50 SOCIAL HEREDITY AND SOCIAL EVOLUTION 



direct evidence within our reach as to the type of 

 language possessed by primitive man. But by the 

 study of various phases of language we are able to 

 get such a clear idea of its development as to tell us 

 much concerning primitive language. The data upon 

 the subject have been accumulated by a class of stu- 

 dents who had originally no special interest in any 

 theory of evolution and were interested in language 

 itself, quite oblivious of the far-reaching inferences 

 that came from their conclusions. It has been stu- 

 dents of philology who have collected, analyzed, and 

 classified the data bearing on the subject; but the 

 conclusions have given us an illuminating conception 

 of the development of the mind of primitive man, 

 since we cannot avoid the conclusion that the mental 

 status of any race is on a par with its language. 

 Since the studies on this subject were made by phil- 

 ologists, and not by students of biological evolution, 

 their conclusions will be all the more valuable as 

 attesting the slow development of the human race 

 from a point where it merges into the stage of the 

 mere animal. 



The force of this statement will be realized when 

 we notice the general conclusion of philology. This 

 study has demonstrated in no uncertain manner the 

 conclusion that the language of mankind has de- 

 veloped from rudimentary beginning's. It is, of 

 course, true that many points have been and are still 

 in dispute to-day over which philologists are waging 

 battle royal. But on the general matter there is no 

 dispute. Human language has been the result of 

 growth, and did not come into the possession of man- 

 kind fully developed and ready for use. From 

 simple, and, indeed, rudimentary beginnings, it has 



