414 The Philosophy of Bird*' Nests. 



Let us first consider the theory of reason, as alone deter- 

 mining the domestic architecture of the human race. Man, as 

 a reasonable animal, it is said, continually alters and improves 

 his dwelling. This I entirely deny. As a rule, he neither 

 alters nor improves, any more than the birds do. What have 

 the houses of most savage tribes improved from, each as in- 

 variable as the nest of a species of bird ? The tents of the 

 Arab are the same now as they were two or three thousand 

 years ago, and the mud villages of Egypt can scarcely have 

 improved since the time of the Pharaohs. The palm-leaf huts 

 and hovels of the various tribes of South America and the 

 Malay Archipelago, what have they improved from since those 

 regions were first inhabited ? The Patagonian\s rude shelter 

 of leaves, the hollowed bank of the South African Earthmen, 

 we cannot even conceive to have been ever inferior to what 

 they now are, Even nearer home, the Irish turf cabin and the 

 Highland stone shelty can hardly have advanced much during 

 the last two thousand years. Now, no one imputes this sta- 

 tionary condition of domestic architecture among these savage 

 tribes to instinct, but to simple imitation from one generation 

 to another, and the absence of any sufficiently powerful sti- 

 mulus to change or improvement. No one imagines that if an 

 infant Arab could be transferred to Patagonia or to the High- 

 lands, it would, when it grew up, astonish its foster-parents 

 by constructing a tent of skins. On the other hand, it is quite 

 clear that physical conditions, combined with the degree of 

 civilization arrived at, almost necessitate certain types of struc- 

 ture. The turf, or stones, or snow — the palm-leaves, bamboo, 

 or branches, which are the materials of houses in various 

 countries, are used because nothing else is so readily to be 

 obtained. The Egyptian peasant has none of these, nor even 

 wood. What, then, can he use but mud ? In tropical forest 

 countries, the bamboo and the broad palm -leaves are the 

 natural material for houses, and the form and mode of struc- 

 ture will be decided in part by the nature of the country, 

 whether hot or cool, whether swampy or dry, whether rocky 

 or plain, whether frequented by wild beasts, or whether sub- 

 ject to the attacks of enemies. When once a particular mode 

 of building has been adopted, and has become confirmed by 

 habit and by hereditary custom, it will be long retained, even 

 when its utility has been lost through changed conditions, or 

 through migration into a very different region. As a general 

 rule, throughout the whole continent of America, native houses 

 are built directly upon the ground — strength and security 

 being given by thickening the low walls and the roof. In 

 almost the whole of the Malay Islands, on the contrary, the 

 houses are raised on posts, often to a great height, with an 



