i88o.J 
Analyses of Books . 
201 
As regards the origin of man the author declares himself an 
Evolutionist, whilst fully admitting that neither of the existing 
theories of the origin of animal life can be regarded as free from 
difficulties. The existence of mankind upon the earth he traces 
back to dates far earlier than those of the vulgar chronology. 
The dawn of Egyptian culture may be placed about B.C. 5500, 
whilst a “ Mediterranean race ” probably existed as far back as 
9000 to 10,000 years B.C. The original home of man he seeks 
in the warmer regions of the eastern hemisphere. We may 
particularly notice here the following passage : — “ Another cir- 
cumstance which points to a warm climate is the general naked- 
ness of man, which cannot be explained by the subsequent use 
of clothing, since savages who go about naked, far from being 
more densely haired, are, with few exceptions, characterised by 
the baldness of those parts which in civilised man are covered 
with hair.” The author here seems to overlook the fact that in 
one of the lowest existing types of mankind, the Australian 
aborigines, the back is clothed with dense hair. 
The question whether or no mankind is descended from an 
original pair, Herr Muller justly sets aside as totally un- 
scientific. 
The author next points out the peculiarities, physical and 
psychical, in which man differs from the rest of the animal 
world. He next examines the distinction between the various 
human races, and insists strongly upon their permanence. On 
the oldest Egyptian monuments the negro is depicted as we find 
him to-day, an interval of from 4000 to 5000 years having failed 
to modify his structural characteristics. We may here remark 
that in spite of this persistency the advocates of mechanical 
creation consider him as of one species with the European, and 
as descended from the same first parents. Yet with scant con- 
sistency they take a similar permanence, as seen in the domestic 
animals of ancient Egypt as a proof of their original and per- 
manent distinctness and of the invariability of species ! The 
mixture of races of approximately equal rank yields, he consi- 
ders, an improved offspring. The contact of very unequal races 
is, however, fatal to the weaker. 
In succeeding chapters we find an examination of the influence 
of soil and climate upon human culture, an account of the ancient 
centres of civilisation, of its conditions, and of the part played 
by the different human races in its development, where the lowest 
rank is assigned to the Australian. The wanderings of nations 
are not investigated. It is remarked that very few tribes can be 
rationally considered as aborigines of the countries which they 
now occupy. The Caffres and Zulus, for instance, have entered 
South Africa as intruders from distant regions in the north-east 
and their right's are simply those of conquest — a facft which our 
professional philanthropists would do well to consider. The 
original seat of the Indo-Germanic (Aryan) race the author 
