Indigenous Races of the Earth

XGN23N881857 136

TilE CRANIAL CIIARACTERIS'I'ICS Da.vis, and other cranioscopists, have not been toilfully wrought out i'll vain; if, however, this permanency is but a dream, if typical skull-forms vary in periods of time not greater tho.n the historic, then all is confusion and uncertainty, and the labors of the craniolo­gist hopcl ss for good, alike without objects and without results. Now a moment's reflection will show that this quesLion of pcrma­llcncy undcdics and in great measure substitutes itselffor tho fiercely­vexed problem of tho unity or diversity of humo.n 01~giu. "S'il est dcmontr6," says Oobiuen.u, "quo los races humaines sout, ebacuno, oufcrm6es rhtns uno sortc d'individualit6 (.l'ou riou no los pout fairc sortit· quo lc ro6lango, alors Ia doc­trine des Uuitllircs so trouvc bien pross6o et no pout so soustrairo ll. roconna!Lro que, du moment ou los types sont si complMement h6r6ditairos, si constants, si permanent8, on un mot, malgro los climats ot lo tornps, l'humanit6 n'est pas moins complotoment ot incbmnln­blomout pnrtageo quo si lcs distinctions ap6cifiques prenaient lour source dana uno divorsit6 primitive d'origino." 88 After citing tho Barabra or Berberine of the Nile-valley, and the .Jews, in proof of the proposition under consideration, our author proceeds to speak of the Turks in tho following manner. "Los Turos d'Europo ot de I'Asio minenre nous offront uno autre prouvo quo Ia forme C(u·nct~riHtique du crilne pout so modifier complctomont dans lc com·s doa sibclos. Co peuplo nous prosontc lo moclolo d'un type elliptiquo pur et no so distinguo rion do In mn.RRO des nntions 6urop6onnes. Pttr oontrc, il diffcro taut avec los Turcs do l'Asio coutrnlo, quo bcnucoup d'6criva1ns lo plo.cont au nombro d~s nations caucasiquos, tandis qu'ils mttacbont lcs Turcs d'Asio il.la race mongolo. Or, l'histoire domontro d'une mltuii:>I'O irr6futn.ble quo oos deux pouplos appartiennont au groupo do l'Asic aoptontrionalc, avec loquol los 1\u·cs do !'Orient conservont los rolntions los plus intimos, non-souloment nu point do vue g6ogrn­phiquo, mais par Ia concordance do tous lc~ usages do Ia vic. La trnnsformntion du crilno n. ou lieu non chez les '!'urea do I'Asio contralo, mais chez ooux do !'Europe. Coux-ci out perdu pou il. pou lo typo pyramidn.l do leurs pbres et ils !'out 6ohang6 coutre In plus bello des formes elliptiques. Ot·, tout en 6tnnt los roprosontants pnr oxoollonoo do cotto fot·mo ils sont anssi los consanguine los plus proches do co peuplo hidoux MIX youx loucheR, qui mGno pfiHro sos chevaux clans los steppes do Ia 1'artario. . . . . Nous devons nttribuor cotte t~todilication clu critno a~1x nm61iorations sociu.los, il. Ia civilisatiol\ qui tend toujoura il oqui­h bror ~outos los anotllfl~tcs des fot·mos fncinlcs, il. niveler toutos lea protubCt·:tncos du crltno p~rllmtclnl ou prognattquo ot il. los monor il ln. sym6trio du typo de J'ollipso. Lea 'l'urcs Ol'lO~~a.ux ~out ~·ost<ls ce qu'6tnient los anciens Turcs; plac6s sur lc memo degr<l inf<ll'iom do lrt OlVlhsat1on, 1ls ont conserve lo typo doe pouplos nomades." The mo~e. of argument hero employed appears to bo this. In the first place 1t 1s taken for granted that tho 'J'urks are of .Asiatic orio·in · l j • M ' seco rH y, m cons qnonce of certain unimportant resemblances th y arc assumed to bo a{liliatcd with the Laplanders and Ostiacs th~otwh ~vhnt aro crroncous~y supposed to be their J3'innic or Tchudic branch~; .md las~l~, as rclat10ns of the Lapps,(?) it is inferred that they must hav Ol·tgmally presented all the Mongolic characters in an eminent <logrco, and been remarkable for low statures, ugly features, &c. 68 Op. cit., t. 1, p. 212. OF 'l'IIF. RACES OF MF.N. 243 'rhesc premises supposed to bo established, a comparison is next i nstitutcd between the Turks of Europe and of Asia Minor, and a conclusion drawn adverse to permanency of cranial types. It is of vital importance to cranioscopy, that these arguments should be carefully sifted, and examined in detail. It has boon re­cently shown that at so remote a period as the days of Abraham, numerous Gothic tribes occupied those boundless steppes of High Asia, which lie outstretched between the Sea of Aral and Katai, and between Thibct and Sibcria.89 From tbc Altai Mountains of this region appear to have descended, at this distant epoch, the Orglmsc progenitors of the Turks. Now it is a note-wortl1J fact, that the OL'icntal writers, though familiar with the European standards of beauty, have filled their writings, even at a very early period, with the higl1est eulogies upon the form and features of the tribes in babi­ting Turkcstau. The descriptions they give of those tribes by no mctms apply to the true Mongol appearance, to be met with on the desert of Schamo. IIancbcro- describes Scharouz, tl1e dauglrtor of the Kbakan of the 'J.'urks, who lived in the early part of the sixth century, as the most bcautifnl woman of her timc.90 Alcxand r von Humboldt tells us that the monk Rubruquis, s nt by St. Louis on an embassy to the Mongolian sovereign, spoke of the striking r sem­blance which tho Eastern monarch bore to the decca cd M. Joan de Beaumont, in complexion, features, &c. "This physiognomical ob­se rvation," says Humboldt, "mm·its some attention, when we call to mind the fnct, that the family of Tchinguiz were really of Turkish1 not of Mogul origin." Furtbcr on, he remarks, "'J.'he absOllCC of' Mongolian features strihs us also in the portraits which we po scss of the Ba,bmidcs, the conquerors of India." 91 "'!'he Atrnk '!'urks," writes ll!lmiltou Smith, "more especially tho Osmanlis, differ from tho other 1'oorkeos, by their lofty stature, European features, nbunclnnt beards, and fttir complexionA, derived from their original extraction being Cnucnsian, of Ynohi race, or from an early intermixture with it, nncl with tho numerous captives they were for ages incor­porating from !Cashmore, Affgbanistan, Persia, Syria, Natoli a, Armenia, Orceco, and oa~tot·n Europe. Doth tlteso conjectures may be true, because tho Caucasian stock, wherever we find it, contrives to rise into power, from whatever source it may be drawn, and tbercfo•·o, mn.y in pnrt,.havo been pure before tho nation loft eastern Asin., while tho suborcl inn.to hordes remained more or loss Hyperborean in character; ns, in truth, tho normall'oorkoca nbout tho lower Oxus still arc. All have, however, a peculiar form of the poster.ior portion of tho skull, which is Joss in depth than tho Europenn, and docs not appcat' to be a l'OBult of tho tight swathing of the turban. Osmanli Tw·ks arc a ltandsomo race, and their ch il­dren, in particular, are beautiful."02 89 Consult, among other works, Humboldt's Asie Centrale, vol. II. ; Ritter's Erdktmd~ .Asim, vol. II.; and Lllason'a Zeitsclt1'iftjur die Km1de des Jlforgenlarules, vol. II. oo Zeitsclirijtfur die Kunde des Jlforgenlandes, vol. I., p. 187. 91 Asie Centrale, vol. I., p. 248. See nlso Gobincau, Sur l'lntgalitd, d'c., Chap. XI. 92 Op. cit. p. 827.