NATURAL HISTORY 



OF 



THE HUMAN SPECIES 



To investigate the History of Man, upon zoological princi- 

 ples, and to apply them to the phases of his earliest available 

 historical aspects, requires extensive researches, in a multitude 

 of directions, — physiological, linguistic, religious, traditional, 

 geographical, and migratorial, — for it is by their mutual com- 

 parison that light is thrown on many points, which, without 

 these means, would remain entirely unknown. While the 

 first takes cognizance of every question relating to man's 

 organization, and the position he holds in the scale of being, 

 according to the laws which should guide all systematic 

 researches in animated nature, the second, being a faculty 

 appertaining solely to mankind, inquires into the grammatical 

 structure and the sounds of oral communication, and traces 

 out the families of languages, by means of which the more 

 remote origin, connection, and filiation of different tribes is 

 made apparent ; and it establishes, in proportion as the simi- 

 larity of tongues or dialects is more complete, the degree of 

 affinity they should bear, without entirely dismissing from the 

 question the fact, that nations at times adopt a new language, 

 to the total extinction of the tongue spoken by their ancestors. 

 It is in cases of this kind that the records of national super- 

 stitions, legends, manners, and even proverbs, become, in their 

 turn, elements of interest, to guide and correct the research. 

 Finally, when to these are added the ancient migrations which 



