310 Dr Morton o)i the Origin of the Egyptian Population. 



14. The hair of the Egyptians resembled, in texture, that 

 of the fairest Europeans of the present day. 



15. The physical or organic characters which distinguish 

 the several races of men, are as old as the oldest records of 

 our species. — Transactions of the American Philosophical 

 Society^ vol. ix., New series, Part I., p. 155. 



Note.— I have taken frequent occasion to quote the opinions of the 

 late Professor Blumenbach, of Gottingen, whose name is inseparably 

 connected with the science of ethnography ; but I have to regret that, up 

 to the present time, I have not been able to procure, either in this country 

 or from Europe, the last two memoirs which embrace his views on 

 Egyptian subjects, and especially the work entitled, " Specimen historise 

 naturalis antique artis operibus illustratse." His views, however, as pre- 

 viously given to the world, have been repeatedly adverted to in these 

 pages; and his matured and latest observations, as quoted by Dr Wise- 

 man, appear to have confirmed his original sentiments. " In 1808," says 

 Dr Wiseman, *^ he more clearly expressed his opinion, that the monu- 

 ments prove the existence of three distinct forms ^ or physiognomies, among 

 the ancient inhabitants of Egypt. Three years later he entered more 

 fully into this inquiry, and gave the monuments, which he thought bore 

 him out in this hypothesis. The first of these forms he considers to 

 approach to the Negro model, the second to the Hindoo, the third to the 

 Berber, or ordinary Egyptian head. — f Betrage zur Naturgerschichte, 2 

 ter Th. 1811.) But I think an unprejudiced observer will not easily fol- 

 low him so far. The first head has nothing in common with the Black 

 race, but is only a coarse representation of the Egyptian type ; the second 

 is only its mythological or ideal purification.'' — Lectures on the Connexion 

 between Science and Revealed Religion, second edit., p. 100. 



I thus place side by side the opinions of these learned men. With 

 respect to Professor Blumenbach, I may add, that when he wrote on 

 Egyptian ethnography there were no fac simile copies of the monuments, 

 such as have since been given to the world by the French and Tuscan 

 commissions ; and again, that learned author had not access to a suffi- 

 cient number of embalmed heads to enable him to compare these with 

 the monumental effigies. With these lights he would at once have 

 detected an all-pervading physiognomy which is peculiarly and essentially 

 Egyptian; and in respect to which all the other forms, — Pelasgic, 

 Semitic, Hindoo, and Negro, are incidental and subordinate ; sometimes, 

 it is true, represented with the attributes of royalty, but for the most 

 part depicted as foreigners, enemies, and bondsmen. 



With Egyptian statuary I am little acquainted. The only four years 

 of my life which were spent in Europe were devoted almost exclusively 

 to professional pursuits ; and the many remains of Egyptian art which 

 are preserved in the British and Continental museums, have left but a 



