22 THE EVOLUTION OF MAN. 



form of the primitive Vertebrates. The primitive In do- 

 Germanic root-tongue first separated into two chief stems : 

 the Slavo-Germanic and the Ario-Romanic main-trunks, 

 The Slavo-Germanic then branched into a primitive German 

 and a primitive Slavo-Lettic tongue. Similarly, the Ario- 

 Romanic split up into a primitive Arian and a primitive 

 Graeco-Romanic language (p. 23). If we continue our 

 examination of this pedigree of the four primitive Indo- 

 Germanic languages, we find that the primitive Germanic 

 tongue divided into three chief branches — a Scandinavian, 

 a Gothic, and a Teutonic branch. From the Teutonic branch 

 proceeded, on the one hand, High German, and, on the 

 other hand, Low German, to which latter belong the various 

 Friesian, Saxon, and Low German dialects. Similarly, the 

 Slavo-Lettic tongue developed first into a Baltic and a 

 Slavonic language. From the Baltic spring the Lettic, 

 Lithuanian, and Old Prussian dialects. The Slavic, on the 

 other hand, give rise, in the South-east, to the Russian and 

 the South Slavic dialects, and, in the West, to the Polish 

 and Czech dialects. 



Turning now to the other main stem of the Indo- 

 Germanic languages and its branches — the primitive Ario- 

 Romanic — it is found to develop with the same luxuriance. 

 The primitive Grseco-Romanic language gave rise, on the 

 one hand, to the Thracian language (Albanian Greek), and 

 on the other, to the Italo-Keltic. From the latter in turn 

 sprung two divergent branches — in the South, the Italian 

 branch (Romanic and Latin), and in the North, the Keltic, 

 from which arose all the different British (Old British, Old 

 Scottish, and Irish^ and Gallic tongues. The numerous 

 Iranian and Indian dialects branched out in the same way 

 from the primitive Arian language. 



