Indigenous Races of the Earth

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22R 'l.'HE CRANIAL CHAHACTERISTICS whi 11 ostabliAb a typo servo to conn ct it ins nsibly with thoRo of another. Hence the great diHi.culty experienced in attempting to <.:laHHify the mcmb rfl of th Uuman l!'amily. 'rho discrcpan y of opinion hns ext nd d not only to tho llllmhor of cliviHion to be llllMl , but also to tl1o pm-ticnlar rae s which should b asAi•rnod to cneh diviAion. Blum nbach long ao-o oxpr ss c1 thi:s diDiculty. We ]J:tv' only to xamino tl1o list of wt'itcrs who bavo attempted the daHHifi •aLion of lTmMtn Ra , an<l ob rv how they dift(.ll' in the llttmh r or their Fimary dop1wtmonts, to be convinced of tho pro­maLm · n ss of tho whole attempt, and tho scanty scientific data upon whi ·h such very artificial divisions l1av boon ere Led. It app ars Lo me that mu ·h of tho difficulty aris s fl'om tho scanty in(ormation wl1ich w poRs ss conccrni.no- the numbm· of prln roval c1·anial typ s, 1h m1mb I' of 11aturally div l'g nt forms of oa h of th so, and the tl groo of divergency p01·mitt d, and lastly, tho tests by which to diH ·riminatc boLwc n forms naturally aberrant, and those hybrid roAttiLs of blood-crossing. Tho study of div 1·gont f, 1·ms is of g1·cat importance, since in th ir varied hnt limited doviaLi.ons from the 1ypc-1il-o all exceptions to g n ral rnlcs-tl1cy indicat the CHH nLials of tl1c type whiled monstrating a serial, ar ·h typal unity of tho human family in 1 o pino- with tbo entire animal world. To Ap ak, thor foro, f "developing the limits of a variety," is simply to d ·monstrato th connections, r lations, aud p rsist nco of those variet.i s. 'l'lto diversities of orn.nial form pres nted by any lMtion 01· tribe shoul<l therefore be regarded as tl1o raclii, so to sp 'ak, by WJ1ich that trib is COnn ted with the rest (" tho humuuitarian RCI'ies, wh th r living or extinct, or, in the courRO of futuro g olo­gi ·al •hang s, y t to appear. lt is well l nown tl1at naturalists rely mainly upon form, color, p1·oportions- tbe externals, in short -to cRLabliHh sp cics. 'l'he i lluHtrious Ouvnm, taking higher ground, attempted to d v lop the lttw.- of claHHificaLion by a r sort to 1.hc comparative method in anA.­tomy. With tho ost olon-icn.l brancl1 of this m thocl, as an instru­ment of r 'SettrC'h, l10 und rtook bis gmnd scl1omc of Lho r storation of t.l1 fo::~Hil wol'ltl and tho determination of its relation to tl10 living l'.Oolo<ry. II is rclian o upon internal structure in pr forencc to ext 'l'lutl character , was as mu h a matter of nee ssi ty as of choice Ainc of the palroontologi al obj 'cts of his study, th • bony skeloto~ n.ud tho t oth alone remained. fl'om which to r compose tho forms of Ll1o past animal wol'ld, and dcLormino their peoi s. In the course of hil'! inv stigations a r markalJlo fact became ovid nt-tbat in many gen m of animalH, spcci s oxLornally w 11 charactori?.ocl, dif­fot · d scare ly at all in their bony frame-work. Hcgarding Lhcse OF TJIE RACES OF JI{EN. slight difr•ronc s-by sn ·h a p1·aetisccl eye certainly not ovor­lo ked-as tl'ivial, and losing sin-ht of tho singular importance th y derive ii·om Lh ir l1istori ·al permanency, he was Jed in tho end to deny to compal'ativo ost ol gy the value he first assign c1 H. Thus, notwitlmtan<ling his gr at s ·i ntifi · labors, h left it unclo­oidod whether the iossil horse was sp ci:fically identical with the livino- or not.70 On tllis point 11atm·aliAts still ili:flot· in opinion. Whilst by tho aid of' comparative anatomy-for tho cultivation of which he enjoy d unuHual advantages- he was enabled to starLle tho world wit.h th brilliant announc m nt that there l1ad h •n s vcml zoo]oo-ical reations, of wlli ·h man was one, we find ]Jim at 1 ngt.h b aitatingly denying to anatomical harad rs Lhc pow I' ol' dot rmining sp•dcs. Bnt thcqu stion ariHcs-aqu stion alr•ady p I' •oived and di.spos d of' in th ailiemativo by amn eLlmologistfi­wh thor anatonucal •haractors l1avc not a high r AignHicaLion Ll1an tho mere dctorminatiOJl of species; wllctl1 r, in fact, they ar 11ot g n ric. It would, ind eel, app ar, that while tho cxtemal ot· p ri­phcral form and app ndag s determine spcci s, the int ·mal organism establishes genera. But tho g nus must contain within itself' a1Hl fore haclow tl1c 'tlSCnLiaJ charactol's of tho spcci s; Lh r must be an adaptation between the p ripb ral conformation and c ntral organic skuetut·e. As a very slight error committ c1 in the first sicp of n. lono- and complicated mathematical calculation magnifi s its lf at o;e~·y suh~cqu nt step of the process, until a result ia obtained very cl1il•ront il'om tho true 011 , so a comparatively minute peculiarity in the osseous structure f an animal may repeat its lf through Ll1e muscles, fascia, and int gumontary covering, oxprcAsing itself at htHt as a characteristic, whi ·h, though it might be difficult to point O\lt exactly, is seen to be an individual or sp i.Gc mark by ·which tl1o animal may be dis ·riminatod from other individuals or from allied spcci s. And as tho result of the suppos d problem muHt always be the same, so long as tho incorporated onor is not elimi­nated, so the external peculiarity ofth animal must ever remain tl1o same, while tho internal stnt•turo mark varies not. Thj.s constant and J1istoricnlly immutabl relation b tween structure and form is in consona~ce ~ith the law of tho "corrobtion of forms," first s11g­g st d, l b 'lwve, by uvi r, and by ]Jim used in such a masterly manner in tho elucidation of tho laws of zoology. " The importan o to be attached to th zo logical charact rs aft' rd d by tho ligl1tor moclifi ations of structnrc," writ s MAR~'JN "ris s as we ascend in tho scale of b b1g. Iu tho arrano-omont o(~ b To Disoours sur los Uovolutions du Globe, p. 76.