TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 147 



cordingly, we know from the remains of kinds were still in use durino- the ao-e 



the First Chaldean Monarchy that a very of Bronze, and even during that of Iron, 



hig-h civilization in the arts of agricul- So that the mere presence°of a few stone 



ture and of commerce coexisted with implements is not in itself sufficient evi- 



the use of stone implements of a very dence that any given ' find ' belono-s to 



rude character. This fact proves that the Stone Age. 



rude stone implements are not necessa- "In order to prevent misapprehension, 

 rily any proof whatever of a really bar- it may be as well to state at once, that 

 barous condition. And even if it were I only apply this classification to Europe, 

 true that the use of stone has in all though in all probability it might also be 

 cases preceded the use of metals, it is extended to the neighbouring parts of 

 quite certain that the same Age, which Asia and Africa. As regards other civi- 

 was an Age of Stone in one part of the lized countries, China and Japan for in- 

 world was an Age of Metal in the other, stance, we, as yet, know nothing of their 

 As regards the Eskimo and the South- Prehistoric Archaeology. It is evident. 

 Sea Islanders we are now, or were very also, that some nations, such as the Fue- 

 recently, living in a Stone Age." gians, Andanianers, &c., are even now 



only in an age of Stone." 



I cannot, of course, on this occasion repeat the arguments adduced in my first 

 memoir ; I will, however, now bring forward one or two additional ones in sup- 

 port of my view. There is a considerable body of evidence tending to show that the 

 offspring produced by crossing different varieties tends to revert to the type from 

 which these varieties are descended. Thus Tegetmeier states that "a cross be- 

 tween two non-sitting varieties (of the common fowl) almost invariably produces a 

 mongrel that becomes broody, and sits with remarkable steadiness." Mr. Darwin 

 gives several cases in which such hybrids or mongrels are singularly wild and 

 imtameable, the mule being a familiar instance. Messrs. Boitard and Corbie state 

 that, when they crossed certain breeds of pigeons, they invariably got some young 

 ones coloured like the wild C. livia. Mr. Dar-svin repeated these experiments, and 

 found the statement fully confirmed. 



So again the same is the case with fowls. Tens of thousands of the Black 

 Spanish and the white silk fowls might be bred without a single red feather 

 appearing, yet Mr. Darwin found that on crossing them he immediatelv obtained 

 specimens with red feathers. Similar results have been obtained with ducks, 

 rabbits, and cattle. Mules also have not unfrequently barred legs. It is unnecessary 

 to give these cases in detail, because Mr. Darwin's work on ' Animals and Plants 

 under Domestication' is in the hands of every naturalist. 



Applying the same test to man, Mr. Darwin observes that crossed races of men 

 are singularly savage and degraded. " Many years ago," he says, " I was struck 

 by the fact that in South America men of complicated descent between Negroes, 

 Indians, and Spaniards seldom had, whatever the cause might be, a good expres- 

 sion. Livingstone remarks that ' it is unaccountable why half-castes are so much 

 more cruel than the Portuguese, but such is undoubtedly "the case.' An inhabitant 

 remarked to Livingstone, ' God made white men, and "God made black men, but 

 the devil made half-castes ! ' When two races, both low in the scale, are crossed, 

 the progeny seems to be eminently bad. Thus the noble-hearted Humboldt, who 

 felt none of that prejudice against the inferior races now so current in England, 

 speaks in strong terms of the bad and savage disposition of Zambas, or half-castes 

 between Indians and Negroes, and this conclusion has been arrived at by various 

 observers. From these facts we may perhaps infer that the degraded state of so 

 many half-castes is in part due to reversion to a primitive and savage condition, 

 induced by the act of crossing, as to well as the unfavourable moral conditions 

 under which they generally exist." 



I confess, however, that I am not sure how far this may not be accounted for by 

 the imfortunate circumstances in which half-breeds are generally placed. The 

 half-breeds between the Hudson's Bay Company's servants and thenative women 

 being well treated and looked after, appear to be a creditable and well-be- 

 haved race*. 



* Dunn's ' Oregon Territory,' p. 147. 



10* 



