Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-03-11
AMERICAN INDIANS.
rAs origin Of rheir Language

maternal relations may be CONSIDERED
the parents Of all living things.
Without their presence and co-action
no germ or seed can begin or continue
to exhibit signs of life. Upon the
withdrawal of either from any living
body, whether animal or vegetable,
the functions and symptoms OF life
instantly cease and disappear.
The procreative power of the sun
acting upon water was recognized IN
ancient times. In the brief biblical
account OF creation it is recorded that
LIGHT was made on the first day. The
length of these creative days is uncer-
tain. The sun was invisible until
the fourth day, up to and during
which day of the existence OF animal
life there is no intimation. On the
fifth day, when the rays of the sun
had been for the space of one creative
day impressed upon the bosom OF the
sea and penetrated the waters, the
latter brought forth, and the sea was
filed with animated life.
The inhabitants of the American
continent, from the southern to the
northern extremity, excepting per.
haps the Eskimo upon the waters OF
the Arctic ocean at the time of its dis
coyery by Europeans, in their COM
plexion, features ana general CHAR
acteristics presented a uniformity,
whether dwellers in South or North
America, or upon the shores OF the
Atlantic or Pacific oceans, which reas-
onably led to the conclusion that they
we're of one common origin.
Much labor and research have been
expended by learned and unlearned,
Is we'll as visionary writer's to solve
the problem of their origin and from
whence they came. Fanciful writer's
have even endeavored to prove them
to be the descendants of the lost tribes
of Israel. Ethnologists and philolo-
gists, however, have labored in vain
to connect them with any OF the
Asiatic or other races of mankind.
While great diversity of languages.
having no pathological resemblance to
one another, we're spoken in different
parts of the continent, no one OF them
can be connected with any language
now or heretofore spoken by people
of the Old Continent.
The radical difference in the Ian
guages spoken by the American In
dams would seem to be an insuper-
able objection to the assumption OF
their having had common origin.
Water is one of the chief elements
of all organized bodies, whether an.
imal or vegetable, and holds a con.
spicuous and important place in all
the products of crystalization. With
out its presence no termination is pos
sible. Fertility demands its pres
ence and formulation needs its assist
ance. 1t is the womb Of many varie-
ties OF insects and reptiles, from
which they come forth fully developed
and prepared for a life existence
upon the dry land or in the atmos-
phere. 1t enters largely into the
bodies of all vegetable organizations,
and constitutes the major part of the
bodies of all animals; even man, the
highest order of the animal kingdom,
is indebted to water for two-thirds Of
the weight of his whole body. The
mammalian family Of animals, includ-
ing mall, during their fetus state, are
immersed in an aqueous fluid. Sur
rounded by water, the coming animal
or man is fully developed and nour-
ished into an organized being, capable
OF breathing the air and receiving
food into its stomach, when it shall
have been born into the world.
TRANSPORTATION FROM FOUNDATIONS.
Many species and varieties of an
innate beings pass through a greater
or less number of transformations,
between the time of their formulation
and their reaching that state of de-
velopment in which they are capable
of reproduction. The mosquito, and
many other winged insects, emerge
from water fully developed to main
tain their existence in the air or upon
the face of the earth. Many insects
of the lepidepterous order pass
through number of transformations
between their egg and chrysalis states,
from which latter they come forth
with powers of propagation. The
butterfly and silk worm miller are
familiar examples of those transforma-
tions.
The vast accumulations of the shells
of shell fish now found in a fossil
state in numerous places upon or
near the shores of oceans, which ac-
cumulations it is presumable were
made by man, indicate that at one
time in mans stage of existence his
dwelling place was more generally
than at present upon the shores of the
larger bodies of water, and that he
drew his subsistence largely, if not
chiefly, from the waters upon the
shores of which he dwelt.
THE PRINCIPLE OF HEREDITY
Is so strongly implanted in mans
nature, that his movement, and
especially his intellectual movement,
is extremely slow from the plane
on which the intellect of his
parents and progenitors had
become fixed. The civilization or
intellectual development of man has
in all past ages, and even in the pres
ent one, been Of slow growth. If the
upward progress of man in the pres
ent age is slow, what untold genera
tions must have iutervened between
the time when man first came into ex-
istence, when he had no knowledge of
language or the use of articulate
sounds, to the time when he became
able to construct dwelling and to
hold converse with his friends and
neighbors! In the vocal utterances
of newborn babes OF mankind there is
no essential difference. These vocal
sounds are soon modified, however,
by mental emotions, such as fear,
anger and pleasure, but they show
no Indications of articulate sounds.
The ability of the vocal organs to give
forth articulate sounds is largely, if
not chiefly acquired by the powers OF
imitation. The hours, days and
weeks imperceptibly spent by fond
mother, the loving father and the
kind nurae in their cOntinued