1874.] Notices of Books. 241 
of the northern and western plains,—the Dravidians, occupying 
the central and southern districts. ‘The first comprehend all the 
more civilised peoples—the Mahomedans and Hindoos; the 
second are in various lower stages of civilisation, and are mostly 
pagans. Besides these there are a number of obscure tribes, 
such as the Kols, whose language is allied to some dialects of 
Pegu, and the Pariahs and other servile castes, who may pro- 
bably represent a remnant of some of the earliest savage inha- 
bitants of the country. The Aryans belong to the great Aryan 
or Indo-Germanic race, and their language no less than their 
physical features allies them to the highest European peoples. 
The Dravidians, on the other hand, are more related to the 
Mongolian races; and their nearest affinity has been traced by 
language to the Finns and Lapps far in the north-western corner of 
Europe. Philologists look upon these Dravidians as a much 
older people than the Aryans. They probably once spread over 
a large portion of Europe and Asia, and entered India from the 
north and north-west, occupying the country, and exterminating, 
or making slaves of, the rude aborigines. At a later epoch the 
higher Aryan type was developed, and drove out the Dravidians 
from all the more fertile parts of Europe. This energetic people 
were the parents of the Celts in the west, of the Germans and 
‘Slavonians in mid-Europe, and of the Sanscrit-speaking Aryans 
in the east; and these latter entered India from the north-west, 
and took the place of the Dravidians in all the more fertile and 
accessible districts as these latter had taken the place of the 
older aborigines. 
The Dravidians of India now form eight tribes or nations, 
speaking distinct though allied languages. These are the Tamil, 
Telugu, Kanarese, Malayalam, Tuluva, Toda, Génd, and Khond, 
the first five belonging to more civilised peoples possessing 
a written character, while the three last are spoken by compara- 
tively savage tribes. The smallest of these tribes, the Todas, 
is confined to the plateau of the Nilagiri Mountains, and consists 
of about 700 individuals. They formerly practised infanticide 
as an institution, and the result was that they were rapidly 
becoming extinct; but, owing to the influence of the Indian 
Government, this has been discontinued for many years, and 
they now increase in population with tolerable rapidity. These 
Todas are, in many respects, one of the most interesting and 
peculiar tribes in the world; and every student of man is in- 
debted to Colonel Marshall for the careful study he has made of 
their whole physical, mental, and moral nature, and for the well- 
illustrated and instructive volume in which he gives both his 
detailed observations and the conclusions which he draws from 
them. 
We will endeavour to sketch in outline the most curious features 
of Toda life, in the hope that we may induce many of our readers 
to go for fuller information to the book itself. 
~ 
