16 Mr. W. S. L. Szjrraa on the Relation of the 
In former times outward characteristics were regarded sufficient 
criteria of race. We are all familiar with the old division of men 
into the Caucasian, Mongolian, Ethiopic, and American families. 
However applicable to savage races, it was soon found insufficient 
for the civilized nations of Europe and Asia. Science was thus 
forced to seek her criterion not in the Body but in the Mind. In 
(I.) Language the most tangible form of the Mind, (II.) Religious 
Opinion, (III.) Social, and (IV.) Political History, which thus 
become the four great standards of Classifications. To these, where 
it exists in an appreciable quantity, and of a national character, we 
may add Literature. 
This theory first assumed a definite form when the study of the 
Oriental languages began to be systematically pursued. The Sanscrit 
or learned language of India was found to have a remarkable affinity 
to the Classic tongues of Greece and Rome, with their modern 
cogeners. The discovery spurred on philosophical research. 
The grammatical constructions and verbal affinities of various 
languages were examined and analyzed. Antiquated forms and 
derivations were sought, and changes in pronunciation traced. At 
length, by the labours of philologists, the languages and nations 
of the civilized world were classified into the following divisions : — 
L The Mongolic, comprising the Chinese and other Eastern 
Asiatics. 
II. The Semetic, comprising the Jews, Arabs, and Assyrians. 
III. The Uralian, or Turanian, comprising the Turco-Finic 
tribes of Northern Europe and Asia with the Tartars. 
IV. The Indo-European, comprehending the civilized nations 
of Europe, Western Asia, and India. 
The recent researches of French Ethnologists, of whom 
M. Eegnault * is one, have, however, thrown the Mongolians and 
Uralians into one great Turanian family, regarding the Semetic 
♦Vide " La Question Europ^enne." Paris, 1863. oh. I. 
