206 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Socrety. 
government or theology, and thus more easily adapt them- 
selves either to the vices or the virtues of civilisation. 
The Bushman, Hottentots, and other dwarf races vary con- 
siderably from their neighbours. We may take it, I suppose, 
that their average height is about 140 cm. They are thin, 
more prognathous than the Negroes, and their skin is a reddish 
colour. It is noteworthy, too, that the skeleton of the male 
and female varies remarkably little. The skeleton, too, is 
remarkably delicate, and the skull by no means so thick as 
that of the Negro. Their senses, such as sight and smell, are 
superior to those of the tribes surrounding them; but their 
mental capacity seems to be much inferior in quality, their 
habits and life probably tending to prevent their mental 
development. | 
It is my intention now to endeavour to illustrate in 
general terms the position which Central Africans hold as 
compared with Europeans. I have spoken of them hitherto 
as primitive people; I think it would probably be better to 
use the German expression “ Naturvolke,” or Nature’s people ; 
because the various terms in vogue, such as wild tribes, 
primitive people, lower races, are unscientific, and their use 
is apt to confer a reproach with it, a reproach to which I 
personally am inclined to object. Calling them “children 
of Nature,” we find they are living lives untrammelled by 
the prejudices and customs which hedge us in. For centuries 
they have developed as the soil on which they live has 
developed; their minds have developed slowly but surely, 
uninfluenced by the storms of fanaticism or the strides of 
artificial culture. Their development is more that of the 
heart than that of the intellect; it is deep rooted, gradually 
progressive, and compares very favourably with the upas 
tree of civilisation. Therefore those investigating these 
races will be disappointed if they look for brilliant gloss, 
whereas if they seek for steady progress they will not fail to 
find it. Doubtless you are all conversant with two classes 
of men who have visited unfrequented parts of Africa. Some 
have only stayed for a few short months among the natives, 
and have returned for the most part strongly prejudiced 
against them. Barbarous, brutal, filthy, blood-thirsty—such 
