Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1850-02-14
Select nlisfelIanp.
THE PROGRESS OF MAN.

THE PROGRESS OE A"1AA'
NJ Sierres. in course of lectures on compar-
alive anthropology, delivered in Pans' mas
thrown out some interesting views on '''0 ie'a. -
tious of different branches OF the hu'noH ia'e
with ch other A co emPorary OF 'he profess
or has published summary OF the lec'uFeS'
sbownp the important influence which the e%'
.on,;,r of RAILWAYS will have upon the interest
,nq subject which they were intended to Illus
trate.
Tho Effects of Steam.
Hitherto, the different groups ot manK'nu'
scatterrd over the surface of the earth, nave l'V-
ed isolated, kept aloof by governments and po
l;t;.al institutions, or brought together only oy
war. It would seem that nature herself oy 'he
intervention OF mountain ranges rivers ana u
ceans. wished to preserve the Distinguishing
cbor,ceris,ics between the races, until the hlgh-
est type should have been developed. 1t IS De-
leyed in certain quarters that this condition ID
accomplished nations seek to become acq"a'h.'
cd with each other: neither the political lhSt'-
tutions established by ignorance, nor physical
obstacles, exist in the same strength as lorlhef'
lv to divide them. The author OF railways III
tle thoucht that he had found the lever, looked
for in vain by Archimedes, whercwlh to move
the world.
1t is scarcely fifteen years since the various
governments of Europe began to turn the'f at
tenton to railways some have as yet done ho
more than construct sections OF lines, nervous
centres as i, were, from which life is to Ne trans
mitted to every province. In trw years tne
North Sea will be united to the Mediterranean
by line which, commencing at Edinburgh
touches Newcastle York, London, Dover, ana
commencing at Bgulogne on the other side
the chaniel, stretches away to Paris, from raf'
10 LYONS from Lyons to Avignon from Avlgnol
TO Marseiles. Another line, of which portions
are already constructed, commencing at liam
burph, and terminating at Trieste, links I'll
German Ocean to the Atlantic. In other dlrec
lions. the Baltic and Black Seas are brot lnt
co,nnu nicaIion with tho English Channe--'h'
whole forTnins q"adrAi~'erA"N - 90 SsF~ "' =
Including within Its limits nearly all tl1' 10 '"
u,h,e in u,udern civilization, ana |" w"''" i".F
=. sra;n and Turkey in Europe will at no o'
49,. aav attach themselves Steam VIII no
oon,,e,e what printing began. In moral POI
Of view, the long lines of iron are SO many "
drc,ors bv which the thought OF one hai'" y"
~ communicated to another. TraversnS
uho,o ezteut of Europe, they must pro"uoe
o,r,ete modification of custom-house 'a"'
lead tn a real holy alliance between l"','0"l' ~
communities. The great work begun ny "
.onh,rc will now find its essential elcn1eh'
comu,e,,on in the rapid circulation OF men u
;ao.s Rocks are uothng in themselves
exist only for those who read them' "A "'''
mower is required for their Pene'ra''o" al"
.ho u oomv and remote populations winch II
for ages intrenched themselves s"''e"'' w.
ha;. nbvsical barriers. This power eAls'S
steam and,railwuys--'he true auxlI'"rleS Oh p
,ng How greatly will the lntelec'ua' 40
clio continent be changed, when all the ca
.;,;o, orc embraced within the scope OF rail-"
IA which respect steam appears 10 De az
the bond Of UNION between the u'ii'
sections of the human race, as between u'
ces.
Difference between the Ka0'
pass;uo ou TO the next part of the sunJt
bsco ne. a question of natural history. IT
h.b;,ed surface of the globe presents 10 US
varieties of the human sPecleS' "t''c" III
c,asseJ under four great divisions; the va
.;.o u,h white skin, and fine, sUooth olly
the Mo, golian, with yellow skin hair coarS
a;F. ,b., E,hiopan. With biack skin, hull
and wonly; and the Amerlcan' w''' 'N''
h,o,og bo,h yellow and red. hair black, l"I
harsh Wherever these different races
been brought into contact, the result mas
hoor the same; the blacks have always
! ed the yellows, and both have succu'nOeo
whites.
p,ofossor Series shows a functional Al
panc degradation In proportion as we IL
from the Caucasian to the inferior races
remarkable fact is the lower position OF
bilicus IN the American race; IN them II
or because the liver Is large and 1t is Sc
when the liver is predominant, there is
Donding predominancc Of voraclty. In
uous OF negroes, remarkable fexnnSl'y
arteries has also been observed, from wi
suits retardaliun in the circulation OF TN
THIS hydraulic arrangement, as II may
ed, which, at certain period OF le' Il
the conditions of existence in the whte
the black the permanent law OF his nj
fact which, it has been presumed, VIII
for the torpor and apathy manifested IN
gro character
Acc riding to M. Series, the shortenlT
neck, so common in the Ethiopian race
not only from the grace Of the form, b'
in rendering the black hnskitul, awkw
uninvenlve. In proportion to the sho
the neck, the lace projects forwards; {
ton apparently intended to facilitate tn
Of food. AS we descend the human 81
nerves and spinal marrow become
more vouminous in cur approach to the
A very marked antagonism exists bet
face and the brain; where the former
ates, the action of the senses predomiI
the action Of the understanding sinks il
proportion. The effect of civilization
gard to another portion oil the human
pears to consist in diminishing the {
the abdomen, which in the vegetatiV
NAL lives Of savages and barbarlanS