VARIETIES OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 



131 



D. HOMO SEMITICUS.— ARAMEANa 



Syn. Homo Arabicus. — Bory, Ess. Zool. I. 162 — Fisch. Syn. Mam. 3. 



Le Rameau Arameen, ou de Sybie Cuv. Reg. Anini. I. 81 Less. 



Mam. 24. 



The Aramean or Syrian branch of the Human Species is sta- 

 tioned to the south of the regions inhabited by the Proper Cauca- 

 sians. It has produced the Assyrians ; the Chaldeans ; the ever- 

 unconquerable Arabs, who attempted under Mahomet to render 

 themselves masters of the world ; the Phoenicians, the Jews, the 

 Abyssinians, and other Arabian colonies ; and probably also the 

 Egyptians. It is from this branch, ever prone to the dissemination 

 of mystical doctrines, that the most widely-prevalent systems of 

 religion have derived their origin. Science and literature have 

 sometimes flourished among them, but always under a repulsive 

 form or a figurative style. 



1. Arabicus Arabians. 



Syru H. Arabicus, (b.) Adamicus. — Fisch. Syn. Mam. 3. 



Race Auamiuue (Orientale) Bory, Ess. Zool. I. 179. 



Race Arabe Malte-Brun, Geog. Univ. — Desmoul. Tab. 



Icon. Blumenb. Dec. Cran. I. t. 1 ; IV. t. 31, and VI. t. 52. (Skulls of Egyp- 

 tian Mummies.) IV. t. 3i, and III. t. 28. (Skulls of Jews.) 



In the primary division of the Arameans, we include all nations and 

 tribes who speak dialects nearly resembhng the Hebrew. Of these, 

 we may enumerate the Old Syriac, spoken by the tribes in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Damascus and Mount Libanus ; the Hamyarite and Koreish- 

 ite dialects of the Arabic, the latter of which is consecrated by being the 

 language of the Koran ; and the Coptic, a relic of the ancient ^Egyptian, 

 with its dialects, the Memphitic, Saidic, and perhaps also the Baslmiooric' 

 The Hebrew and its dialect tlie Chaldee are well known as the original 

 language of the more ancient division of our Sacred Scriptures. 



The Arab race, which the conquests of Mahomet have distributed over 

 an extensive territory, is distinguished by an oval but elongated face, ele- 

 vated forehead and prominent chin ; the nose well marked, and in general 

 aquiline ; the eyes black or deep brown, of large size, and of a peculiar 

 expression in the females, which has often led to their being compared to 

 tliose of the Gazelle. Their eye-brows are tolerably tliick and arched, 

 tlieir lips narrow, and the mouth agreeable. Their hair, which is black, 

 smooth, seldom curly, and rather coarse, usually grows to an extraordi- 

 nary length ; and the women wear it in plaits, which co.Timonly hang as 

 low as the ancles. The Arab is rather of an elevated stature ; while on 

 the contrary the Arab female is diminutive — a disparity between the sexes 

 which seems to be one of the characteristics of their race. The Arab 

 women being exceedingly precocious soon lose their powers of procrea- 

 tion, while the men preserve their youthful vigour to an advanced age. 

 This physical peculiarity has rendered polygamy from the earliest ages' 

 the prevailing custom of the Arabic races. Circumcision — a rite once 

 sanctioned by Religion — appears to have tended greatly to preserve these 

 races from alliances with foreign nations. The modern Jews, dispersed 

 in all parts where a lucrative commerce prevails, have maintained to the 

 present day many of the sacred institutions of their ancestors, and the 

 same abhorrence of swine's flesh,-' with other branches of the Aramean 

 race. By a kind of over-refinement, the Arabian devotee, according to 

 Sonnini, occasionally extends the practice of circumcision further than 

 antiquity would have authorised.* 



Tlie modern Arab has beeu not improperly termed the brown variety 

 of the White races. On the burning sands of Abyssinia his skin acquires 

 a deep tint, but becomes almost etiolated in the cool mountain valleys of 

 the same territory, while the females of rank, confined to their tents, are 

 ofadazzhng, and often an insipid whiteness. The brown tint of their 

 skin seems, therefore, to be rather an accidental result of climate than a 

 pecuUarity of race.* 



The Bedouin Arab of the desert preserves the same predatory habits 

 as in the days of Jacob or Moses ; and by the assistance of the Drome- 

 dary and the Horse, with some cattle, he is enabled to maintain the noma- 

 dic life in a country of peculiar sterihty. All his senses acquire from habit 

 an extraordinary acuteness, in detecting the traces of an enemy in the sand, 

 or the footsteps of alost Camel among thousands of other impressions. A 



stranger is usually received as an enemy ; yet some instances of a roman- 

 tic hospitahty are not unknown.^ The genuine Arab possesses a poeti- 

 cal imagination, which often degenerates into extravagance. Religious 

 enthusiasm and fanaticism seem in all ages to have been congenial to his 

 disposition. 



Many tribes, devoting themselves to agriculture, and especially to com- 

 merce, exhibit a peculiar tact and penetration in matters relating to their 

 own pecuniary advantage. 



The splendid monuments of ancient ^gypt attest the early period at 

 which the arts were cultivated by these races, but the writint's of tlie 

 Arabian physicians in the middle ages exhibit the extreme limit of their 

 scientific attainments. 



We may recognise the Arabian features in the inhabitants of a large 

 portion of the east coast of Africa, in the Comora Islands, Socotora, and 

 the north of Madagascar, though often blended with the traits of the 

 genuine Moor, the Ethiopian, and the CafFre. 



2. Atlanticus. — Atlantic Races. 



Syn. H. Arabicus (a.) Atlanticus Fisch. Syn. Mam. 3. 



Race Atlantiuue (Occideniale). — Bory, Ess. Zool. I. 174.. 

 Icoti. Blumenb. Dec. Cran. V. t. 42. (Head of the Mummy of an ancient 

 Guanche from Tenerifle.) 



Tlie caverns of the Peak of Teneriffe have preserved the lemains of an 

 ancient branch of the Aramean race, which the philological researches of 

 MM. Horneniann and Marsden have proved to be allied to that of the 

 Berbers or SliKooks, who inhabit a large portion of the north of Africa. 

 To this race, whose caily civilization appears undoubted, we must refer 

 the ancient Phcenicians, the Numidians, and Carthaginians, and probably 

 also the Getulians and Garamantes. From the invasions of Greeks and 

 Romans, Goths and Vandals, Turks and Arabs, the Atlantic races of 

 the north of Africa exhibit many characteristics of the other white races, 

 such as fine hair, tending towards chestnut, and even blonde, and in the 

 mountain districts some families are almost white. In general, their nose 

 is less aquiline than among the other Arameans, and they are not usually 

 of so dark a colour, but approaching towards an olive tint. 



The modern Moors inherit the maritime genius of their Phoenician an- 

 cestors, and have long been celebrated for tlieir piracies ; in which respect 

 they differ remarkably from some nations of the Arabian branch, and 

 especially from the iEgj'ptians, whose aversion to the sea is of great anti- 

 quity. The Moorish females would be accounted beautiful in any coun- 

 try. Those of the kingdom of Tripoli, though next to the ^Egyptians, 

 differ considerably from them, and are much taller. Like many of tlie 

 Arab females, they tattoo their faces, especially upon the cheeks and chin. 

 Red hair, as in Turkey, is much esteemed, and the locks of their children 

 are often dyed with vermillion. The practice of rubbing the hair of the 

 eyelids with plumbago is very general.' 



E. HOMO SCYTHICUS .SCYTHIANS. 



Syn. Le Rajieau Scythe et Taktabe Cuv. Reg. .'inim. I. 82. 



Homo Scythicus (in part). — Bory, Ess. Zool. I. 236. 



The Scythian and Tartar branch of the human race, established 

 from the earliest ages towards the north and north-east of the 

 ancient continent, has preserved its nomadic life in the immense 

 plains of those regions, from whence it has never descended upon 

 the more favoured regions of the other branches, but with views of 

 plunder and devastation. The Turks, who overthrew the empire 

 of the Arabs, and subverted in Europe the miserable remnant of 

 the Greek empire, belonged to this populous race. The Finns and 

 Hungarians are Tartar nations, who may be almost said to have 

 lost their way among the Sclavonian and Teutonic Races. The 

 North and East of the Caspian Sea, apparently their original country, 

 contains other nations of the same origin, and who speak similar 

 languages, although intermixed with a considerable number of small 

 tribes, differing from each other in descent as well as language. The 

 Tartar nations have remained for a greater period unblended in all 

 the regions which extend from the mouths of the Danube as far as 

 the banks of the Irtisch, whence they have long threatened the 



* Professor Vater in Adelung's Mithridates. 



2 Genesis, and the Books of Samuel, passim. 



3 Pliny (Nat. Hist., lib. VIII.) imagines that the Hog cannot live in Arabia. 



* Un developpement excessif des nymphes a rendu presque necessaire une operation analogue a la circoncision chcz les hommes. Consult on this subject Sonnini, 

 Voyage en Egypte ; also Virey, Hist. Nat. du Gen. Hum., tome I. 



s Niebuhr's Description de I'Arabie, and Burckhardt's Travels in Arabia, passim. 



6 Volney (Voyage en Syrie), Niebuhr, and Burekhardt (Notes on the Bedouins and Wahabys), give many interesting details regarding the manners and customs of the 

 wandering Aral). 



I Buff. Hist. Nat., tome III. 430. 



