185.3.] 



ON THE FOllMATiON OF A CANAL BETWEEN LAKES ST. CLAIR AND ERIE. 



303 



very wards employed by the earliest and ablest of all the Ame- 

 rican writers on the opposite side. 



3. " Our species of the Knuine Genus which we call, par 

 exreUKiicK, the h.jrse," is next advanced as exhibiting very groat 

 differences of size and shape. But to quote only a single 

 authority, Col. Hamilton Smith, in his " Natural History of 

 the Equidaj," ai'rives at this conclusion as the result of very 

 extensive inquiries into the natural history of the horse, that 

 hor.ses may be .separated into five primitive stocks, constituting 

 " distinct though oscillating species, or at least races separated 

 at so remote a period, that they claim to have been divided 

 from the earliest times of our present zoology." 



4. "The dog furnishes us," the writer in the Journal nest 

 remarks, "with examples even moi'c remarkable of deviations 

 from Ills own common ti/pc." But here, again, the common 

 descent of all dogs from one pair is taken for granted as an un- 

 disputed trui-sm. Yet on wliat grounds ? If our eye is to guide 

 us, on what principle shall we separate the horse and the ass, 

 not only into different speries, but, as Gray and other distin- 

 guished naturalists do, into distinct genera, and yet hold as one 

 the bull-dog, greyhound, setter, terrier, and spaniel ? In truth, 

 there is not a shadow of ground for this gratuitous assumption 

 of the one common dog type and species. It is opposed by the 

 ablest living Naturalists, such as 3Ir. James Wilson for ex- 

 ample, without any reference to its applicability to the argument 

 of Human Unity. It is opposed, in like manner, by all monu- 

 mental and historical evidence; the paintings and sculptures of 

 Egypt and Babylon showing the mastiff, the greyhound, the 

 bloodhound, &c., as distinctly defined by their modern charac- 

 teristics in the dawn of histox'y as now. The wolf, the fox, and 

 others of the Caiudx, are not themselves single species. Yet 

 the wolf, fox, and jackall have been found to breed without 

 difficulty with domestic dogs; insomuch so, indeed, that Mr. 

 Bell, directing his attention too exclusively to one of these, in- 

 clines to the opinion that the wolf is the original source from 

 whence all our domestic dogs have sprung. 



5. " The union of the various races of human beings has 

 always been productive of a progeny perfect in everj' physical 

 function, fully capable of continuing the race." Even this is by 

 no means the undisputed dogma here a.ssumed. Dr. Knox, for 

 example, in his "Races of Men," says : "No mixed race can 

 stand their ground for any long period of years. A mixed race 

 may be produced, but it cannot be supported by its own re- 

 soui'ces, but by continual draughts from the two pure races 

 which originally gave origin to it," and the question, as broadly 

 exhibited on tliis continent, is one of the most difficult of all 

 the unsettled questions in physiology. It is affirmed that, alike 

 in the half-breed Negro and Indian, a speedy degeneracy be- 

 comes apparent, along with an aptitude to disea.ses of a peculiar 

 type, from which the pure races are altogether or nearly free. 

 Cert;iinly, it is impossible to say at present, if the coloured 

 population of this continent keeps up its numbers, much less 

 increases. No census discriminates between the additions it 

 receives annually by means of a white paternity, and those 

 directly proceeding from the mixed race. In truth, every step 

 we take in this inr|uiry is on uncertain and debateable ground. 

 Meanwhile, what is affirmed of the mixed races of men is almost 

 precisely what does result fmm fertile hybridity among the lower 

 animals. 



(1. Finallv, the argument of the |)hilologist is referred to, 

 " drawn from his perception nf « .tlniili: sourer ami roof of nil 

 exklinr/ laiujua'/i-a." But who is the multi-lingual philologer 

 possessed of such comprehensive piMveption '! A vast sto]) has 

 been achieved in e:t iblisliiiig tlir .illiiiities nf tl\e great Indo- 



European group of tongues, and in tracing remoter relations 

 connecting these with the Semitic languages. But who has 

 proved the relation between these and the Hottentot, the Aus- 

 tralian, or the Chinook languages, or even acquired the means 

 of testing them ? Certainly no one, as yet, pretends to have 

 done so ; aud, in discussing so grave and momentous a question 

 of modern science we must build on a firmer foundation than . 

 vague generalisations, petttio principil, and sacred texts 

 construed according to the preconceived idea.s of the writer, 

 with perchance as little real grounds as those formerly em- 

 ployed to upset the science of Geology, which now finds 

 its foremost advocates among the Sedgwiehs, Ilifchcoeks, 

 Millers, and others most distinguished among the Divines and 

 Christian layman of the age. In all honest scientific con- 

 troversy the truths of .sacred scripture have nothing to fear. 

 All other truths will ultimately bo found reeoneileable with 

 these. But meanwhile this new question of " The Unity of 

 the Human Race" is not ripe for controver.sy. It is open 

 only, as yet, to earnest inquiry; and it will be well for the 

 cause of religion if our divines and theologians seek to master 

 it in all its bearings, in the simple teachable spirit in which 

 scientific, as well as sacred truth, can alone be mastered, before 

 it do ripen into a controversy which will only be characterised 

 by danger in so far as it is stamped with the intolerant spirit 

 of ignorant assamption. The writer whose remarks have 

 suggested the above observations, justly .says : — " experience 

 has taught us not too hastily to charge any scientific theory 

 with being contradictory to scripture. Freedom of speculation 

 is rightly privileged. Revealed truth is not endangered bv 

 discussion and investigation ; " and it is a gratifying confirma- 

 tion of this, to learn from a recent notice in this Journal that 

 the speculations and inquiries of Agassiz on the profoundly 

 difficult question hero referred to, have in no degree dimin- 

 ished his reverential belief in the revelation of God through 

 IILs Word. D. W.' 



On the formation of a Canal between Lakes St. Clair and 



Erie 



And the foundation of a Toxon and Harbour at the mouth of the Two 

 Creeks, in the Township of Romney, in connection ivith the establish- 

 ment of an extensive system of Drainage, hi/ which near u Million 

 of Fertile Acres would be redeemed in one District. ^Vith an iltuci- 

 datorij Map. 



BY MAJOR K. LACIILAX, MOXTREAL.* 

 (Read before the Canadian Institute, March lOlh, 18.55.) 

 No object being more worthy of the attention of a /xi./rintii- 

 Philosophical Association than the investigation of the physical 

 character of a country, with the view to an improved a|iplica- 

 tion of its natural resources ami capabilities, it was with much 

 satishiction that I had from time to time hailed various laudable 

 movements of the Canadian Institute, having that tendency, 

 and especiallj- its late exertions in conjunction with the City 

 Corporation, for the improvement of the important harbour nt 

 Toronto. It is true that this praise-worthy course was naturally 

 to be expected from such a Society on the very spot; but it 

 was still not the less commendable as an influential move in 

 the right direction, which, it was hoped would in time be 

 creditably followed by Members of the Association residing in, 

 or connected with, other part.s of the extensive region within 



* A Inrpe map of the We^toni District iiccoinpnnicd Major LHchlnn'g 

 papnr, cxliihitiii'; tlio general physical features of the country nn'l 

 showing Ml the Tovvnshi|) of Colehesler llio extent an'l ili^^tiibutio'i of 

 the liiliMi'l Mar-hes alverteil to in the text. The map of the West^ 

 crn District, puhlishoj l>y .Mucleiir & Co., Toronto, may be referred tq 

 with ailvant'ige in the perusal of .Major Iiichlan'a paper. 



