A REVIEW OF DR. A. B. MEYER'S NEGRITOS. 37 



u blindly, but the statements in question are very much open to 

 11 controversy." As in the case of Borneo, Mr. Meyer holds that 

 the existence of Negritos in Java has not been proved. 



In examining the evidence as to Negritos in Formosa, Herr 

 Meyer again falls foul of " Crania Ethnica" and writes, " For to 

 " conclude the occurrence of a race in a country from certain 

 " characters in two skulls, when this race has not yet been reg- 

 " istered from that country, is in the present embryonic state 

 " of craniology, an unwarrantable proceeding, and the two 

 " French writers will certainly find no follower in this respect, 

 " except such as simply copy their assertions." 



Here Meyer disputes the existence of Negritos in" Japan, on 

 the evidence of certain skulls described by Hamy. He writes : 

 ki In consequence, this Negritos Japanese skull found its way 

 into the ' Crania Ethnica ' and was duly recorded in all the writ- 

 ings of de Quatrefages and in many others." 



As regards China, Herr Meyer equally questions the evi- 

 dence as to Negritos. "De Quatrefages and de Lacouperie 

 " looked upon each other as authorities, the assumption of the 

 ''one standing for truth to the other, and vice versa; in conse- 

 44 quence they tried to support each other, but it is more than 

 i; questionable whether others will have the same belief in the 

 " categorical statements of these two writers." 



In short, as regards the Dutch possessions, China and 

 Japan, Herr Meyer finds that all accounts of Negritos outside the 

 Philippines are traced on very poor evidence, or properly speak- 

 ing on none at all. He reminds one of the famous chapter in 

 the " Natural History of Iceland " headed " Snakes — There 

 are none." Professor Meyer goes on to discuss the Negritos 

 question as it concerns the Malay Peninsula, the Andamans, the 

 Mergui and Nicobar Islands, Anam, Cochin China, Cambodia, 

 India, Australia, and New Guinea. He glances (p. 72) at the 

 question as to whether we are to regard the Negrito people as 

 the little modified descendants of an extremely ancient race, 

 (" gens prisca mortalium ") the ancestors of all the Negro tribes, 

 or whether they may be regarded as a type of comparatively re- 

 cent growth, retrograded to their present condition after cen- 

 turies of isolation and confinement to a limited space. " For at 

 " the present time our knowledge of the mutability and amount of 



