NATURAL HISTORY. 5 



sit delighted by a flame which a chance traveller has left, 

 and spread its hands over the genial blaze ; but when the 

 glowing ashes fade, it has not sufficient understanding to 

 supply fresh fuel, but sits and moans over the expiring 

 embers. 



The Bosjesman makes a bow and arrow ; he tips the arrow 

 with a hard substance to make it penetrate ; he imbues the 

 point with substances which he has learned are fatal when 

 mingled with the blood, and then sallies forth in search of 

 some animal whose skin may serve as a dress, and whose 

 flesh may furnish him a meal. When by his unerring 

 weapons he has succeeded in destroying the terrible and 

 ferocious lion, the swift antelope, or the wary ostrich, he 

 constructs for himself a hut by the side of his prey, strikes 

 fire, fetches fuel, and dresses his meat. These are actions which 

 no beast ever performed, and no ape could ever imitate. 



One point of difference between man and brutes has yet to 

 be mentioned LANGUAGE. This one word includes almost 

 every distinction mentioned, as it is by the use of language 

 that we are enabled to communicate our ideas to each other, 

 to give the thoughts hidden in our minds an almost visible 

 shape, to record our experience for the benefit of others ; 

 in a word, it is by language that we are civilized. The ape 

 has no language, although there is no apparent anatomical 

 reason why apes should not speak, and therefore, the Orang- 

 outan in the gardens of the Zoological Society is no more 

 refined, not does it make a nearer approach to civilization, 

 than its ancestors in the time of Adam. 



We have now seen that mankind have little in common 

 with brutes, and that the barrier between the two can be 

 passed by neither : we will now consider the question of the 

 unity of mankind. 



It has already been stated that man is modified according 

 to the climate and position in which he is placed. There 

 are several of these modifications, or varieties as they are 

 called, but authors do not agree as to their number. Some 

 describe the human family as divided into five varieties 

 or races: the Caucasian, the Mongolian, the Ethiopian, 

 the Malayan, and the American ; each of these being sub- 

 divided into families, as for instance, the Caucasian race 



