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tion to this most fundamental characteristic of the human race. 
A study of the chapters on the origin of the Totem and the 
Traditions as to Alcheringa ancestors of the ‘‘ Native Tribes of 
Central Australia,” yields ample and confirmatory evidence of a 
most interesting nature. And a perusal of ‘ Australian 
Legendary Tales,” collected and translated by Mrs. Langloh 
Parker, of Bangate, Narran River, N.S. W., leaves the impression 
that they are Aisop’s Fables in an Australian dress. The tales 
consist of the folk-lore of the Noongahburrah tribe, among whom 
the authoress lived. The interest attaching to this particular 
record of legendary lore is largely due to its coming direct from 
the primitive people, who have handed it down from the remotest 
antiquity. Another point of interest is the great similarity that 
exists as regards the essential idea contained in the records of 
the two works just mentioned, seeing that they relate to distantly 
separated parts of Australia. Mr. Andrew Lang, in his intro- 
duction to “ Australian Legendary Tales,” writes :—‘ They are 
a savage edition of the Metamorphoses, the latter being a very 
late and very artificial version of traditional tales as savage in 
origin as those of the Noongaburrah. . . . Man, bird, and 
beast are all blended in the Australian fancy, as in that of Bush- 
men and Red Indians. All are of one kindred, all shade into 
each other, all obey the Bush Law as they obey the Jungle Law 
in Mr. Kipling’s fascinating stories. . . . This isa prevalent 
feature of our own popular tales. But the Australians do it 
more natural; the stories are not the heritage of a traditional 
and dead, but the flowers of a living and actual condition of the 
mind.” 
Another feature of these primordial types appears to be what 
is called their non-plasticity. It is evident that if any race is to 
be progressive, it must have a capacity for adapting itself to any 
changes of the environment, and also to being able to form fertile 
hybrids with any other invading races. The more primitive the 
type and the more pure bred the race, the less is the power of 
adaptation. From a national point of view pure breeds are any- 
thing but desirable, and it is only those raceless masses—of 
which the British are an excellent example—the survivors and 
products of past anthropological baptisms, that ever rise to world- 
wide renown and influence. As Vogt, writes in his ‘ Lectures 
on Man ” :—“ The further back we go in history the greater is 
the contrast between individual types, the more opposed are the 
characters—the most decided long-heads immediately by the side 
of the most decided short-heads. Our savage ancestors stand 
opposed to each other; stock against stock, race against race, 
species against species. By the constant working of his brain 
man gradually emerges from his primitive barbarism ; he begin 
