XV. ETHNOLOGY-RACES AND VARIETIES OF MAN. Man as affected by External Conditions. 284. MAN, in whatever stage of civilisation he may appear, is always less or more influenced by the geographical conditions of the region he occupies. Unlike the lower animals, which either simply flourish under or succumb to these conditions, Man may struggle against and so far modify them; but still, to a great extent, his thoughts and actions, his industrial pursuits, his social polity, and religious beliefs, are all affected by the physical circumstances of his position. To argue otherwise were to ignore the principles of science, and lose sight of those zoological relations that subsist not only between man and the other animals, but between him and those external conditions upon which the continuation of his existence is so absolutely dependent. In savage life this influence is direct and perceptible; hence the difference between the semi-aquatic Esquimaux and the hunting Red Indian, though inhabiting the same continent; between the stationary vegetable-feeding islanders of the sunny Pacific, and the wandering omnivorous tribes of the scrubby plains of Australia; between the lithe and nerveless red man of the New World, and the robust and vigorous negro of the Old. Even where civilisation has made some progress, it is these conditions that still mainly determine man's habits and pursuits-rendering the inhabitants of the grassy steppe nomades and herdsmen, the indwellers of the river-plain tillers of the ground and growers of grain, and the men of the sea-coast traders and adventurers. And higher still, where populations have been long settled and civilisation has assumed its most advanced aspects, climate, scenery, natural products, facilities for intercommunication and exchange, are ever exercising their influence-rendering one nation wealthy and independent, another bold and enterprising, and a third, it may be, isolated and stationary. Nor is it man's mere material condition that is thus affected; his religious sentiments, his poetic feelings, his love of liberty, his social government, are all less or more tinctured by the nature of the physical characteristics of the country he inhabits. 285. That such is the case, the most cursory glance at the different nationalities of the world will readily convince; and though the inherent qualities of Race, for reasons we cannot now discover, may differ very widely, still over and above these qualities external conditions exert a direct and perceptible modifying influence. The white men of Europe may differ physically and intellectually from the black tribes of Africa and the red races of North America; but it may be fairly questioned whether the former would have ever exhibited their present activity and progress had it not been for the greater varieties of surface, climate, and general physical conditions that Europe, as a continent, enjoys. There can be no doubt that the moderate climate of Britain is more favourable to bodily and mental vigour than the relaxing temperature of the tropics; and that the slight seasonal differences between our spring, summer, autumn, and winter, induce habits of continuous exertion and industry unknown in countries subjected to excessive summer's heat and winter's cold. But for our insular situation, our countrymen would never have been the traders and adventurers they have become; and but for our natural supplies of coal, iron, and other metals, the mechanical and manufacturing character that now stamps the British nation would have been unattainable and impossible. So much does the general character of a people depend upon the physical conditions of the country they inhabit! 286. Even in their minor peculiarities, the different nations of the same great race are similarly affected by external conditions: hence the obvious distinctions existing between the livelier and more versatile nations of southern Europe and the graver inhabitants of the north; between the bold and independent mountaineers of Switzerland, Scotland, and Scandinavia, and the tamer occupiers of the central and eastern European plain. Climate, food, landscape-all, in fact, that constitutes geographical diversity-must exercise an influence on mental as well as on bodily character; and were it not so, there is reason why the inhabitants of one country should not be identical in all their aspects with those of another. The language of everyday life, however, is full of such distinctions, and this long before science had attempted their explanation. Thus we speak of the "dry, clear, exhilarating air" of one district, and the " damp, cloudy, and depressing atmosphere" of another: of the "dreary monotony" of one region, and the "charming variety" of another; of the "awe-inspiring gloom" of the forest, and the "cheerful hues" of the open landscape. Indeed it is to the influence of situation that we are in a great measure to look for national peculiarities—these peculiarities diminishing the more that nations extend their range of intercommunication, and the less they are restricted to their own narrow boundaries. Characteristics and Distribution of Race. 287. Whatever the influence of external conditions in modifying the characteristics of race, we find Man distributed at present over almost every region of the globe-wandering in savage freedom under the tropics, flourishing in busy communities within the temperate zones, and struggling in diminished numbers against the inclemencies of the polar regions. Within the tropics he is chiefly a vegetable feeder; in the temperate zones he adopts a mixed vegetable and animal diet; while within the polar circle his diet is exclusively animal. But while in this respect he obeys, like plants and animals, the zonal arrangements of the world, unlike them the varieties of his race are distributed according to no law of latitudinal dispersion. As in districts of the same country we find differences of stature, physiognomy, dialect, and habits; so in the various countries of the same continent we find still wider differences in bodily appearance, mental constitution, language, and manners. Notwithstanding these wellknown distinctions, there is among the inhabitants of certain regions a certain sameness in physical aspect, in colour of skin, in form of head and face, and also in mental disposition, that stamps them as distinct from the inhabitants of other regions; hence arises the idea of varieties or races of the human species. That these varieties or sub-species (for the difference seems greater in some instances than what zoologists consider a variety) have existence in nature, we have only to look at the condition of mankind, as at present scattered over the surface of the globe. Here, active, intelligent, and progressive; there, sluggish, dull, and stationary: here, enjoying the highest amenities of civilisation; there, grovelling in a condition little elevated above the brutes by which they are surrounded. And not merely do they differ in intellectual qualities, but in physical organisation, in mien and stature, in form of head and expression of face, in colour of skin, in strength and endurance, and, in fine, in all those purely bodily qualities by which one species of animal is distinguished from another. 288. Without entering upon the vexed questions of man's origin and antiquity,-whether he is a mere development from the lower animals, according to some great natural plan, or an entirely new creation-whether he has been six or sixty thousand years an inhabitant of the earth- and whether the varieties of our race have descended from a single pair, and been since modified by external conditions, or are the progeny of several independent pairs,—it may be stated as the general opinion of naturalists that mankind (as they now exist) form, in the zoological scale, a single species of a single genus. But though thus standing unique, and far exalted above other animals by his gifts of reason, moral perception, and religious sentiment, it is necessary and natural to divide mankind into several varieties according to their more prominent physical features; and Ethnology (Gr. ethnos, a race; logos, a discourse), extending the subject to minor features, language, and the like, still further subdivides these varieties into groups, tribes, and branches. The consideration of these minor distinctions (which are evidently produced by intermixture of races and the influence of external conditions) belongs more especially to Ethnology; our limits will merely permit a brief allusion to the five varieties or races into which the inhabitants of the globe have been arranged by the German philosopher, Blumenbach. These are the Caucasian, the Mongolian, the American, the Ethiopian, and the Malay; each being characterised by some peculiarity in colour of skin, eyes, nature of hair (curled, lank, woolly, frizzled), shape of skull, form of face, and general physiognomy. Of these physical characteristics colour of skin is one of the most obvious, and, though varying in shade even in the same race, is yet employed in everyday language as a main mark of distinction-the Caucasian being the white, the Mongolian the yellow, the American the red, the Ethiopian the black, and the Malay the brown. The distribution and more obvious characteristics of these respective races we epitomise from Blumenbach and other ethnologists:— 289. The Caucasian variety is dispersed over Turkey, Arabia, Persia, part of Tartary, Affghanistan, and Hindostan, in Asia; over Egypt, Abyssinia, and the Mediterranean seaboard, in Africa; and over almost the whole of Europe-the Turks proper, the Magyars, Finns, and Laplanders, being of Mongolian origin. Within the last three centuries the race has spread from Europe over large areas of North and South America, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand (see Ethnographic Map in Atlas); and wherever it has planted itself becomes the dominating power. This variety takes its name from the Caucasian mountain-range |