Chap. VII. THE RACES OF MAN. 215 



test of tlieir specific distinctness ; and their continued 

 persistence without blending within the same area, is 

 usually accepted as sufficient evidence, either of some 

 degree of mutual sterility, or in the case of animals of 

 some repugnance to mutual pairing. 



Independently of blending from intercrossing, the 

 complete absence, in a well-investigated region, of 

 varieties linking together any two closely-allied forms, 

 is probably the most important of all the criterions 

 of their specific distinctness; and this is a somewhat 

 different consideration from mere constancy of character, 

 for two forms may be highly variable and yet not 

 yield intermediate varieties. Geographical distribution 

 is often unconsciously and sometimes consciously brought 

 into play ; so that forms living in two widely separated 

 areas, in which most of the other inhabitants are speci- 

 fically distinct, are themselves usually looked at as dis- 

 tinct ; but in truth this affords no aid in distinguishing 

 geographical races from so-called good or true species. 



Now let us apply these generally-admitted principles 

 to the races of man, viewing him in the same spirit as 

 a naturalist would any other animal. In regard to the 

 amount of difference between the races, we must make 

 some allowance for our nice powers of discrimination 

 gained by the long habit of observing ourselves. In 

 India, as Elphinstone remarks, 1 although a newly-arrived 

 European cannot at first distinguish the various native 

 races, yet they soon appear to him extremely dissimilar ; 

 and the Hindoo cannot at first perceive any difference 

 between the several European nations. Even the most 

 distinct races of man, with the exception of certain 

 negro tribes, are much more like each other in form 



1 ' History of India,' 1841, vol. i. p. 323. Father Ripa makes exactly 

 tiie tame remark with respect to the Chinese. 



