has been the way, heretofore, to draw an arbitrary line, separating the period of human existence from all those forms of life now extinct, which are made known to us by the evidence of the rocks, and to assume that man, having had an existence of only some six thousand years, has no connection with the era of saurian or mammoth. This boundary between history and palæontology has long been fading out. It has seemed likely that the numerous traditions of conflict with dragons and other monsters may point to a time when such creatures were contemporary with man; and wild Indian legends of this continent tell how the last of the mammoths fled from the children of the forest. More exact testimony, found in caves, and the dredge of lakes, and old refuse-heaps in the North of Europe, has definitely shown the presence of some low grade of humanity among those races that were assumed to have perished in some overwhelming cataclysm. The drift of the testimony is to show that there has never been any one great shock which destroyed all, or most, of the existing forms of life; while species, like individuals, may have their term of existence, and continually, though imperceptibly, disappear. 66 -- a Without going into the detail, which should be sought in such works as this of Sir Charles Lyell, we may refer to two main points of evidence brought forward: - 1. The definite proof of a glacial epoch," a period of intense cold, when Europe was much in the condition of Greenland now, - which seems to have very nearly preceded the first historic times, and in which certain grand features, such as the form of the Swiss lakes and valleys, were determined by glacial action, view, by the way, having a remarkable correspondence with that which Ruskin assumes as an hypothesis in explaining the mountain outlines; and 2. The fixing of three pretty well defined periods of early and rude civilization in Europe. These periods are now quite familiarly known as the ages of stone, of bronze, and of iron. They give us glimpses into no very vast and fabulous antiquity, not even the eleven thousand years of the Nile-valley reckoning, so curiously confirmed by the traditions recounted by Herodotus. On the contrary, it is within the modest limit of five to seven thousand years that we are taught to think of a stunted and wretched race, like Laplanders, who dwelt in rude, wattled huts by the lake-shore, and painfully scraped their wooden implements into shape, with sharp edges and cleavages of flint; while the age of bronze, as nearly as we make out, corresponds with the heroic age of Homer, — whose warriors fight with arms and panoply of bronze, - and reaches down to some generations below Julius Cæsar. These dim tracings of the first civilizing arts of Europe are the more interesting, because they prove that there must have been a good deal of intercourse and traffic, over pretty wide spaces, as well as skill to forge such metals as copper and tin, at a time which we are apt to associate with the stationariness of savage life. A considerable part of Sir Charles Lyell's book is taken up with an argument which has only a sideway connection with the main point, as to the Darwinian theory, and the proper place of man among the orders of creation. He confesses to a considerable change of opinion on these points within a few years; and, without exactly committing himself to the extreme views suggested by Mr. Darwin, or in the "Vestiges of Creation," the tendency of the discussion is very decided in that direction. It is hardly an unfair representation to say, that the motive of his argument is to vindicate Mr. Darwin's views from unfriendly criticism, and to expose the fallacies relied on by Professor Owen and others, who have been the chief opponents of the development theory in its recent modifications. * THIS theory, in its special application to mankind, leads at once, of course, to suggestions as to "the relations of man to the lower animals," particularly to those of the "pithecoid type," as they are learnedly and politely termed, that is, apes. The old tales of pygmies, mandrills, and wild men of the woods, reflected in the Linnæan names Homo nocturnus and Homo sylvestris applied to the larger apes, recur again in Professor Huxley's careful and scientific exposition. His clear statement of the leading facts of embryology, and his well-illustrated comparison of the anatomy of the different tribes, and especially of fossil with actual skulls, both of men and apes, make the most valuable portions of his book. Professor Huxley does not shrink from asserting the completest analogy of physical structure between man and brute, or from maintaining that the rudiments even of the noblest human faculties are found in the ruder intelligence of humbler beings. The supremacy of man, and his distinguishing attribute, he places strictly in his capacity to husband and combine his resources, and so to follow, from the lowest beginnings, a course of indefinite improvement. In the works which we have just mentioned, the tendency is very notable to accept a pretty liberal theory of development, to account for the origin and explain the mutual connection of animal races. The same tendency is quite marked in the argument adopted by Mr. Brace in his excellent and handsome Manual,† which seeks to reduce the several races of mankind to a common type. The comparative anatomist tells us that the structural differences between certain lowest races of men and highest of brutes are less strongly marked than those among the several races of men. The ethnologist assures us that these latter may be fully accounted for on the strictest theory of actual descent from a single pair. In this form, the statement has perhaps rather a theological than a scientific motive; since, as Professor Agassiz has shown, we can no more conceive of mankind existing as a solitary pair, and not in tribes or multitudes, than we can conceive of the existence of cattle otherwise than in herds, or sheep in flocks, or bees in swarms. So far as the science of ethnology is concerned, it is only embarrassed by this extreme statement. It is enough to know - if so much can be proved that all existing differences may fairly be traced to variations Evidence as to Man's Place in Nature. By THOMAS H. HUXLEY. New York: D. Appleton & Co. †The Races of the Old World; a Manual of Ethnology. By CHARLES L. BRACE. New York: Charles Scribner. from one original type. Mr. Brace adopts the theory of Prichard, that these differences are due to external or social conditions, operating through long periods of time; and he states, as a very interesting confirmation, that the old Egyptian type of feature, as found in the ancient monuments, has been actually reproduced, under climatic influences, in the only stationary class that has subsisted out of the mongrel population of the Nile valley through several successive centuries. Certain outward signs of form and feature, it would seem, correspond to those changes which are slowly wrought in the system to adapt it to a given class of influences, and which we vaguely call "acclimatization." It is gratifying to find the following testimony as to the results of this process in America: unteers "It is a great error of many writers on Ethnology, to suppose that the American physique has degenerated from the English type. It is well known by manufacturers and employers in this country, that for labors requiring the utmost physical endurance and muscular power. foreigners are never so suitable as native Americans. The reports of the examining surgeons for volshow a far higher average of physique in the Americans examined, than in the English, Germans, or Irish. . . . . . It is a fact well known to our life-insurance companies that the average length of life here is greater than that of the English tables. The effect of the climate is indeed to produce a somewhat spare, nervous, and muscular type, — quite different from the English, — though to this there are vast numbers of exceptions; but the average of health, of muscular strength, and power of sustained endurance, we believe to be greater here than in England, or in any civilized country."— p. 482. The volume of Mr. Brace deserves high praise as an effort to condense the utmost amount of information, on a subject so extensive and perplexed, into as compact and clear a shape as possible. Its chief value will be found as a manual to be kept at hand, in the study of the science through the numerous works where it must be sought. As a text-book for independent study of the science, it is too greatly crowded with a multitude of names, of tribes and races, of which no sufficient account is given; and is perplexed, furthermore, by the awkward arrangement, which brings forward the separate races three distinct times, in their ancient, their middle, and their modern period of development. A very great service would be done by a volume less detailed in the way of statistical cataloguing, of more clear and bold outline, and of simpler historic method. The scientific value of the treatise consists largely in the accurate and amply illustrated argument in respect to language as the true basis of ethnological classification. THE very valuable and interesting work of Professor Draper * frankly accepts the doctrine that the development both of animal and intellectual life depends on physical conditions; and asserts this position with a fertility of argument and a wealth of illustration which give it a commanding rank among similar treatises. It is not strictly * A History of the Intellectual Development of Europe. By JOHN WILLIAM DRAPER, M. D., LL.D., Professor of Chemistry and Physiology in the University of New York. New York: Harper and Brothers. 8vo. pp. 631. true, as he asserts, that this is "a point of view heretofore almost entirely neglected." But we cannot call to mind an author who has stated it with equal force, or has shown himself so thoroughly master of that variety of scientific proof which was needed to fortify it. There is at once a freedom of handling, and a clear, earnest, reverent tone in the discussion, which put it in most favorable comparison with the pedantic dogmatism of Buckle, or the frequent harsh austerity of Comte. The general sketch, in the beginning, of those physical conditions which have shaped the historic life of Europe, is unsurpassed in clearness of outline and comprehensive vigor of grasp. And the closing portion, which contains the scientific analogies that justify his leading position, —that the true doctrine of history or ethnology must be founded on physiology, has the independence, force, and value of an original argument. It is very rare to find a piece of analogical reasoning presented with the ingenuity and skill of the following: "Two pieces of carbonate of lime may be rolling among the pebbles at the bottom of a brook, one perpetually splitting into rhomboids, the other into arragonitic prisms. The fragments differ from one another not only thus in their crystalline form, but in their physical qualities, as density and hardness, and in their optical qualities also. We might say that the calc-spar crystals gave birth to calc-spar crystals, and the arragonitic to arragonite; we might admit that there is an interior propensity, an intrinsic tendency to produce that result, just as we say that there is a tendency in the marsupial to engender a marsupial; but if in our illustration we look for the cause of that cause, we find it in a physical impression long antecedently made, that the carbonate of lime, crystallizing at 212° Fahr., produces arragonite, and, at a lower temperature, calc-spar; and that the physical impression thus accomplished, though it may have been thousands of years ago, was never cast off, but perpetually manifested itself in all the future history of the two samples. That which we sometimes speak of as hereditary transmission, and refer to an interior property, peculiarity, or force, may be nothing more than the manifestation of a physical impression long before made.” — p. 571. Other examples of the quality to which we have referred will be found in what is said of the "wave of verdure expanding towards the pole" in spring; of the variations of the earth's crust affecting migrations (p. 22); of the tilting of the European continent upon an imaginary axis running from east to west, so that the basin of the Baltic is uplifted, while the coasts of the Mediterranean are depressed, with its influence on history; of the concentrated strength of the Roman Empire, dependent on its main line running east and west, and so not including any very wide diversities of climate; of the analogy between the Egyptian and Peruvian civilizations, both having place in narrow, rainless districts; and particularly, of the effect on the climate, the air, the ocean, and the races of living creatures, that resulted from the enormous absorption of carbonic acid in the "carboniferous era" of our planet, with the calcareus depositions coincident. The same vigorous independence of thought and facile wealth of illustration appear in the treatment of historical periods, especially of the advance of philosophy and science. Massive generalization, with a command of detail that gives vitality and interest to all the parts, the magnetizing of facts by a powerful current of thought, is the highest quality that can be demanded in a work of this kind; and they are found, to a rare and high degree, in the present treatise. We should point to it, sooner than to any other we could name, to do the important service of crystallizing, in the mind of a thoughtful person, that loose aggregate of facts gathered up in the course of much miscellaneous reading, before the age of twenty-five. And the rather, because its independent and courageous temper is not marred, so far as we observe, by any irreverence or undue defiance in tone. The maturer scholar will find in it a fairer view, we think, of the important part taken by the Saracens and Jews in the intellectual history of Europe, than in any of the standard histories of philosophy; while the hints suggested by the author's special familiarity with topics of physiology and medicine are always curious, often valuable and instructive. The judgment of eminent names, as Socrates, Bacon, and Milton, has something the effect of novelty, in its easy disregard of traditional opinion. We copy a few sentences relating to the first: "It was the uncontrollable advancement of knowledge that overthrew Greek religion. Socrates himself never hesitated to denounce physics for that tendency, and the Athenians extended his principles to his own pursuits, their strong common-sense telling them that the philosophical cultivation of ethics must be equally bad. He was not loyal to science, but sought to support his own views by exciting a theological odium against his competitors, a crime that educated men ought never to forgive. In the tragedy that ensued, the Athenians only paid him in his own coin." If space permitted, we would call attention to several other striking points of this treatise, such as the clear exposition of the "Italian system" of church and civil polity; the curious and intelligent account of Buddhism in Eastern Asia, and the indigenous civilizations of America; the comparison of the decadence of Greek polytheism with the present condition of Roman Catholic piety; and what is said of the conditions of national life amongst ourselves. But the book is within the reach of all readers, at a cost quite below its value compared with almost any similar publication; and it should be suffered to speak for itself. HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. THE Life of St. Bernard has been well written by Mr. Morison." The style is vigorous and free; the study of original authorities seems careful, if not exhaustive. There are certain defects of method, indeed, in his work, which it is easy to indicate. We prefer to express our surprise at its general merit. Omitting the great names, the tone of English writers upon history in the late years has been for the most part hard, conventional, tedious as chronicles, vapory as homilies. Mr. Morison is an exception. He handles his subject with a vivacity of strength which comes of a full knowledge and a clear conception of * The Life and Times of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux. By JAMES COTTER MORISON, M. A., Lincoln College, Oxford. man and Hall. 1863. A.D. 1091 - 1153. |