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THE ORIGIN OF MAN. 263 
parative investigation of almost all extant skulls from the Swiss 
lake dwellings; with the result that at the time of the lake 
dwellings we meet with distinctions between various tribes which 
probably followed one another on the scene. But among these 
tribes not a single one is found that would be outside the lines 
of the physical form of peoples of to-day. 
‘“* At present we cannot say whether all races come from a single 
human pair or from many. That is not a subject of knowledge in 
the domain of Natural Science. We must, therefore, leave it to each 
one to decide that for himself. We make no objections to one who, 
on religious grounds, decides for a single human pair. We must 
acknowledge the possibility that all races and tribes, by change, 
may have come from one human pair; but it has not yet been 
demonstrated that negroes came from white ancestors, or that a 
white posterity came from negroid ancestors. That has never been 
seen. No object of actual observation shows such a change. 
Where a black race is found, there the naturalist assumes black 
ancestors ; and where a white tribe appears, the natural pre- 
suroption is that it always was white. Yet that is a presumption 
that cannot be directly proved. The proof is wanting that a 
people or a tribe can be so changed in its physical constitution. 
“We see this in Egypt. I thought that I could obtain some 
evidences of the change of the Egyptians in historic time by 
comparative investigation of the living with the remains and 
likenesses of the dead. I returned with the conviction that, so 
far as historical and prehistoric evidences reach, so far as man 
has been discovered, ancient Egypt and its neighbouring lands have 
not essentially changed their populations. If Menes really existed, 
he certainly saw negroes; for very ancient wall-pictures portray 
the negro and his unmistakable physical individuality. The real 
Egyptian people offer few data. The Egyptian of to-day 
possesses just the form of the ancient Egyptian. Unfortunately, 
Egyptian skulls and skeletons do not carry us back as far as de- 
sirable. As yet, no prehistoric skull has been foundin Egypt. As 
yet, no one has ever seen a skull contemporaneous with the first 
three dynasties. Hence, there is no possibility of direct verification. 
Still, the verification with positive certainty does go quite far 
back, beyond 3,000 B.c.; that is, 5,000 years from the present. 
During this long time the only difference that has appeared is 
