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Show 188 ON S01t£E OF THE been d rived-during all the historical period of theN cw Worl<l, and its great diflcrencc from Chin so and J apancsc works of' ar.t. C~uld we hop that the monuments of cnLral anu South Amcnca 1mght attr·act tho attention and cxci to the i nt rest of more American scholars than hitherto, thc Lhcory of tbc Mongol Migin of tho l od-mcn wonld soon bo numbered. among exploded hypotheses,- to ho forgotten, lil·c the fond ill us ions of Lol'd Ki ngsboi'Ough ; "" ho Fmccumbcu prematurely, 'tis said., fortuuclcss in lJOCkot and ahcrratcd in mind, owing to his sincere anu mnuiftc nt endeavors Lo dedu ·o "American Indians" from the falsely-supposed "lo11t Ten Tribe!:! of Israel." !X.-ON SOME OF 'l'IIE UNARTISTICAL RACES. CouNT do Gobinoan's publication on the Inequal·ity of human races 200 is certainly a work spat·lding with genius and originality, if indnlgiug in some wild. hypotheses not supported by history. By one of Lis most startling assertions he derives the aptitude for art, among all th nations of antiquity, from an amalgamation with lJlack races. For him, l~gyptianl:l, Gro ks, Assyrians and Etruscans, arc halt~brecds, mulattoes! We wouJU not notic this stmngo and altogether- gratuitous hypothesis, had not several other works-unscicntif1c1 but important by the intcn o popularity they have acqui.rcd,hcld out tho cxp ctation that the Black races might, after all, turn out to be artistical, and hence bring about a new ora of art. Sober history docs not encourage sn h dreams, nor can the past of the Black races warrant them. Long as history has made mention of Hcgrocs, they have never had any art of their own. Their fcatnros arc rc ·ordcd by their ancient enemies, not by themselves. Erryptian kings who, from the cadicst times of antiquity, came often into collision with the blacks, bad them fignrcd as dcC•atcd enemies, a~ prisoners of war, and as subject nations bringing tribute. Their gr·otcsquc fcatmcs, so much diftcring f'r.·om the Egyptian type, made them a Hworite subject for sculptural supports of theoncs, elmira, vases, &c.; or painted under the sol s of sanual!:!, of which instances abonnd in Museums as well as in tho larger works on J~gypt. To the many examples of monumental 11 grocs fumishcd in "Types of Mankind," we add two that arc incuitcd, due to M. Prisse d'Avcnncs's friendship for his old J£gyptian comrauc, Mr. Gliduon. 'l'hc first [:fig. 8 J is accompanied by the following memo- 108 R8$ai aur l' lntga~ill! de3 Races Tfumainea; 8vo, vols. I, H, Hl63; liT, 1854; IV, 1865. Cf., on lho sntno Hn\,Jcct, PoT't', llngleichheit !lfcnachlichcr Rasscr1 hauptsiichlich vom sprachwiaunachaftticilcn ala11dpurtlcte, 18uG. UNARTISTICAL RACES. 1R9 randum :-"Tom beau de SeltamptM (Thebes), -sous Amounoph ill" Fig. 88. Asiat·ic and A.frica11. ('l'hoban Sculptures- XVIlth dynaHty-lOth contnry B. C.) -about the 16th century n. o. The second [fig. 80] is the head of one of two oxq uisitdy-dcsigncJ. and colored full-length negroes, identical in style, supporting a "Vase point (jaune, traits rouges) sur los parois du tombcau de A?"cltesiou, prctre charge de l'autcl ot des 6criturcs du gl'ando temple de Thebes, sous RAMSES VII,-XX• dynaRtic (hypog6os de Gournah)." ']'he first corroborates that whicl1, since Morton's Fig. 89. day, has ceased to be disputed, viz: the existence, during all th~ monumental period of JTigypt, of at least three distinct types of man n.long tho Nile, Egyptian, Slternitic and Nigritian; the socoml (which point, Mr. 0 liddon's and M. I risses's long familiarity with Egypt renuor them competent antlroritics to assert), is idcutical, aftot· 3000 |