AS A TEST OF MENTAL CAPACITY. 79 



and on the principles of liuguistic ethnology shovild be regarded as Aryans — which, say 

 the objectors, they certainly arc not. But this assertion simply betrays in those who 

 make it an ignoran<x> both of historical facts and of scientific principles. The nnme of 

 Aryan originated in ancient Bactria and northern Hindostan. Some three or four 

 thousand years ago a light-hued people, composed of wandering herdsmen, descended 

 from the northwest, in Taitar-like hordes, upon the plains of northern India, then occu- 

 pied by swarthy tribes, whose descendants are now known as " Dravidians " and 

 " Kolariaus." These communities of Indiau negroes, as far south as the Godavery River, 

 were subdued, and in great part absorbed, by the invading bands. Other conquering 

 hordes of the same light-hued race descended upon southern Europe, overpowered and 

 assimilated its brown-skinned populations (probably of North African origin), received 

 their southern colour, and gave them their own northern language. If we give the name 

 of Aryan to the dusky people of northern Hindostan and the brunette nations of southern 

 Europe, why should we refuse it to the swarthy people of America, who speak languages 

 of the same stock and have probably an equal infusion of Aryan blood ? It should be 

 borne in mind that among the negroid communities in the United States and the West Indies 

 very few individuals of pure African blood remain. There is probably not one in a hun- 

 dred, certainl}' not one in ten, who has not some infusion of Aryan blood. In our scien- 

 tific classification the Aryo-Dravidian nations of Hindostan and the Aryo-Iberian nations 

 of southern and western Europe are all styled Aryans. Is there any good reason for re- 

 fusing the same style to the Aryo-African inhabitants of America? The only reason (and 

 that not a scientific one) is the sentiment that the negroid Africans stand on a lower in- 

 tellectual grade than that of the negroid Dravidians or the swarthy Iberians. If such a 

 prejudice exists, the surest way of dispelling it is by a study of the original languages of 

 these races. It will appear that many of the African languages stand on at least as high 

 a grade as that of the Iberian or Dravidian tongues. And this, it may be added, is not 

 saying little, for the character of these tongues evinces a high intellectual capacity in the 

 people who speak them. 



"We are thus brought to the main subject to which the present essay is devoted — the 

 consideration of language as the test of mental capacity. And here it is just that a tribute 

 should be paid to the candour and discernment evinced by Darwin in relation to this sub- 

 ject, a discernment which contrasts markedly with the blindness of some of his followers, 

 who are physiologists and nothing else. The transcendent value of language in the in- 

 tellectual equipment of the human species was clearly apparent to him. I quote the 

 whole of the striking paragraph (Section 73 of " The Descent of Man '') in which his 

 views are set forth : — " Man in the rudest state in which he now exists is the most dom- 

 inant animal that has ever appeared on this earth. He has spread more widely than any 

 other highly organized form ; and all others have yielded before him. He manifestly 

 owes this immense superiority to his intellectual faculties, to his social habits, which 

 lead him to aid and defend his fellows, and to his corporeal structure. The supreme im- 

 portance of these characters has been proved bj' the final arbitrament of the battle for 

 life. Through his powers of intellect, articulate language has been evolved, and on this 

 his wonderful advancement has mainly depended. As Mr. Chauncey Wright remarks : 

 ' A psychological analysis of the faculty of language shows that even tlie smallest pro- 

 ficiency in it might require more l)rain power than the greatest proficiency in any other 



