Chapter V: Part I (2)

"I need not thy generous sacrifice, kind youth," replied Magdalena. "The pilgrim lacketh nothing in a Christian land; and soon I shall be beyond all want."

"Oh! speak not thus sadly," said Gottlob, taking her hand.

"I meant it not so sadly as you deem. I am resigned still to live on, until it please God to release me from this world of sin and sorrow, more easily resigned and with a calmer spirit, since, through the mist of solitary darkness around me, I see a way of hope that shines not upon me, but upon the bright forms most dear to me."

"What meanest thou, Magdalena?" cried the young man.

"Strive not to comprehend me," said the old woman in a more subdued tone--"I would not foster vain delusions;" and, as if to remove the impression of what she had said from Gottlob's mind, she hastily added, "You have not seen the Prince at Saaleck?"

"Alas, no!" replied the young artist. "My noble patron had already left the castle with a small retinue, and I was too late to meet him. It was said that he was gone upon a visit to all the various monasteries in this part of the country, in order to hold secret counsel with the different dignitaries of the church in his domain, respecting the late heresies that have appeared, and already spread so widely throughout the land."

Magdalena was about to answer, when a new and general movement among the crowd, showed that the expectation of the multitude was aroused. The tapers upon the altars in the church had been lighted in splendid profusion. The vapour of incense already scented the air, as it floated down the aisles. The organ pealed through the church; and the priests, in their sacerdotal robes, were seen advancing along the middle aisle towards the entrance, to meet the expected dignitary. But Gottlob and Magdalena gazed not upon this priestly show; their heads were turned in another direction, and looked from the church across the square. Their hearts beat with one feeling. Both murmured to themselves with one accord, "She comes!"

Already the pikes of the guard preceding the noble Ober-Amtmann appeared emerging from the street leading to the episcopal palace, and the soldiers, entering the square, cleared the way rudely through the crowd, when Magdalena again pressed tightly her companion's arm.

"Swear to me, young man," she whispered in a low and solemn tone, "as you value your salvation--swear to me ever to respect the purity and peace of mind of that innocent and happy girl, upon whose fair face I shall now gaze for the last time!"

Gottlob looked at the excited woman with much surprise.

"Swear to me that you will not trouble her unconscious heart with words of love, until, perhaps, a better time may come!" she continued, with hesitation.

"Magdalena, I understand thee not," replied the young man. "But before me she is as a holy saint of heaven, at whose shrine we may bow down and pray, but whom we cannot pollute with earthly touch."

"God grant you happiness, young man!" said Magdalena, dropping her flowing tears upon the hand she held in her own.

Gottlob's attention was too much absorbed in the sight of the one object of his eager gaze, to heed more seriously, at that moment, the strange and solemn adjuration of the old woman. His heart beat with intense violence, his cheek flushed, his mild blue eyes dilated with animation, as he followed along the square the form of Bertha, who was advancing in the procession by her father's side. And now she was about to mount the church steps, she would be obliged to pass close by him, perhaps near enough for her dress to touch his own; for the crowd was dense behind, and pressed forward upon those who stood, like him, in the foremost row. The agitation of his companion equaled, perhaps exceeded, his own.

The clergy now stood under the church gate--the preceding guards had stationed themselves on either side of the arch--the Ober-Amtmann, leading his daughter by the hand, had reached the broad surface of the highest step, where stood the aged female and the young artist, when the agitated Magdalena, unable to control her feelings as the governor and his fair child passed so near, bent lowly down, and seized the hem of Bertha's garment to kiss it unperceived. At that moment, a rude gripe seized her arm and dragged her up, and a harsh voice shrieked in her ear--"Touch her not, hag of hell, to cast thy infernal spells upon her!" A scream of terror burst from Magdalena as she recognised Black Claus, the witchfinder.

"Noble Ober-Amtmann, hear me!" cried the cripple, pushing forward with force, and arresting with a wild gesture the progress of the dignitary. "I here denounce, before your noble honour, this wretched woman as a most foul and most notorious witch."

In the rude attack thus made upon the unhappy woman--on her terror and surprise--the cross-topped pilgrim's staff slipped from her grasp, and slightly wounding the fair neck of Bertha, it fell upon the pavement, and was splintered into several pieces.

"See, see!" screamed the witchfinder, "how she strives to harm the innocent and good, and destroys and tramples under foot--curses on her!--the holy symbols of the church."

With a feeling of horror and alarm, for which the credence in witchcraft and its agents that pervaded all ranks and classes at that age gave full warrant, Bertha clung with a scream to her father's breast, and sought protection in his arms. At this sight the unhappy Magdalena uttered a bitter cry of despair, and raising her clasped hands aloft, exclaimed--"O God! Thou punishest me too bitterly."

"Hear ye," cried the witchfinder, "how she owneth her crime even in her blasphemy!"

With one arm the Ober-Amtmann pressed the terrified Bertha to his bosom, and, with the other, signed to some of the guards to surround the old woman. At this moment the sight of the blood which had trickled in a few insignificant drops upon her veil, caught the eye of the alarmed girl, and turning very pale, she held forth a crucifix, which hung about her neck, towards the spot where stood Magdalena, as if to exorcise the powers of witchcraft directed against her, and sobbed--"Oh! take her from my sight--save me--she would destroy me!"

"It is she condemns me!" cried Magdalena; and, with another heart-rending exclamation of despair, she fell forward to the earth as if in violent convulsions.

"See, see!" shouted Claus in triumph, "how the sight of the holy cross causes the devil within her to tear and rend her."

The bystanders shrank in horror from the prostrate form of the unhappy woman. The guards, who had approached, kept at a sufficient distance to avoid all contact with the reputed witch, although near enough to prevent her escape.

Petrified with astonishment and dismay at the strange scene that had passed thus rapidly before him, and shocked at the sight of Bertha's wound and terror, Gottlob had stood at first incapable of movement. But when he saw Magdalena thus stricken to the earth, he forgot all the terrors of witchcraft--he forgot the horrible denunciation--he forgot even Bertha's fainting form; the instinctive impulse of his kindly nature was to rush forward and to raise the poor old woman. Before he could reach her, however, twenty hands had pulled him back with force--twenty voices screamed in his ear, "Touch her not--beware!" In vain he struggled, and strove to extricate himself--in vain he protested the poor woman's innocence--he was held back by force.

In the meanwhile, although those nearest to the accused woman drew back with terror, the remoter crowd rushed forward towards the church steps in violent excitement, preferring loud cries of "A witch!--a witch! To the stake with her--to the stake!" The deeper voices of the men mingling with the shriller cries of the women and children.

In the midst of this scene of tumult, the Ober-Amtmann conveyed his daughter in his arms--for she had now completely fainted--to the church, and confided her to the care of her women. Upon returning, he sternly gave orders that the accused female should be placed in the prison of the town, with a guard before the door, until the denouncer should be heard against her.

"Come hither man, black cripple!" he continued, with some disgust, to Claus: "We know that the dreadful crime of witchcraft has, like heresy, made much and notable progress in the land of late; and although our reverend brother views the former abomination with more lenient eye than ourselves, we think that fagot and stake are but too slight a punishment for such black and damning sin. But still, of late, thy denunciations against this crime have much multiplied; and sometimes, it has seemed to our justice, upon but small and vague proof--although popular voice demanded the condemnation of the wretched women. Have a care, then, how thou wrongfully preferrest such a charge--have a care how thou jugglest with our sense of right and wrong; for though there seemeth, in truth, to be some appearance of the demon and his works in the horror which that woman has expressed for the symbols of our holy religion, and in the manner in which she has drawn blood from our young and innocent daughter, yet were we to find thy accusation to be inspired by motive or the spirit of falsehood, as we live that pile which threatens the sorceress and hag shall be thy own seat--the fire thy death-garment."

"Noble Amtmann," cried the witchfinder, undaunted by this address, "I fear not the proof. Again I denounce that woman as dealing in witchcraft, and consorting with the powers of darkness."

As the guard drew nearer, to force the unhappy woman with their pike-heads to rise from the ground, where she still lay crouched together, the wretched Magdalena raised her head, and her eyes fell upon the dark face of the witchfinder, as it glared upon her in triumph. The hideous yells of the crowd prevented her hearing the only faint voice of pity raised in her behalf--that of gentle Gottlob. Her brain whirled with terror--she thought that her last hour was come; and, with a heavy shudder throughout her whole frame, she fell senseless to the ground.

NATURAL HISTORY OF MAN.{A}

It has probably occurred to the reflecting student of logic, that the philosophers of the schools must have been sorely straitened in seeking for a definition of man, before they would have had recourse to such a derogation from his apparently higher attributes, as to define him by "_animal risibile_," or "_animal bipes implumis_." An attentive consideration will, however, show the enquirer, that to distinguish man from the remainder of the animal kingdom by his structural characteristics alone, is not so easy a task as would at first sight appear; and he will be obliged at length to return to some such humiliating designation of the _genus animal_, _species homo_, as those above given. Physical differences, indeed, there are between man and the other tribes of mammalia; but these differences are more matters of anatomical detail, than such salient notable exponents as would at once be recognised and admitted by the sceptical objector. The strength, moreover, of these differences resides in the whole collectively, and not in any one taken singly. If, however, the student take as his grounds for induction the habits of the species, instead of its structure, he will find a much broader line of demarcation. Wherever he examines the existing relations or former records of his race, and compares them with those of other animals, he will find that the instincts of the one are variable and progressive, those of the other are definite and stationary. As far as has ever been ascertained by the most accurate observer, the nest of the grossbeak, the dam of the beaver, the cone of the termites, were, ages ago, each similar in character, and equal in perfection, to those of the present day; while, whether we compare the rude wigwam of the uncivilized savage, or the more finished architecture of ancient Thebes, with the buildings, railroads, and shipping of the present day, we still find a continual variation, and a progressive adaptation to new wants. The psychological characteristics stand out then in fuller relief than the physiological; but yet the former are by no means free from grounds for cavil. Domestic animals acquire new habits, varying from their natural instincts. Admitting these to result from the teaching of man, it still shows--as does, indeed, the fact of domestication--a capability of progression; and some feeble instances of the faculty of learning may be detected even in the wild tribes of animals. Thus every thing becomes, if hypercritically examined, a question of degree, "_demo unum, demo etiam unum_," and the hundred years become an hour; nought is every thing, and every thing is nought. Rational investigation, then, should lead us to reject, or at least to set no undue value upon, extreme instances, or the merging shadows of boundaries; the spectrum consists of separate colours, though we may not tell where the red ends and the yellow begins.

The fair questions in examining the physiology and psychology of man, with a view to his place in the creation, are, 1st, Whether his distinctive marks and attributes, taken collectively, are such as broadly separate him from the rest of the animal kingdom; 2dly, Supposing such distinctions to exist now, whether they have existed at all periods of which we can acquire any evidence; and, 3dly, Whether these distinctions are common to the whole of the race to which the term _man_ is applied, or whether different tribes of men differ _inter se_ as much as the species viewed collectively differs from other species.

These, with other minor questions which arise out of them, are, as far as we can gather, the propositions discussed in the work before us--a work abounding in elaborate research and erudition, but somewhat deficient in logical precision or lucid arrangement; a mass of details is given, but the links whereby the generalizations from these are sought to be established, are here and there wanting, and here and there obscure. It is probably the fault of the subject, which is in its character inexact; but we certainly expected that more had been done; and from some passages in the early portions of the work, we were induced to believe that the author had succeeded in proving races of mankind to be more distinctly deducible from their sources, and that their physical and moral relations were more definitely traced. The following passage, in which the object of the work is enounced by the author, is wanting in precision and perspicuity:--

"That great differences in external conditions, by the double
influence of their physical and moral agency, should have effected,
during a long series of ages, remarkable changes in the tribes of
human beings subjected to their operation--changes which have
rendered these several tribes fitted in a peculiar manner for their
respective abodes--is by no means an improbable conjecture; and it
becomes something more than a conjecture, when we extend our view
to the diversified breeds of those animals which men have
domesticated, and have transferred with themselves from one climate
to another. Considered in this point of view, it acquires, perhaps,
the character of a legitimate theory, supported by adequate
evidence, and by an extensive series of analogous facts.

"But we must not omit to observe, that to this opinion there is an
alternative, and one which many persons prefer to maintain; namely,
that the collective body of mankind is made up of different races,
which have differed from each other in their physical and moral
nature from the beginning of their existence. To determine which of
these two opinions is the best entitled to assent, or at least to
set before my readers a clear and distinct notion of the evidence
that can be brought to bear upon the question, will be my principal
object in the following work."

Now, as they are here stated, the two opinions are not necessarily contradictory; differences in external condition may effect remarkable changes in tribes of human beings, and yet the collective body may be made up of different races: and to set before the reader a clear and distinct notion, is to prove nothing, although indeed, as we shall see in the sequel, the author has a very strong conviction, and believes that he succeeds in proving, as far as a matter incapable of mathematical demonstration can be proved, the negative of the latter proposition. What the author seems to intend, or rather what the whole tenor of his book imports, though his expressions at times go much further, is, not that community of origin is proved inductively by the researches which have been made into the existing and past state of man, but that the natural history of man presents nothing inconsistent with such a view.

The researches of Cuvier and others have negatived the theory of Lamarcke as to the transmutation of species. The "_nisus formativus_" is admitted, but admitted with limits, "_quos ultra citraque nequit consistere rectum_".

The extreme rarity of hybrids, their inability of continuous procreation, the absence of any well-authenticated cases of a permanent species formed by the union of two distinct ones, the return to the original type when the disturbing causes are removed, with various other arguments tending the same way, have been considered, by the most competent and impartial judges, as conclusive evidence of the real and permanent existence in nature of distinct species. These arguments are stated in detail in the second volume of Lyell's _Principles of Geology_, to which we refer those of our readers who wish for further information.

Having briefly stated these and similar arguments, Dr Prichard expresses his conclusion as follows:--

"It seems to be the well-established result of enquiries into the
various tribes of organized beings, that the perpetuation of
hybrids, whether of plants or animals, so as to produce new and
intermediate tribes, is impossible.

"Now, unless all these observations are erroneous, or capable of
some explanation that has not yet been pointed out, they lead, with
the strongest force of analogical reasoning, to the conclusion,
that a number of different tribes, such as the various races of
men, must either be incapable of intermixing their stock, and thus
always fated to remain separate from each other; or, if the
contrary should be the fact, that all the races to whom the remark
applies, are proved by it to belong to the same species.

"I believe it may be asserted, without the least chance of
contradiction, that mankind, of all races and varieties, are
equally capable of propagating their offspring by intermarriages,
and that such connexions are equally prolific, whether contracted
between individuals of the same or of the most dissimilar
varieties. If there is any difference, it is probably in favour of
the latter."

This conclusion is repeated a little further on.

"It appears to be unquestionable that intermediate races of men
exist and are propagated, and that no impediment whatever exists to
the perpetuation of mankind when the most dissimilar varieties are
blended together. We hence derive a conclusive proof--unless there
be, in the instance of human races, an exception to the universally
prevalent law of organized nature--that all the tribes of men are
of one family.

"Perhaps the solution of the problem which we have undertaken to
discuss might be left on this issue, or considered as obtained by
this argument. But further light may be thrown on the subject, by a
careful analysis of the facts which can be collected relative to
the nature and origination of varieties; and it may be satisfactory
to my readers to survey this field of enquiry."

Granting, then, the truth of the limitation of species to be established, and taking as the definition of species the power of continual propagation, we have it proved at the commencement of the work, that "all human races are of one species;" the only question which remains is, whether, admitting them to be of one species, the deduction that they have a common origin is necessary; or, if not necessary, whether it is proved in the course of the author's work. It does not appear to us a _necessary_ conclusion; for there appears no reason _a priori_ why the Creator should not as well form separately an indefinite number of creatures of the same species as a single pair. This point is not adverted to in the work before us; and whenever identity of origin is assumed, it is upon the same grounds from which identity of species is deduced. In fact, they are generally coupled; thus, at page 487, we have the expression--

"If now it should appear, on enquiry, that one common mind, or
psychical nature, belongs to the whole human family, a very strong
argument would thence arise, on the ground of analogy, for their
community of species and origin."

And in the last page we have--

"We are entitled to draw confidently the conclusion, that all human
races are of one species and one family."

The great point as to identity of species being proved, it would be certainly more simple, and more in unison with the economy of nature, to suppose that all were descended from one pair, than that numerous identical members of a common species were simultaneously created. On the other hand, a physiological difficulty occurs, in viewing a race as descended from a single pair, from the fact universally recognised in the later periods of history, viz. the degeneration, and, in the end, destruction or indefinite deterioration of both physical and mental faculties, by continual intermarriage. The houses of Braganza and Hapsburg are notorious instances of this; and, as far as we are aware, there are no counter instances.

"Marry
A gentler scion to the wildest stock,
And make conceive a bark of baser kind
By bud of nobler race; this is an art
Which does mend nature, change it rather, but
The art itself is nature."

The matter is incapable of absolute proof--we mean inductive proof; for it is in this point that the work before us regards it. Any arguments, such as similarity of habits, of languages, of opinions, which may be used to deduce community of origin, would be equally explained by community of species; for, supposing that different individuals of the same species were simultaneously created, the same physical formation would necessarily engender similar habits, and the power of intermarriage would induce a similarity of language, long before any period to which our histories go back. Taking, then, as a fair assumption, that, if identical in species, mankind have a common origin, we get in the outset of the book the conclusion stated at the end, viz. that all human races are of one species and one family. The great body of the work is, therefore, only accessory and corroborative; and its value would consist not so much in proving the affirmative of the author's thesis, as in placing in a prominent point of view the principal facts known respecting the natural history of man.

It may be thought that, in the existing state of man, few marks remain from which his early history may be deduced; but those unacquainted with the progress of inductive research, would be astonished at the magnitude and importance of results derivable from an apparently simple and worthless object. An unthinking wanderer, stumbling upon an ancient tombstone, if reproached with inattention, would ask what is to be learned from such a relic. A word of inscription would give a clue to the language, and, coupled with other observations, to the date of the monument; the character of the stone, whether roughly hewn or elaborately carved, would give evidence as to the tools used in its formation, and consequently furnish a key to the manufacturing and metallurgic knowledge of the fabricators. The stone itself might possibly not be similar to those in the immediate vicinity, and thence would indicate that travelling and the power of transfer were practised, and the skeleton within would indicate the physical formation of the men of that day. We have selected here a case of an ordinary grave, but how much stronger would the case be were we to take a sarcophagus of Egypt, enclosing a mummy? The inscription, the fabric of the cere-cloth, the chemical substances with which it is impregnated, as well as those by which the body is preserved, and the relics commonly deposited with it, would lead, by careful investigation, to a tolerably accurate knowledge of the character and habits of the time; and where many relics of different descriptions, collected from different parts, are skilfully compared, a body of evidence is arrived at, minutely circumstantial in its details, and the veracity of which admits of no dispute. As the researches of comparative anatomists have enabled us, from the examination of a single bone, to pronounce with certainty upon the general conformation and habits of the animal to which it belonged; and as, in many cases, from the existence of such animals, we may go on, step by step, to the nature of the earth's surface at the period when they lived: so the meanest relic of art will serve the natural historian of man as a fulcrum by which he may turn up a mass of genuine information; with which, as with all knowledge, as its store increases, the power of applying it becomes more facile; until at length it scarcely becomes an exaggeration to say, that every material relic bears in itself its own natural history, and, if artificially modified, the history of its fabricators--what the germ is to futurity the relic is to the past.

From the data which Dr Prichard has given us, in a somewhat scattered form, we shall endeavour to collect and group the most interesting of his facts and opinions. In order to ascertain what modifications of physical structure, variation of climate, food, and habits, may effect upon mankind, it is necessary, first, to review the effects produced by such variation upon domesticated animals. It is indeed questionable whether we can in any case, with certainty, trace these to their native wilds; but, in many cases, we have instances of their return to a savage state, as with the wild horses, goats, oxen, &c.; and although it does not necessarily follow that their conformation, induced by such return, is identical with their original structure, yet there is a reasonable probability that such is the case, and we must take these cases for want of better. How far, then, has the outward form been altered by the changes induced by domestication; how far are instincts acquired by such changes capable of hereditary transmission, and is there any, and what, connexion between the changed instincts and the changed structure? These questions, involving among other things the infant and difficult science of phrenology, Dr Prichard has left very much to conjecture. Whether he considers the data too imperfect, or is afraid of trusting himself with any decided expression of opinion on a subject which has been so obscured by charlatanry, and which is open to so much misapprehension, does not appear; but it certainly is an apparently striking defect, that where a large portion of the work is devoted to the explanation of the different forms of the cranium in the inferior animals and in man, and to which the largest portion of his pictorial illustrations apply, he should give us so little insight into his opinions as to what extent phrenology is fairly entitled to credibility. His having taken so much pains in collecting facts and drawings on this point, necessarily leads to the inference that he attaches much value to the craniological distinctions. We shall take an opportunity presently of recurring to this subject. We will now take some of the most interesting instances, given by Dr Prichard, of structural changes and hereditary instincts, acquired by domesticated animals, and again lost by them on returning to a wild state:--

"Swine transported from Europe to America, since the discovery of
the western continent by the Spaniards in the fourteenth century,
and wandering at large in the vast forests of the New World, and
feeding on wild fruits, have resumed the manner of existence which
belonged to the original stock. Their appearance nearly resembles
that of the wild boar. Their ears have become erect; their heads
are larger, and the foreheads vaulted at the upper part; their
colour has lost the variety found in the domestic breeds. The wild
hogs of the American forests are uniformly black. The hog which
inhabits the high mountains of Paramos bears a striking resemblance
to the wild boar of France. His skin is covered with a thick fur,
often somewhat crisp, beneath which is found, in some individuals,
a species of wool. From excessive cold and defect of nourishment,
the hog of that region is of small and stunted figure. In some warm
parts of America, the swine are not uniformly black, as above
described, but red, like the young pecari. At Melgara and other
places, there are some which are not entirely black, but have a
white band under the belly reaching up to the back; they are termed
_cinchados_. The restoration of the original character of the wild
boar in a race descended from domesticated swine, removes all
reason for doubt, if any had really existed, as to the identity of
the stock; and we may safely proceed to compare the physical
characters of these races, as varieties which have arisen in one
species. The restoration of one uniform black colour, and the
change of thin sparse hair and bristles for a thick fur with a
covering of wool, are facts that must be noticed in the
observations of M. Roulin. The difference in the shape of the head
between the wild and domestic hog of America, is very remarkable.
Blumenbach long ago pointed out the great difference between the
cranium of our swine and that of the primitive wild boar. He
remarked that this difference is quite equal to that which has been
observed between the skull of the Negro and the European. 'Those
persons,' he says, 'who have no opportunity of verifying the fact,
have only need to cast their eyes on the figure which Daubenton has
given of both the former. I shall pass over,' he adds, 'the lesser
varieties of breeds which may be found among swine, as among men,
and only mention that I have been assured by M. Sobzer, that the
peculiarity of having the bone of the leg remarkably long, which in
the human kind is observed among the Hindoos, has been remarked
with regard to swine in Normandy. They stand very long on their
hind legs; their back, therefore, is highest at the rump, forming a
kind of inclined plane; and the head proceeds in the same
direction, so that the snout is not far from the ground.'

"'Swine,' continues Blumenbach, 'in some countries have degenerated
into races which, in singularity, far exceed every thing that has
been found strange in bodily variety among the human race. Swine
with solid hoofs were known to the ancients, and large breeds of
them are found in Hungary and Sweden. In like manner, the European
swine first carried by the Spaniards in 1509 to the island of
Cubagua, at that time celebrated for its pearl fishery, degenerated
into a monstrous race, with toes which were half a span in length.'
There are breeds of solid-hoofed swine in some parts of England.
The hoof of the swine is also found divided into five clefts.

"Buffon had before remarked the varieties of the hog tribe. 'In
Guinea,' he observes, 'this species has acquired very long ears,
couched upon the back; in China, a large pendant belly, and very
short legs; at Cape Verde and other places, very large tusks,
crooked like the horns of oxen; in domestication, half pendant and
white ears.'"

* * * * *

"A very remarkable fact relative to the oxen of South America is
recorded by M. Roulin, to which M. Geoffrey St Hilaire has
particularly adverted, in the report made by him on M. Roulin's
Memoir, before the Royal Academy of Sciences.

"In Europe, the milking of cows is continued through the whole
period, from the time when they begin to bear calves till they
cease to breed. This secretion of milk has become a constant
function in the animal economy of the tribe; it has been rendered
such by the practice, continued through long series of generations,
of continuing to draw milk long after the period when it would be
wanted for the calf; the teats of the cow are larger than in
proportion, and the secretion is perpetual. In Columbia, the
practice of milking cows was laid aside, owing to the great extent
of farms and other circumstances. 'In a few generations,' says M.
Roulin, 'the natural structure of parts, and withal, the natural
state of the function, has been restored. The secretion of milk in
the cow of this country is only an occasional phenomenon, and
contemporary with the actual presence of the calf. If the calf
dies, the milk ceases to flow, and it is only by keeping him with
his dam by day, that an opportunity of obtaining milk from cows by
night can be found.' This testimony is important, by the proof
which it affords that the permanent production of milk in the
European breeds of cows is a modified function of the animal
economy, produced by an artificial habit continued through several
generations. Two other very important observations made by M.
Roulin in South America, were pointed out by M. Geoffrey St Hilaire
in his report to the Academy of Sciences. They refer to the fact of
the hereditary transmission of habits originally impressed with
care and art upon the ancestors. Of this fact I shall adduce other
examples in the sequel; at present I only advert to M. Roulin's
observations. The horses bred in the grazing farms on the
table-land of the Cordillera, are carefully taught a peculiar pace,
which is a sort of running amble. This is not their natural mode of
progression, but they are inured to it very early, and the greatest
pains are taken to prevent them from moving in any other gait. In
this way the acquired habit becomes a second nature. It happens
occasionally that such horses, becoming lame, are no longer fit for
use; it is then customary to let them loose, if they happen to be
well-grown stallions, into the pasture grounds. It is constantly
observed that these horses become the sires of a race to which the
ambling pace is natural, and requires no teaching. The fact is so
well known, that such colts have received a particular name; they
are termed 'aguilillas.'

"The second fact is, the developement of a new instinct, which, as
M. Roulin declares, seems to become hereditary in the breed of dogs
found among the borderers on the river Madeleine, which are
employed in hunting the pecari. I shall cite the author's own
words:--'L'addresse du chien consiste a moderer son ardeur a ne
s'attacher a aucun animal en particulier, mais a tenir toute la
troupe en echec. Or, parmi ces chiens, on en volt maintenant qui,
la premiere fois qu'on les amene au bois, savent deja comment
attaquer; un chien d'une autre espece se lance tout d'abord, est
environne, et quelle que soit sa force, il est devore dans un
instant.'"

To these cases we may add a case familiar to the sportsmen of this country, and one of which we have ourselves seen an unquestionable instance, viz. the acquired habit of the setting-dog in arresting his steps, and crouching, when in pursuit of game; the origin of which was probably a pause in his career, in order the better to ascertain the position of the game of which he was in quest; but this, by constant teaching, has become hereditary to such an extent, that occasionally a dog of pure breed will, the first time he is taken out, as soon as he gets on the scent of game, crouch or place himself in a setting attitude, and remain perfectly immobile until forced to proceed; nay further--as it is necessary that the sportsman teach the dogs who are in the same field with that one who discovers the game, as soon as they see the latter setting to arrest their steps likewise; or, as it is termed, to _back_, in order not to disturb the game--in the instance which came under our notice, a dog of eight or nine months old, which had never been out of a town, when taken into the fields for the first time with an old well-trained dog, as soon as the latter had discovered game, and pointed to it, instantly backed him--_i.e._ remained stiffly standing in the position in which he was when he first caught sight of the older dog: probably many sportsmen could be found who would vouch to similar facts.

We may here state that we quite agree with Dr Prichard, as to the absence of any foundation for the general belief, that all the acts of inferior animals are performed without their consciousness or view to any object or end; on the contrary, there is every probability that they, in carrying into effect their several instincts, seem to themselves to act from similar internal impulses of will and intention, as human beings do.

We need not enter into the vast number of varieties which the most domestic of all domesticated animals, the dog, exhibits; we shall only remark, that, in all their varieties, Dr Prichard says,--

"Restored to a state of comparative wildness, which approaches to
their unreclaimed and primitive condition, the tribes of dogs every
where make a corresponding approximation to the type which may be
supposed to have belonged to the species in its original state."

But this passage is enigmatical, as the original _type_ seems to be involved in dense obscurity. Buffon considered the shepherd dog to be the least modified by domestication--very erroneously, according to Dr Prichard; it is still a _vexata questio_, whether the original progenitor of the dog be a wolf, a jackal, a fox, or an unknown animal differing from all these.

"The sheep is one of the most anciently domesticated animals, and
it is one in which great varieties display themselves. It has been
long believed, and this appears to have been the opinion of Baron
Cuvier, that all the breeds of tamed sheep are descended either
from the argali of Siberia, or from the moufloun or musmon of
Barbary. This is at present doubted by most naturalists. There
seems, however, to be no reason for believing that the domestic
breeds belong to more than one species, though they differ much in
different countries. In Europe, the breeds of sheep vary much in
stature, in the texture of their wool, the number and shape of
their horns, which are in some large, in some small, in others
wanting to the female, or altogether absent from the breed. The
most important varieties in Europe are the Spanish breeds, some
with fine, others with crisp wool, in which the rams have long
spiral horns; the English breeds, which differ greatly in size and
in the quality of the wool; and, in the southern parts of Russia,
the long-tailed breed. The breeds of sheep in India and in Africa
are remarkable for the length of their legs, a very convex
forehead, and pendant ears; these also have long tails. Their
covering is not wool, but a smooth hair. In the northern parts of
Europe and Asia the sheep have short tails. The breeds spread
through Persia, Tartary, and China, have their tails transformed
into a double spherical mass of fat. The sheep of Syria and
Barbary, on the other hand, have long tails, but likewise loaded
with a mass of fat. In both of these varieties of the sheep the
ears are pendant, the horns of the rams large, and those of the
ewes and lambs of moderate size, and the body is covered with wool,
mixed more or less with hair.

"New breeds of sheep are frequently formed in different countries
in which particular qualities predominate, according to the
preference of the breeders. This is done, partly by crossing or
intermixing races already constituted and well known; but in great
part also by selecting individuals from the stock in which the
particular qualities are more strongly marked than in the
generality of the same breed. In these instances, the natural or
congenital variety which the individual animal displays, perhaps
for the first time, becomes perpetuated by the hereditary
transmission of such characters, which is a law of the animal
economy. A striking instance of this fact is to be found in the
origination of a new breed of sheep in the state of Massachusetts,
which has been noticed by many writers in connexion with this
subject. In the year 1791, one ewe on the farm of Seth Wright gave
birth to a male lamb, which, without any known cause, had a longer
body and shorter legs than the rest of the breed. The joints are
said to have been longer, and the fore-legs crooked. The shape of
this animal rendering it unable to leap over fences, it was
determined to propagate its peculiarities, and the experiment
proved successful; a new race of sheep was produced, which, from
the form of the body, has been termed the otter breed. It seems to
be uniformly the fact, that when both parents are of the otter
breed, the lambs that are produced inherit the peculiar form."

We might extract other instances of physiological and psychological changes induced by domestication, but we think enough have been given to show the character and degree of such changes. The least important change, and that which appears the soonest affected, is the colour of the skin and hair. This is universally of an uniform tint in wild animals, and generally bears a close approximation to the colour of the land in which the animal lives: thus the ptarmigan, inhabiting snowy regions, is white; the grouse has the colour of heath; the hare that of dry fern or furze--a provision which has the effect of protecting the weaker tribes from the stronger and predatory ones. In domesticated animals, from causes apparently not as yet traced, the colour is variegated and various. Closely connected with the colour and nature of the skin, are the size and shape of the horns, their presence and absence. Great as is the apparent variety of appearance effected by horns, changes in these appear to be easily induced: they are connected with the epidermic structure, generally the most easily modified; and we need not cite instances to prove that different breeds of the same tribe, and occasionally different individuals of the same breed, differ materially as to horns. According to Azara, horned horses are sometimes seen in Paraguay.

Very little appears to be known, at least scarcely any intimation is given in the work before us, of the proximate or final cause of these changes. Great as they are, certainly, as far as we can judge, no _nisus formativus_ can account for the enormous horns of the Spanish sheep; nor, looking to the final cause; does there appear any reason why domestic animals should need such overgrown instruments of defence. When, however, we come to the more important anatomical modifications, such as the length and shape of the legs, the bones of the pelvis or of the jaw, the object is more apparent. A greyhound, with the muzzle of a bull-dog, would be an obvious natural inconsistency.

We now pass to the physical distinctions of the different races of men. Here we may observe that a much greater importance is to be attached to comparatively slight variations. Considering the surprising external differences that exist in domesticated animals of the same species, the wonder rather is, that the different races of men differ physically so little as they do, than that they differ so much. Here we will take first, the least important shades of difference--the texture of the skin, hair, and complexion; and then pass on to the more prominent diversities of the bony fabric, cranium, &c.

"The texture of the body, in which all these varieties have their
seat, is the extracorial or exodermal structure, constituting, if I
may so speak, the outer coating of the body, external to the true
skin, which corresponds to the cuticular and corneous excrescences
of animals--a structure which includes horns, hoofs, hair,
feathers, and all similar appendages in different orders of
animals. This structure displays infinite diversities in colour,
constitution, and organization, and is the most variable tissue on
the whole body. Many different opinions have, however, been lately
maintained, and much research has been made, as to the nature and
texture of the parts on which the variety of colour depends."

The ancient anatomists, it appears, recognised only two parts of the skin--the true skin, and the outer cuticle or epidermis. Malpighi discovered a third layer interposed between these, consisting of a sort of network, thence called _rete mucosum_, and believed to be the seat of colour in the negro. Albinus showed this to be a continuous layer, and not a network. Cruikshank discovered four layers--three membranes, and the fourth a layer of colour. Flourens, at a more recent period, made the number of intermediate layers five, four of which he showed to the French Academy; one of these, a mucous membrane underlying the pigment, is, according to this anatomist, a distinct organized body, existing only in men of dark colour, and entirely wanting in the white races, or else (which appears the more probable conjecture) maceration, and the ordinary process of examination, fail to detect it in the skin of white men. Lastly, the microscopical researches of Henle, Purkinje, and Schwann, go to prove that the outer integument does not consist of separate membranes, but is of a cellular structure, and that of these cells or "cytoblasts," there are three distinct kinds. We will not further analyse the different opinions as to the texture of the skin and position of the colouring material; it certainly throws no inconsiderable degree of doubt over certain classes of scientific investigation, to find each subsequent research entirely altering, and in some cases overturning, the previously received views.

To the different characters of human complexion, Dr Prichard gives three distinctive terms--the _melanous_ or brunette; the _xanthous_ or blonde; and the _leucous_ or albino; the _melanous_ predominating in the southern countries, the _xanthous_ in the northern. It is observable here, that although the natural divisions of territory with respect to complexion, (supposing climate to have the principal modifying effect upon complexion,) would be the equatorial and polar regions, or the zones of the earth which differ in latitude, yet, with some few exceptions, it is only on the northern side of the equator that the _xanthous_ complexion prevails--the inhabitants of Australia and the South Sea Islands being very generally _melanous_. The distribution of land and water cannot well be conceived to have any influence upon climate which would account for such diversity; it is probably, therefore, a result of long-continued civilization, the covering the body with clothes, and being for the most part sheltered from the direct rays of the sun. The _leucous_ complexion is an abnormal variety, and occurs occasionally in all countries. It proceeds from the absence of the dark colouring matter, or pigment; there appears in this case, however, no difference of anatomical structure, the pigment being sometimes subsequently developed in persons who have been born albinoes. The change from the _xanthous_ to the _melanous_ complexion, is a circumstance of constant occurrence; there are few children born, whose complexion does not darken as they grow up, in many cases undergoing a total change: the passage from dark to fair is rare, but it constantly occurs that _xanthous_, or even _leucous_ children, are born of _melanous_ parents. There is nothing, therefore, in the diversities of complexion which indicates specific diversity in different human races. Of the conformation of the bony fabric in the human race, the formation of the skull is the part of the greatest importance; we shall only therefore briefly notice, as to the other parts of the skeleton, that between the most uncultivated races of men, and those tribes of apes which most nearly approach man, there is a wide difference--the arms of the orang-outang reach to the ankle, and those of the chimpanzee below the knee; the pelvis, or central bony fabric, differ much from those of the human race.

With regard to the skull, the value of the distinctions in its form and structure depends upon their connexion with the size and organization of the brain--involving the question, whether this has any, and what, influence upon the powers and habits of the creature. Dr Prichard, as we have already stated, blinks the question of phrenology; though he makes some inferences which prove him to have a general belief in the connexion between mental power and physical formation; nay, further, in the appropriation of different portions of the brain to different faculties.

Few will, we believe, in the present day be disposed entirely to deny that, _ceteris paribus_, the external formation of the skull, or rather the shape of the brain as shown by the formation of the skull, is a general index of the mental power of the individual to whom it belongs. Look over a collection of busts, or portraits, of eminent men, and, with scarcely an exception, they will be found to have high and capacious foreheads; while uncivilized races, and born idiots, are lamentably deficient in this respect. The difficulties of phrenology exist in its details, which by many have been carried out into degrees of subdivision certainly not warranted either by the anatomical structure of the brain, or by any empirical data as to the form of different crania, and the biography of the individuals to whom they have belonged. Where, in the existing state of our knowledge, the proper mean may be, it is perhaps difficult to say; but it would have been well, we think, had Dr Prichard given us a little more explicitly his opinions as to what extent phrenology (we use the word in its broadest sense) may be fairly relied on. As far as we can gather from the scattered passages in his book, he seems to take a rational view of it; but a little less caution would certainly have been more instructive to his readers, not only on the subject of phrenology, but on many of the connexions between physical structure and the habits to which such structure is adapted. This is a _hiatus_ in Dr Prichard's work, the filling up of which would add much interesting matter, and serve to weave together acts which at present are disjointed and isolated; giving the book a dry character, and preventing its arresting the attention of the reader. Throughout a larger portion of the work also, we have, in every third page or so, a minute description of the complexion, hair, &c., of different people; which, however valuable as matter of record, becomes tiresome and uninteresting as a continuous narrative, and would be much better thrown into a tabular form, as matter of reference only, if incapable of being so linked as to present a plausible theory.

The following passage is the most explicit we can find on the subject of the connexion between the _physique_ and _morale_, and, at the same time, will serve to introduce the three varieties of skull which the author deems principally worth notice:--

"If any method of subdividing the human family into groups, is
likely to be of any particular advantage in elucidating the natural
history of the species, it must be one founded on some relation
between the physical characteristics of different tribes and the
leading circumstances of their external condition.