320 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF FACTS. 



inhabitants of India, Arabia, arid of Western 

 Asia and Northern Africa. 



The Germanic nations are descendants of 

 the numerous tribes of the ancient German 

 stock that destroyed the Roman empire and 

 erected different states upon its ruins. 



The Romanic nations occupy Southern Eu- 

 rope, and are so called because their languages 

 are mostly derived from the Latin spoken by 

 the ancient Romans. They are mixed nations, 

 descended partly from the ancient Pelasgians 

 and partly from other branches of Aryan stock. 



The Italians derive their origin from the 

 Romans, German Longobards, and Normans, 

 with a slight intermixture of the Arabic stock. 



The Spanish and Portuguese have sprung 

 from a mixture of Celts, Romans, Germans, 

 and Arabs. 



The Mongolian race are distinguished by 

 short stature, round head, wide face, high 

 cheek bones, obliquely set eyes, coarse, straight 

 hair, scarcely any beard, and yellowish color 

 of the skin. They are distributed over the 

 whole of Eastern Asia, except in India, and 

 include the Esquimaux of the northern part of 

 North America. 



The Ethiopian race are characterized by 

 medium stature, generally ungainly form, low 

 and retreating forehead, head full back of the 

 ears, flat, broad nose, projecting jaws, thick 

 lips, short, curly hair, and skin generally black 

 or dark. They occupy all of Africa, except 

 the northern part, and many of their descend- 

 ants are found in America. 



The American race resemble the Mongolian, 

 but the head is not so round, the face less 

 wide and flat, the eyes horizontal, the hair 

 black and straight, and beard scantv and the 

 skin a reddish or copper color. They occupy 

 North and South America, except on the 

 Arctic shores. 



The Malay race resemble also the Mongolian, 

 but have thicker lips, horizontal eyes, hairless 

 straight, generally full beards, and color usu- 

 ally brown. They occupy the Malay peninsula 

 and the islands of the Pacific and Indian 

 Oceans. 



Evolution Theory, The. Ancient writ- 

 ers occasionally seemed to have a glimmering 

 knowledge of the fact of progress in nature, but 

 as a theory ' < evolution ' ' belongs to the enlight- 

 enment of the nineteenth century. In the lat- 

 ter part of the seventeenth century Leibnitz 

 expressed the opinion that the earth was once in 

 a fluid condition, and about the middle of the 

 eighteenth century Kant definitely propounded 

 the nebular hypothesis, which was enlarged as 

 a theory by the Herschels. About 1750 the 

 transmutation of species among animals was 

 suggested by Buff on, and other writers fol- 



lowed out the idea. The eccentric Lord Mon- 

 boddo was the first to suggest the possible 

 descent of man from the ape, about 1774. 

 The evolution theory declares the universe as 

 it now exists to be the result of a long series 

 of changes, which were so far related to each 

 other as to form a series of growths analogous 

 to the evolving parts of a growing organism. 

 Herbert Spencer defines evolution as a progress 

 from the homogeneous to the heterogeneous ; 

 from general to special ; from the simple to 

 the complex elements of life ; and it is believed 

 that this process can be traced in the formation 

 of worlds in space, in the multiplication of 

 types and species among animals and plants, 

 in the origin and changes of language and 

 literature and the arts, and also in all the 

 changes of human institutions and society. 

 Asserting the general fact of progress in na- 

 ture, the evolution theory shows that the 

 method of this progress has been (1) by the 

 multiplications of organs and functions ; (2) 

 according to a definite unity of plan, although 

 with (3) the intervention of transitional forms, 

 and (4) with modifications dependent upon 

 surrounding conditions. The two great apos- 

 tles of the evolution theory were Charles Darwin 

 and Herbert Spencer. The latter began his 

 first great work, the " First Principles of Phi- 

 losophy, ' ' showing the application of evolution 

 in the facts of. life, in 1852. In 1859 appeared 

 Darwin's " Origin of Species." The hypothe- 

 sis of the latter was that different species 

 originated in spontaneous variation, and the 

 survival of the fittest through natural selection 

 and the struggle for existence. This theory 

 was further elaborated and applied by Spencer, 

 Darwin, Huxley, and other writers in Europe 

 and America ; and though, to-day, by no 

 means all the ideas upheld by these early ad- 

 vocates of the theory are still accepted, still 

 evolution as a principle is now acknowledged 

 by nearly all scientists. It is taken to be an 

 established fact in nature a valid induction 

 from man's knowledge of natural order. 



Facts as to^ Sound. In air, sound trav- 

 els from 1,130 to 1,140 feet per second. In 

 water, it passes at the rate of 4,700 feet per 

 second. A bell sounded under water may be 

 heard under water at 1,200 feet distance. 

 Sounds are distinct at twice the distance on 

 water that they are on land. On Table Moun- 

 tain, a mile above Cape Town, every noise in 

 it, and even words, may be heard distinctly. 

 Dr. Jamieson says that in calm weather he 

 heard every word of a sermon at the distance 

 of two miles. The sound of a tuning fork may 

 be distinctly heard at a distance of 200 yards, 

 by connecting the stem by pack threads with 

 the ear. 



