EVOL UTION IN ASTRONOMY AND PHIL OLOG Y. 39 



constant intercrossing of closely allied dialects 

 would naturally prevent the differentiation of 

 new languages. 



The languages of Europe may be considered 

 to have reached a stage of development an- 

 alogous to that of the higher animals, while 

 those of savage nations may more fitly be 

 compared with that of the very lowest forms 

 of life, these masses of sarcode of no deter- 

 minate shape or size, but constantly fluctuating 

 in bo tli. 



Let us suppose that an intelligent being from 

 some other planet, who was unacquainted with 

 speech, and possessed some other mode of com- 

 municating his thoughts, were to pay a visit to 

 Europe. His first impression might be that 

 men were supernaturally endowed with the gift 

 of speech, and that each separate language and 

 dialect, no matter how close their resemblances, 

 were communicated to the nations speaking them 

 by direct divine revelation. But even without 

 the study of comparative philology, a very slight 

 knowledge of history would be sufficient to lead 

 him to doubt the correctness of his first im- 

 pressions, and to form some other theory more 

 nearly approaching the truth. In like manner, 



