REVIEW OF PHILOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL RESEARCHES. 539 
cumstance whatever, except a resemblance in physical charac¬ 
ters, and these are plainly subject to great varieties. 
“We now come to Baron Cuvier’s Caucasian race, of which 
he gives the following account.—‘ The stock from which we are 
descended has been termed the Caucasian race, because the 
traditions and filiations of tribes seem to carry it to that group 
of mountains situated between the Caspian and the Black Sea.’ 
Pie goes on to say, that ‘ the principal branches of the Cauca¬ 
sian race may be distinguished by the analogy of their lan¬ 
guages Here he enters upon the ground of philological inves¬ 
tigation, and it is important to observe how far it affords a firm 
basis for his conclusions. The branches of the Caucasian race 
are thus mentioned:—1st. ‘The Aramean branch, or that of 
Syria, directed its progress southward: it produced the Assyri¬ 
ans, the Chaldeans, the Arabs, always unconquered, who after 
Mohammed expected to have become lords of the world ; the 
Phoenicians, the Jews, and the Abyssins, colonies of the Arabs: 
it is very probable,’ he adds, ‘ that the Egyptians belonged to the 
same division.’ Before we proceed to the account which is given 
of other branches of the Caucasian stock, we may take an op¬ 
portunity to observe that some historical paradoxes have been 
already brought under our view. Both Jews and Arabs are 
allowed to have ancient traditions; yet none of these, written or 
oral, represent either people as descended from Mount Cauca¬ 
sus. Again, it is not a little startling to find the red or copper- 
coloured Egyptians considered as Caucasians, and as belonging 
to the Semitic stock of nations. How is this to be reconciled with 
the statements of Herodotus andManetho,and all the historians 
who so strongly contrast the Egyptians with the Jews, and even 
of Moses, who represents them as speaking different languages 
as early as the time of the patriarch Joseph ? And how, indeed, 
are we to get over the fact, that the Egyptian language which 
remains to our time is entirely of a different structure, and has 
a totally different vocabulary from the Hebrew ? We shall 
pass on to the next branch of the Caucasian race. 
“ ‘ The Indian, German, and Pelasgic branch,’ says Cuvier, 
4 is much more extended, and was more anciently divided. 
We can however recognise a multitude of affinities between 
the following four languages. 1. The Sanskrit, which is now 
the sacred language of India, the mother of all the idioms of 
Hindostan. 2. The ancient language of the Pelasgi, the 
common mother of the Greek, the Latin, and many of the ex¬ 
tinct languages, and of all our idioms of the South of Europe. 
3. The Gothic, or Tudesque, from which are derived all the 
languages of the North and North-west, the German, the 
Dutch, the English, the Danish, the Swedish, and their dia- 
