[r. 



h 



ni 



V^ the 

 ^'^^, on 



' o ^ bone, 

 ^b (double 



) 



a 



edwith 



a nail* 

 ^ man as 

 ^on, and 

 lbs of the 

 t)dnctiou. 

 '•^lander 

 ht times, 



tail-fins 



)een per- 

 re some- 

 limes as 



forming 

 liich 



ils. So 

 ;.. 'the 



"d the 



,11 may 

 te aiKl 



.11 ti^ 

 rule io 

 illumed 



c 



S 



I 



> 



i- 



S 



r 





\ 



\ 



Ch. XLIIL] 



BARBARISM OF PRIMEVAL MAN. 



479 



times from seven to more tlian ten fingers or toes, more or 

 less perfect^ on the same hand or foot^ and occasionally less 

 than five. Certainly this deviation from the ordinary stan- 



am 



not point in the direction of progressive improvement. If 



malformation 



mammalia 



animals 



are nnited^ whether in the perfection^ or the occasional im- 

 pei-fection^ of their organisation. 



f' 



Whether man has been degraded fi 



f 



■All our recent investiga- 



tions in Europe into tlie state of tlie arts in the earlier stone 



lead clearly to the opinion that at a period many 



age, 



thousands of years anterior to the historical, man was in a 

 state of great barbarism and ignorance, exceeding that of 

 the most savage tribes of modern times. They were evidently 

 ignorant of metals, and of the arts of polishing stone im- 

 plements and of making pottery. Sir John Lubbock, in 

 discussing the question whether our ancestors have been 



degraded from 



an original stock which was more 



highly 

 from a 



lower state, observes that no fragment of pottery has been 

 found among the natives of Australia, New Zealand, and 

 the Polynesian islands, any more than ancient architectural 

 remains, in all which respects these rude tribes now livino- 

 resemble the men of the Paleolithic age. When pottery, he 

 says, is known at all, it is always abundant, and though easy 



to destroy. It is improbable that so 



difficult 



L -. 



ma 



The theory, therefore, that the savage races have been de- 

 graded from a previous state of civilisation may be rejected. 

 ' Ciydised nations long retain traces of their ancient bar- 

 barism, whereas barbarous ones retain no relics of a previous 

 more advanced state. The stone knives used by the Egyptian 

 and Jewish priests in rehgious ceremonies, after metal was 

 m use for secular purposes, point to an antecedent period 



when such stone 



implements were in general use. 



They 



I 



V 



