New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-07-19
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN.
SOME NEW CHAPTERS IN WALLACE'S
WRITINGS. -,.


TOO well known 20 require any addition 10 the praise
which they long ago received from the scienthC world
To have hit the principle OF natural seecuoh Dcioe
Darwin had formulated IL sufficiently attests tho
acutencss OF tho author and the breadth OF his stuoy
and observation. Few men are more thorough critics
~ scientinc theories than Mr. Wallace There 49,
hoveycr some new matter in this volume which Is
n sn.ciaI attractveness In these days when man and
his condition both in this world and the next arc
themes OF extraordinary popular interest. III Z"
chaper on the antiquity Of man in North America
the author has arranged the facts that have come 10 Ms
notice indicating the extremely remote period IN 'io
mast TO which human life extended on THIS continent
This may be looked upon as supplementary 10
cbapter on the antiquity and origin of man which Is
hero reprinted from by Paths in the Domain vi
Biology and to others the development OF u'e
human races under the law OF natural selection an"
on the limits OF natural selection as applied TO mall
It is remarkable testimony the fact that biology 10
practically at stapdstill, confronted by the a"o
biological problem when the author deems Inc PaP'''
written as long ago as 1864 still up with the umeS'
In various places he indicates by footnote, or III
some other way modification OF earlier VIEWS Ou'
no such remark Is made In these chapters.
In some aspects Of the subject nc Is certainly Ee".
There TO be way, save the one he has iahcu
out by which the opposing opinions as to whether
man is species many are TO be Drought INV
harmony. He argues that at the outset man was VI
one stock and was then subject TO all the Influences
which have modified animal life, so that races were
differentiated before mankind had reached conuluon
of life comparable to that of the lowest savages IN te
modern world. But soon as human beings rdcheu
stage when they began in the crudest ana sinhPes.
manner to meet the necessities OF their environment
by artificial means then the law OF natural seico'on
memorable with the brute, began TO lose Its hod upon
them their physical characteristics ceased 10 chahso
and the germs Of mental and moral qu2nties Deeah ~
be developed. "Thus man by the mere capacity Vi
clothing himself" he adds, and making weapons ana
tools has taken away from nature that power OF
slowly but permanently changing the external iorn
and structure In accordance with changes in the OK
ternal world"
THIS IS certainly an attractive theory, but he pro-
cecds to argue that the in this state Of naSceht
mentality who happened TO live 10 regions where INC
soil sterile and the seasons Indictment Wouid DC
superior to those in more favorable climes Modern
facts lend cOuntenance TO such notion, but all tlat Is
known OF primitive life is against it. The CIVILIZATION
of Egypt and that OF the MesOpoamian valley on
the one hand and that Of the Peruvians aud MeXicaS
OH the other SubrOpical. The evidence IN inc
case of Babylon goes to show that the movement OF
civilization was up the Euphrates from regions OF
fierce heat toward the cooler cline AS TO the
Peruvans it IS still an open question whether they
descended from the north or traversed the sea- carry
ing with them civilization Of which there are still
monumental relics in Polynesia. That point VIII
have TO be settled before the culture of the Incas
figures to much utility in any discussion as TO the
origin Of man.
If il were true that In modern times, so in print
tive the Of the colder regions were superior 10
their congeners who were more favoraby situated.
then the barbarism OF Northern Europe lasting from
the glacial epoch down to date thousands Of years
after the civilization Of Egypt and Of Babylonia had
eliminated would be more unaCcOuntablc than 1t IS
and that is hardly possible Why should Europe nave
had to wait until Babylon and Egypt civilized Phoeni-
ca aud then have had to receive gradually ut the mana
OF Semitic traders suggestions from the OrlentF For
example, Scnrader and Ihering agree that even 50
obvious step toward civilization that of granting
the exrbal visitor the privileges of guest was not
taken by the Greeks without the influence OF the
Phocnicians Ordinarily he was killed as sacrlhce
to the gods. How great the transition was between
the habit Of numbering and the less offensive habit
of inviting them TO dinner is ard for modern to esl-
mate So not only the Greeks, but the whole Indo
European world seems TO have obtained its knowledge
of cold and iron and possibly Of silver and copper
through Semitic channels. such facts as these are,
one may say. crucial tests Of theory and they GER
family do not out tic opinion that mans struggle
with nature in her adverse aspects hastened the evou
ton of lis intellect All that can be said is that they
have given the European the dominance at last
after an interval which may have lasted anywhere from
10000 10 10000 years that is, from the disappear
auce of the glaciers and the tertiary ocean in Europe
| down to the beginning Of the historical record IL
must be Acknowledged however that the first upris
ing Of Europeans-with whom the inhabitants of West
| ern Asia Minor may properly he Included, since
| they necessarily had much the same breeding
| shows an unexpected degree of civilization. The
| only war that Ramcses III wagcd, which really
| warranted lis reputation as great strateslsL
| VIVA that IN which he defeated forces by land
that had overrun ard almost eaaced the iite Empire,
and flushed with victory had begun their march against
Egypt and then destroyed allied force by sea that
swept through the Peusac mouth of the Nile before it
,oIld be Intercepted In this the European races
snowcd-a least century, perhaps two centuries be
fore the earliest possible date for the Trojan War-a
capacity for organization and for harmonious action as
great as that shown much later by the Gaus in their
CONQUEST Of Rome, and really startling proficiency in
| naval affairs But this incident recorded on the
Egyptian monuments only lengthens the European his
torca period three four generations, mere nothing
| 10 that vast emptiness, ages upon ages, which the
biologists aud biologists demand, and which they have
as yet failed to fill with any adequate Indications of
| progress.
Natural selection, the survival Of the fttest the
preservation favored in the struggle for life
these are statements of principle which not only meets
The empirical tests Of induction, but satisfies the mind
even before a single example has been cited. But 1t
docs not explain the disappearance of low and mentally
| undcvcoped populations with which Europeans come
in contact" Rum and the rife have to be considered
in the matter and besides Of the stock instances
| relied upon, which arc cited also by MI wallace
amount simply to u msstatement OF fact IL Is not
true that the Red Indian is disappearing from North
| America Taking the estimate Of anluopooSsts 40
TO Che probable population Of Europe in the period when
men lived by tile chase criterion, it may safely be
said that the Indian inhabitants Of the United states
have doubled not rebled, in numbers since the PHI
| rrims landed on Plymouth Rock. The loss OF famous
tribal names has nothing to do with the facts Any
| argument from the mounds and Notifications OF the
Mississippi Valley would DO misleading. 1t Is an open
question whether not those extensive earthworks
which seem to modern the walls of cities ever con-
| tanned anything resembling a town. II the Mound
builders were Of the origin with the Pueblo tribes
Of the southwest then they probably built these so
called walls merely foundation for their dwellings.
exactly for the samo reason that the Assyrians though
they lived In a country where solid foundations could