﻿112 
  PRIMEVAL 
  MAN. 
  

  

  the 
  time 
  of 
  Abraham 
  the 
  languages 
  of 
  those 
  

   great 
  leading 
  stocks 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  nearly 
  

   as 
  far 
  apart 
  as 
  they 
  are 
  now. 
  Professor 
  Max 
  

   Miiller 
  is 
  of 
  opinion 
  that 
  to 
  the 
  Hymns 
  of 
  

   the 
  Vedas 
  a 
  later 
  date 
  cannot 
  be 
  assigned 
  

   than 
  1,200 
  B.C. 
  Homer 
  and 
  Hesiod 
  are 
  in 
  all 
  

   probability 
  referable 
  to 
  a 
  later 
  date, 
  but 
  not 
  

   so 
  much 
  later 
  as 
  to 
  cast 
  any 
  doubt 
  on 
  the 
  

   conclusion 
  that 
  both 
  Greek 
  and 
  Sanskrit 
  were 
  

   then 
  perfectly 
  developed. 
  Those 
  who 
  have 
  

   studied 
  the 
  growth 
  of 
  languages, 
  and 
  the 
  

   mysterious 
  laws 
  by 
  which 
  that 
  growth 
  is 
  

   regulated, 
  are 
  lost 
  in 
  conjecture 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  

   lapse 
  of 
  time 
  which 
  may 
  probably 
  have 
  been 
  

   required 
  to 
  account 
  for 
  the 
  wonderful 
  creations 
  

   of 
  Human 
  Speech. 
  

  

  Next 
  comes 
  the 
  evidence 
  of 
  Geology, 
  which 
  

  

  