The morning call., 1892-01-14
a GREAT SCHOLAR GONE.

Jean LOUIS y manu- lS y va lltta-tSs Nlll
died on Tuesday in France al the age OF s.,
was. twenty-five or thirty years ago. the
most renowned authTCpolugist in The world.
He had devoted his youth and early man
hood to the study Of zoology just before
the outbreak of tie War Of the Rebellion
his attention was drawn TO the theories Of
Darwin and Hurley and to tie eudeayoTs Of
American anthr0pOlOgists TO prove that the
white man and the negro were distinct spe-
cies, and he gave his opinion on the subject
in a volume entitled The Unity Of the
Human Race" In this work he showed
that there was but one race Of human be-
iugs, and he implied that mankind de-
scended from a single pair This view CON-
mended itself to orthodox scientists If the
period and established the fame Of u. de
Quauefages.
Il was, however, speedily discovered that
it involved a belief ia such extensive mi
grati0ns that it WAS difficult to understand
low they could have occurred. At the first
dawn Of history every continent was found
to be peopled. There were unlnhabted
Islands, but no continents were devoid Of
inhabitants, and these we're found to vary
in color, size, speech, habits and race char
acteristics. NJ. de Quauefages held that the
progeny Of tie original pair mad migrated
from MesOpotama, some going south as far
as Africa, some west as lar as Europe and
some east as far as the extreme confines Of
Asia. Those who got as far as the Straits
Of Malacca migrated IN boats as far as the
Polynesian Islands aud even the coast Of
South America, while another branch
spread uOrthward into China, peOpled
japan and finally, crossing BehTing Straits,
became the mOuDd-builders Of North
America. The learned Frenchman became
50 infatuated with his theory that he under
took to determine the century in which the
great Malay migration had occurred.
These are propositions as to which It is
IMPOSSIBLE 10 maintain the negative. But
the affirmative involves difficulties Of enor-
nous magnitude. History records a number
Of mlgrations, chief among which are the
migration Of the Huns from Central Asia
TO the borders Of the Danube, and that OF
the wild peoples Of the Baltic to Spain,
Italy and France. But these emgrants
crossed no ocean, and they found in their
new bones pOpulOus races with which they
blended For nearly three centuries there
has been a steady migration Of Europeans
to this country, but in all that period the
total number Of emgTants probably falls
short Of 100000. Again, there is no in
stance on record Of a race changing its race
characteristics by adopting a new home
The Jews and negroes who are depicted in
the ancient sculptures of Egypt aud Assyria
are the same Jews and negroes whom we
see to-day. The descendant Of the negroes
who came TO this country in tie seventeenth
century have the same black skin, wOOlly
hair and thick lips that their ancestors had,
if there has been no admixture Of blood.
There is no reason 10 suppose that the eli
mate Of Kamchatka, Behring Straits and
Alaska has changed within the historic
period Our systems Of transportation, both
by sea and land. are far superior to any
thing that can have existed in prehistoric
times. And yet, il any one undertook to
move 5000 people, men, women and children,
from the border Of the AMOR to the mouth
Of Frazer River by way of Behring Straits
lie would be supposed to be crazy. The
thing could scarcely be done.
During the thirty years which have elapsed
since NJ. &c Quatrefages took the field as the
champion OF the unity Of races public opin-
ion has undergone changes on the subject,
and la;terly he appears to have been left on
the bank while the tide Of knowledge has
o"Cpt NY <ALiOiB JIc UeSk informed hnLnfO-
biologists there is a tendency to agnosticism
on the question Of the origin of races. The
rector of Trinity in this city lately defined
the position of orthodox church members on
the subject. He held that the question was
open and that no positive opinions could be
entertained in the present state Of the
worlds knowledge. That is a conclusion
which viii commend itself to reasonable
uriud1