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ETHNOLOGY

AND

THE UNITY OF MANKIND.

THNOLOGY is a science of quite recent origin, and treats of National Distinctions. It differs from History in that it deals chiefly with the effects of physical influences on man, such as those of climate, soil and food; it also goes back beyond

the dawn of history, by reasoning from

effect to cause. In this respect it is somewhat analogous to Geology. It deals with the peoples that inhabit the earth's surface in a similar way to that which Geology pursues with regard to the strata that compose it. Its object is to determine the affinities, relations and origin of the nations of the world, by investigating and tracing their movements and migrations long before the existence of written records.

The most cursory survey of the earth suffices to show that its human inhabitants are greatly diversified in their general aspect and character, in the stature and

symmetry of their bodies, in the complexion of their skin and the quality of their hair, in the form of the head and the cast of the features, in the languages they speak and the habits of life which they follow. Attempts have been made to reduce this vast variety into a few general classes; but the number of these classes has varied with the progress of information, and sometimes according to the favorite theories of the classifiers. The whole Race has been comprehended, and pretty fully described, under the following heads, by Blumenbach; though a somewhat different classification is now generally adopted.

The Caucasian Variety.-The characters of this class are a white skin, varied by a florid tint, or inclining to brown; hair black, or of a light color, generally soft and waving. The face oval and straight, with expanded forehead, and generally large skull, narrow nose, and small mouth. The moral feeling and the intellect are of the highest order. This variety comprehends the Persians, Assyrians, Arabians, Jews, Phoenicians, inhabitants of Asia Minor, and all the nations of Europe (excepting the Fins), together with the Egyptians, Moors, and Abyssinians, in Africa.

The Mongolian Variety.-In this division, the skin is commonly of a sallow or olive tint, and in some cases nearly yellow; the hair is black, long and straight, seldom curling; the beard usually scanty; the iris black; the nose is broad and short, and the cheek bones broad and flat, with salient zygomatic arches; the skull is oblong, but flattened at the sides so as to give an appear

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