religious origin. The fortifications, usually earthworks raised on heights near some water course, embrace walls, trenches, watch-towers, and are too skillfully constructed to have been temporary defences; many archæologists believe that there was a connected line of defensive works from New York to Ohio. In the Mississippi Valley, where the largest mounds are, these forts disappear; and it is supposed that the principal enemies of the Mound Builders had their home in the east-perhaps in the Alleghanies. Some of the Ohio fortresses enclose over one hundred acres, the walls of earth, winding in and out, in each case being several miles long. THE GREAT HUMAN FAMILY. The three primary divisions of man, as indicated by Latham, are he Indo-European, the Mongolian and the African. I. THE INDO-EUROPEAN OR CAUCASIC race originally extended from India across Europe, and increasing ever in civilization and intellectual power from age to age, has become the dominant one in the world, extending its influence to every part of the earth, supplanting many inferior races, and repeopling wide areas, as in America and Australia. The Caucasic race comprises two principal branches the Aryan and the Semitic. A third branch, according to M. de Quatrefages, includes the Caucasians proper, Euscarians (Basques), and others. Most of the inhabitants of Europe belong to the Aryan Family; they are arranged in the following groups: 1. The Keltic, in the N. W., comprising the Welsh, Gaels, Erse, Manx, and Armoricans. 2. The Italic, chiefly in the S. W. and S., comprising the Italian and other Romance nations-French, Spanish, Portuguese, Roumanesch, and Roumanians. 3. The Thraco Hellenic, in the S. E., Greeks and Albanians. 4. The Teutonic, in the N. N. W. and center, comprising the Germans, Scandinavians, Danes, Icelanders, Dutch, Flemings, English. 5. The Lithuanian, S. E. of the Baltic. 6. The Slavonic, in the E., comprising the Russians, Poles, Tsekhs, Serbs, Croats, Bulgarians, etc. The Indo-European or Caucasic race in Asia comprises the Hindus, Baluchis, Afghans, Iraniaus (Persia), Galchas (Zarafshan), and the Semitic tribes of Armenia, Syria, Arabia, etc. II. THE MONGOLIAN is divisible into three branches, according to geographical position, which again form numerous smaller families. 1. The Asiatic, comprising the Mongolians of the Chinese Empire, India, and Indo-China; the Kalmucks, adjoining the Turks, who extend from Southern Europe far into Central Asia; the Magyars of Hungary; the Yakuts and Samoeids (or Samoyedes) of Siberia; with the Lapps, Finns, and various tribes of East Europe. 2. The Oceanic Mongolians are composed of two classes. I. The black-skinned found in New Guinea, Australia, Tasmania, and the islands between New Zealand and New Caledonia. II. The yellow, olive or brown race, occupying New Zealand, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, Java, Moluccas, Philippines, Madagascar, etc. 3. The American Mongolians comprise a large number of tribes, the chief of which in North America are-the Athabaskans, Algonkins, Sioux, Paducas, and Mexicans. In South America, the Quichuas, Chilians and Patagonians extend along the west coast. The Caribs, Maypures, Brazilians, Moxos, and Chiquitos occupy the north, east and center of the continent. The Eskimos form a connecting link between the Asiatic and American branches of this family. III. THE AFRICAN, forming the third great division of the human race, is exhibited in its purest form by the natives of Western Africa. The Negroes occupy the whole central portion of the country from Cape Verde on the west to Khartoom on the east, and south to the Congo. South of the Negroes are the Bantus (including the Kafirs), inhabiting the greater part of Africa between the 4th parallel of N. lat. and the Cape. In the S. W. are the Hottentots. Certain dwarfish tribes are found in different parts of the continent, as the Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert, the Obongo of the Ogowe basin, and others. The Fulas and Nubas occupy parts of the Soudan; the former, in the N. W., extend from the Senegal and Niger towards Lake Tchad; the latter are found iu Nubia, Kordofan, Darfur, etc. The Gallas, Copts, Somali, of the Sahara, Egypt, and East Africa; the Abyssinians; and the Berbers, Kabyles, Tuareks and other tribes of North Africa, belong to the Hamitic race, which is closely allied to the Semitic race. The latter is represented by the Arabs of the N. coast, and of the Arabian Peninsula, and by the Tigres and other tribes of Abyssinia. THE GYPSY TRIBES. The word Gypsy is a corruption of Egyptian, but is best understood as applied to a mysterious vagabond race, scattered over the whole of Europe and parts of Asia, Africa, and America. Whence they originally came is not definitely known, but India seems to have been the cradle of the tribe. For centuries past they have drifted about over Europe in small bands, having no permanent homes; living by begging, fortune telling, and various tricks. The first notice of them which occurs in European literature is embodied in a free paraphrase, in German, of the Book of Genesis, written by an Austrian monk about 1122. On August 17, 1427, a band of them, coming from Bohemia, made their appearance before Paris, which, however, they were not allowed to enter, but were lodged at La Chapelle Saint Denis. Other hordes succeeded these in the following years, spreading in rapid succession over all parts of Germany, over Spain, England, Russia, Scandinavia, and, indeed, over the remotest parts of Europe. The account which they most frequently gave of themselves was, that they originally came from "Little Egypt," that the King of Hungary had compelled about 4,000 of them to be baptized, had slain the remainder, and had condemned the baptized to seven years' wandering. In France, Germany, Scotland, and other countries the most stringent laws were formerly enforced against them and they were slain by thousands. The jargon spoken by the Gypsies is styled Romany and contains many Sanscrit words and corrupted Hebraisms. THE SCATTERED NATION. The Hebrew race is distributed over the Eastern continent as follows: In Europe there are 5,400,000; in France, 63,000; Germany, 562 000, of which Alsace-Loraine contains 39,000; Austro-Hungary, 1,544,000; Italy, 40,000; Netherlands, 82,000; Roumania, 265,000; Russia, 2,552,000; Turkey, 105,000, and in other countries 35,000, Belgium containing the smallest number, only 3,000. In Asia there are 319,000; Asiatic Turkey, 47,000, in Palestine there being 25,000; Asiatic Russia, 47,000; Persia, 18,000; Middle Asia, 14,000; India, 19,000, and China, 1,000. Africa contains 350,000; Egypt, 8,000; Tunis, 55,000; Algiers, 35,000; Morocco, 60,000; Tripoli, 6,000, and Abyssinia, 200,000. The entire number of Hebrews in the world is nearly 6,300,000. UNITY OF THE RACE. Geology has revealed to us the existence in prehistoric times of animals allied to those which now exist, but with great variation in organization, and differing very considerably in size. Among the fossils are the skeletons of creatures far exceeding in size any now living, and, on the other hand, bones of a small animal scarcely larger than a dog of one of the breeds of medium size, which geologists assert was the progenitor of the modern horse. But so far as science has been able to discover the human being has ever been of the same average dimensions. Individuals of all races vary in height; the average bulk of the inhabitants of tropical climates is generally less than that of the people who dwell in the regions of temperate climate; and stunted men and women occupy the colder parts of the earth; but so it has been apparently in all ages. The skeletons found in old barrows, representatives of the men of the U. I.-25 prehistoric period, the bones found imbedded in strata of great antiquity, are of about the same dimensions as those of the men of to-day. No necessity of existence has lengthened the arms or neck, changed toes into thumbs, or added a finger to the hand. The general type of all men in all regions, from the equator to the poles, is that they are two-handed, walk erect, have the power of speech more or less developed, and that between even those of lowest organization and the most intelligent of quadrupeds there is a very marked distinction. Human idiots there are, as there are human monstrosities of form; but they are exceptions which prove the permanence of the typical characteristics. While, however, the general agreement in organization appears to be ineradicable, there are certain external differences, in complexion, hair, facial contour, and other minor matters, which seem to indicate separate groups or families of the human race, and have suggested the theories advocated by some ethnologists of distinct centres of creation, in opposition to the more generally accepted belief in the derivation of all human beings from the same stock. In discussing this question, we may fairly take into consideration that, in the respect of the means by which the human race might have spread over the earth, we are not encountered by the difficulties which present themselves when we are examining the history of the movements of other members of animated nature. The will to travel, inspired by many motives, is added to the power to travel, given by natural adaptability to endure atmospheric and other variations, and by the exercise of the reasoning power; and in cases of accidental drifting to unknown islands or continental coasts, there is a power to make the best of adverse conditions. It is quite possible that the intelligent and active descendants of a small family located in southwestern Asia should in the course of thousands of years have made their way east and west, north and south, making at intervals settlements which became centres of new dispersions. From Asia to Western Europe was a comparatively easy journey, allowing many centuries for its accomplishment. Africa could be peopled not only by passing across the neck of land which divides it from Asia, but by settlements on the coast made by adventurous mariners, or by parties drifted to the shores. The straits which separate north-eastern Ásia from northwestern America could be crossed by canoes, visiting the chain of islands on their way. We know that adventurous Northmen of Europe reached the North American coast from Greenland centuries before Columbus crossed the Atlantic; and the Chinese have traditions of discoveries and settlements on the western coast of North America, nearly as far south as California. Long residence in hot climates affects the color of the skin, and it becomes hereditary. The necessity of constant physical exertion to maintain existence, and the absence of intellectual training, develop the muscles and bony framework, and induce a dwindling of the brain. The facial angle becomes more acute, the jaw-bone more prominent and the figure more lithe and active. In very hot climates less animal food can be eaten, even by recent settlers, and in the course of ages is dispensed with altogether--sometimes from religious considerations, as among the natives of the Indian peninsula and other parts of Asia—and the resulting difference of physique is very noticeable. Other causes, such as the effects of the chemical constituents of the atmosphere and of water, it may be the effects of terrestrial magnetism, are in continual operation, and the results, aided by hereditary transmission, produce the differences which mark what are popularly called the races of mankind. HEALTH, HYGIENE AND PHYSIOLOGY. The surest road to health, say what they will, Is never to suppose we shall be ill:— Most of those evils we poor mortals know From doctors and imagination flow. -CHURCHILL, MEDLEY OF FACTS AND COUNSELS. Don't sleep in a draught. Don't go to bed with cold feet. Don't stand over hot-air registers. A bag of hot sand relieves neuralgia. Salt should be eaten with nuts to aid digestion. For bilious colic, soda and ginger in hot water. freely. It may be taken A cupful of strong coffee will remove the odor of onions from the breath. A popular proverb says that “a man is either a physician or a fool at forty. Pains in the side are most promptly relieved by the application of mustard. A cupful of hot water drank before meals will relieve nausea and dyspepsia. For cold in the head, nothing is better than powdered borax, sniffed up the nostrils. One in a faint should be laid flat on his back, then loosen his clothes and let him alone. There were 48,930 blind people in the United States in 1880, and 33,880 deaf mutes. There is a personal as well as a public hygiene-your business is to care for the former. It is stated that but sixteen of the 134 scholars attending Amherst College use tobacco. It was Galen, 150 A.D., who first applied experimental methods to the study of disease. It is agreed on all hands that nicotine, the active principle of tobacco, is a powerful poison. Consumptive night-sweats may be arrested by sponging the body nightly in salt water. In 1874 all London houses were compelled for the first time to be connected with sewers. A fever patient can be made cool and comfortable by frequent sponging off with soda water. To beat the whites of eggs quickly add a pinch of salt. Salt cools, and cold eggs froth rapidly. Whooping cough paroxysms are relieved by breathing the fumes of turpentine and carbolic acid. Nervous spasms are usually relieved by a little salt taken into the mouth and allowed to dissolve. A drink of hot, strong lemonade before going to bed will often break up a cold and cure a sore throat. Broken limbs should be placed in natural positions, and the patient kept quiet until the surgeon arrives. Diphtheria is a specific poison and sometimes kills without any formation of the diphtheritic membrane. It was Swift who asserted that "the best doctors in the world are Dr Diet, Dr. Quiet and Dr. Merryman." More cases of consumption appear among needlemakers and filemakers than any other classes of laborers. The scorpion is a total abstainer. If a drop of whisky be placed on one's back it will immediately sting itself to death. |