The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1884-04-20

h merely rsalarmiss Q theological dogma foe
which no scientific proof hAs ever beon brought
forward. The construction. howevsr. which
her words more fairly bear-for II 10 plain. from
another sentence Of tho preface. that the
writer 10 an evolutionist-nanol that all
races OF mon are descended from single
pair OF anthropold apes. 10. also. conclusion
BY no means sanctioned 40 yet even by
the evolutionists Of the, Darwinian school.
Reasoning from the Analogies supplied By
other animals. We are quite a. strongly i'm.
PEELED to reject tho theory OF unity Of origin In
the narrowest sense. and moline 10 account for
certain marked variations In existing races BY
inferring descent from distinct pairs. repre-
seutins - much difference OF type - ID DOM.
patibls with identity OF species. or even from
pairs belonging to different. though closely al.
lied. species Of the ape family.
Waving. however. this fundamental prob
lem. which the author Of this volume some.
what rashiy oonoeives herself able to solve Oh.
hand We should remark that Q subordinate as
sumption regarding the oneness OF origin OF
tho races inhabiting the American continent
10 little less venturesome. In view OF the
broad gaps In our knowledge. and the unset
tied state Of opinion ON the subject. No com.
pstent American Archaeological would venture
to affirm. with positlveness. unity OF origin
concerning the EsQuimAux OF Labrador and
Greenland. the red mon encountered By tho
French and English oolonists OF Canada and
the United States. the prehistoric mound
builders Of the Mississippi valley. tho Aztec.
the Toltec. and their predecessors Of the Nahua
family in the valley OF Anahuac. the Maya
races that built up distinct civilization In
Central America and Yucatan. tho Chibohas Of
New Grenada. and the diverse tribes. each
1.,ts nt.stt - a.
coast OF South America but ultimately con-
solidatod in the empire Of the Incas. To our
thinking. the defective. unsifted. and un-
classified testimony thus far accessible on the
subject presents grave obstacles to the hypoth-
esis OF oneness OF origin. and certainly there
Is nothing like consensus Of belief In that
hypothesis.
We are therefore unable to follow Miss EN-.
erson whom sire assumes that In the four
teonth century OF our era the red Indian Of
the Algonkin or the Lenni- Lenape family who
In less than three centuries was to be brought
into wasting friction with French and English
settlers) represents the primeval type Of
man slowly emerging from sylvan state. un.
influenced By any save the moulding processes
Of change and development inherent In grow
ing humanity" For what was the relation OF
tho Algonkin and the Lenni-L enapo to tho
mound builders. who many centuries earlier
had occupied the very lands from which. &C.
cording to tho legends OF the Atlantic coast In
'dians. their forefathers. had migrated? II. as
we should presumably infer from Miss Emer-
sons theory Of oneness OF origin. the red man
| OF Canada or Virginia Is descended from tho
mound builder. he Is . startling example OF de-
| generation rather than OF self improvement.
The possession. however. OF maize and other
| cultivated plants by the Indians OF the Atlantic
Ia H--
the theory OF beQueathal from . distinct
| Of Its attainments In the mounds Of Ohio and
Of Iowa and in the prehistoric copper mines Of
Lake Superior. 1t Is incredible that the red
| Indian Of tho Atlantic coast should have been
| able. by judicious selection and cultivation. to
have developed the edible qualities Of the maize
plant through the thousands OF years implied
| by the total disappearance Of the original wild
| species. and yet remain almost stationary a.
regards all other proofs OF progressive civiliza-
| ton. II 1t DO true. as the author OF this book
asserts that the rod man In the fourteenth
century. clothed in skins OF wild beasts. had
emerged from q greater barbarism." 1t can be
true only In the sense that the red Indian was
a newcomer from the remote north. represent
ing perhaps the last wave OF emigration from
Asia to Alaska. and that he had absolutely
nothing In common beyond the lucky accident
OF reaping what he had not sown. and what.
therefore. was foredestined to deteriorats In
his hands, with the earlier mound builders
along the Mississippi and its affluents. or with
the Indigenous civilizations that arose In
Anahuac. in Yuoatan. and in South America.
As far as thero is any evidence worth needing
on the subject. 1t points, We repeat. against the
honorable descent OF tho red Indian. indicates
that his best credentials were borrowed. rather
| hon oalf uptp 4 koo khnraf ~
| his capacity for material improvement.