we find a human race naturally circumscribed, it is connected in its limitation with what we call, in natural history, a zoological and botanical province-that is to say, with a natural limitation of a particular association. of animals and plants-shows most unequivocally the intimate relation existing between mankind and the animal kingdom, in their adaptation to the physical world. The Arctic race of men, covering the treeless region near the arctics, in Europe, Asia, and America, is circumscribed in the three continents within limits very similar to those occupied by that particular combination of animals which are peculiar to the same tracts of land and sea."

"The region inhabited by the Mongolian race is also a zoological province, covered by a combination of animals naturally circumscribed within the same regions. The Malay race covers also a natural zoological province. New Holland again constitutes a very peculiar zoological province, in which we have another particular race of men. And it is further remarkable in this connection, that the plants and animals now living on the continent of Africa south of the Atlas, within the same range within which the Negroes are naturally circumscribed, have a character differing widely from that of the plants and animals of the northern shores of Africa and the valley of Egypt; while the Cape of Good Hope, within the limits inhabited by the Hottentots, is characterized by a vegetation and a fauna equally peculiar, and differing in its features from that over which the African race is spread."

For these reasons, Agassiz infers that "men were primarily located in the various parts which they inhabit, and that they arose everywhere in those harmonious numeric proportions with other living beings, which would at once secure their preservation and contribute to their welfare. To suppose that all men originated from Adam and Eve, is to assume that the order of creation has been changed in the course of historical times, and to give to the Mosaic record a meaning that it was never intended to convey. On that ground, we would particularly insist upon the propriety of considering Genesis as chiefly relating to the history of the white race, with special reference to the history of the Jews."

Professor Agassiz takes especial pains, at the same time, to make it clear that he regards all the different races not only as constituting a common brotherhood, but as morally responsible and equally related to the divine government; yet we trust it will appear as we advance, that there is nothing in the facts or circumstances to which he refers, incompatible with the diffusion of the whole family of man from a common centre.

Proof of Diversity of Origin considered.-The chief reasons which are urged by Agassiz and others against acknowledging descent from Adam and Eve, and in proof of more origins than one, are 1, variety of color, and 2, variety of bodily conformation; and the question is, Are these varieties compatible with the common interpretation of the Scripture record?

1. The differences in color, as every one admits, are *"Christian Examiner," July, 1850.

very remarkable; but it must be borne in mind that there are forces at work in climate, in soil, and through other agencies, which are, as yet, mysterious in their relation to human physiology. The results are visible, but the processes on which they depend are concealed; and these results show not only men, but some of the lower animals, so completely changing their color, as to remove all difficulty regarding the blackness of the Negro or Ethiopic race.

Physiologists hastily assumed that in the negro there was a singular network beneath the skin which was the source of his blackness, and they made this their warrant for separating him specifically from the white race; but more accurate microscopic observation has proved the existence in all men of that network-in the white in the temperate zone, as well as in the black in the torrid. It is in man everywhere, and is susceptible of those subtle influences which produce different degrees of color. It contributes to man's comfort, and fits him for all climates.

Those Portuguese who have been long settled in Africa and the East Indies, have become perfectly black in color; so, also, Greeks and Turks are changing into the dusky and sable.

The Jew, whose invariable identity is everywhere conspicuous, and who is everywhere testifying to the truth of Scripture, as an inhabitant of all lands yet with a resting-place in none, represents color in all its degrees. In the plains of the Ganges, his skin is jet black; in Syria, he is of a dusky hue; in Poland, his hair is light

and his complexion ruddy; on the Malabar coast, in one colony-the older-he is black, in the other colony-the younger—he is comparatively fair. "For 1800 years," says one whose authority none will dispute, "that race [the Jews] has been dispersed in different latitudes and climates, and they have preserved themselves distinct from intermixture with other races of mankind. There are some Jews still lingering in the valley of the Jordan, who have been oppressed by the successive conquerors of Syria for ages-a low race of people-and described by trustworthy travellers as being black as any of the Ethiopic races. Others of the Jewish people, participating in European civilization and dwelling in the northern nations, show instances of the light complexion, the blue eyes and fair hair of the Scandinavian families. The condition of the Hebrews since their dispersion has not been such as to admit of much admixture by the proselytism of household slaves. We are thus led to account for the differences in color by the influence of climate, without having to refer them to original or specific distinctions."*

Whatever

Nor are changes in color limited to man. may be the process, similar results appear among the lower animals. In Guinea, every fowl and every dog becomes, like the people, black. In America, the pale horse of this country becomes commonly a chestnut brown. In the Romagna Campagna, the ox is gray; in other parts of Italy, red. Sheep in Italy are chiefly black; in

* Professor Owen. p. 96.

"Lecture before Cambridge University, 1859,"

England, chiefly white. Horses in Corsica become mottled, and the well-known carriage dog shows also a peculiar change.

2. Changes in physical conformation harmonize with change in color. Mr. Reade, in his work, "Savage Africa," when writing of the races on the Atlantic coast, says that the red races change to black when they descend into the lowlands, and that, while some years ago it was rare to see a black Fula or Puelh, it is scarcely possible to see any other than blacks without passing far into the interior. Associated with the Mandingos, they are driving out the negroes, and taking their places on the river, and they are themselves so visibly changing their features as to be becoming negroes. To change their geographical position, is to change their features. The red-skinned inhabitants of the mountain terraces of Western Africa, descending into the malarious swamps, have lost their original character, and have become degraded in both body and mind; but these negroes are by no means representatives of the true African races. 'In Africa," says the same writer, "there are three grand races, as there may be said to be three grand geological divisions.

"The Libyan stock inhabit the primitive and volcanic trails. They have a very tawny complexion, Caucasian features, and long black hair.

"On the sandstones will be found an intermediate type. They are darker than their parents; they have short and very curly hair; their lips are thick, and their nostrils wide at the base.