594 THE "nation "as an element in anthropology. 



inhabitants to divStant })arts of their empire and supply their places 

 with inhabitants of other tribes who had been long- subject to their 

 rule. 



This plan of partial deportation and colonization was familiar to the 

 Carthaginians, Romans, and other enterprising nations of the Mediter- 

 ranean Basin, and explains to a large extent the constant blending of 

 extreme i»hysical types which the somatologist discovers in the remains 

 from the oldest cemeteries around that great interior sea. We know 

 by history and tradition that the '* blond Libyans," the light-haired, 

 blue-eyed natives of Northern Africa, tall and dolichocephalic, were 

 transported in large numbers across the sea to the north, and settled 

 amcmg the smaller, swarthy, and brachycephalic tribes, whom we 

 vaguely hear of under the names of Ligurians, Aquitanians, and 

 Iberians. 



Another physical lever which the nation, as distinct from the tribe, 

 brings to bear on the physical traits of the species within its limit 

 is its iniiitary organization. This is no longer classilied by clans, or 

 gentes, but is an army, with its soldiers drawn indiscriminately from all 

 parts of its territory, and moving indifferently into all parts as occasion 

 calls ior. In earlier and more disturbed times, when social ethics were 

 less regarded than to day, the presence of large numbers of men can- 

 toned and quartered upon the inhabitants, often exercising over them 

 a l)rutal authority, led to constant commingling of race types and the 

 gradual extinction of local peculiarities. 



The iutiuence which the nation as an anthropologic element exerts on 

 language is one which demands our special attention. When it is 

 rightly understood, much of that contest which has been going on for 

 years between ethnographers, as to the worth or worthlessness of lan- 

 guage as a guide in ethnography, will appear in a different light. 



It is obvious that it would be consonant with the si)irit of a gentile 

 or consanguine society to preserve pertinaciously its. own inherited 

 speech, and to oppose any changes in it. But it is just as much in its 

 spirit to desire to confine its own tongue to its own members and to 

 look with jealousy on others than thOfeC of the true blood making use 

 of it. Professional linguists in the American field are well acquainted 

 with the prevailing unwillingness of the natives to give much informa- 

 tion about their languages. They regard with suspicion and distrust 

 in(]uirers into their own peculiar dialects; it is in the nature of a tres- 

 pass upon i)rivate property. The federations of tribes never go so far 

 as to attempt to establish linguistic or dialectic unity. Only incident- 

 ally and accidentally does one tongue partly encroach upon another one 

 in this stage of society. 



For this reason the linguistic classification in ethnography is a truly 

 valuable one in all conditions of life where the consanguine rule ])revails. 

 The language is then a trustworthy guide of affiliation, both exclusively 

 and inclusively, and the instances are extremely rare, if any indeed 



