130 
ORDER BIMANA^GENUS HOMO 
limbs, without being thin; their shoulders in just proportion, and the 
bust nearly hemispherical — “ Elies n'ont presque pas de poll au pubis, 
mais il y est ordinairement tres-dur ; elles accouchent avec une prodigi- 
euse f'acilite, passeiit pour tres-lascives, et font connaitre leur penchant 
a la voluptc par la variete de mouvemens ct d'attitudes qu’elles savent 
prendre avec tant de souplesse dans ces dances qui les ont rendues des 
Bayaderes celebres.” (Diet. Class. d’Hist. Nat. art. Homme.)* The 
puberty of the females is very precocious, as they often become mothers 
at the age of nine or ten years, but lose this power of production at 
thirty. Few instances of longevity occur among the Hindoos. 
The Sanscrit, or dead language in which their sacred books were com- 
posed, is written with fifty-two letters, and many thousands of abbreviat- 
ing syllables The I’racrit or common dialects of the country are very 
numerous. From the earliest ages the Hindoo nation has been sub- 
divided into four Tchadi or castes, consisting of the Brahmins, or sacred 
order ; the Ksliatriyas or soldiers, sometimes called the Rajas or Rajepoo- 
tras, princes or sovereigns ; the Vaisjas, or shepherds and agriculturists ; 
and the Sudras or labourers. This division, and the reputed dishonour 
of a marriage out of each ca.ste. have tended greatly to preserve the primi- 
tive traits of the genuine Hindoo from foreign intermixture. Every 
thing serves to prove the extreme antiquity of their civilization ; yet so 
strong is the influence of their religious and political prejudices, that they 
h ive preserved themselves almost stationary like the Chinese, though 
exposed to a constant intercourse with Europeans. The simplicity, mild- 
ness, and docility of their character, with their ignorance of the art of 
war, have led tliem to submit to a handful of Europeans, allured to their 
coasts merely by views of commerci,al advantage. Industrious aud seden- 
tary in their habits, they leave the rich commerce of their country to Arabs, 
.lews, Malays, hinese, and especially to Europeans. Rice, seasoned with 
pepiier and other stimulants, forms their habitual food. The use of Ele- 
phants in war, as well as for domestic purposes, wms first introduced by 
the Hindoos, and adopted afterwards by the Carthaginians in Northern 
Africa, Spain, and Italy. 
The Hindoos believe in the transmigration of human souls into the 
bodies of other animals, and consequently never embalm their dead. All 
animals are more or less the objects of veneration. The extravagant my- 
thology of the Hindoos would almost defy all powers of analysis; and 
the existence of a Trimurti or Indian Trinity, consisting of Brahma, the 
Creator, — Vishnou, the Preserver, — and Siva, the Destroyer, bears a pro- 
minent place among Oriental dogmas. They practise no barbarous muti- 
lations of the body ; but from the earliest ages, purification in the Ganges 
has been considered a sacred duty. The self-immolation of widows on 
the funeral piles of their husbands is now discouraged; and an enlightened 
government endeavours by humane regulations to lighten the terrors of 
that superstition, which once led thousands to sacrifice themselves under 
the cat-wheels of Juggernaut.** 
/3. Perstcus. — Medo-Persian Races. 
Syn. Les Anciens Perses. — Cuv. Reg. Anim. I. 82. 
Icon. Blumenb. Dec. Cran. V. t. 35. (Skull of .a Persian;) V. t. 41. 
(Skull of an Armenian.) 
From the earliest ages, until the subjugation of Persia by the Arabs, 
that country has been the abode of a distinct indigenous race, composed 
of different nations, and speaking languages in many respects allied to the 
Germanic dialects. As might be expected from their frequent alliances 
with the females of other nations, and especially with those of the Proper 
Caucasians, their jAysical traits approach more nearly to the European 
nations, than to the Hindoo branch of the Indo-Persiaus. Like them, 
however, the Persians and Armenians have a tinge of yellow and even of 
oh've, but not so dark a skin. The hair is black, the nose aquiline, and 
the countenance oval, with an elevated forehead. The females are of 
middle stature, with long black hair, large and dark eyes : the nose small, 
aud the feet narrow. To these we may add small feet and hands, slender 
shape, a soft skin, the neck long, and the breast of moderate proportion, 
long eye-lashes, arched eye-brows, a slight rosy complexion, and we have 
a portrait of the Persian beauty of the present day. The man of rank 
and wealth is often distinguished by a portly rotundity of form. 
A most extraordinary resemblance may be traced between the Persian 
and German languages, in their roots, their inflexions, and the forms ot 
their syntax. This affinity may be traced likewise in many Gothic words 
belonging to the English, Danish, or Icelandic languages, and especially 
in the latter.’ Thus the English word door, corresponds with the Ger- 
man thur, the Danish dor, and the Persian dor. The most ancient dialect 
of the Persians is the Zend, in which the sacred books called the Zend- 
Avesta, of great antiquity, are written. The ancient Parsec has been pre- 
served in the Shah-Naameh, or Historical Work of Ferdoosi, and in the 
Ayer-Akbeir. The modern Parsee, the Deri, and the Pehlevi, are now 
the prevailing dialects of the race. The ancient philosophy of Zerdushtor 
Zoroaster, once the prevailing religion, and tenaciously held by the perse- 
cuted Guebres or Fire-worshippers, has now given place to the Mahomet- 
anism of the sect of Ali. 3'he Persians are said to possess that politeness, 
and versatility of mind, which characterizes a neighbouring nation, and 
they have been not unaptly termed the Frenchmen of Asia. Many of 
the arts have made great progress, but their science is almost nominal. 
The Armenians must be placed in the same division as the Persians. 
Their language, according to Adelung, possesses much analogy to others 
of the lapetan races. 
C. HOMO CELTICUS.— CELTS. 
Syn. Race Celtique.— Bory Ess. Zool. I. 120 Desmoul. Tab. Hum.— 
Bose. Ess. 30. 
H. Japmicus c. Celticus Fisch. Syn. Mam. 2. 
Races occidentales ue l’Euuope. — Malte-Brun, Geog. Univ. 
Tiie lapetan races were preceded in Europe by the Celtic tribes, 
who came originally from the North [or more probably from the 
East],* and were once widely distributed ; and by the Cantabrians, 
who emigated from Africa to Spain. The former were soon confined 
to the most western e.xtremities of Europe, and the latter have now- 
become blended among the numerous nations whose posterity inhabits 
the Spanish Peninsula at the present day. 
The languages spoken by the Celts, in so far as they have reached 
our times, appear to bear some affinity to those of the lapetans, an affi- 
nity which, according to some writers, amounts almost to au absolute 
identity. The Celtic dialects may be arranged under two distinct 
divisions, each of which is unintelligible to men of the other division. 
The Gaelic dialects are spoken in the Highlands of Scotland, in Ireland, 
and the Isle of Man; and the Cymbric dialects in Wales, Cornwall, and 
Lower Brittany. Both branches unquestionably belong to the same family 
of nations. The dialects spoken in the Basque provinces of Spain are 
commonly referred to this sub-division. 
The Celts, Kelts, or Gauls, were the aborigines or primitive inhabitants 
of Western Europe, and once extended from Ireland as far as the Danube. 
Before they adopted an agricultural mode of life, they threatened Spain, 
Greece, and Italy, with their migratory bands, and succeeded in forming 
permanent settlements in many places, even as far as Asia Minor, where 
they gave their name to the province of Galatia. 
They differed from the Germans in obeying an order of Druids, who 
united the sacerdotal and political functions, and practised human sacrifi- 
ces, with other barbarous rites. Their skulls arc of an unusual thick- 
ness the forehead rather protuberant on the sides ; the nose is not recti- 
lineal, but more or less marked by a depression between the eyes. Their 
hair is of no great length, but thickly furnished, of a deep chestnut or 
brown colour, and of tolerable fineness. Their eyes are not so large and 
prominent as in the Proper Caucasians and Pelasgians, and generally black 
or brown, sometimes grey. In respect to stature, they are rather taller than 
the two races just mentioned, their medium height being about five 
nine inches. Their body is well proportioned, robust, and more plentifully 
covered with hair than that of almost any other race. 
All the nations on the left bank of the Rhine were anciently" of Celtic 
origin, and at the present day, nearly three-fourths of the French popula- 
tion exhibit at least some considerable proportion of Celtic characters, 
though greatly mixed with those of the Pelasgians and Germans, and oc- 
casionally- with the traits of some Aramean races. 
Pans, 1825. The article “ Homme,” by M. Bory do St Vincent, forms the basis of b'" 
' Dict. Class p’Kist. Nat — Dictionnaire Classique d’Histoire Naturcllc, 
“ Essai Znoloj^ique,” already quoted. 
» Malte-Brun, Geog. Univ., tom. 111., lib. 60, consists of an excellent chapter on the Moral and Political State of the Hindoos 
3 Sec M. Balbi, Atlas Effinograpb.qne du Globe, Paris, 1827, wherein the several nations of the worirar t tged a c^t the analogy of the idioms and roots of 
their languages, as well as their manners and customs. b “o ^ or uie luioms ana 
^ Pritchard, on the Eastern Origin of the Celtic Nations. 
" M. Latour T Auvergne (Origines Gauloises, Hamburgh, 1801) considers the thickness of the skull as a special distinction of the Celtic race... and to he found at tho 
present day among the Lower Bretons. We have examined the skulls of several ancient Druids from the llohridL, deposited in the Museum of the Phrenological Societ.v of 
markaL^t mfs m «t “'■"■‘I"*'*''*!" thickness. One skull, in particular, from the Monastery of Iona, and apparently of grea“ antiquity, was ro- 
® Ceesar de Bello Gallico, lib. 1. 
