CHAP, IV.] LANGUAGE. 93 



as the root or crude form of a verb,&quot; as e.g., &quot; to butter bread, 

 to cudgel a man, to oil machinery, to pepper a dish.&quot; 



As to speech, Sir John Lubbock at once admits :* &quot; Al 

 though it has been at various times stated that sir John 

 certain savages are entirely without language, none Lubl 

 of these accounts appeared to be well authenticated.&quot; 

 The recklessness with which assertions are made about 

 savage tribes is, as we shall shortly see, so great, that no 

 account ought to be fully received without a knowledge 

 of the bias of the relater and a careful criticism of his 

 statements. 



The assertions and admissions of Mr. Tylor and Sir John 

 Lubbock are most valuable testimonies. They are most 

 valuable, in the first place, on account of the industry, 

 patience, ability, and candour with which these writers have 

 amassed, digested, and laid before their readers all the most 

 important facts which either archaeology or ethnology has 

 afforded, tending to throw light upon the lower stages of 

 human existence. Secondly, however, they are of especial 

 value because their authors belong to that school which 

 adopts the monistic view as to man s origin that is to say, 

 the school of Lamarck, Darwin, Huxley, and Spencer. We 

 may, therefore, confidently rely upon any statements or ad 

 missions made by Mr. Tylor and Sir John Lubbock which 

 tell against that view which would confound intellect with 

 emotion ; while we may fairly assume, from the eminent 

 qualities these authors possess, that when they fail to bring 

 forward data favourable to that view it is because no such 

 data in reality exist. 



It seems then unquestionable that an absolute difference 

 exists in the matter of language between man and Conclusion. 

 all other animals. While no brute gives any evidence of 

 having any such faculty, it seems undeniable that all men 

 possess that special bond and connexion between the world 

 of mind and the world of matter rational language. On 



* Origin of Civilisation, p. 275. 



