360 Louis Agassiz on the Natural 
Indian peninsule, not less than ten other different species of hylo- 
bates, the long-armed monkeys—a genus which, next to the orang 
and chimpanzee, ranks nearest to man. One of these species is 
circumscribed within the island of Java, two along the coast of Coro- 
mandel, three upon that of Malacca, and four upon Borneo. Also, 
eleven of the highest organized beings which have performed their 
part in the plan of creation within tracts of land inferior in ex- 
tent to the range of any of the historical nations of men. In ac- 
cordance with this fact, we find three distinct races within the boun- 
daries of the East Indian realm: the Telingan race in anterior 
India, the Malays in posterior India, and upon the Islands, upon 
which the Negrillos occur with them. Such combinations notify 
fully a comparison of the geographical range covered by distinct 
European nations, with the narrow limits occupied upon earth by 
the orangs, the chimpanzees, and the gorillas; and though I still 
hesitate to assign to each an independent origin (perhaps rather from 
the difficulty of divesting myself of the opinions universally received, 
than from any intrinsic evidence), I must, in presence of these facts, 
insist at least upon the probability of such an independence of origin 
of all nations ; or, at least, of the independent origin of a primitive 
stock for each, with which at some future period migrating or con- 
quering tribes more or less completely amalgamated, as in the case 
of mixed nationalities. The evidence adduced from the affinities of 
the languages of different nations in favour of a community of ori- 
gin is of no value, when we know that among vociferous animals 
every species has its peculiar intonations, and that the different spe- 
cies of the same family produce none as closely allied, and forming 
as natural combinations, as the so-called Indo-Germanic languages 
compared with one another. Nobody, for instance, would suppose 
that because the notes of the different species of thrushes, inhabiting 
different parts of the world, bear the closest affinity to one another, 
these birds must all have a common origin ; and yet, with reference 
to man, philologists still look upon the affinities of languages as 
affording direct evidence of such a community of origin, among the 
races, even though they have already discovered the most essential 
differences in the very structure of these languages. 
Ever since New Holland was discovered, it has been known as the 
land of zoological marvels. All the animals differ so completely 
from those of other parts of our globe, that it may be said to consti- 
tute a world in itself, as isolated in that respect from the other con- 
tinents, as it truly is in its physical relations, As a zoological 
realm, it extends to New Guinea and some adjacent islands. New 
Holland, however, constitutes a distinct fauna, which at some future 
time may be still farther subdivided, differing from that of the 
islands north of it. The characteristic animals of this insular con- 
tinent are represented in the tabular view. They all belong to 
