The National tribune., 1890-12-11
MEN and RACES.
The Natural Man and His Place in
Nature.
Human OHglns-Man and the Mammaiia-The
Descent OF Man-Ills Pcdigree-Raco Making
The Differentiation OF Peoples.
BY DE-. J. II. PORTER,

/ OF feeling and intelligence Icy which only we
are enabled TO form an opinion OF the scope,
character or state OF that part OF being which
/ is not material. When the body is diseased.
consciousness is dsordered also. II organic
lesion Of the brain sets in the man becomes
/ idlotic or insane Bulk, conformation, texture,
/ function, imply power capacity, beauty and
/ health or the reverse. 1t is known 10 every one
/ that those races who approach most nearly TO
/ an artistic standard in personal appearance,
/ are those to whom civilization in its higher
! forms has been exclusively confined.
In his general structure man is a mammal,
4 and unless he be considered with regard 10
/ his physical relations 90 this family, any actual
acquaintance with human natural history is
! impossible.
Before entering upon our subject, however,
/ the following observations may bo offered IN
respect TO this and all subsequent papers on AM
/ thropolagy. They arc, SO far as they 60 state
menis Of scientific results and viii be presented
! without discussion, which space dos not per-
nit, and are as free rs possible from technical
/ explanations or direct reference TO the sources
whence the information communicated has
\ been derived. The natural man, in virtue Of
Y his organization, which is that Of the most
/ highly specialized member Of the mammalian
division, is zooogicslly, and, Of course, necas-
sarly, more nearly connected with some forms
Of this family than he is with others. His
| skeleton, aud the various apparatuses, organs,
and tissues Of his frame bear, in all respects,
close resemblance 10 those OF
CERTAIN GROUPS or ANIMALS,
/ to whom, therefore, man is said to DO related !;
/ as, ia like manner, naturalists establish Tela-
/ tionshiFs between inferior creatures Inalo-
/ gously allied by physical and physiological
I cOufOmitics. For example, human beings
/ have so much more brain than the great apes
/ that this difference places man and gnthropoiGs
1 in distinct orders or snb-Ordcgs. At the same
I time, anatomieally, their brains are in type
identical, and this is also true with reference TO
their entire structure
On the other hand, in proportion % their
respective sizes men have about 700 times
more brain than Elephants IN this instance
/ however, these organs are dissimiar. That Of
/ Tho proboscidian ist SO TO speak, n sketch in
outline Of the other, and his general cOn!orma-
I ton is also different.
il need scarcely be said. perhaps that such
statements are made, not as matters Of opinion
/ but advanced as demonstrated facts Those
4 differences which they suggest, or seem 20 VAR
4 rant, may disagree but that is all. To say,
however that mankind are structurally homo
Joyous with g0rllas, is by no means 10 assert
4 that man is a mLtamOrphUsed ape, or that he had
q siElian descent, or that men at any time were
more ape-like than mau-liko Both, ID is prob
able descended from the same stock, and hence
their striking likCnesscs
IN nature Nhb vertebrate series eliminates
/ in the genus homo, and the creatures uoarc-t 10
men are apes. The body alone is referred to
/ here; those apparently intfansprcssbo charac-
4 tiers and limits by which races aud peoples are
/ separated from each other in all their mauifes-
tat.ous Of mind, and the
GAP BETWEEN
/ human beings and brntcs, from the intellectual
/ point Of view, viii be considered subsequently.
Nothing is certainly know Of human origins.
/ NO data exist from which scientific conclusions
f. can be drawn concerning the time or place IN
which the Grst population OF the earth appeared.
! Mankind may have originated as q single pair,
IN more Than one couple or as "a group. T3erc
/ might have been one aggregate Of this kind or
| several.
1t is possible that diyorsities began from the
! FIRST, and that what are now called races aud
4 types, represent the accumulated uul.kGucs as
! Trgp0gated through increase Of a siuale stock
whose dispersed descendants differ in virtue OF
] those processes by which they were adjusted 10
dissimiiar conditions ofcXisteHcc. All that can
he said is, that the general laws by which, ia
! any case, permanent varieties have been e.
! tablisACd are now asceTtained, and that 50 far
as the actual condition Of PRINT i've man IS eni-
cerned, everything known about him points 70
! The Tact that he was savage Of the lowest
grade.
10 be more precise, human natural history
suggests certain conclusions which there is more
/ reason 10 accept than reject and which, indeed,
cannot lie rejected on scientific grounds. Man
. stands by himself in one Of tie minor gub-di-
4 visions Of the animal kingdom, and next 10 hi i'm
the great apes. As shown ia the phases of en-
bryo.ogcal development bis structure connects
/ hu with al vertebrate classes, between which
. aud human beings di5smiiaritics increase as We
descend the scale Of organic life.
J Originally utterly savage, and consequently
/ nearly incapable OF Obviaing by means OF an
/ acquired control over natural forces any dis
advantages cHtailCd bya situation, which at no
tilAc could have been free from elements an
. tagOaIstic 10 his existence
NATURAL SELECTION"
"a term expressive Of the truth that physical
I or mental Cnd0wmCnt5 appropriate to those
. special conditions under which living beings
aIe placed, enable them 10 struggle successfully
against destructive forces determined the
4 survival 0i the iittest; and this more directly
aud absolutely ihan WAS possible ia subsequent
states Of development, when the appliances Of
life had attained greater completcngss.
IB tho beginning Of oXi-tcnces everywhere
and Of an kinds, individuals with rigid organi-
cations relatively incapable Of adaptation re-
main uuadjustcd 10 their environments and
perish. Those who, through original eousti-
tuition and greater Elasticity Of body and mind
1 age enabled 30 conform 10 the circumstances
among which they arc situated, survive, and
transmit the traits that insured their own pres
cryation.
These become more evolved during descent.
so that the weak and incapable having gradually
disappeared, nature, who is pitlcss toward
iucapaciy, produces, by means OF elimination.
higher races; that is 10 say, aggregates who in
time and place come b maintain more intimate.
more complex aud more varied corrCspondcuccs
with those external agencies upon which exist
cnce depends
This process taking place IN constantly
widening and changing areas, and carried on
/ through successive generations Of creatures
whose functions were ever increasingly, approx
iWatng toward a state Of moving cqui.ibra-
ton Nith exterior factors to which continuance
OF life required adjustment, accounts both for
the existence Of species or races, and specific
and race varieties.
simple as these principles appear when
plainly stated, az every step in their applica-
uUH the biologist b. confronted with problems
the most difficult Of solution, aud has 10 deal
with 81 Jecis more complex and more profound
than any Others with which the human mind
can occupy itself For this reason anthropol-
osy is
NOT YET A TRUE SCIENCE.
| Throughout the world, al all former pcriods
Ia every phase Of their present manifestation
aud under every conceivable form they NAV
hereafter assume, life is one aud mind is one
In the following diagram, where uaeckel has
90 some extent Ideally represented the cvo.
luton ol man through those organisms which
undoubtedly led up 10 the human type. II will
be seen that m0neron, iormlgss microscopic
mass OF pT0tOpbasm, lies at the root Of his tree
Many persons compare this minute, struct,