THE MIGRATIONS OF MEN. 2Q q 



THE MIGEATIONS OF MEN. 



Bt peof. a. de quateefages. 



TRANSLATED BT ELIZA A. YOUMANS. 



IS it, then, in our country, in France, in the vicinity of Abbeville, or 

 of Aurignac, that man first appeared ? Now, he is found every- 

 where : did he arise everywhere ? or was his original abode at some 

 particular point of the globe, and did he afterward disperse in all di- 

 rections ? If this be so, where is the privileged spot which gave him 

 birth ? Such are the questions that arise after that of the antiquity 

 of man. 



There has been much discussion on these questions. It has been 

 said, and some still say, that men have originated wherever we find 

 them. But a more careful study, a more profound knowledge of the 

 laws that regulate organic and living beings, leads to the opposite 

 conclusion. 



Observe that here we can no longer appeal to the sciences which 

 hitherto have served as our guide. Anatomy and physiology teach 

 us nothing concerning the place of man's origin, his first dispersion, 

 or his original home. It is all the same with regard to physiology, 

 whether man appeared at a single point, or whether he appeared at 

 several points at the same time. To study these questions we must 

 interrogate another order of ideas and facts, but without changing 

 the method on that account. "We must always recur to other organ- 

 ized and living beings. It is to botanical and zoological geography 

 that we now appeal. 



Plants and animals are not distributed by chance upon the earth. 

 Their distribution is subject to precise laws ; and, because living and 

 organic beings in general obey the same laws, man ought to follow 

 the laws of geography as well as animals and plants. 



Now, these laws of botanical and zoological geography teach us 

 that in certain parts the flora and fauna are chai-acterized by certain 

 species ; that the globe is partitioned off into a certain number of 

 provinces, that have their particular vegetables and animals. These 

 are the kind of provinces that have been called centres of creation. 



It is natural enough to ask if each centre of creation has not had 

 its own particular man, as it has had its peculiar vegetables and its 

 peculiar animals. Led astray by certain coincidences, more apparent 

 than real, some naturalists have replied in the affirmative. But, who- 

 ever will examine the question closely, will find that this is an error ; for 

 this mode of reasoning makes man a single exception among all or- 

 ganic and living beings. Now, you know we do not admit the possi- 

 bility of this. Man ought to obey the laws of geography as he obeys 

 the laws of physiology. 



