belonging to the class Vertebrata, the order Mammalia, the genus Homo, and species Sapiens. The object of our inquiry now, then, is to ascertain the observed varieties of the species Homo sapiens.

In our last chapter we glanced at the classifications of the known varieties of man adopted by different writers on the subject of ethnology. The system we shall adopt is that followed by Dr. R. G. Latham, in his work on The Varieties of Man. In the first place, like Cuvier and other previous writers, he adopts but three primary varieties of the human species:

I. Mongolidæ.

II. Atlantidæ.
III. Japetida.

In

The termination in ide employed here seems preferable to the use of terms such as class, order, family, tribe, or other words which have another use either in this or other departments of Natural History. It must not, however, be supposed that, by using these terms, any of the varieties of man can be traced up to a common ancestry, so that we could say, all the Mongolidæ originated with this man, or all the Atlantide with that man. tracing back races we have no evidence so conclusive that any particular variety originated with a particular pair of human beings, as we have that all the families of mankind have originated in a single pair. The terms Mongolidæ, Atlantida, and Japetida are not derived from a community of meaning in the things they express. Thus the first comes from a nation, the Mongols, who occupied a portion of Eastern Asia, and were at one time the conquerors of the world, and are regarded as typical of a large portion of the human race. The Atlantidæ are entirely found in Africa; hence their name. The Japetidæ include the races of men in Europe who are traditionally descended from Japheth; hence the name selected to express them.

Before proceeding to give any account of the different nations included under these primary varieties, we will bb give a summary of those characters which, to a greater or less extent, separate these great divisions of mankind. I. The Mongolide. The people comprised under this variety have the following physical conformation. The face is broad and flat, which either arises from the great development of the zygomatic arches, or from the to distance between the parietal bones on each side of the head. There is often, also, a great depression of the nasal bones, which contributes to give Teotlar oud a flat appearance to the face. The profile of the forehead is retiring or depressed, seldom found perpendicular. The profile of the jaws is prognathic or projecting, seldom found on a level with the forehead. The called oblique. The skin is of a mixed

eyes frequently present the peculiarity

CC

character, never truly white, and very rarely of a jet black; still it often presents what would be called a black or white colour. The eyes are generally of a dark colour. The hair, as a general rule, is straight, long, and black; in some instances it is curly-rarely woolly-and more rarely still light-coloured. As examples we may quote the Indian, Fig. 13 (p. 368, and the Mongolian, Fig. 51 (p. 382), and the Papuans, Figs. 18 and 19. The two latter, however, are examples of the exceptional cases, in which this variety presents a curly, if not a woolly, rather than a long straigh hair.

The languages of the people belonging to this variety are either characterized by the absence of cases

(aptotic), or having inflections, they can be shown to have arisen out of the union of different words (agglutinate). They are very rarely amalga

mate.

The distribution of this variety is very wide over the surface of the earth. It finds its greatest development on the continent of Asia, although, even there, it is found not to be entire possessor of the earth. The Persians of northern and western Persia, the Kurds, the Beluchi, the Affghans, the Tajiks of Bokhara, and the Siaposh, must all be regarded as belonging to the Japetidæ. On the other hand, although we shall find the Japetidæ the principal occupants of Europe, there seems to be little doubt that the Lapps and Finns of Scandinavia, the Magyars of Hungary, the Turks of Turkey, the Basques or Euskaldunes of Biscay and Navarre, and probably even the Albanians or mountaineers of ancient Illyria and Epirus, all belong to the Mongolidæ.

CEO MEAL

FEEJEE GIRL.

From the analogy of language, this variety is made, by Dr. Latham, to include the whole of the inhabitants of the Polynesian islands, as well as those of America. Although, at first sight, the physical differences between the Asiatic Mongolidæ and the inhabitants of the islands of the South Seas and the continent of America, might look as great as that between many of the Mongolidæ and Japetidæ, yet it has been found that even physical characters fail to afford a line of demarcation. Thus Dr. Morton of America thinks that "the squared or rounded head, the flattened and vertical occiput, the high cheek-bones, the ponderous maxillæ, the large quadrangular orbits, and the low receding forehead," are characters that would distinguish the American from all other varieties. When, however, we examine the languages of the American continent, we shall find that the Esquimaux present so strong a relation to that of the other races, that we cannot deny their affinity to the American races; and it is amongst the Esquimaux that we find a departure from the physical type of a peculiar American form, and a strong relationship with the Asiatic Mongolidæ. It is considerations such as this which have induced recent ethnologists to

regard the American Indian as a form of the variety of mankind to which the followers of Zinghis-Khan belong.

The influence of the races included under the variety of Mongolidæ must be regarded as rather material than moral. They undoubtedly form by far the larger portion of the human race, and occupy a considerable space in the history of the world. They have, by the sword, established some of the largest empires that the world has seen. China is at this moment an example. Their empires have, however, crumbled to pieces, and left no deep impression on the world. Such is not the history of the Atlantidæ and Japetidæ, the first of which includes the Jews and the Mahommedans, and the last the Greeks, Romans, and modern European races.

II. The Atlantida.-In their physical character the face is not so broad and flat as in the Mongolidæ. The jaws project, are prognathic, whilst the nose is generally flat; the forehead is retiring, the craninm dolikocephalic ; that is, there is less space between the parietal bones of the skull, whilst its length remains the same, than there is in the last variety. The eyes only rarely open obliquely. The skin is mostly jet black, presenting, however, lighter shades, and very rarely approaching a pure white. The hair is crisp, woolly, very rarely straight, and still more rarely light coloured. As examples of this variety, the Abyssinian, Fig. 11 (p. 367), the Ethiopian woman, Fig. 16 (p. 383), the Hottentot, Fig. 17 (p. 384), and the Negro, Fig. 20, may be given.

The languages amongst the Atlantidæ belong to the agglutinate class. They are seldom or never found with a truly amalgamate inflection.

The great district of the development of the nations which are brought together under the above definition is Africa. Perhaps there is no quarter of the globe that presents a greater diversity of inhabitants than Africa, or races of men who, at first sight, appear so evidently distinct. All previous ethnologists have placed the Hottentot, the Negro, (and the Bushman in a very different position from the Assyrian, the Babylonian, the Mahommedan, and the Jew; but in Dr. Latham's classification we find these brought together under the common variety Atlantidæ. The analogy of language has led to this conclusion; and the transition from the lowest to the highest of these races is so gradual, that no investigation of their physical structure with which we are at present acquainted would be sufficient to break down the affinity discovered in their languages. No part of Africa seems to be inhabited by any races but those of the Atlantide. The Syro-Arabian or Semitic nations, however, which are now classed amongst the Atlantida, are found occupying a considerable area in the south-western part of Asia.

The people of these races are far removed from the Negro and the Hottentot, and present great symmetry of form, and considerable cerebral development. However small may have been the influence of the lower types of this race on the world, there can be no doubt of the vast impression produced by the Semitic nations. We may pass over the early civilization indicated by the Assyrian and Babylonian empires, and fix attention on the religious history of the Jews. Here, amidst the surrounding Paganism, we find the worship of the one true God maintained by this small race amongst the Semitic nations; and through them the religion of Christ, which is destined to re-act on all the other races of mankind. It is also among these races that that compound of Judaism and Christianity, Mahommedanism, has sprung up; and however inferior it may be to the religion of Christ, there can be little doubt of the beneficial influence it has exerted on the races who have embraced it.

III. The Japetida.—This variety includes most of the nations of modern Europe. Physically they present characters superior to the two other varieties. Their face is not flat, and is moderately broad. The jaws project but little, the nose is often very prominent, and the frontal profile is not unfrequently nearly vertical. The skull is shaped generally as the last variety. The opening of the eyelids is straight, and very rarely oblique. The skin is white or brunette. The hair is never woolly, varying much in colour, frequently very light. The eyes are black, blue, or grey. We need give no example, as our own race is so good a one. The streets of London may, moreover, at all times be advantageously studied for furnishing illustrations of the great European variety of Japetida. Indeed, one of the interesting points of the late Great Exhibition was the facilities it has afforded, not only for the study of the industry of man, but of man himself. Nearly all the great nations of the earth have been represented there, and have afforded an opportunity for the study of their physical and mental peculiarities.

The languages of the great European races are never aptotic. They are mostly anaptotic, or having amalgamate inflections. In a few instances they are agglutinate.

Although the Japetida form the principal part of the nations of Europe, they do not exclusively occupy this district of the earth, nor are they confined to it. We have before mentioned the Lapps and Finns of Scandinavia, the Euskaldunes of the Basque provinces, the Magyars and Turks. It appears not to be improbable that the former were the original inhabitants of Europe, and are the remnants of a race driven away successively by the Celts and the Indo-Germanic races that now occupy this part of the world. As also we find evidence of the origin of the Japetida in the East, so we find traces of their existence in various parts of Asia, as in the Persians, Kurds, Beluchi, Affghans, Tajiks, and Siaposh. It is not improbable, also, that the Armenians ought to be classed with the Japetidæ.

PART V.

CELESTIAL PHENOMENA

OF THE

MONTHS.