MAN. 



will be derived from the writings com- 

 posed with the assistance of divine inspi- 

 ration, and therefore commanding our 

 implicit assent. The account of the cre- 

 ation of the human race, and of its dis- 

 persion over the face of the globe, con- 

 tained in the book of Genesis, will super- 

 sede in his mind the necessity of hav- 

 ing recourse to any argument on the 

 subject. We shall venture to submit, 

 that the Mosaic account does not make 

 It quite clear that the inhabitants of all 

 the world descended from Adam and 

 Eve : we are told, indeed, that " Adam 

 called his wife's name Eve, because she 

 was the mother of all living." But in 

 the first chapter of Genesis we learn, 

 that God created man, male and female ; 

 and this seems to have been previously 

 to the formation of Eve, which did not 

 take place until after the garden of 

 Eden had been made. Again, we are 

 informed in the fifth chapter of Gene- 

 sis, that "in the day that God created 

 man, in the likeness of God made he 

 him ; male and female created he them ; 

 and blessed them, and called their name 

 Adam, in the day when they were cre- 

 ated." We find also that Cain, after 

 slaying his brother, was married, al- 

 though it does not appear that Eve had 

 produced any daughters before this time. 

 It appears, therefore, that the field is 

 open for discussion on this subject ; and 

 at all events, if the descent of mankind 

 from one stock can be proved inde- 

 pendently of the holy writings, the con- 

 clusion will establish the authority of 

 these inspired annals. 



If we fail in tracing the succession of 

 the human race from above downwards, 

 much less are we able to trace back any 

 particular tribe to their first origin from 

 the present stock. To use the words 

 of an elegant modern historian ; " neither 

 the annals nor traditions of nations reach 

 back to those remote ages, in which the 

 different descendants of the first pair 

 took possession of the different countries 

 where they are now settled. We can- 

 not trace the branches of this first fa- 

 mily, nor point out with certainty the 

 time and manner in which they divided 

 and spread over the face of the globe. 

 Even among the most enlightened peo- 

 ple the period of authentic history is ex- 

 tremely short, and every thing prior to 

 that is fabulous and obscure." We must, 

 therefore, in tracing the variations from 

 the original stock, assign those causes, 

 which are well known to have great influ- 



ence on mankind, as climate, manner of 

 life, state of society, &c. ; occasionally 

 deriving assistance from the analogies 

 which are to be met with in the natural 

 history of other animals. 



Before we proceed to describe the va- 

 rieties of the human race, it is necessary 

 to consider, what constitutes a species in 

 zoology; and how varieties arise out of 

 species. 



We should answer, in the abstract, to 

 the first question ; that all animals belong 

 to the same species, which differ in such 

 points only, as might arise in the natural 

 course of degeneration, while those dif- 

 ferences, which could not be explain- 

 ed on this supposition, would lead us 

 to class the animals which exhibit them 

 in different species. But the great dif- 

 ficulty arises, in distinguishing in actual 

 practice mere varieties from specific dif- 

 ferences. 



Ray, and after him BufFon, referred 

 those animals to the same species which 

 copulate together, and produce a fertile 

 offspring. But this criterion has pro- 

 duced very little benefit ; and we proba- 

 bly must be contented to derive our no - 

 tions of species in zoology from analogy 

 and probability. The molar teeth of the 

 Asiatic and African elephants differ 

 very widely in their conformation ; and, 

 as we know no instance of such a dif- 

 ference produced by mere degeneration, 

 we ascribe those animals to species ori- 

 ginally different. The white ferret on 

 the contrary we regard as a variety, be- 

 cause we know that the colour of the 

 hair and pupil experiences a similar va- 

 riation in other instances where it is a 

 mere variety. 



In considering the causes by the ope- 

 ration of which species degenerate into 

 varieties, we shall be contented with 

 stating the facts which prove the influ- 

 ence of such causes; without attempting 

 to explain how they produce their ef- 

 fects. As there is very little of a satis- 

 factory nature ascertained respecting 

 this matter, we should be afraid of dis- 

 gusting the sensible reader by substitut- 

 ing speculation in the place of more solid 

 information. 



A very slight consideration will shew- 

 that there is no point of difference be- 

 tween the several races of mankind, 

 which has not been found to arise, in at 

 least an equal degree, among other ani- 

 mals, as a mere variety, from the usual 

 causes of degeneration. The instances 

 of this kind are derived chiefly from do- 

 mesticated animals, as they are exposed 



