GIUFFRIDA-RUGGERI & CHAKLADAR 



To proceed to a naturalistic classification we wish to 

 examine Matthew's hypothesis that the primitive centre of 

 dispersion of the Hominidce was situated in central Asia, 

 and that the first waves of distribution proceeded to the 

 south of the great range of mountains, whose E. W. 

 direction represented a protective defence for those early 

 Hominidge. 1 Besides the tropical forests on the continent, 

 the insular hahitat in the islands in the Indian Ocean and 

 the Western Pacific, must have served as so many areas 

 of preservation for particular sections of these first human 

 groups. According to Matthew the same distribution 

 must have taken place on general lines for all the 

 Primates 2 : the South- American centre of dispersion is 

 relegated to the domain of fable. 



We do not think that the hypothesis of Matthew is 

 absolutely opposed to ours, which was given by us at the 

 same time as his, 8 namely, that there have been three 

 genetic centres of the races in Asia one for the Eura- 

 siatic North (formation of the Leucoderms), another for 

 eastern Asia,* whence the formation of the yellow stock 

 and its derivatives in America and in Oceania, and 

 a third for the southern regions of the ancient world. 

 In fact, the two first centres may be contiguous if we 

 place them, for instance, towards Zungaria. If we place 



1 MATTHEW (W. D.), Climate and Evolution. Annals of the New York Academy 

 of Sciences. 



2 MATTHEW (W. D.), loc. cit. Figures 6 and 7 show exactly the same geonemic 

 behaviour for man and the other Primates : in fig. 6 the Negritos are erroneously 

 assigned to Africa. 



3 GIUFFRIDA-RUGGERI (V.), La cosi detta cull a dell' umanita. " Riv. Ital. di 

 Sociol." xix, fasc. V-Vl, 1915, p. 533. 



4 In my article refd. to, p. 538, "Western Asia" was a misprint for eastern. I 

 think that Prof. Boule has rightly adjudged my hypothesis as " a sort of conciliation 

 between the tnonogenists and polygenists " (" L'Anthropologie," xxviii, 1917, p. 698), 



