to the bodily powers, but in proportion to the docility and good dispositions of their com- modity, judging of tliese by the quarter from whence tlicy are procured. Although the Americans appeared so stupid to the Spa- niards, that they were with some difficulty convinced of their being men and capable of becoming Christians (for which purpose a papal bull was necessary) ; and although this de- ficiency of intellect is still attested by the more candid and impartial reports of modern travellers ; the empires of Mexico and Peru shew that some tribes, at least, were capa- ble of higher destinies, and of considerable advancement in civilization. They were united under a regular government; they practised agriculture, and the other necessary arts of life 5 and were not entirely destitute of those which have some title to the name of elegant *. History and romance * The vissionary notions of De Paauw ( Recherches Philos. sur les Ame- ricains)^ and Buffon (Hist. Naturelle ; Homme) concerning the imperfec- tion and feebleness of animal life in America, too lightly adopted in many 412 DIFFERENCES IN" have slice! their glories round Mango Capac the first sage and lawgiver, and the succeeding Incas or emperors of Peru ; whose lives and exploits have been recorded by one of their own descendants on the female side, Garcilasso de la Vega, surnamed the Inca. In stating the moral and intellectual inferiority of the native Americans to the white races, I speak of an inferiority common to them with the other dark-coloured people of the globe; and do not mean to adopt, in the smallest degree, the fanciful notions, promulgated by some writers, of the de- generacy of all animal nature in this vast Continent. That instances by Robertson {Hist, of Jmerica), liave been amply exposed and refuted, so far as the people themselves are concerned, by Count Carli ; who has proved, by the clear testimonies of the original Spanish conquerors, that the Mexicans and Peruvians defended themselves with the greatest bra- very and resolution ; and that they had made considerable advances in know- ledge, in the arts, in general civilization, and in government, at the time of the Spanish conquest. (See his Letiere Americaiie composing the 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th volumes of his Opere, 15 t. Milano, 1786 : but particularly the two first.) The two fundamental truths of religion, the existence of God, and the immortality of the soul, were recognized in Peru (Lettere, t. i. 1. 7.); and th;' knowledge of arithmetic and astronomy had been carried to a great extent (ib. t. ii, 1. I. et 2.) They had constructed considerable aqueducts, of which the remains are still to be seen ; and numerous canals for irrigation, of which one is said to Itavebccn 150 leagues in length (t.i. p. 317). They were able to extract, separate, and fuse metals : to give to copper the hardness of steel, for the fabrication of their weapons and instruments ; to make mirrors of this hardened copper or of hard stone ; to form images of gold and silver hollow within ; to cut the hardest precious stones with the greatest nicety ; to manufacture and dye cotton and wool, and work and figure the stuffs in various ways ; to spin and weave the tine hair of hares and rabits into fa- brics resembling and answering the purposes of silks (ibid, t.i.) The preceding statements are fully corroborated by the existing remains of these ancient arts, as seen and described by Ulloa, Bouguer, Coxdamine, and Humboldt. Travels in South America, v. i. book 6. ch. 1 1 . Acad, des Sciences; 1740, 1745. Vuedes CordillereSy Monumens des Peuples.,S^c. "• The Toultees," says the latter author, " introduced the cultivation of maize and cotton ; they built cities, made roads, and constructed those great pyramids, which are yet admired, and of which the faces are very ac- curately laid out. They knew the use of hieroglyphical paintings ; they could found metal and cut the hardest stones ; and they had a solar year, more perfect than that of the Greeks and Romans." Political Essaij.hook 2. ch. G- Moral and intellectual qualities. 413 the quadrupeds and other animals are deficient neither in size nor vigour is now well-known ; and though the fables respecting the gigantic stature of the Patagonians have pas- sed away, they still remain superior in size to any Asiatic or European race of men. There are some unconquered tribes equally conspicuous for the nobler attributes of our nature. The Araucans of Chili have successfully maintained their independence against all the attacks of the Spaniards ; and are well known in Europe by the epic poem of Erctlla, in which these contests are celebrated. In the interesting portrait which Molina has lately drawn of their character, manners, customs, government, and history, we recognize in many points a strong resemblance to the ancient Germans, and a pleasing proof that all the natives of this new world are not doomed to mental inferiority. " The moral qualities of the Araucans,'' says Molina, " are proportioned to their physical endowments ; they are intrepid, animated, ardent, patient in enduring fatigue, ever ready to sacrifice their lives in the service of their country ; enthusiastic lovers of liberty, which they consider as an essential constituent of their existence ; jealous of their honour; courteous, hospitable, faithful to their engagements, grateful for services rendered them, and generous and hu- mane towards the vanquished *." The ninety t years' struggle which they maintained against the Spaniards, and by which they at last successfully established their independence, is more remarkable for its duration, for acts of desperate resolution and devotion to the great cause of liberty, and traits of individual heroism, than the contests between the Dutch and the Spaniards, the Swiss and the Austrians, or any ancient or modern analogous European case. In the savage tribes of North America we often meet with lofty sentiments of independence, ardent courage, and * Civil History of Chili, p. 59. Their strict integrity, and high sense of honour in commercial dealings, are confirmed by the testimony of Ulloa ; Travels in South Americay v. ii. p. 276. f Ibid. p. 291. 414 DIFFERENCES IN devoted friendship, which would sustain a comparison with the most splendid similar examples In the more highly-gifted races. Honourable and punctual fulfilment of treaties and compacts, patient endurance of toil, hunger, cold, and all kinds of hardships and privations, Inflexible fortitude, and unshaken perseverance in avenging Insults or Injuries ac- cording to their own peculiar customs and feelings, shew that they are not destitute of the more valuable moral qualities *." The Mongolian people differ very much In their docility and moral character. While the empires of China and Japan prove that this race is susceptible of civilization, and of great advancement in the useful and even elegant arts of life, and exhibit the singular phenomenon of political and social institutions between two and three thousand years older than the christian era, the fact of their having continued nearly stationary for so many centuries, marks an Inferiority of na- ture, and a llnjlted capacity, in comparison to that of the white races. When the Mongolian tribes of central Asia have been united under one leader, war and desolation have been the objects of the association. Unrelenting slaughter, without distinction of condition, age, or sex, and universal destruc- tion, have marked the progress of their conquests, unattended with any changes or institutions capable of benefiting the human race, unmlngled with any acts of generosity, any kindness to the vanquished, or the slightest symptoms of regard to the rights and liberties of mankind. The progress of Attila, Zingis, and Tamerlane, like the deluge, the tor- nado, and the hurricane. Involved every thing in one sweep- ing ruin. In all the points which have been just considered, the white races present a complete contrast to the dark-coloured inhabitants of the globe. While the latter cover more than half the earth's surface, plunged In a state of barbarism In which the higher attributes of human nature seldom make *See Mr. Jefferson's eloquent vindication of tlie North American savages from the degrading picture drawn of them by Buffon. Notes on Virginia. MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL QUALITIES. 415 their appearance, strangers to all the conveniences and plea- sures of advanced social life, and deeming themselves happy in escaping the immediate perils of famine ; the former, at least in this quarter of the world, either never have been in so low a condition, or, by means of their higher endowments, have so quickly raised themselves from it, that we have no record of their existence as mere hunting or fishing tribes. In the oldest documents and traditions, which deserve any confidence, these nobler people are seen at least in the pas- toral state, and in the exercise of agriculture, the practice of which is so ancient, that the remotest and darkest accounts have not preserved tlie name of the discoverer, or the date of its introduction. No European people, therefore, has been In a condition comparable to that of the present dark-co- loured races within the reach of any history or tradition. The invention of arts and sciences in the East, and their surprising progress in Europe, are due to the white men. The comparatively rational system of Heathenism, contained in the Grecian mythology, with its elegant fables and alle- gories ; and the three religions, which exhibit the only worthy views of the Divinity, that is, Judaism, Christianity, and Mahometanism, all derive their birth from the same quarter. The Caucasian variety claims also the Persian Zoroas- ter ; and, if I mistake not, the founders of the religion of Bramah, who in the peninsula of India bad signalized them- selves by great advances in art and science in the very re- motest antiquity. In the white races we meet, in full perfection, with true bravery, love of liberty, and other passions and virtues of great souls ; here only do these noble feelings exist in full intensity, while they- are, at the same time, directed by su- perior knowledge and reflection to the accomplishment of the grandest purposes. They alone have been as generous and mild towards the weak and the vanquished, as terrible to their enemies ; and have treated females with kindness, attention, and deference. Here alone arc compassion and benevolence fully developed ; the feeling for the pains and 416 DIFFERENCES IN distresses of others, and the active attempt to relieve them ; which, first exerted on our nearest connexions, is extended to our countrymen in general, and embraces, ultimately, in its wishes and exertions, the interests of all mankind. The white nations alone have enjoyed free governments ; that is, not the lawless dominion of mere force, as in many barbarous tribes, but institutions recognizing the equality of all in political rights, giving protection to the weak against the powerful, securing to all equal freedom of opinion and conscience, and administered according to laws framed with the consent of all. The spirit of liberty, the unconquerable energy of independence, the generous glow of patriotism, have been known chiefly to those nobler organizations, in which the cerebral hemispheres have received their full de- velopement. The republics of Greece and Rome, of Italy in the middle ages, of Switzerland and Holland, the limited monarchy of England, and the United States of America, have shewn us what the human race can effect, when ani- mated by these sacred feelings ; without which nothing has been achieved truly great or permanently interesting. This is the charm that attaches us to the history, the laws, the institutions, the literature of the free states of antiquity, and that enables us to study again and again \vith fresh pleasure the lives and actions of their illustrious citizens. Even the more absolute forms of government have been conducted among the white races, with a respect to human nature, with a regard to law and to private rights, quite un- known to the pure despotisms, which seem to be the natu- ral destiny of our dark brethren. The monstrous faith of millions made for one, has never been doubted or questioned in all the extensive regions occupied by human races, with the anterior and superior parts of the cranium flattened and compressed. That these dlv^ersities are the off'spring of natural differ- ences, and not produced by external causes, is proved by their universality, whether in respect to time, place, or ex- ternal influence. Some have found a convenient and ready solution in Moral and intellectual qualities. 417 climate, but have not condescended to shew, either by ex- ample or reasoning, how climate can operate on the moral feelings and intellect, or that it has actually so operated in any instance. The native Americans are spread over that vast continent from the icy shores of the Arctic Ocean to the neighbourhood of the Antarctic Circle ; the Africans have a tolerably wide range in their quarter of the globe ; the Mongolian tribes cover a tract including every variety of climate from the coldest to the most warm. Yet in such diversities of situation, the respective races exhibit only mo- difications of character. White people have distinguished themselves in all climates ; every where preserving their su- periority. Two centuries have not assimilated the Anglo- Americans to the Indian aborigines, nor prevented them from establishing in America the freest government in the world. A Washington and a Franklin prove that the noble qualities of the race have suffered no degeneracy by crossing the Atlantic. Accurate observers have found the hypothesis of climate equally unsatisfactory in other parts of the world. " The philosophy which refers exclusively to the physical influence of climate, this most remarkable p}ienomenon of the moral world, is altogether insufficient to satisfy the rational inquirer; the holy spirit of liberty was cherished in Greece and its Syrian colonies by the same sun which warms the gross and ferocious superstition of the Mohammedan zealot : the con- querors of half the world issued from the scorching deserts of Arabia, and obtained some of their earliest triumphs over one of the most gallant nations of Europe (Spain). " A remnant of the disciples of Zoroaster, flying from Mohammedan persecution, carried with them to the western coast of India the -religion, the hardy habits, and athletic forms of the north of Persia; and their posterity may at this day be contemplated in the Parsees of the English settle- ment at Bombay, with mental and bodily powers absolutely unimpaired, after the residence of a thousand years in that burning climate. Even the passive but ill-understood cha- racter of the Hindoos, exhibiting few and unimportant EE 418 DIFFERENCES IN shades of distinction, whether placed under the snows of Imaus, or the vertical sun of the torrid zone, has, in. every part of these diversified climates, been occasionally roused to achievements of valour, and deeds of desperation, not surpassed in the heroic ages of the western world. The reflections naturally arising from these facts are obviously sufficient to extinguish a flimsy and superficial hypothesis, which would measure the human mind by the scale of a Fahrenheit's thermometer *." White nations have kept up their character under every form of government. Science and literature have flourished in monarchies as well as in republics. Yet, let us never forget that the principal and the richest portion of our intel- lectual treasure consists of the literature and history of two nations of antiquity, whose astonishing superiority seems to have arisen principally from their having enjoyed freedom. The white nations may degenerate, as in the case of tlie Greeks and Romans ; but the qualities, which distinguished them in their proudest state, are still visible. The senate, the forum, and the capitol, which were trodden by SciPios, Brutuses, and Catos, by Pompey, Caesar, and Cicero, by Virgil, Horace, Livy, and Tacitus, have been long defiled by a vermin of priests and monks, of eunuchs and singers : the processions and fooleries of a despicable super- stition have succeeded to the three hundred and twenty triumphs which gave to a small spot in Italy the command of the world, proclaiming conquests generally as beneficial to the conquered as glorious to the victor. Italy, altogether, has groaned for centuries under the domestic fetters of monkery and priestcraft, and the still more galling yoke of foreign rule: yet the classic ground has ever produced, and still continues to produce, men worthy of the race that realized and long maintained universal empire. What other people has sent forth, within the same period, or even in any wider range, men equal in force of genius and variety of excellence to the immortal names which Italy can boast * WiiKs, Historical Sketches of the South of India; v. i, p. 22, 26. MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL QUALITIES. 419 even in her degradation ;— to Dante, Petrarca, and Boc- caccio: to Tasso, Ariosto, Metastasio, Alfieri ; to Galileo, Gassendi, and Torricelli; to Machiavel, Davila, Bentivoglio, and Guicciardini ; to Raphael, Michael Angelo, and a whole host of others ? The prerogatives of the white races may be equally dis- guished in the least advanced state of civilization. Com- pare the ancient Germans^ as delineated by Tacitus and CjESAR, with the savages of New Holland, with a horde of Hottentots, with a tribe of American Indians ; compare the ancient Spaniards, or Scandinavians, the Highland Scotch, or any Celtic people, to the African, American, or Mongo- lian tribes. A fair comparative experiment has been made of the white and red races in North America; and no trial in natu- ral philosophy has had a more unequivocal and convincing result. The,^ copper-coloured natives, although in all their original independence, have not advanced a single step in three hundred years 5 neither example nor persuasion has induced them, except in very small number, and few instances, to exchange the precarious supplies of the hunting and fishing state for agriculture and the other arts of settled life. A little ingenuity is manifested in making clothes, ornaments, arms ; and personal endurance of exertion, fatigue, and the cruellest tortures is carried to a great height. Even in war, in their eyes the first and most exalted of oc- cupations, they shew few traces of generous or honourable feelings. Bitter revenge and utter destruction are the mo- tive and end. It is hardly necessary to draw the contrast. No Englishman can be ignorant of the mighty empire founded by a handful of his countrymen in the wilds of America ; — of its gigantic strides from the state of an insig- nificant colony, within forty short years of independence, to the rank of a first-rate power. No friend of humanity can be a stranger to the glorious prospect, to the energies of freedom, which vivify this new country. No human being, who is interested in the progress of his species, can refuse his tribute of admiration to this new world, which has estab- ee2 420 DIFFERENCES IN llshed Itself without the prejudices of the^ old ; — where religion is in all its fervour, without needing an alliance with the state to maintain it ; ^here the law commands by the respect which it Inspires, without being enforced by any military power. The superiority of the whites is universally felt and readily acknowledged by the other races. The most intel- ligent Negro, whom Mr. Park * met with, after witnessing only such evidences of European skill and knowledge, as the English settlement of Pisania afforded, and being ac- quainted with two or three Englishmen, would sometimes appear pensive, and exclaim with an involuntary sigh, "Black men are nothing!" The narratives of travellers abound with similar traits. This consciousness best explains the fact of the Negroes generally submitting quietly to their state of slavery in the European colonies. If the relations and the proportions of the population were reversed, and the European slaves were five, six, eight, or ten times as nume- rous as their Negro masters, how Jong would such a state of things last? When the blacks form any plots, although tlieir natural apathy and unvarying countenance are favour- able to concealment, they always fail, through treachery or precipitation in commencing operations, or are disconcerted by any resolute opposition, even from very inferior numbers. Some will probably explain in a different manner these remarkable phenomena of the moral and intellectual world, which I have just been considering; they will attempt to prove that these srrongly-marked varieties may have been produced, in races formed originally with equal capabilities, by the external influences of civilization, education, govern- ment, religion, and perhaps other causes. To assert unifor- mity of bodily structure over the whole world would be too repugnant to the testimony of the senses ; equality of mental endowments seems to me hardly a less extravagant tenet. There have, however, been philosophers who even held that all men are born with equal powers ; and that education • Travels info the interior Districts of Africa ; Svo. ed. p. 536. MORAL AND INTliLLECTUAL QUALITIES. 421 and otlier accidental circumstances make the only difference between the wisest and the weakest of mankind. That civilization, government, and education act very powerfully on the human race, is too obvious to be doubted ; but the question relates to the capability of civilization. Why have the white races invariably, and without one ex- ception, raised themselves to, at least, some considerable height in the scale of cultivation ; while the dark, on the contrary, have almost as universally continued in the savage or barbarous state ? If we suppose that at any remote era, all mankind, in all quarters of the globe, were in the latter condition, what are the accidental circumstances, which have prevented all the coloured varieties of man from raising themselves, and at the same time have assisted the progress of all the others ? If the nations in the north and west of Europe, when first conquered by the Romans, should be allowed (contrary, however, to historical proof) to have been in a state of barbarism not superior to that of the present rude tribes of Asia, Africa, or America, why have they advanced uninterruptedly to their present exalted pitch of culture, while the latter remain plunged in their original rudeness and ignorance ? I do not mean to assert that all individuals and all tribes of dark- coloured men are inferior In moral and intellectual endowments to all those of the white division. The same gradations and modifications of structure and properties exist here as in other parts. Certainly we can produce ex- amples enough in Europe of beings not superior to Hotten- tots and New Hollanders : and individuals of considerable talents and knowledge are met with In savage tribes. There may not be much difference between the lowest European community and the highest in some dark variety of man. Examples of individuals and of small numbers will there- fore prove little in this matter. I am aware, also, that all the white races have not made those signal advances in knowledge and civilization, of which I have spoken as indicating their superior endow- ments. Their organization makes them capable of such dis- tinctions, if circumstances arc favourable, or rather if no 422 DIFFERENCES IN obstacles exist. In the dark races, on the contrary, inferior organization renders it vain to present opportunities, or to remove difficulties. Loss of liberty, bad government, oppressive laws, ne- glected education, bigotry, fanaticism, and intolerance in reli- gion, will counteract the noblest gifts of nature, will plunge into ignorance, degradation, and weakness, nations capable of the highest culture, of the most splendid moral and in- tellectual achievements. Greece, Italy, and Spain bear me- lancholy testimony to this afflicting truth. Where are the brave republican Dutch, who first sustained a forty years, contest with Spain in the zenith of her power, when she could alarm all Europe by her ambitious schemes ; and who then contended with England for the dominion of the sea? What causes the present feebleness of Turkey, whose very name is deemed almost synonymous with despotism and ig- norance ? Careful observers can discern, even in these vic- tims of oppression and fanaticism, the germs of all the higher qualifications of our race, the evidences of those moral excellences and intellectual powers, which require only a favourable opportunity to display themselves. It is gene- rally allowed that the Turks are superior in natural qualifi- cations to their conquerors the Russians, who enjoy over them the advantages of a government and religion* more favourable to the progress of knowledge and to individual security and happiness. Such are the results, deducible from experience, respect- * The unfavourable influence of the Mahometan religion on intellectual culture has been exemplified by Mr. Fourier in the case of the Arabs, t'lf the Arabians, like the people of the West, had possessed the inestimable advantage of a religion favourable to the arts and to useful knowledge, they would have cultivated and brought to perfection every branch of philosophy. At the commencement of their extraordinary career they were ingenious and polished; they made remarkable progress in poetry, architecture, medicine, geometry, natural history, and astronomy ; they preserved and transmitted to us many of those immortal works which were destined to aid the revival of learning in Europe. But the Musselman religion was incompatible with this developement of the mind ; the Arabs were exjiosed to the alternative of renouncing their faith, or returning to the ignorance of their ancestors, Drscriplion dc VEgyptc, Preface /lisloriqnc, I}. 16. MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL QUALITIES. 423 ing the differences of moral feelings and intellectual power; having stated them strongly, 1 am anxious to express my decided opinion that these differences are not sufficient in any instance to warrant us in referring a particular race to an originally different species. They are not greater in kind or degree than those which we see in many animals, as in horses, asses, mules, dogs, and cocks. I protest especially against the opinion, which either denies to the Africans the enjoyment of reason, or ascribes to the whole race propensi- ties so vicious, malignant, and treacherous, as would degrade them even below the level of the brute. It can be proved most clearly, and the preceding observations are sufhcient for this purpose, that there is no circumstance of bodily structure so peculiar to the Negro, as not to be found also in other far distant nations ; no character, which does not run into those of other races by the insensible grada- tions, as those which connect together all the varieties of mankind. I deem the moral and intellectual character of the Negro inferior, and decidedly so, to that of the European ; and, as this inferiority arises from a corresponding difference of organization, I must regard it as his natural destiny : but I do not consider him more inferior than the other dark races. I can neither admit the reasoning nor perceive the humanity of those who, after tearing the African from his native soil, carrying him to the West Indies, and dooming him there to perpetual slavery and labour, complain that his understanding shews no signs of improvement, and that his temper and disposition are incorrigibly perverse, faithless, and treacherous. Let us, however, observe him in a some- what more favourable state than in those dreadful receptacles of human misery, the crowded decks of the slave-ship, or in the less openly shocking, but constrained and extorted, and therefore painful labours of the sugar plantation. That the Negroes behave to others according to the treatment they receive, may be easily gathered from the best sources of information. They have not, indeed, reached that sublime height, the beau ideal of morality, the returning good for evil, probably because their masters have not yet 424 DIFFERENCES IN found leisure from the pursuit of riches to instil into them the true spirit of Christianity. " The feelings of the Ne- groes (says an accurate observer) are extremely acute. Ac- cording to the manner in which they are treated, they are gay or melancholy, laborious or slothful, friends or enemies. When well fed, and not maltreated, they are contented, joyous, ready for every enjoyment ; and the satisfaction of their mind is painted in their countenance. But, when op- pressed and abused, they grow peevish, and often die of melancholy. Of benefits and abuse they are extremely sen- sible, and against those who injure them they bear a mortal hatred. On the other hand, when they contract an affection to a master there is no office, however hazardous, which they will not boldly execute, to demonstrate their zeal and attachment. They are naturally affectionate, and have an ardent love for their children, friends, and country- men. The little they possess they freely distribute among the necessitous, without any other motive than that of pure compassion for the indigent *.^' The travels of Barrow, Le Vaillant, and Mungo Park, abound with anecdotes honourable to the moral cha- racter of the African, and proving that they betray no defi- ciency in the amiable qualities of the heart. One of these gives us an interesting portrait of the chief of a tribe : " His countenance was strongly marked with the habit of reflec- tion ; vigorous in his mental, and amiable in his personal qualities, Gaika was at once the friend and ruler of a happy people, who universally pronounced his name with transport, and blessed his abode as the seat of felicity." Some Euro^ pean kings might take a lesson from this savage. Mr. Barrow gives a picture, by no means unpleasing, of the Hottentots. Their indolence probably arises from the state of subjection in which they live ; as the wild Bosjes- men are particularly active and cheerful. " They are a mild, quiet, and timid people 3 perfectly harmless, honest, faithful ; and, though extremely phleg- * Hlstoire dts JntilleSf p. 48.^^. MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 425 matic, they are kind and affectionate to each other, and not incapable of strong attachments. A Hottentot would share his last morsel with his companions. They have little of that kind of art or cunning that savages generally possess. If accused of crimes, of which they have been guilty, they generally divulge the truth. They seldom quarrel among themselves, or make use of provoking language. Though naturally fearful, they will run into the face of danger if led on by tiieir superiors. They suiFer pain with patience. They are by no means deficient in talent *.'" " The Bosjesman, though in every respect a Hottentot, yet in his turn of mind differs very widely from those that live in the colony. In his disposition he is lively and cheer- ful ; in his person active. His talents are far above medio- crity ; and, averse to idleness, they are seldom without em- ployment f." They are very fond of dancing, exhibit great Industry and acuteness in their contrivances for catching game, and considerable mechanical skill in forming their baskets, mats, nets, arrows, &c. &c. J. I see no reason to doubt that the Negro race, taken all together, is equal to any in natural goodness of heart. It is consonant to our general experience of mankind, that the latter quality should be deadened or completely extinguished in the slave-ship or plantation ; indeed, it is as little credit- able to the heads as to the hearts of their white masters, to expect affection and fidelity from slaves after the treatment they too often experience. The acute and accurate Barbot, in his large work on Guinea, says, " The blacks have sufficient sense and under- standing; their conceptions are quick and accurate, and their memory possesses extraordinary strength. For although they can neither read nor write, they never fall into confu- sion or error in the greatest hurry of business and traffic. Their experience of the knavery of Europeans have put them completely on their guard in transactions of exchange : * Travels in Southern Africa^y. i. p, 152. f Ibid, p. 2SS. + Ibid. p. 284—290. 42G DIFFERENCES IN they carefully examine all our goods, piece by piece, to as- certain if their quality and measure are correctly stated : and shew as much sagacity and clearness in all these trans- actions, as any European tradesman could do/' Of those imitative arts, in which perfection can be at- tained only in an improved state of society, it is natural to suppose that the Negroes can have little knowledge ; but the fabric and colours of the Guinea cloths are proofs of their native ingenuity ; and, that they are capable of learn- ing all kinds of the more delicate manual labours, is proved by the fact, that nine tenths of the artificers in the West In- dies are Negroes. Many are expert carpenters, and some watchmakers. The drawings and busts executed by the wild Bosjesmen in the neighbourhood of the Cape are praised by Barrow * for their accuracy of outline and correctness of proportion. Negroes have been known to earn so much in America by their musical exertions, as to purchase their freedom with large sums. The younger Freidig, in Vienna, was an expert performer, both on the violin and violoncello; he was also a capital draftsman, and had made an excellent paint- ing of himself. Mr. Edwards f, however, speaks very contemptuously of their musical talents in general : he says, " they prefer a loud and long-continued noise to the finest harmony ; and frequently consume the whole night in beat- ing on a board with a stick.'' The capacity of the Nergoes for the mathematical and physical sciences is proved by Hannibal, a colonel in the Russian artillery, and Lislet of the Isle of France, who was named a corresponding member of the French Academy of Sciences, on account of his excellent meteorological observations. Fuller, of Maryland, was an extraordinary example of quickness in reckoning. Being asked in a com- pany, for the purpose of trying his powers, how many se- conds a person had lived who was seventy years and some * Travels &c. v. i .p. 239, 307. + Ilisl. ofihc West Indies, V. ii. p. 102. MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL QUALITIES. 427 months old, he gave the answer in a minute and a half. On reckoning it up after him, a different result was obtained : " Have not you forgotten the leap years ? " says the Negro. This omission was supplied, and the number then agreed with his answer *. BoERHAAVE and De Haen have given the strongest tes- timony that our black brethren possess no mean insight into practical medicine ; and several have been known as very dexterous surgeons. A Negress at Yverdun is men- tioned by Blumenbach as a celebrated midwife of real knowledge and an experienced hand. Omitting Madocks, a Methodist preacher, and not at- tempting to enumerate all the Negroes who have written poems, 1 may mention that Blumenbach possesses En- glish, Dutch, and Latin poetry, by different Negroes. In 1/34, A. W. Amo, an African, from the coast of Guinea, took the degree of Doctor at the university of Wit- tenberg; and displayed, according to Blumenbach, in two disputations, extensive and well-digested reading in the phy- siological books of the time f. Jac. Eliz. Joh. Capitein, who was bought by a slave- dealer when eight years old, studied theology at Leyden, and published several sermons aud poems. His Dlssertatio de Servitufe Libertati Chvistiance non contraria went through four editions very quickly. He was ordained in Amsterdam, and went to Elmina, on the Gold Coast, where he was either murdered, or exchanged for the life and faith of his coun- trymen those he had learned in Europe J. Ignatius Sancho, and Gustavus Vasa. — the former born in a slave-ship, on its passage from Guinea to the West Indies, and the latter in the kingdom of Benin — have distin- guished themselves as literary characters in this country in *Stedman's Surinam ; v. ii. p. 270. The circumstance is related on the authority of Dr. Rush, as having happened in his presence. + Beytr'dge zur Naturgeschichte ; Th. 1. p. 98. I A characteristic Portrait of this Ethiopian variety is represented in Blumenbach's work. Ibid. 42cS DIKFERKNCES fN modern times. Their works and lives are so well known, and so easily accessible, that it is only neccessary to men- tion them. On reviewing these instances, which indeed must be re- ceived as exceptions to the general results of observation and experience respecting the Negro faculties, I may observe, with Blumenbach, from whom some of them are borrowed, that entire and large provinces of Europe might be named, in which it would be difficult to meet with such good writers, poets, philosophers, and correspondents of the French Academy. These insulated facts are not, however, adduced to prove that the African enjoys an equality of moral and intellectual atrtibutes with the Euro- pean race 5 but merely to shew, that of the dark-coloured people none have distinguished themselves by stronger proofs of capacity for literary and scientific cultivation, and consequently that none approach more nearly than the- Negro to the polished nations of the globe. That the Ethi- opian, taken altogether, is decidedly inferior to the Cauca- sian variety in the qualities of the heart and of the head, will be soon recognised by any one who attentively weighs the representations of all unprejudiced and disinterested ob- servers respecting the conduct, capabilities, and character of the Africans, whether In their own country, in the West Indies, or in America; and the continuance of the whole race, for more than twenty centuries, in a condition which, in its best forms, is little elevated above absolute barbarism, must give to this conviction the clear light and full force of demonstration. I cannot therefore admit, without some restriction and explanation, the quaint but humane expres- sion of the preacher, who called the Negro " God's image, like ourselves, though carved in ebony." As the external influences of climate, soil, situation ; of way of life, degree of civilization, habits, customs, form of government, religion, education, are manifestly inadequate to account for the very marked differences which at all times, in all countries, and under all circumstances, have character- izcd the white and the dark races, and the various subdivi- MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL QUALITIES. 429 sions of each, we must look deeper for their causes, and seek them in some circumstances inseparably interwoven in the original constitution of man. In conformity with the views already explained respecting the mental part of our being, I refer the varieties of moral feeling, and of capacity for knowledge and reflection, to those diversities of cerebral or- ganization, which are indicated by, and correspond to the differences in the shape of the skull. If the nobler attributes of man reside in the cerebral hemispheres ; if the preroga- tives which lift him so much above the brute are satisfac- torily accounted for by the superior developement of those important parts ; the various degrees and kinds of moral feeling and of intellectual power may be consistently ex- plained by the numerous and obvious differences of size in the various cerebral parts, besides which there may be pecu- liarities of internal organization, not appreciable by our means of inquiry. Proceeding on these data, we shall find, in the comparison of the crania of the white and dark races, a sufficient explanation of the superiority constantly evinced by the former, and of the inferior subordinate lot to which the latter have been irrecoverably doomed. If examples can be adduced, either of nations having such a form of the brain and head, as that which charac terizes the Caucasian variety of man, placed under favour- able circumstances for the developement of their moral and intellectual powers, and yet not advancing beyond the point which has been reached by the African or American tribes of the present time ; or of people, organized like the dark varieties, and reaching, under any circumstances, that degree of moral and intellectual cultivation which exists in the several polished countries of Europe, the preceding reason ing will be overturned ; if no such instances can be brought forwards, the conclusion that.the marked differences between the white and dark-coloured divisions of our species arise from original distinctions of organization, and not from adventitious circumstances, remains unshaken. I cannot but respect the feelings of philanthrophy, and the motives of benevolence, which have prompted many of 430 DIFFERENCES IN our countrymen to exert themselves in behalf of the unen- lightened and oppressed : I cannot contemplate without strong admiration, the heroic self-denial, and the generous devotion of those, vi^ho, foregoing the comforts, luxuries, and rational enjoyments of polished society, expose themselves to noxious climates and to all the perils of unknown coun- tries, in order to win over the savage to the settled habits, the useful arts, and the various advantages of civilized life, to rescue him from the terrors of superstition, and bestow on him the inestimable blessings of mental culture and pure religion. But our expectations and exertions in this, as in other cases, must be limited by the natural capabilities of the subject. The retreating forehead and the depressed vertex of the dark varieties of man make me strongly doubt whether they are susceptible of these high destinies ; — whether they are capable of fathoming the depths of science ; of understanding and appreciating the doctrines and the mysteries of our religion. These obstacles will, I fear, be too powerful for Missionaries and Bible Societies ; for Bell and Lancaster Schools. Variety of powers in the various races corresponds to the differences, both in kind and degree, which characterize the individuals of each race, — indeed, to the general character of all nature, in which uniformity is most carefully avoided. To expect that the Americans or Africans can be raised by any culture to an equal height in moral sentiments and intellectual energy with Europeans, appears to me quite as unreason- able as it would be to hope that the bull-dog may equal the greyhound in speed ; that the latter may be taught to hunt by scent like the hound ; or that the mastiff may rival in ta- lents and acquirements the sagacious and docile poodle. CHAPTER IX. On the Causes of the Varieties of the Human Species, Having examined the principal points in which the several tribes of the human species differ from each other 5 namely, the colour and texture of the skin, hair, and iris, the fea- tures, the skull and brain, the form and proportions of the body, the stature, the animal economy, the moral and intel- lectual powers, I proceed to enquire whether the diversities enumerated under these heads are to be considered as cha- racteristic distinctions coeval with the origin of the species, or as the result of subsequent variation ; and in the event of the latter supposition being adopted, whether they are the effect of external physical and moral causes, or of native or congenital variety. The very numerous gradations which we meet with, in each of the points above mentioned, are almost an insuperable objection to the notion of specific difference ; for all of them may be equally referred to original distinction of species ; yet if we admit this, the number of species would be overwhelming. On the other hand, the analogies drawn from the animal kingdom, and ad- duced under each head, nearly demonstrate that the characte- ristics of the various human tribes must be referred, like the corresponding diversities in other animals, to variation. Again, I have incidentally brought forwards several argu- ments to prove that external agencies, whether physical or moral, will not account for the bodily and mental differences which characterize the several tribes of mankind ; and that they must be accounted for by the breed or race ^, This subject, however, requires further illustration. * See sect. ii. chap, ii, p. 277, and following; chap. iv. p. 357, and fol- lowing ; chap. vi. p. 406. 432 CAUSES OF THE VARIETIES The causes which operate on the bodies of living ani- mals, either modify the individual, or alter the offspring. The former are of great importance in the history of animals, and produce considerable alterations in individuals ; but the latter are the most powerful, as they affect the species, and cause the diversities of race. Great influence has at all times been ascribed to climate, which, indeed, has been com- monly, but very loosely and indefinitely represented as the cause of most important modifications in the human subject and in other animals. Differences of colour, stature, hair, features, and those of moral and intellectual character, have been alike referred to the action of this mysterious cause ; without any attempt to shew which of the circumstances in the numerous assemblage comprehended under the word 'climate' produces the effect in question, or any indication of the mode in which the point is accomplished. That the constitution of the atmosphere varies in respect to light and heat, moisture and electricity ; and that these variations, with those of elevation, soil, winds, vegetable productions, will operate decidedly on individuals, I do not mean to deny. While, however, we have no precise information on the kind or degree of influence attributable to such causes, we have abundance of proof that they are entirely inadequate to account for the differences between the various races of men. I shall state one or two changes, which seem fairly referable to climate. The whitening (blanching or etiolation) of vegetables, when the sun's rays are excluded, demonstrates the influ- ence of those rays on vegetable colours. Nor is the effect merely superficial : it extends to the texture of the plant, to the taste and other properties of its juices. Men much ex- posed to the sun and air, as peasants and sailors, acquire a deeper tint of colour than those who are more covered ; and the tanning of the skin by the summer sun, in parts of the body exposed to it, as the face and hands, is a phenomenon completely analogous. The ruddy and tawny hues of those who live in the country, particularly of labourers in the open air, and the pale sallow countenances of the inhabitants OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 433 of towns, of close and dark workshops and manufactorlesj owe their origin to the enjoyment or privation of sun and air. Hence, men of the same race are lighter or darker coloured according to the climate which they inhabit, at least in those parts which are uncovered. The native hue^ of the Moors is not darker than that of the Spaniards, of many French, and some English; but their acquired tint is so much deeper, tliat we distinguish them instantly. How swarthy do the Europeans become who seek their fortunes under the tropic and equator, and have their skins parched by the burning suns of " Afric and of either Ind 1" Mr. Edwards represents that the Creoles in the English West-Indian islands are taller than Europeans; several being six feet four inches high ; and that their orbits are deeper *. It has been generally observed by travellers, that the European population of the United States of North America is tall, and characterized by a pale and sallow countenance. The latter effect is commonly produced in natives of Europe when they become resident in warm cUmates. That both sexes arrive earlier at puberty, and that the mental powers of children are sooner developed in warm than in cold countries, are facts familiarly known. The prevalence of light colours in the animals of polar and cold regions may, perhaps, be ascribed to the influence of climate ; the isatis or arctic fox, the polar bear, and the snow-bunting, are striking instances. The same character is also remarkable in some species, which are more dark- coloured in warmer situations. This opinion is strengthened by the analogy of those animals which change their colour in the same country, at the winter season, to white or gray, as the ermine (mustela erminea), and weasel (m. nivalis), the varying hare, squirrel, rein-deer, white game (tetrao la- gopus), and snow-bunting (emberiza nivalis f). Pallas observes " that even in domestic animals, as horses and cows, * Histonj nfthe West Indies, y. ii. p. II. + LraN.ET!s. Flora Lapponica ; ed. of Smith, pp. 35, 352. F F 434 CAUSES OF THE N^'IRIETIES the winter coat is of a lighter colour than the smoother covering- vvliich succeeds it in the spring. The difference is much more considerable in wild animals. I have shewn instances of it in two kinds of antelope (saiga and guttu- rosa), in the musk animal (moschus moschifer), and in the equus hemionus. The Siberian roe, which is red in sum- mer, becomes of a grayish white in winter ; wolves and the deer kind, particularly the elk and the rein-deer, become light in the winter ; the sable (m. zibellina), and the martin (m. martes), are browner in summer than in winter*." Although these phenomena seem obviously connected with the state of atmospherical temperature, and hence the change of colour, which the squirrel and the mustela ni- valis undergo in Siberia and Russia, does not take place in Germany f ; we do not understand the exact nature of the process by which it is effected ; and cold certainly appears not to be the direct cause. For the varying hare, though kept in warm rooms during the winter, gets its white winter covering only a little later than usual J ; and in all the animals, In which this kind of change takes place, the winter coat, which is more copious, close, and downy, as well as lighter coloured, is found already far advanced in the autumn, before the cold sets In §. The coverings of animals, as well as their colour, seem to be modified in many cases by climate ; but, as the body is naked In the human subject, and as the hair of the head cannot be regarded in the same light as the fur, wool, or hair which covers the bodies of animals generally, the analogies offered by the latter are not very directly applicable to the present subject. In cold regions the fur and feathers are thicker, and more copious, so as to form a much more effectual defence against * NovcE Species Quadrupedum, p. 7. + Ibid. p. 6, note h. The ermine changes its colour in the winter in Ger- many ; but Pallas states, on the faith of sufficient testimony, that it does not undergo this change in the more southern districts of Asia and Persia. :{: Nova: Species Quadrupedum, p. 7. ^ Ibid. p. 9. OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 435 the climate than the coarser and rarer textures which are seen in warm countries. The thick fleece of the dogs lately brought from Baffin's Bay exemplifies this observation very completely. The wool of the sheep degenerates into a coarse hair in Africa ; where we meet also with dogs quite naked, with a smooth and soft skin. Whether the goat, furnishing the wool from which the shawls of Cashmere are manufactured, is of the same species with that domesticated in Europe, and whether the prodi- gious difference between the hairy growth of the two ani- mals is due to diversity of climate, are points at present un- certain. Neither do we know whether the long and silky coat of the goat, cat, sheep, and rabbits of Angora can be accounted for by the operation of this cause : it is at least worthy of notice, that this quality of the hair should exist in so many animals of the same country. It continues when they are removed into other situations, and is transmitted to the ofl^spring ; so that we may, probably, regard these as per- manent breeds. It is well known that the qualities of the horse are inferior in France to those of neighbouring countries. According to BuFFON, Spanish or Barbary horses, when the breed is not crossed, become French horses sometimes in the second generation, and always in the third *. Since the climate of England, which certainly does not approach more nearly to that of the original abode of this animal than that of France, does not impede the developement of its finest forms and most excellent qualities, we may, perhaps, with greater pro- bability, refer the degeneracy of the French horses to ne- glect of the breed. We know that the greatest attention to this point is necessary, in order to prevent deterioration in form and spirit. Diff'erences in food might be naturally expected to pro- duce considerable corresponding modifications in the ani- mal body. Singing birds, chiefly of the lark and finch kinds, are known to become gradually black, if they are fed * V. iv. p. 106. F F 2 4.-U) CAUSES OF THE VARIKTIES on liemp-seed only *. Horses fed on tlic fat marshy grounds of Friesland grow to a large size ; while^ on stony soils of dry heaths, they remain dwarfish. Oxen become very large and fat in rich soils, but are distinguished by shortness of legs ; while, in drier situations, their whole bulk is less, and the limbs are stronger and more fleshy. The quantity of food has great influence on the bulk and state of health of the human subject ; but the quality seems to have less power ; and neither produces any of those differences which characterize races. In all the changes which are produced in the bodies of animals by the action of external causes, the effect termi- nates in the individual ; the offspring is not in the slightest degree modified by them *, but is born with the original properties and constitution of the parents, and a susceptibility only of the same changes when exposed to the same causes. The change in the colour of the liuman skin, from exposure to sun and air, is obviously temporary ; for it is diminished and even removed, when the causes no longer act. Tlie discolouration, which we term tanning, or being sun-burnt, as well as the spots called freckles, are most incidental to fair skins, and disappear when the parts are covered, or no longer exposed to the sun. The children of the husband- man, or of the sailor whose countenance bears the marks of other climes, are just as fair as those of the most delicate and pale inhabitant of a city : nay, the Moors, who have lived for ages under a burning sun, still have white children ; and the offspring of Europeans in the Indies have the ori- ginal tint of their progenitors. Blumenbach has been led into a mistake on this point » DerNaturforscher,T^i. 1. p. 1. pt- 9. p. 22. + When the foetus in utero has stnall-pox or syphilis, there is actual com- munication of disease by the fluids of the mother. This is a case altogether different from those under consideration. Neither does hereditary predispo- sition to particular diseases prove that acquired conditions are transmitted to the offspring. There are natural varieties of organization, disposing different individuals to different diseases on application of the same external causes. These natural varieties, like those of form, and colour, and other obvious properties, are continued to the children. OF THK HUMAN SPECIES. 'ISJ by an English author *, who asserts that Creoles are bora with a different complexion and cast of countenance from the children of the same parents brought forth in Europe. In opposition to this statement, from one who had not seen the facts, I place the authority of Long, a most respectable eye-witness, who, in his History of Jamaica, affirms that " the children born in England have not, in general lovelier or more transparent skins than the offspring of white parents in Jamaica.'' The " austrum spirans vultus et color," which the above mentioned acute and learned naturalist ascribes to the Creole, is merely the acquired effect of the climate, and not a character existing at birth. " Nothing," says Dr. Prichard f, " seems to hold true more generally, than that all acquired conditions of body, whether produced by art or accident, end with the life of the individual in whom they are produced. Many nations mould their bodies into unnatural forms ; the Indians flatten their foreheads ; the Chinese women reduce their feet to one third of their natural dimensions ; savages elongate their ears ; many races cut away the prepuce. We frequently mutilate our domestic animals by removing the tail or ears, and our own species are often obliged by disea-se to submit to the loss of limbs. That no deformity, or mutilation of this kind is hereditary, is so plainly proved by every thing around us, that v/e must feel some surprise at the contrary opinion having gained any advocates. After the operation of circum- cision has prevailed for three or four thousand years, the Jews are still born with prepuces, and still obliged to sub- mit to a painful rite. Docked horses and cropped dogs bring forth young with entire ears and tails. But for this salutary huv," what a frightful spectacle would every race of animals exhibit ! The mischances of all preceding times would overwhelm us with their united weight, and the cata- logue would be continually increasing, until the universe? instead of displaying a spectacle of beauty and pleasure' * IlA vv re Es WORTH, in CoUcdionof Foijugei;, v. iii p. 374 . f Disp. inaug. 4.^8 CAUSES OF THE VARIETIES would be filled with maimed, imperfect, and monstrous shapes." It is obvious that the external influences just considered, even though we should allow to them a miuch greater influ- ence on individuals than experience warrants us in admitting, would be still entirely inadequate to account for those sig- nal diversities, which constitute differences of race in ani- mals. These can be explained only by two principles already mentioned * ; namely, the occasional production of an offspring with difterent characters from those of the pa- rents, as a native or congenital variety ; and the propaga- tion of such varieties by generation. It is impossible, in the present state of physiological knowledge, to shew how this is effected ; to explain why a gray rabbit or cat sometimes brings forth at one birth^ and from one father, yellow, black, white, and spotted young; why a white sheep sometimes has a black lamb ; or why the same parents at different times have leucaethiopic children, and others with the ordinary formation and characters. The state of domestication, or the artificial mode of life, which they lead under the influence of man, is the most power- ful cause of varieties in the animal kingdom. Wild animals, using always the same kind of food, being exposed to the action of the climate without artificial protection, choose, each of them, according to its nature, their zone and country. Instead of migrating and extending, like man, they continue in those places which are the most friendly to their constitutions. Hence, their nature undergoes no change; their figure, co- lour, size, proportions, and properties, are unaltered ; and, consequently, there is no difficulty in determining their species. Nothing can form a stronger contrast to this uni- formity of specific character than the numerous and marked varieties in those kinds which have been reduced by man. To trace back our domestic animals to their wild originals is in all cases difficult, in some impossible; long slavery has so degraded their nature, that the primitive animal may be * See pp. 357 and following, ciSt and following. OF THli HUMAN SPECIES. 439 said to be lost, and a degenerated being, running into end- less varieties, is substituted in its place. The wild original of the sheep, is even yet uncertain. Buffon conceived that he discovered it in the mouflon or argali (ovis ammon) : and Pallas, who had an opportunity of studying the latter animal, adds the weight of his highly respectable authority to the opinion of the French naturalist. Yet Blumenbach regards the argali as a distinct species. Should we allow the latter to be the parent of our sheep, and consequently admit that the differences are explicable by degeneration, no difficulty can any longer exist about the unity of the hu- man species. An incomplete horn of the argali, in the Academical Museum at Gottingen, weighs nine pounds *. " Let us compare,'' says Buffon, " our pitiful sheep with the mouflon, from which they derived their origin. The mouflon is a large animal. He is fleet as a stag, armed with horns and thick hoofs, covered with coarse hair, and dreads neither the inclemency of the sky nor the voracity of the wolf. He not only escapes from his enemies by the swiftness of his course, and scaling, with truly wonderful leaps, the most frightful precipices ; but he resists them by the strength of his body and the solidity of the arms with which his head and feet are fortified. How different from our sheep, who subsist with difficulty in flocks, who are unable to defend themselves by their numbers, who cannot endure the cold of our winters without shelter, and who would all perish if man withdrew his protection 1 So com- pletely are the frame and capabilities of this animal degraded by his association with us, that it is no longer able to subsist in a wild state, if turned loose, as the goat, pig, and cattle are. In the warm climates of Asia and Africa, the mouflon, who is the common parent of all the races of this species, appears to be less degenerated than in any otlier region. Though reduced to a domestic state, he has preserved his stature and his hair; but the size of his horns is diminished. Of all domestic sheep, those of Senegal and India are the * Uli yuy7 The inhabitants of Persia, of Turkey, of Arabia, of Egypt, and of Barbary*, may be regarded in great part as the same race of people, who, in the time of Mahomed and his suc- cessors, extended their dominions by invading immense ter- ritories. In all these situations the skin retains its native fairness, unless the tint be changed by exposure to the sun; and the children are invariably fair. " II n'y a femme de laboureurou de paysan en Asie (Asia Minor) qui n'a le teint frais comme une rose, lapeau delicate et blanche, si polie et si bien tendue, qu'il semble toucher du velours f." The Arabians are scorched by the heat of the sun ; for most of them are either covered with a tattered shirt, or go entirely naked. La Boullaye informs us, that the Arabian women of the desert are born fair, but that their complexions are spoiled by being continually exposed to the sun J. Another traveller remarks, that the Arabian princesses and ladies, whom he was permitted to see, were extremely handsome, beautiful, and fair, because they are always covered from the rays of the sun ; but that the common women are very much blackened by the sun §. The Moors, who have lived in Africa since the seventh ♦ Africa, north of the great desert, has been always inhabited by races of Caucasian formation. The original tribes, called Berbers or Brebers, have given the name of B.'irbary to this division of the Continent. We know but little of their peculiar physical characters; which, however, probably were similar to those of the ancient Egyptians and Guanches (see p. 299.) These Berbers, which constituted the people known to the Roman writers by the names of Libyans, Getulians, Numidians, Mauritanians, Garamantes, have received accessions of PhcKnicians (the Carth^iginians), Greeks, Romans, Vandals, and Arabians. The latter particularly entered the north of Africa in great numbers, destroying or driving away the original inhabitants. The general prevalence of Mahomedanism and of the Arabian language, testifies the impression which they made on the country. The remnants of the aboriginal tribes are now principally found in the mountains. They may be traced, however, south of the great desert, and seem to forn\ even considerable states between Tombuctoo and Upper Egypt ; where they preserve their distinctive characters in the same climates with the Negro race. + Obs- de Pierre Belon, p. 199. J Voyages de La Boui.laye le Goijz, 318. ^ Voyage fait par Ordre du Roi dans la Palestine^ p. 260. H H 2 46'8 CAUSES OF THE VARIETIES century, Imve not degenerated in their pliysical constitution from their Arabian progenitors : the sun exerts its full influ* ence on their skin, but their children are just as white as those born in Europe. They are by no means confined to the northern coast, but have penetrated, as the prevalence of the Mahomedan religion attests, deeply into the interior: here they dwell in countries, of which the woolly-haired Negro is the native, but have not acquired, in six centuries of exposure to the same causes, any of his characters. The intelligent and accurate Shaw informs us, that most of the Moorish women would be reckoned handsome even in Europe ; and that the skin of their children is exceed- ingly fair and delicate; and though the boys, by being ex- posed to the sun, soon grow swarthy, yet the girls, who keep more within doors, preserve their beauty till the age of thirty, when they commonly give over child-bearing. " Les Maures," says Poiret, " ne sont pas naturellement noirs, malgr^ le proverbe, et comme le pensent plusieurs ecrivains ; mais ils naissent blancs, et restent blancs toute leur vie, quand leurs travaux neles exposentpas aux ardeurs, du soleil. Dans les villes, les femmes ont une blancheursi eclatante, qu'elles eclipseroient la plupart de nos Euro- peennes; mais les Mauresques montagnardes, sans cessebru- leespar le soleil et presque toujours a moitie nues, devien- nent, meme des I'enfance, d*une couleur brune qui approche beaucoup de celle de la suie*.'' The testimony of Bruce is to the same effect. That the swarthiness of the southern Europeans is merely the effect of the sun's action on the individual, whose children are born perfectly white, and continue so unless ex- posed to the operation of the climate, might be easily proved of the Spaniards and Portuguese, the Greeks, Turks, &c. ; but the fact is too well known to render this necessary. The Jews exhibit one of the most striking instances of national formation, unaltered by the most various changes. They have been scattered, for ages, over the face of the whole earth; but their peculiar religious opinions and prac- * Foy. en Bnrharie^ torn. i. p. .S2 OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. -Uii) tices have kept the race uncommonly pure ; accordingly, their colour and tlieir characteristic features are still the same under every diversity of climate and situation. The advocates for the power of climate have made very erroneous representations respecting tliese people ; assert- ing that their colour is every where modified hy the situation they occupy. The Jews, like all the native people adjoin- ing their original seats, have naturally a white skin and the other attributes of the Caucasian race. In hot countries they become brown by exposure, as an European does, but they experience no other influence from climate. Their children are born fair ; and the countenance and other cha- racters are everywhere preserved in remarkable purity, because their religion forbids all intermixture with other races. Dr. Buchanan met, on the coast of Malabar, with a tribe, who represented that their ancestors had migrated from Palestine after the destruction of the temple by Titus, and who have preserved their native colour and form amidst the black inhabitants of the country, excepting in instances where they have intermarried with the Hindoos. Those of pure blood are called White Jews, in contradistinction from the others, who are termed Black Jews *. The foregoing facts sufficiently prove, that native diffe- rences in general, and particularly that of colour, do not de- pend on extraneous causes : I have an observation or two to make on some other points. That the curled state of the hair in the African is not produced by heat, appears from its being found in many situations not remarkable for high temperature, as in the Moluccas, New Guinea, Mallieollo, Borneo, New Holland, and even in the cold regions of Van Diemen's Land ; as well as from the hot regions of Asia and America being inha.bited by long-haired races. The woolly appearance of the Negro hair is just opposite to that which hot climates have been said to produce in the covering of sheep in which it is represented that hair is pro- duced instead of wool. When we contrast the hairy coat of the argalior mouflon with the beautiful fleeces of our most va- * Christian Researches in Asia; section, On the Jews. .|70 CAUSES OF THE VARIETIES luable sheep, we see a prodigious difference, which is probably owing more to cultivation and attention to breed than to climate. It does not appear, at least, that change of climate will con- vert the wool of an individual English sheep into hair; and it is equally incapable of conferring a woolly covering on the hairy sheep. Dr. Wright*, who lived many years in Jamaica, speaking of the opinion that the wool of sheep becomes more hairy in warm climates, says, that in the West-India islands there is to be found a breed of sheep, the origin of which he has not been able to trace, that carry very thin fleeces of a coarse shaggy kind of wool ; which circumstance, he thinks, may naturally have given rise to the report. But he never observed a sheep that had been brought from England to carry wool of the same sort with those native sheep : on the contrary, though he has known them live there several years, these English sheep carried the same kind of close burly fleece that is common in England ; and, in as far as he could observe, it was equally free from hairs. The differences in stature, again, have been very confi- dently ascribed to adventitious causes. A temperate climate^ pure air, copious food, tranquillity of mind, and healthy oc- cupation, have been thought favourable to the full deve- lopement of the human frame ; while extreme cold, bad and unwholesome food, noxious air, and similar causes, have been thought capable of reducing the dimensions of the body below the ordinary standard. That these causes may have some effect on individuals I do not deny, although I believe that it is very slight : but the numerous examples of large people in cold countries, and diminutive men in warm climes, induce me to deny altogether its operation on the race. The tall and large-limbed Patagonians, certain North American tribes, and some of the German races, in- habit cold situations : the Mongols, who are small in sta- ture, live in warm countries. The facts and observations adduced in this section lead us manifestly to the following conclusions : 1st, That the difl'erences of physical organization and of moral and intel- * Dr. Anderson on the dijff'erent Kinds of Sheep ; Appendix ii. OF THE HUMAN SPKCIES. 471 lectual qualities, which characterize the several races of our species, are analogous in kind and degree to those which distinguish the breeds of the domestic animals ; and must, therefore, be accounted for on the same principles, 2dly, That they are first produced, in both instances, as native or congenital varieties ; and then transmitted to the offspring in hereditary succession. 3dly, That of the circumstances which favour this disposition to the production of varieties in the animal kingdom, the most powerful is the state of do- mestication. 4thly, That external or adventitious causes, such as climate, situation, food, way of life, have consider- able effect in altering the constitution of man and animals ; but that this effect, as well as that of art or accident, is con- fined to the individual, not being transmitted by generation, and therefore not affecting the race. 5thly, That the human species, therefore, like that of the cow, sheep, horse, and pig, and others, is single; and that all the differences, which it exhibits, are to be regarded merely as varieties. If, in investigating the subject, we are satisfied with com- paring the existing races of men to those of the domestic animals, and with bringing together the characteristic marks, on which the distinctions are grounded in the two cases, as 1 have done in several preceding chapters, we shall have no difficulty in arriving at the fifth conclusion. If, however, we should carry ourselves back, in imagination, to a sup- posed period, when mankind consisted of one race only — and endeavour to shew how the numerous varieties, which now occupy the different parts of the earth, have arisen out of the common stock, and have become so distinct from each other, as we find them at present — we cannot arrive at so satisfactory a decision ; and we experience further embar- rassment from the fact, that the races have been as distinctly marked, and as completely separated from the earliest periods, to which historical evidence ascends, as they now are. The same remarks, in great measure, are true, con- cerning animals ; so that, on this ground, no difficulty pre- vents us from recognizing the unity of the human species, which is not equally applicable to them. CHAPTER X. Division of the Human Species into Five Varieties. After taking into consideration the principal circumstances which characterize the several races of man, and arriving — by the proof that all such distinctions are produced in a still greater degree among animals, chiefly of the domesticated kinds, from the ordinary sources of degeneration — at the conclusion that there is only one species, it remains for me to inquire how many varieties ought to be recognized in this species, and to enumerate the characters by which they may be distinguished. As there is no circumstance, whether of corporeal structure or of mental endowment, which does not pass by imperceivable gradations into the opposite character, rendering all those distinctions merely relative, and reducing them to differences in degree, it is obvious that any arrangement of human varieties must be in great measure arbitrary. Our imperfect knowledge of several tribes constitutes another very serious difficulty, A complete and accurate arrangement cannot therefore be expected at present; and it is more advisable to adopt a general one, which may answer the purposes of classifying the facts already known, and affording points of comparison in aid of future inquiry, than to attempt the details and minuter distinctions, for which we must depend on further investigation. I think it best to follow the distribution proposed by Blxjmenbach, although it is not free from objection ; and although the five varieties, under which he has arranged the several tribes of our species, ought rather to be regarded as principal divisions, each of them including several varieties. C A U C A S I Al^ V A K I E T Y I^iMsIied h' J. Smith, 163 Strand 2822 DIVISION OF THE HUMAN SPECIES, &C. 473 This acute and judicious naturalist divides the single species, which the genus Homo contains, into the Cauca- sian, Mongolian, Ethiopian, American, and Malay varieties. He regards the Caucasian as the primitive stock. It devi- ates into two extremes most remote and different from each other ; namely, the Mongolian on one side, and the Ethio- pian on the other. The two other varieties hold the middle places between the Caucasian and the two extremes ; that is, the American comes in between the Caucasian and Mongolian 5 and the Malay between the Caucasian and Ethiopian. The following marks and descriptions will serve to define these five varieties. But it is necessary to observe, in the first place, that on account of the multifarious diversity and gradation of characters, one or two are not sufficient for de- termining the race; consequently, that an enumeration of several is required : and, secondly, that even this combi- nation of characters is subject to numerous exceptions in each variety. The migrations of the several races in quest of more eligible abodes, the changes of situation consequent on invasion, war, and conquest, and the inter-marriages to which these lead, account for much of this uncertainty. Thus the Mongolian and Caucasian varieties have been much intermixed in Asia; the latter, and the Ethiopian, in Africa. I. Caucasian Variety *. — Characters. A white skin, either with a fair-rosy tint, or inclining to brown ; red cheeks ; hair black, or of the various lighter colours, co- pious, soft, and generally more or less curled or waving. Irides dark in those with brown skin, light (blue, gray, or greenish) in the fair or rosy-complexioned. Large cranium with small face; the upper and anterior regions of the * The name of this variety is derived from Mount Caucasus } because in its neighbourhood, and particularly towards the south, we meet with a very beautiful race of men, the Georgians; (see the quotation from Chakdin at p. 289;) and because, so far as the imperfect lights of history and tradition extend, the original abode of the species seems to have been near the same quarter. 474 DIVISION OF TKK HUMAN SPECIES former particularly developed; and the latter falling per- pendicularly under them. Face oval and straight^ with features distinct from each other -, expanded forehead, nar- row and rather aquiline nose, and small mouth ; front teeth of both jaws perpendicular 5 lips, particularly the lower, gently turned out; chin full and rounded. Moral feelings and intellectual powers most energetic, and susceptible of the highest developement and culture. It includes all the ancient and modern Europeans, except the Laplanders and the rest of the Finnish race; the former and present inhabitants of Western Asia, as far as the river Ob, the Caspian Sea, and the Ganges ; that is, the Assy- rians, Medes, and Chaldeans ; the Sarmatians, Scythians, and Parthians ; the Philistines, Phoenicians, Jews, and the inhabitants of Syria generally; the Tatars*, properly so called; the several tribes actually occupying the chain of Caucasus ; the Georgians, Circassians, Mingrelians, Ar- menians ; the Turks f, Persians J, Arabians §, Afghauns ||, and Hindoos % of high caste ; the northern Africans, inclu- * For an account of the people, to whom this name of Tatar has been applied at various periods of history, and of those to whom it is more strictly applicable, see Ad ELUNG'sifiir r^r^r A,Uy,- fuMsh^d. iv JSnum i63 Scrarui 182^. INTO FIVE VARIETIES. 481 often want It ; also, that the characters of this variety run by insensible gradations Into those of the neighbouring races, as will be Immediately perceived by comparing together dif- ferent tribes of this race, as the Foulahs, Jaloffs, Mandingoes, Kaffers, and Hottentots, and carefully noting how. In these gradational differences, they approach to the Moors, New- Hollanders, Arabians, Chinese, &c. Again, great stress has been laid on the fact, that the Negroes resemble, more nearly than the Europeans, the monkey tribe : the fear of being drawn into the family, even as distant relations, has, I believe, Induced many to place our black brethren in a distinct species ; while others have brought forwards this approximation to tlie slmaei, with the view of degrading the African below the standard of the human species, and thereby palliating the cruel hard- ships under which he groans in the Islands and continent of the New World. It Is undoubtedly true, that in many of the points, wherein the Ethiopian differs from the Caucasian variety, it comes nearer to the monkeys ; viz, In the greater size of the bones of the face, compared to those of the cranium ; the low and slanting forehead ; the protuberance of the alveoli and teeth ; the recession of the chin ; the form of the ossa nasi ; the position of the foreamen magnum occlpitale : the outline of the union of the head and trunk ; the relative length of the humerus and ulna, &c. This resemblance is most unequi- vocally admitted by those who have minutely examined the anatomical structure of the Negro *. It appears to me, that this fact is not very important : if there are varieties of bo- dily formation among mankind, some one of these must approach nearer to the organization of the monkey than the others; but does tliis prove that the variety in which the conformity occurs, is less man than the others ? The soli- dungular variety of the common pig is more like the horse than other swine : do we hence infer, that the nature of this animal In general is less porcine, or more like that of ♦ SoEMMERRiNG Uler die korp. versch. Preface, p. H', and § 69. 482 DIVISION OF THE HUMAN SPECIES the horse, than that of other pigs ? The points of difference between tlie Negro and the European do not affect those important characters which separate man in general from the animal world : the erect attitude, the two hands, the slow developement of the body, the use of reason, and con- sequently perfectibility, are attributes common to both. That very little importance can be attached to the gene- ral observation of the resemblance of the Negro and mon- key, founded on external appearance, may be clearly in- ferred from this fact, that the same remark has been made, even by intelligent travellers, of particular people in the other varieties. Regnard concludes his description of the Laplanders with these words : " Voila la description de ce petit animal qu'on appelle Lapon, et Ton peut dire qu'il n'y en a point, apres le singe, qui approche plus de I'homme *"." Cartwright thought tlie Esklmaux very like monkeys : he informs us, "that walking along Piccadilly one day with the two men, I took them into a shop to shew them a col- icction of animals. We had no sooner entered, than I ob- served their attention rivetted on a small monkey ; and I could perceive horror most strongly depicted in their coun- tenances. At length the old man turned to me, and faul- tered out, ' Is that an Eskimau ?' I must confess that both the colour and contour of the countenance had considerable resemblance to the people of their nation. On pointing out several other monkeys of different kinds, they were greatly diverted at the mistake which they had made ; but were not well pleased to observe that monkeys resembled their race much more than ours f." Nic. DEL Techo represents a native tribe in South Ame- rica as "tam simiis similes, quam hominibus J." Cook calls the people of the island MallicoUo " an ape-like nation §:" • CEuvres, t. i. p. 71. + Journal of Transaction, S^c. during a residence of nearly Sixteen Years on the Coast of Labrador ; \. i. p. 270. \ Relat. de Caaiguarum Gente, p. 34. ^ Tor/age towards the South Pole, v. ii. p. 34. INTO FIVE VARIETIES. 483 and FoRSTER uses the same comparison ; " The Natives of Mallicollo are a small, nimble, slender, ill-favoured set of beings, that of all men I ever saw bordered nearest upon the tribe of monkeys*.'^ As the characteristic form of the head and features of the Negro are just opposite to those of the Eskimaux and native Americans, we must regard these comparisons, which cannot be correct in all the instances, as loose expressions, not meant to be interpreted literally. Under the Ethiopian variety, as under the Caucasian and Mongolian, are included numerous nations and tribes dis- tinguished from each other by well-marked modifications of organization and moral qualities. Nothing is more errone- ous than the common notion that all Africans have one and the same character. I have already noticed the diversities of features and skulls (see pages 281 and 310) ; and equally strong distinctions are observable in general character, whether physical or moral. To the proofs of the former point before adduced, I shall here add the testimony of Dr. WiNTERBOTTOM : " As great a variety of features occurs among these people as is to be met with in the nations of Europe : the sloping contracted forehead, small eyes, de- pressed nose, thick lips, and projecting jaws, with which the African is usually caricatured, are by no means constant traits : on the contrary, almost every gradation of counte- nance may be met with, from the disgusting picture too com- monly drawn of them, to the finest set of European features. Want of animation does not characterize them, and faces are often met with whicli express the various emotions of the mind with great energy f ." Mr. Edwards, who had seen them in the West Indies, re- gards the Foulahs as a link between the Moors and Negroes. *'They are of a Less glossy black than those of the Gold Coast; their hair is crisped and bushy; n(tt woolly, but soft and silky. They have not such flat noses or thick lips as we ♦ Observations on a Voyage round the World, p. 242. i Account of the Native J fricnns, v. i. p. 19S. I I 2 484 DIVISION OF THE HUMAN SPECIES generally include in our notion of the Negro countenance ; nor have they the peculiar fetid cutaneous odour *." The Koromantyns, from the Gold Coast, are characterized by firmness of body and mind, activity, courage, and ferocity ; by the greatest fortitude and contempt of death. He ad- duces a horrid example of these qualities in a punishment inflicted for revolt. Two of them were hung up alive in chains : one died on the eighth, the other on the ninth day, without having uttered a groan or complaint f. The Eboes from the Bight of Benin " are the lowest and most wretched of all the nations of Africa." — " I cannot help observing, too, that the conformation of the face, in a great majority of them, very mucii resembles that of the baboon %:' In some parts of Africa, intermixture with other nations may have produced occasional departures from the original type of the race. In the north, the aboriginal Berber tribes, and subsequently the Arabian or Saracen conquerors, not to mention the Phoenician, Greek, Roman, and Turkish colonists, must have mingled extensively with the Negroes. On the east, the kingdom of Abyssinia is of Arabian origin; and traces of the same people are found along the coast, nearly as far as the Cape. Europeans, and particularly the Portuguese, have had settlements on the west coast between three and four centuries. The result of such mixtures must not be confounded with native differences. The tribes in the south of Africa are marked by strong peculiarities. The fine forms, tallness, and strength of the KafFers, have been already observed (p. 380). Although their hair is black and woolly, or rather short and curling, the skin is of a deep brown instead of black ; they have the high forehead and prominent nose of Europeans, with thick- ish lips, and projecting cheek-bones. In moral qualities, arts, * History of the West Indies, v. ii. p. 73. Mr. Park's description coin- cides with this account ; Travels into the Interior Districts of Africa, 8vo. ed. p. 25. f Edwards, ibid. p. 79. 1 Ibid. 88-9. INTO FIVE DIVISIONS. 485 and civilization, they excel the true Negroes as much as in organization *. The Hottentot race is again clearly distinguished both from the KafiFers and Negroes. 1 have mentioned in another place (p. 379.) their very short stature. The colour of the skin is a yellowish brown, or that of a faded leaf. The cheek-bones are high, and much spread out in the lateral direction, so that this is the broadest part of the face ; which is suddenly contracted below to a very narrow and pointed chin. The nose is remarkably flat, and broad towards its end ', but in some it is more raised. The forehead has a narrow appearance, from the great breadth across the clieeks, but it is not either contracted or low.—" The colour of the eyes Is a deep chesnut ; they are very long and narrow, re- moved to a great distance from each other ; and the eyelids, at the extremity next to the nose, instead of forming an angle, as in Europeans, are rounded into each other, exactly like those of the Chinese, to whom. Indeed, in many other points, they bear a physical resemblance."—" The hair Is of a very singular nature : It does not cover the whole surface of the scalp, but grows In small tufts at certain distances from each other, and when kept short has the appearance and feel of a hard shoe-brush, with this difference, that it Is curled and twisted Into small round lumps about the size of a mar- rowfat-pea. When suffered to grow, it hangs In the neck in hard twisted tassels like fringe f." The organization of the Bosjesmen is the same In all essential points %, IV. The American Variety Is characterized by a dark skin of a more or less red tint ; black, straight, and strong * Barrow's Southern Africa; v. i. ch. 3. Lichtenstein's Trcweh, c!i. 18. For excellent portraits of Kaffers, see Mr. S. Daniell's African Scenery and Animals; fol. + Barrow, lib. cit. p. 157-8. Dr. Somervil-le, Obs. de Gente, Hottentot- taramm Medico Chir. Trans, v. Vm. Portrait of a Hottentot; Barrow. Travels in China, p. 50. Kora, Hottentot woman, Barrow, Voyage to Cochin China, p. 373. Booshuana man and woman ; ibid. p. 394. But the best representations of these people and the Bosjesmen are to be seen in Mr. Daniell's African Scenery and Animals. \ Barrow's Africa^ v. i. p. 278. 486 DIVISION OF THE HUMAN SPECIES hair ; small beard, which is generally eradicated ; and a countenance and skull very similar to tliose of the Mongo- lian tribes. The forehead is low, the eyes deep, the face broad, particularly across the cheeks, which are prominent and rounded. Yet the face is not so flattened as in the Mongols ; the nose and other features being more distinct and projecting *. The mouth is large, and the lips rather thick f. The forehead and vertex are in some cases deformed by art. This variety includes all the Americans, with the excep- tion of the Eskimaux. The redness of the skin is not so constant, but that it varies in many instances towards a brown, and approaches in some situations to the white colour. Cook states, that the natives of Nootka Sound have a colour not very differ- ent from that of Europeans, but w^ith a pale dull cast X' and BoUGUER makes the same observation of the Peruvians on tlie Andes. Humboldt observes, that "the denomination of Copper-coloured men could never have originated in equinoctial America to designate the natives §." Mr. Birk- BECK says of the natives, whom he saw in the western terri- tory of tlie United States, " that their complexion is various ; some are dark, others not so sw^arthy as myself; but I saw none of the copper-colour, which I had imagined to be their universal distinctive mark ||." In describing the Chilians, Molina says, " Their com- plexion, like that of the other American nations, is of a red- •» " If the Chaymas," says Humboldt, " and in general all the natives of South America and New Spain, resemble the Mongol race by the form of the eye, their high cheek-bones, their straight and flat hair, and the almost entire want of beard, they essentially differ from thera in the form of the nose, which is pretty long, prominent through its whole length, and thick towards the nostrils, the openings of which are directed downwards, as iu all the na- tions of the Caucasian race." Personal Narrative, v. iii. p. 224. + For portraits of Americans, see Cook, Voyage towards the South Pole} V. ii. p. 183. pi. 27 ; nativeof Tierra del Fuego ; and Voyage to the Pacific ; pis. 38, 39, 46, 47, 54 ; natives of the north-west coast. + Voyage to the Pacific ; v. ii. p. 303. \ Personal Narrative, v. iii. 223. Ij Notes on a Journey in America, p. 100. INTO FIVE VARIETIES. 48/ dish brown, but it is of a clearer hue, and readily changes to white. A tribe who dwell in the province of Baroa are of a clear white and red, without any intermixture of the copper- colour*." The most accurate observers, in various parts of the con- tinent, have particularly noticed the imperfect developcment of the forehead in the American race. '^ In the natives of Nootka Sound," says Cook, " the visage of most is round and full ; and sometimes also broad, with high prominent cheeks ; and above these the face is frequently much de- pressed, or seems fallen in quite across between the temples ; the nose also flattening at its base, with pretty wide nos- trils, and a rounded point. The forehead rather low f." The same lowness of this region is remarked by Hearne J in the northern Indians : by Lewis and Clarke §, of the western tribes ; by Mr. Rollin, the surgeon who accom- panied La Perouse, of the natives on the western coast in 58° N. lat. II, of the Californians ^, and the Chilians **, by Dampier, of those on the coast of Nicaragua, and the Isthmus of Darienft ; and by Humboldt, of the Americans generally J J. In describing the Chaymas, he says that "the forehead is small, and but little prominent. Thus in seve- ral languages of these countries, to express the beauty of a woman, they say that she isfat and has a narrow forehead §§." A singular intellectual defect has been noticed in some Ame- ricans, and may, perhaps, be connected with this peculiarity in the configuration of the head. " The Chaymas have a great difficulty in comprehending any thing that belongs to numerical relations. I never saw a single man who might * Ciuil History of Chili, p. 4. + Voyage towards the South Pole, v. ii. p. 183. + Journey to the Frozen Ocean ; pp. 89, and 306. S Travels p. 64. and ch. 23. II Voyage, S^c. v. iii. p. 202. f Ibid. 201. ** Ibid. 200. f + Voyages, 6,'c. v. i. p. 32 ; v. ii. p. 1 15. + + See the quotation at [\. 370. ^\ Personal iVarratiue, v. iii. p. 223. 488 DIVISION OF THE HUMAN SPECIES not be made to say that he was eighteen or sixty years of age *." Wafer observed the same circumstance in the Isthmus of Darien. The Indians attempted to reckon a party of between three aud four hundred persons : one of them put a grain of maize Into a basket for each that passed ; but they could not cast it up. Some days after, twenty or thirty of the chief men came together, and tried their skill 5 " But, when they could tell no further (the number probably exceeding their arithmetic), and seemed to grow very hot and earnest In their debates about it, one of them started up, and, sorting out a lock of hair with his fingers, and shaking it, seemed to Intimate the number to be great and unknown, and so put an end to the dispute. But one of them came after us, and inquired our number, in broken Spanish f." Several fabulous reports have been propagated, and enter- tained even by writers of credit, respecting the distinguish- ing characters of this race. The representation of their entire natural deficiency of beard has been rectified already (see p. 27] and following). It has been asserted that the women are not subject to the menstrual discharge; and that in some places the men suckle, and not the women J. A formal refutation of such fancies cannot be necessary. V. Malay Variety. — Brown colour, from a light tawny tint, not deeper than that of the Spaniards and Portuguese, to a deep brown, approaching to black. Hair black, more or less curled, and abundant. Head rather narrow ; bones of the face large and prominent; nose full and broad towards the apex ; large mouth. The inhabitants of the peninsula of Malacca, of Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Celebes, and the adjacent Asiatic islands -, of the Molucca, Ladrone, Philippine, Marian, and Caroline groups ; of New Holland, Van DIemen's Land, New Gui- nea, New Zealand, and the numberless islands scattered through the whole of the South Sea, belong to this division. * Personal Narrative^ p. 24 1 . + New Voyage and Description of the Isthmus of yl7nerica, p. X Clavicrro, Storia di Mcssico ; 4. 169. MALAY VARIETY (ym^L TuiiishAi h' J-SnudvJ63 Sc/-ayuti6J2 INTO FIVE VARIETIES. 4S9 It Is called Malay *, because most of the tribes speak the Malay language ; which may be traced, in the various ramifications of tlus race, from Madagascar to Easter Island, Under this variety, to which, in truth, no well-marked common characters can be assigned, are included races of men very diiFerent in organization and qualites ; too dif- ferent indeed to be arranged with propriety under one and the same division, but hitherto too imperfectly known for the purposes of satisfactory arrangement. In that division of the abodes of this race, which may be called the Southern Asiatic, or East-Indian islands, we find at least two very different organizations ; namely, one Negro-like, black, with strongly curled hair; another, of brown or olive-colour, with longer hair. The first, regarded as the aboriginal inhabitants, occupy some islands entirely, but are found in the larger ones in the mountainous interior parts, whither they seem to have been driven by the en- croachments of new settlers. They resemble the African Negroes in their black colour, woolly hair, and general for- mation of the skull and features; and hence they are called, by the Dutch writers, Negroes and Moors. They are dis- tinguished, however, by their language, and by a copious bushy beard. In Sumatra, they are called Batta; in Bor- neo, Biajos ; in the Moluccas, Haraforas or Alfoeras ; in the Philippines, Ygolotes. They are wild, barbarous, and uncivilized, like their African kindred. Col. Symes, who visited the great Andaman Island on his voyage to Ava, describes the natives as seldom exceeding * The term ' Malay,' says Mr. Marsden, like that of Moor' in the con- tinent of India, is almost synonymous with' Mahomedan.' Ilist. of Sumatra, Sd ed. p. 42. These people, he says, are supposed to have come from the Peninsula of Malacca, and to have spread thence over the adjacent islands; -whereas it is clearly proved that the Malays went from Sumatra to Malacca in the 12th century; "and that the indigenous inhabitants, gradually driven by them to the woods and mountains, so far from being the stock from which the Malays were propagated, are an entirely diflVr; nt race of mtMi, nearly approaching in their physical characters to the Negroes of Africa." Ibid. 326. 490 DIVISION OF THE HUMAN SPECIES five feet, having slender limbs, large bellies, high shoulders, and large heads. They had woolly hair, flat noses, and thick lips ; and a skin of a deep sooty black. They are naked, and in a state of complete barbarism *. The lighter-coloured race, with more oval countenance, longer hair, and finer forms altogether, occupy the coasts of the larger islands, and some smaller ones entirely. Many of them shew their Malay origin, by their organiza- tion, language and manners ; and appear to have gradually spread from the continent over the adjacent islands. Others, however, cannot be traced so satisfactorily to this source f . In the numerous larger and smaller islands of the South Sea, extending from New Holland to Easter Island, over a space of nearly 140 degrees of longitude, very various tribes are found, of light-brown or olive to black colour, of woolly or long hair, tall or short, handsome or ugly; and that often very near each other. They may be arranged, as in the latter case, under two divisions, between which, however, there are several intermediate gradations forming an insen- sible transition from the one to the other. 1st, Negro-like men, with curly hair, occupy the south- western islands; and may, perhaps, have descended from the analogous race in the Moluccas and other East-Indian islands. They are savage, ferocious, and suspicious X- * Embassy to Ava, 8vo. p. 301. A similar description of them is given by the Arabian travellers in the ninth century, whose account is translated by Renaudot, Ibid. p. 296, note. " It deserves remark, " the author adds, " that on the continent of India e.xtra Gangem, tigures of Boodh or Budhoo, the Gaudmaof the Birmans and Siamese, arc often seen with characteristic hair and features of the Negro." p. 302, note. Mr. Colebrook's account of the physical traits, the ferocity, and the completely savage state of this race, is precisely similar to that of Col. Stmes. Asiatic Researches, v. iv. f Two natives of Timor are represented by Peron, Voyage de Decon- vertes dux Terres Australes, t. \. pi. 23 and 26. J For portraits of this race, see Cook's Voyage totvards the South Pole, V. ii.pl. 47, Man of MalJicollo; pi. 26 and 45, Man and \Voman of Tanna ; pi. 39 and 48, Man and Woman of New Caledonia. Cook's Voy- age to the Pacific ; pi. 6 and 7, Man, Woman, and Child, of Van Dieman's Laud. CoLLixs, Account of New South Wales, p. 439, portrait of a Native, IN'IO FIVE VARIETIES. 491 This race is found in New Holland and Van Diemen's Land, New Guinea New Britain, and the adjacent group sometimes called Solomon's Islands, New Georgia and the Charlotte Islands, the New Hebrides, including Tanna, Mallicollo and others, New Caledonia, and the Feejee Islands. The remaining islands of the South Sea, from New Zea- land on the west, to Easter Island, contain a race of much better organization and qualities *. In colour and features, many of them approach to the Caucasian variety ; while they are surpassed by none in symmetry, size, and strength. They have made considerable advances in civilization, and readily learn the arts imparted by their European visitors. CONCLUDING ADDRESS TO THE LAST LECTURE. I HAVE now. Gentlemen ! performed the task assigned to me by the Board of Curators. In judging of the execution of any design, it is right to bear in mind the object and views with which it was un- dertaken. I have been desirous of exhibiting to you, in the Lectures, which are just concluded, the utility and appli- cations of zoological science ; and have, therefore, aimed more at illustrating principles, and the mode of employing and applying knowledge, than at collecting or bringing for- wards a great number or variety of facts. with the prominent jaws and mouth of the Negro. Peron, Voyage de De- couvertes, t. 1. pi. 8— 12, and IT— 20, Natives of New Holland and the adjacent islands. The Papuahs of New Guinea are described by Forrest in his Voyage to New Guinea; and a figure of a youth of this race, with jaws as prominent as those of any African Negro, is given by Sir T. S. Raf- fles, in his History of Java, v. 2. * Numerous figures may be seen in Cook's Voyage towards the South Pole ; and iu the folio alias of his Voyage to the Pacijic. 492 CONCLUDING ADDRESS I selected the natural history of our species, because the subject is very interesting, because many of the points which it involves, embracing physiological questions of the liighcst importance, are closely allied to our own peculiar pursuits ; and because it has not yet received a due portion of attention in this country. I hope to have convinced you that the zoological study of man, when grounded on a knowledge of his organization and functions, and enlightened by the analogies, the con- trasts, and the various aids afforded by an acquaintance with the animal kingdom in general, is the only means by which a clear insight can be gained into human nature ; — into the physical and moral attributes, the comparative powers, the liability to change or modification of the individual, the race or the variety, and consequently into the frame, capa- bilities, and destiny of the species. The principles fur- nished by such investigations are the safest guide in all branches of knowledge, of which man in any shape is the object : the only guide at least that can be trusted by those who are determined to resort to nature for themselves, rather than blindly adopt established doctrines, or take up the ready-made notions and clever systems, so kindly provided for those who are too indolent or too timid to ex- ercise their own observation and reason on tliese important topics. Such inquiries, I will venture to add, afford the only light capable of directing us through the dark regions of metaphysics, the only clue to direct our course through the intricate mazes of morals. Can we hope to proceed safely in legislation, in public institutions, in education, without that acquaintance with the physical and moral quali- ties of the subject for whose benefit they are designed, which such investigations are calculated to supply ? 1 have had occasion, in the course of the Lectures, to ex- emplify the incidental elucidations, which various questions in history, in antiquities, in the fine arts, may receive from this quarter. Anatomy and physiology would be very in- considerable branches of general knowledge, if the facts which they supply were applicable merely to the illustration and extension of the healini]: art. TO THE LAST LECTURE. 493 You may, perhaps, ask, whether these pursuits, or at least these applications, are within that part of the territory of science which may be marked out as the field of medi- cine ? whether they ought not to be deemed foreign to our immediate object, surgical practice ? They are so, if surgery be regarded as a mere manual art, of which outward appli- cations and operations are the sole ends ; — if surgeons feel that they have taken a rank higher than they can maintain, and are disposed to descend quietly into their original con- dition of a subordinate mechanical class, contented to oc- cupy themselves, under the sufferance and connivance of their elder medical brethren, with the few petty matters, which they had disdained as too low and trivial for persons of superior education. But, Gentlemen ! such is not the light in which the College of Surgeons and, what is more important, in which the public regards our profession. The legislator, in voting public money to purchase the rich collection formed by an English surgeon, and to prepare a suitable building for its safe deposit : and the rulers of this College, in the pecuniary exertions, connected with the acceptance of this precious gift, in the devotion of time and labour demanded by the necessary arrangements, and in the institution of professorships, so well calculated to keep alive the spirit of emulation and improvement, have recognized surgery as a liberal science, and have viewed surgeons, in the free exer- cise of their allotted branch of the healing art, as an inde- pendent body, responsible in its proceedings to no superior professional jurisdiction. It is our duty. Gentlemen ! and, I am sure, it will be not less our pleasure, to maintain our profession in the rank thus marked out for it by public opinion. That impartial and generally ej:ilightened tribunal will support and protect us so long as our endeavours are honestly directed to advan- cing and perfecting the theory and practice of so useful an art. Our own individual credit, and the dignity, honour, and reputation of our body, demand that surgeons should not be behind any other class in the profession, cither in the cultivation of all branches of knowledge directly con- 494 CONCLUDING ADDRESS nected with the healing art, or in any of the collateral pur- suits less immediately attached to it. It is only in reference to such views and such objects, that the Hunterian collec- tion could have been accepted, or can be of any use to our College. Unless rightly employed, this valuable treasure will be an incumbrance rather than an ornament : instead of rendering service or conferring dignity, it will make our incompetence and disgrace more conspicuous. The medical character is generally received as a certifi- cate of education and knowledge ; and it is a passport of admission into the most cultivated society. A general ac- quaintance with natural knowledge is expected of us, and is absolutely necessary to answer the appeals which are con- stantly made to us in conversation. As general informa- tion is now so much more diffused than heretofore, our relative superiority can only be maintained by increased exertion. In the present day. Gentlemen ! professional characters are estimated fairly enough according to the proportion of their knowledge and active talent ; the efficacy of name5 and titles, like the fashion of wigs and canes, is gone by, without a chance of revival. The obsolete institutions of past ages, and inefficient modern ones, meet alike with silent disregard. The mighty impulse, which for the last half century has so signally extended the boundaries of knowledge in all di- rections, still actuates the human mind. The astonishing occurrences of this eventful period raised it at times into irregular agitation : that, indeed, has for the present sub- sided ; but the force of the original movement is not at all diminished ; — I think rather increased. It will, perhaps, display itself, now that political revolutions and innovations are suspended, in a more vigorous pursuit of the useful sciences, and a more active cultivation of the arts of peace. Surgery is largely indebted to this past and present men- tal activity. So much have its principles, its doctrines, and its practical proceedings, been modified, — 1 will venture to say, improved, that the magnitude of the change is noticed, even by the junior members of the profession. But do not TO THE LAST LECTURE. 495 suppose that It has reached perfection ; or that it is destined to stop at its present point. What has been hitherto effec- ted, in the physiological and pathological principles of our art, has been chiefly to expose and remove errors, to clear away rubbish and incumbrances, and lay down some part of the foundation. It still remains for us to erect the building. We must increase, rather than relax our exertions. The currrent of knowledge and improvement rushes on so strongly, that they, who hesitate to commit themselves to it, will soon be left far behind ; and serve only the disgrace- ful purpose of enabling us to measure the force and rapidity of the stream. Beware, I exhort you, of this shameful apathy, this fatal indecision ; and strain every nerve to advance all branches, whether immediate or auxiliary, of the profession you have chosen I You will thus enjoy the greatest pleasure, which upright and honourable minds can receive, — that of increasing the usefulness, and thereby raising the credit and respectability, of the body to which you belong : you will prepare for yourselves, at all times, a pure source of the most satisfactory reflections. Our professional ministrations introduce us to our fel- low-creatures in the most endearing character, — as instru- ments of unquestionable benefit ; not merely in alleviating or removing the severe pressure of that great evil, bodily pain, and protracting the approach of that awful moment, from which all sentient beings shrink back with instinctive dread, — the termination of existence ; but in soothing the acuter anguish which near relations and friends feel for each other. Consider the responsibility attached to those decisions, on which it will depend whether a beloved wife or husband shall be saved, whether children shall be restored to their anxious parents, or parents be preserved for the benefit of tlieir offspring. On reviewing our con- duct in these trying scenes, when all our efforts have been unavailing, the reflection that nothing has been omitted, which the resources of our art rendered possible, — nothing neglected, which more diligent study, and more active pur- suit of knowledge could have supplied, will be a support and a consolation. VYliat must be the feelings of those, to 496 CONCLUDING ADDRESS whom this consolation Is denied ! who feel a doubt whether the fatal event has merely exemplified the limited efficacy of art, or has been owing to their ovvn ignorance or incompetence ! These matters have, however, been already treated with such just feeling, and such persuasive eloquence, by my ingenious and most estimable Colleague *, that I desist, apprehensive that by going on I should only weaken the effect'of his forcible appeals. My distinguished Coadjutor spoke of his excursions into the field of comparative ana- tomy, as if they required explanation or apology. By making man the principal object of my Lectures, Thave imitated him, in deviating apparently from the precise course marked out by our superiors. I wish I could have presented to you as effectual an excuse as he did, in the bold and novel views, the striking thoughts, the acute remarks, and the beautiful language of his interesting discourses ! I shall be satisfied, however. Gentlemen! if you will accord to me the humbler merits — of Industry, in collecting materials; patience, in arranging, combining, and reflecting on tliem ; fidelity and independence in exhibiting to youj precisely as they appeared to my mind, the inferences and deductions that resulted from the whole. To the Court, to the Members of this College, and to my other hearers, I am much indebted for their patient at- tention to fifteen long Lectures, during the extraordinary heats of this Bengal summer ! particularly in the oppres- sive atmosphere of tliis unventllated theatre, and at a time of day when, in such seasons, living beings seem almost instinctively to seek repose. Gentlemen ! I thank you very sincerely ; and I wish you every success and happiness in the honourable practice of your profession. * Ant. Carlisle, Esq, C. Smith, l*rinter, ItiS, Sljaiid, London,