National Republican., 1883-08-23
ORIGIN OF MAN.


The Australians, says the Saturday Reoie'0,
tell the story Of the making of man out of
clav, and IL seems, on the whole, probable
that this Is a native opinion and not a per-
verted form of the narrative in Genesis. The
people of the New Hebrides have tho same
tale. and add the pretty detail that when
Qat saw a smile on the face of one of his clay
images, no knew that he had made
woman Some Of the non-Aryan races of
South India declare that man was made out
of clay, and they connect his making in o
very curious and clever way with a myth oil
the origin of death. In New Zealand, ac-
Cording to one legend (for there arc various
stories), Tiki made man out of red clay,
kncadod up with his own blood. Ptah, in
Egyptian monuments, is represented in the
act of making men and gods with his hands;
but men and gods are also shown in the act
of emauating from the different parts of his
body, which Is n very popular way OF viewing
the origin of man among the Aryans of India.
Prometheus made men of clay, according
to a Greek myth which is perhaps late, or,
again, may always have been local story
among the Phlegyes, though 1t only found its
way into literature. In other savage and
Aryan myths, man comes full grown out of
bed of reeds, out Of trees, or out of hole in
the ground. Examples are to be found among
Zulus and Bushmen, in the early myths
of Attica, in the Hosiodic and
scandinavian theory of an "ashen race"
and in the Homerc saw about men born
of oak and rock" Not uncommonly man
is said to have come into an empty unfur-
nishcd world which he had to decorate
for himself Among the Navajoes of New
Mexico the myth AYERS that men and
beasts crept out Of n holo in the ground,
and found the universe very dark. They
made sun, moon, and stars. Tho sun and
moon they gave to two flute players, who
havo carried them about the sky ever since
With the stars they began to embroder the
heavens in beautiful decorative patterns,
which reminds ono of q tale about the en-
broideries wrought by Zeus, legend pre-
served by Clemens, of Alexandria. The
prairie wolf, however Ito go on with the
Navaioe narrative), was an inartistic char
actor. "Just stick the stars in anyhow" he
cried, and tossed the heap all over the
heavens, whore they still remain. In this
very atheistiC myth, where man makes
things for himself, the heavens are regarded
as being within easy reach Of the earth. Tho
most widely distributed form of that consep-
ton regards earth and heaven as two living
beings, originally united In marriage, and
ultimately thrust apart and forever divorced
by their children, who, in turn, became gods,
and makers or fathers of men. This opinion
is best known in the Greek of Hesiod, but is
New Zealand, in China, and elsewhere.
Among other myths of the making of man,
that which takes him to have been con-
structed by god out of part of the gods
own body is found among the Winnebagoes,
and among other races great deal
more famous and civilized. We have now
seen man regarded as, in his origin, a
child of the gods, or a manufactured article,
or being who, like Topsy, specs he growed
out of the earth, or out of trees or rocks.
The more scientific opinion that man was
evolved from the lower animals has also had
a wide success among savage races. Closely
akin to this conception is the mythical
theory that the gods strove to make man,
mado him ill, found that he did not harmon
| iZe with his environment, broke him, and
tried again, always improving on the original
model.
As to the theory of descent from animals
we generally find it i'll the familiar and world
wide form of Totcmism. Each clan boasts
descent from some special beast, bird oil
what not. The name of beasts in the gene
! alogies of Anglo-Saxon royalty and the com
I mon Egyptian names, "son of the panther
'son of the leopard" and so forth, are somt
of the traces of similar belief among races
which have proved capable of civilization
Not often, however, do we find, as amonI
the Digger Indians, we'll wrought out the
ory of the process of evolution. The chic
who told the story belonged to the clan o
Coyotes. The first Indians, he said, wer'
Coyotes. Gradually they began to assume
the shape of man, but it was u slow trans
formation. At first they walked on al
fours; then one and another would begin tt
put forth one human feature, ono toe, on'
finger, one eye--just like the Ascidian, ou
first vertebrate ancestor. Then, here anC
there, being would develop double set O.
organs, two eyes, two hands, and the like
Finally, these creatures acquired the habit o
sitting up, and 80 wore away their tails
which the Coyote Indians unaffectedly regret
as they consider the tail quite an ornament
We shall return to the Australian mytl
about the development of men out of lizards
but first we may look at the Coyote myth a
it occurs in Oregon. In Oregon the Coyote
did not gradually diAerentiate themselve
into men, but the Coyote made men, and dit
not make them we'll They needed to b
reviewed, corrected and considerably aug
mented. His mon had eyes that would no
open, and feet which refused to move. J
kind being named Ikanam took pity on tn
Coyote and impaired artistic merit" to hi
failures with a sharp stone. He opened tn
closed eyes and divided the immovable feet
This myth has more substantial shane II
South America, and is recorded in the Popo
Vuh, According to the Popol Vuh, the god
were always making man, finding that, TO
one reason or another, he would not work
and then destroying him by fire, wind, water
and other violent forces of nature which re
cur in the myths of Mexico and Australia
In India tho Satapatha Brahmana represents
mammals as the result of a series of expert
ments in creation. Praiapah created livinl
beings, which perished for want of food
Thus perished birds and serpents
Prajapati paused and reflected. "Hov
is il that my creatures perish atte
having been formed2" He perceived tina
they persisted for want of food. In his owl
presence he caused milk to bc supplied t.
breasts. He created living beings, which, re
sorting to the breasts, were thus preserved
These are the creatures which did not perish
The Dieyrie (Australian) legend of man
origin is, like some Others a mixture of tn
hypothesis of creation by experiment ant
evolution. Mora Moora, the demiurge
made number of small black Lizards
liked them and promised them dominion. Ill
divided their feet into toes and fingers, CAV
them noses and lips, and set them upright
Down they fell again, tripped up by thei
tails SO their tails were amputated by Moor'
Moora. Then they walked erect. BY an ode
coincidence not only do many New Zealand
ers vow descent from the lizard, but the sam
pedigree was claimed by an ancient Sept il
Ireland. Myths of the origin of things
especially Of man, are practically inexhausti
BILE.
LEGAL MATTERS.
| Another Suit by MIR. Hamburger Agntns