The Nevada Democrat., 1857-01-07
what the Aslatlcs have Done.

The following passage Is quOteu lrOW Doctor
Draper's "Human Physiology" soon to be issu-
ed by New York publishing house:
In Europe the career Of Improvement is in the
society; in Asia it is in the indvidual-the un-
known starving, llliterate, but strong-willed
soldier of to-day, is the pasha, the emperor, the
caliph tomorrow. The castles of India form but
a trifing exception to the fact that in the midst
of universal despotism, the primest democratic
element is concealed, for the career is open to
talent. Through this Asia has asserted her
superiority again and again. Europe has never
produced great lawgiver. Asia has produced
many. Generations of three hundred millions
of men have followed the maximis Of Confucius
for more than two thousand years; three hum
dred millions are the followers of Mohammed.
The faiths which govern the daily life of two
thirds of the human race may well be an awful
spectacle to us--the more awful because we know
that they are delusion. The only approach to
these great results in the Western continent is
in the supremacy OF the Italian Church. but
Rome owed the origin of her system to the Asia
tic missionaries; nor was it the complete work
of the hand of one man--it was the offspring OF
centuries, the joint issue of long line of illus
trious sacradotal kings
In military life the highest qualities shine forth.
If the talent for command and the capacity ol
a statesman are to be measured by the grandeur
of undertakings and their success, 1t still re-
mains for Europe to produce soldier the equal
of Jenghs Kahn, and king like Tamerlane.
These great captains held almost all Asia In their
iron grasp. The opinions we commonly hold re-
specting these illustrious men have come to us
through perverted channels Such prodigious
successes as theirs imply the highest intellectual
powers. Their true character appears when we
compare them with their European contempora-
res. At the same time that Charles III OF France
was mystifying his people with the imposture of
Jean of Arc, aud Henry vi of England, was en-
gagged in the burning of necromancers who had
attempted his life by melting an enchanted wax
image before the fire, Ulug Beg, the grandson OF
Tamerlane, was determining with precision the
latitude Of Samarcand his capital, with mural
quadrant of lS0 feet radius and making cata-
logue of the stars from his own observations,
which more than two hundred years subsequent
ly, was printed at the University of Oxford!
If the European wishes to know how much he
owes to the Asiatic he has only to cast glance
at an hour of his daily life The clock which
summons him from his bed in the morning was
the invention of the East, as wereelepsydras and
sun dals The prayer for his daily bread, which
he has said from his infancy, first rose from the
side of a Syrian mountain The Linens and cot
tons with which he clothes himself, though they
NAV be fine, are inferior TO those which have
bcen made from time immemorial in the looms
of India. The silk was stolen by some misslona-
ries for his benefit from China. He could buy
better razor than that with which he shaves him
self in the old city of Damascus, where steel was
first invented. The coffee he expects at break
fast was first grown by the Arabians, and the
natives of Upper India prepared the sugar with
which he sweetcns it. school boy can tell the
meaning of the Sanscrit words "sacchra canda."
If his tastes are light, and he prefers tea, the
Ill laof fir moi nj for
out by.the industrious Chinese. They also taught
him how ,to make and use the cup and saucer in
which he serves it, His breakfast tray was lac
uuered in Japan. There is Il tradition that leav-
ened bread was first made of the waters of the
Ganges The egg he is breaking was laid by the
fowl whose ancestors were domestlcated ny the
Malaccans, unless she may have been--though
that will not alter the Casa modern Shanghai.
If there are preserves and fruit on his board, let
him remember with thankiulness that Persia first
gave him the cherry, the peach, the plum II In
any of these delicate preparations he detects the
flavor of the alcohol, let it remind him that that
substance was first distilled by the Arabians,
who have set him the praiseworthy example,
which it will be for his benefit to follow, of alb
staining from its use. When he talks about coffee
and alcohol, he is using Arabic words. thou
sand wears before it had occurred to him to en-
act laws of restriction on the use of intoxicating
drinks, the Prophet of Mecca had accomplished
the same object; and what is more to the purpose
has compelled to this day, all Asia and Africa
to obey it, We crafty our taste for personal
ornament in the way the Orientals have taught
ne with pearls. rubies, sapphires, diamonds. OF
public amusements it is the same; the most mag
nrifcent fireworks are at this day to be seen i'll
India and China. And as regards the pastime'
of private life, Europe has produced no inven-
ton which can rival the game of chess. We have
no hydraulic constructions as great as the Chi
nese canal; no Notifications as extensive as the
Chinese wall We have no arteslan wells thai
can at all approach in depth some Of theirs; We
have not yet resorted to the practice of obtain
ing coal gas from the interior OF the earth; they
have borings for that purpose more than 30Ol
feet deep.
Similar observations may be made II we exam
inc the Asiatc contributions to science. While
the learned of Europe were forbdding as here
sy, the doctrine of the globular figure of the
earth, the Calyph AL Maimon was measuring the
length of a degree along the shore of the Red
Sea- He and his successors repeatedly deter
mined the oblduty of the ecliptic. A Saracen
constructed the first table of signs, another eX-
! planned the nature of twilight and showed the
Importance of allowing for atmospheric refrac-
| tion in astronomical observations. Algebraltself
was invented and brought into Europe by the
| ManOncuaus, WHO bdNcll 1ue HaHO ~ pc"io' AhS
same may be said of chemistry. tits needless to
pursue these statements, for whoever will take
the trouble to look into the history of any branch
of science existing in the 18th century, will find
how deep are its obligations to Asia. shall
therefore, add but one fact more, the invention
of figures of arithmetic, which in reality gave
birth to that science, and laid knowledge and
commerce equally under obligations. For its
simplicity, beauty and universality, this inven-
tion alone is enough to command the gratitude
of the human race. The manner of using the CT
pher, and placing the figures, is one of the hap
piest suggestions of the genius OF man.
SMART BoY.-When Lieut.. Gov. Patterson
was Speaker of the Legislature of one of our
States. some dozen boys presented themselves
for the place of messenger, as is usual at the
opening of the House. He inquired their names
and intn their condition. In order that he might