Chapter II: Preface

My object in the present work has been to give in a condensed form the essential facts of the twin sciences of anthropology and ethnography. The very nature of such an undertaking condemns the author to be brief, and at the same time somewhat dogmatic; inevitable gaps occur, and numerous inequalities in the treatment. To obviate, partly at least, such defects, I have endeavoured not merely to present the actual facts of the subject, but also to summarise, with as much fidelity as possible, the explanations of these facts, in so far as such may be educed from theories among which there is often sufficient perplexity of choice. In many cases I have ventured, however, to give my personal opinion on different questions, as, for instance, on the signification of the laryngeal sacs among anthropoid apes, on many questions of anthropometry in general, on the classing of “states of civilisation,” on fixed and transportable habitations, on the classification of races, on the races of Europe, on the Palæ-American race, etc.

My book is designed for all those who desire to obtain rapidly a general notion of ethnographic and anthropological sciences, or to understand the foundations of these sciences. Thus technical terms are explained and annotated in such a manner that they may be understood by all.

Those who may wish for further details on special points will be able to take advantage of the numerous bibliographical notes, at the foot of the pages, in which I have sought to group according to plan the most important or accessible works. I believe that even professional anthropologists will be able to consult my work profitably. They will find condensed in it information which is scattered over a vast crowd of notes and memoirs in all languages. I trust also that they may appreciate the Appendices, as well as the lists in the text itself, in which are collected from the best sources some hundreds of figures relating to the chief dimensions of the human body.

The illustrations which complete and elucidate the text have been selected with very great care. With two or three exceptions, the “types” of the different peoples are photographs of well-authenticated subjects, often such as have been observed and measured by competent authorities, or by myself.

I attach too much importance to the systematic illustration of anthropological works not to fail to express here my sincere indebtedness to the institutions and individuals who have been good enough to lend me blocks and photographs. I have thus to thank the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, the Anthropological Society and the Anthropological School of Paris, the India Museum, the Museum of Natural History of Paris, the Smithsonian Institution of Washington, Dr. Beddoe, Prince Roland Bonaparte, M. Chantre, Drs. Collignon and Delisle, Herr Ehrenreich and his editors Fr. Vieweg & Sons, Professor Haddon, Dr. Lapicque, Mr. Otis Mason, Dr. Sören Hansen, MM. S. Sommier, P. and F. Sarasin and their editor Herr C. Kreidel of Wiesbaden, Dr. Ten Kate, Mr. Thurston, Miss Godden, Miss Werner, and Messrs. Harper & Bros.

I desire also to thank in this place Dr. Collignon, Mr. Havelock Ellis, and M. Salomon Reinach, for the trouble they have taken in revising the proofs of certain parts of my work.

J. DENIKER.

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION.

PAGE

/Ethnic Groups and Zoological Species/ 1

Difficulties in applying to Man the terms of zoological
nomenclature--Criterion of species--Terms to give to the
“Somatological Units” constituting the genus _Homo_--Monogenesis
and Polygenesis--The “Ethnic Groups” are constituted by
the different combinations of the “Somatological Units” or
“Races”--Somatic characters and ethnic characters.

CHAPTER I.

/Somatic Characters/ 12

/Distinctive Characters of Man and Apes/.--Monkeys
and anthropoid apes--Erect attitude--Curvature of the
spine--Brain--Skull--Teeth--Other characters--Differences
less accentuated in the fœtus and the young than in the
adult.

/Distinctive Morphological Characters of Human Races/.--_Stature_:
Individual limits--Dwarfs and giants--Average stature of different
populations--Influence of environment--Differences according
to sex--Reconstitution from the long bones--_Teguments_:
Skin--Hair of head and body--Four principal types--Microscopic
structure--Correlation between the hair of the head and the
pilosity of the body--_Pigmentation_: Colouring of the skin, the
eyes, and the hair--Changes in the pigment.

CHAPTER II.

1. /Morphological Characters/--(_continued_) 53

_Cranium or Skull_: Cranial measurements--Orbits and orbital
index--Nasal bone and nasal index--Prognathism--_Head of the living
subject_: Cephalic index--Face--Eyes--Nose and nasal index in the
living subject--Lips--_Trunk and Limbs_: The Skeleton--Pelvis
and its indices--Shoulder blade--Thoracic limb--Abdominal
limb--_Proportions of the body in the living subject_--Trunk and
neck--Curve of the back--Steatopygy--_Various Organs_: Genital
organs--Brain--Its weight--Convolutions--The neuron--Its importance
from the psychical point of view.

CHAPTER III.

2. /Physiological Characters/ 105

_Functions of nutrition and assimilation_: Digestion, alimentation,
growth, temperature of the body, etc.--_Respiration and
circulation_: Pulse, composition of the blood, etc.--Special
odour--_Functions of communication_: Expression of the emotions,
acuteness of the senses, etc.--_Functions of reproduction_:
Menstruation, menopause, increase in the number of conceptions
according to season, etc.--_Influence of environment_:
Acclimatation--Cosmopolitanism of the genus _Homo_ and the races of
mankind--Cross-breeding.

3. /Psychological and Pathological Characters/.--Difficulties of
studying them--Immunities--Nervous diseases of uncivilised peoples.

CHAPTER IV.

/Ethnic Characters/ 123

Various stages of social groups and essential characters of
human societies: Progress.--Conditions of Progress: Innovating
initiative, and tradition--Classification of “states of
civilisation.”

I.--/Linguistic Characters/.--_Methods of exchanging ideas within
a short distance_--Gesture and speech--Divisions of language
according to structure--Jargons--_Communications at a relatively
remote distance_: optic and acoustic signals--_Transmission of
ideas at any distance and time whatever_--Handwriting--Mnemotechnic
objects--Pictography--Ideography--Alphabets--Direction of the lines
of handwriting.

CHAPTER V.

II.--/Sociological Characters/ 144

1. /Material Life/: _Alimentation_:
Geophagy--Anthropophagy--Preparation of
foods--Fire--Pottery--Grinding of corn--Stimulants
and Narcotics--_Habitation_: Two primitive types of
dwellings--Permanent dwelling (hut)--Removable dwelling
(tent)--Difference of origin of the materials employed in the two
types--Villages--Furniture--Heating and lighting--_Clothing_:
Nakedness and Modesty--Ornament precedes dress--Head-dress--Ethnic
mutilations--Tattooing--Girdle, necklace, and garland the
origin of all dress--Manufacture of garments--Spinning
and weaving--_Means of Existence_: tools of primitive
industry--Hunting--Fishing--Agriculture--Domestication and rearing
of animals.

CHAPTER VI.

II. /Sociological Characters/--(_continued_) 197

2. /Psychic Life/: _Games and Recreations_--Their
importance--Games of children and adults--Sports
and public spectacles--Masks--_Fine Arts_--Graphic
arts--Ornamentation--Drawing--Sculpture--Dancing--Its
importance among uncultured peoples--Pantomime and
dramatic art--Vocal and instrumental music--Instruments of
music--Poetry--_Religion_--Animism--Its two elements: belief in
the soul, and belief in spirits--Fetichism--Polytheism--Rites
and ceremonies--Priesthood--International
religions--_Myths_--_Science_--Art of
counting--Geometry--Calculation of time--Clocks and
calendars--Geography and cartography--Medicine and surgery.