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Show xiv PREFATORY REMARKS. skeleton and especially of the skulls of these species of orangs, with tho dcscriptiom; and i.llustrations of the different races of man, to be found in almost CVCI'J work on this subject, shows that the orangs diG:cr· fl'orn one a.nother in the same manner as the races of man do; iiO m u h r;o, that, if these orangs are dificrout species, tho difl:eront races of men wlti<:h inhabit the same countries, the Malays and the N ogrillos, must be eonsiclcred also as distinct species. This conclusion acquires ti I L gl'eator strength, if we extend the comparison to the long-armed monkeys, the Ilylobatcs of tho Sunda islands and of the peninsulas of Malacca and Deckan, which extend over regions inl~abitcd by the 'l'clingans, the Malays, and the Negrillos; for there ~x1sts even a greater diversity of opinions among zoologists respootmg the natural limits of the species of the genus Ilylobates, than respecting those of the orangs, which constitute tho genus Pithecnt:~. I have already all udod, on another occasion, to the identity of·color of the Malays and orangs: may we not now remember also a. similar rosomhlanco hetweeu some of the species of Ilylob~tos w'ith the N egrillos aud Tclingaus? " The monkey!:! of South America are also very instructive in this res.pcct, especially tho genus Ccbus. While some zoologists distingmsh as many a ten diflercnt species, others consider them all as one~ and. others acknowledge two or three species. Here we have agam~ ~1th rcfer:ncc to one g~nus of monkeys, the same diversity of opunon as exists among naturalists respecting the races of man. ~ut, in this case, the question assumes a peculiar interest, from the c~rcumstance that the genus Cebus is exclusively American; for that d1scloses tho same indefinite limitation between its species which we ob~c~vo a~. o am?ng the tribes of Indians, or the same tendency to sphttmg mto mmor gronps, running really one into tho otho. notw1· th stancr m g some few marked dificreneos,- in the samIe, manner, as Morton bas shown, that all the Indians constitute but one race, from one curl of the continent to the other. This difforcn~ iation .of om: animals into an almost indefinite number of varieties, ~u sp.eciCs wluc? have, a~ a whole, a wide geographical distribution, IS a featu.rc wlnch prcvmls very extensively upon tho two continon ts of AmeriCa. It may be observed among our squirrels, our rabbits and bares, our turtle., and even among our :fishes· while in the Old World, not~it~standing t~c recurrence of simil~r phcn~mena, the ran~e of vanat~on of speCies seems less extensive and the range of th?1r geographwal distribution more limited. In accordance with th1s general character of the animal kingdom we find likewise that among me~, W.l tl 1 t 11 e exception of the Arcti'c Esquimaux, there is' only one smgle race of men extending over the whole range of \ I PREFATORY RE1t!ARKS. XV North and South America, but dividing into innumerable tribes; whilst, iu the Old World, there are a great many w 11-dc.fi.ucd and easily distinguished races, wl1ich are circumscribed wiLhin comparatively much narrower boundaries. "This being the case, is it not plain that, unless we compare constantly the results of our ethnological investigations ·with tl1e daily increasing information we possess respecting the relation of rmimals to one another and their geographical distribution, light will never shine upon the q ucstion of tho races of man ? "There is another point to which I would simply allude. Much importance is attached to the affinity of lauguagcs-by those who insist upon the primitive unity of man-as exhibitiug, in their opinion, the necessity of a direct affiliation between all men. But the very same thing might be shown of any natural family of mtimals,- oven of such families as contain a lal'go number of distinct genera and species. Let any one follow upon a map exhibiting the geographical distribution of the bears, tho cats, the hollow-horned ruminants, tho gallinaceous birds, the clucks, or of any other families, an<l he may trace, as satisfactorily as any philological evidence ·can prove it for the human language, and upon a much larger scale, that the brumming of the boars of Kamtschatka is akin to tbut of the bears of Thibet, of the East Indies, of the Sunda island·, of Nepal, of Syria, of Europe, of Siberia, of tho U nitcd States, of the Rocky mountains, and of the Audas; though all these bcat·s arc considered as distinct species, who have not any more inherited their voice one from the otl1er, than the di.flercnt races of men. 'l'ho same may be said of the roaring and miawing of the cats of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America; or of tho lowing of the bulls, tho species of which arc so widely distributed nearly over the whole globe. 'l'ho same is true of the gackeling of the gallinaceous birds, and ofthe quacking of the clucks, as well as of the song of tho thrushes,-all of which pour forth their gay and harmonious notes in a distinct and iudcpcudont dialect, neither derived nor inherited one fi·om the other, oven though all sing thrushislt. Let any philologist study these facts, and learn, at the same time, how independent the ammals arc, one from the other, which utter such closely allied systems of intonations, aJHl, if he be not altogether blind to the significance of analogies in nature, he must begin himself to question the reliability of philological evidence as proving genetic derivation. "Ls. Ao.assrz." MESSRS. NO'l'T & GLIDDON • |