Popular JBtrttouarj) of &mnuitett Mature. 403 



tude and decay follow in their turn ; and 

 most of the species, either from disease, ac- 

 cidents, or merely old age, perish ere they 

 are " threescore years and ten." Occasion- 

 ally one lives upwards of a hundred years ; 

 but long before that patriarchal age is 

 reached, the survivor needs no monitor to 

 tell him that " all is labour and sorrow." 



It has been made a subject of dispute, 

 whether there is more than one species in 

 the human race ; but it is merely a dispute 

 of words ; and if the term species is used in 

 its common scientific sense, it cannot be 

 denied that there is but one species_. There 

 are, however, certain and constant differences 

 of stature, physiognomy, colour, nature of 

 the hair, or form of the skull, which have 

 given rise to subdivisions of this species. 

 Blumenbach reduces these varieties to five : 



The first variety, usually called the Cau- 

 casian, from its supposed origin in the Cau- 

 casus, occupies the central parts of the old 

 continent, namely, Western Asia, Eastern 

 and Northern Africa, Hindostan, and Eu- 

 rope. Its characters are the colour of the 

 skin, more or less white or brown ; the cheeks 

 tinged with red ; long hair, either brown or 

 light ; the head almost spherical ; the face 

 oval and narrow ; the features moderately 

 marked, the nose slightly arched ; the mouth 

 small ; the front teeth placed perpendi- 

 cularly in the jaws ; the chin full and round. 

 The regularity of the features of such a 

 countenance, which is that of the European, 

 causes it to be generally considered (by them 



at least) as the most agreeable 2 The 



second variety has been called the Eastern 

 variety. The colour in this race is yellow ; 

 the hair black, stiff, straight, and rather 

 thin ; the head almost square ; the face large, 

 flat, and depressed ; the features indistinctly 

 marked ; the nose small and flat ; the cheeks 

 round and prominent ; the chin pointed ; 

 the eyes small. This variety comprises the 

 Asiatics to the east of the Ganges and of 

 Mount Beloor, except the Malays. 3. The 

 American variety resembles that last de- 

 scribed in several points. Its principal cha- 

 racters are the copper colour ; stiff, thin, 

 straight black hair ; low forehead ; eyes 

 sunk ; the nose somewhat projecting ; cheek 

 bones prominent ; the face large. This va- 

 riety comprises all the Americans except the 

 Esquimaux. There are several branches, 

 however, which differ considerably. 4. The 

 fourth variety is called by Blumenbach the 

 Malay, and described as of a tawny colour ; 

 the hair black, soft, thick, and curled ; the 

 forehead a little projecting ; the nose thick, 

 wide, and flattened ; the mouth large ; the 

 upper jaw projecting. This variety com- 

 prehends the islanders of the Pacific Ocean. 

 5. The remaining variety is the Negro. 

 Its characters are : colour black ; hair black 

 and woolly ; head narrow ; forehead con- 

 vex and arched ; cheek-bones projecting ; 

 nose large, and almost confounded with the 

 upper jaw ; the upper front teeth obliquely 

 placed ; the lips thick ; the chin drawn in ; 

 the legs crooked. This race is found in 

 Western and Southern Africa, and the great 

 islands of the Pacific, generally in the in- 

 terior. There are very great differences in 



the tribes included in this variety : the Negro, 

 with the complexion of jet, and wool ; the 

 Caffre, with a copper complexion, and long 

 hair ; the sooty Papous, or New Guineamen ; 

 the native of Van Diemen's Land, &c. 

 " Within each of these varieties are included 

 numerous smaller divisions, which are cer- 

 tainly, though less prominently, distinct in 

 their features. The varieties of national 

 appearance between the Scotch, English, 

 French, and Germans, for example, are in 

 general distinguishable, though it would be 

 difficult to define their differences. Similar 

 subdivisions of character exist among all the 

 varieties, and so fill up the intervals between 

 the extreme specimens of each as to form a 

 regular and nearly perfect series, of which 

 the Esquimaux and Negro might occupy the 

 extremities, and the European the middle 

 place, between the broad and high features 

 of the one, and the narrow, elongated, and 

 depressed skull and face of the other." 



Those writers who have gone deeply into 

 the subject, and attempted to account for all 

 the causes which have contributed to the 

 diversity of the human species, have gene- 

 rally been led into a more discursive field 

 than they had anticipated ; while the re- 

 sult, perhaps, has been both inconclusive and 

 unsatisfactory. In such a compendium as 

 this, where brevity is scarcely less essential 

 than precision, we are constantly warned 

 not to exceed our limits. We shall therefore 

 not pretend to describe minutely the ana- 

 tomical structure of Man, neither shall we 

 attempt to follow him from his entrance into 

 life to his mortal exit ; but shall endeavour 

 to lay before the reader such of our " glean- 

 ings " as we conceive will best illustrate the 

 subject, without extending the article to an 

 unwarrantable length. 



If Man be compared with the other classes 

 of animated nature, we shall find that he 

 possesses most of those advantages united, 

 which the rest only partially enjoy. In- 

 finitely superior to all others in the mental 

 powers, he is also superior to them in the 

 aptness and proportion of his form. He 

 would indeed be one of the most wretched 

 beings on earth, if, with a sentient mind, he 

 was so constructed as to be incapable of 

 obeying its impulses. In the lectures of Pro- 

 fessor Green, this subject has been handled 

 with philosophical acuteness and masterly 

 power. He says, " In a comparison of the 

 frame and capabilities of Man with those of 

 the inferior animals, if we take the human 

 frame as the ideal standard of form, it will 

 be found that all others present many de- 

 clensions from the idea by exaggeration or 

 defect ; and it will be found from this sur- 

 vey that Man is unquestionably endowed 

 with that structure, the perfection of which 

 is revealed in such a balanced relation of the 

 parts to a whole as may best fit it for a being 

 exercising intelligent choice, and destined 

 for moral freedom. It is not, therefore, an 

 absolute perfection of the constituents singly, 

 but the proportional development of all, and 

 their harmonious constitution to One, for 

 which we contend; a constitution which 

 implies in a far higher degree than in any 

 other animal a balanced relation of the living 



