Part 21
_Smell._--The interior of the nose is lined by a fine moist membrane, on which the olfactory nerve is distributed. The cause of odour is quite unknown; though, as most volatile substances are odorous, it is supposed to be some volatile matter which comes in contact with the olfactory nerve, or nerve of smelling. The quantity given off in some instances must be exceedingly small, for one grain of musk placed on a piece of glass will give out scent for months, and at the end of that time weigh still one grain. Some animals, as Dogs and Birds of prey, have this sense so acute that it serves them instead of almost every other; the Vulture will scent carrion miles away, and the Dog will track his master by the power of scent.
_Taste._--The sense of taste resides chiefly in the tongue, but to some extent in the palate or roof of the mouth; it appears to be a modified sense of smell, combined with common sensation or touch, and is much diminished by loss of smell.
_Touch_, next to sight, is the most important of the senses. The whole skin possesses this sense, but in some parts far more than others, the finger-ends being the most perfectly endowed with it; and in the lower animals the parts which are used as prehensile organs, are in them the most acutely sensitive to touch, as the end of the proboscis in the Elephant, and the lips of most other quadrupeds. In the Feline tribe, the smellers or hairs from the side of the face, appear to be true organs of touch, and enable them to feel their way in the dark. By the sense of touch we are informed of the amount of resistance of matter (and consequently its weight), of hardness, smoothness, roughness, and other qualities of surface, and by the amount of extension of the hand to reach them of their distance from us, and also of the form and size of things.
The human hand is the most perfect organ of prehension possessed by any animal, for although Monkeys have hands, yet these are so imperfect as to serve chiefly for clinging to, and climbing amongst the branches, they cannot take any small substance between the thumb and finger, while the human hand, besides enabling its possessor to grasp firmly with all the fingers and thumb, each can individually be approximated to the thumb so as to hold the very smallest substance, and as Man is so constituted that he can stand firmly on his feet, his hands can be solely appropriated to the acts of prehension. It has been said that Man owes much of his superiority to the lower animals, to the possession of hands which can take, examine, and compare everything within his reach; but it seems more probable that these hands have been given him because he, only, has the faculties of examining and comparing. The Lion and Tiger would be no better off, had they Man's hands instead of their feet with claws--probably much worse.
Animals do not feed upon unorganised matter, as do vegetables, but merely appropriate to their own use those organic principles which are ready formed in the vegetable or animal, such as albumen, fibrine, starch, gum, sugar, &c., and assimilate them into their substance.
When food enters the mouth of an animal it there meets with a fluid (the saliva) which is capable of converting starchy matters into sugar, thus rendering this aliment (which is presented in a state of a nature quite insoluble at the heat of the stomach) not only soluble, but nutritious. This ensalivation takes place while the food is being masticated; when in the stomach (fig. 90) it meets with the "gastric juice," a fluid capable of dissolving both fibrine and albumen (the two other chief aliments), even when coagulated; thus all kinds of food when they have been a short time in the stomach are reduced to a liquid, and so far fitted to enter the system. The stomach is a membraneous bag, communicating at the upper orifice with the mouth, and at the lower with the intestines; its internal (mucous) coat is smooth, and contains many absorbents; its outer coat is muscular, and capable of contraction, so as to roll together its contents, thus bringing every portion into contact with the gastric juice; this mass of dissolved food has received the name of "chyme." By admixture with the bile (a fluid excreted by the liver) and other juices, it separates (like curds and whey) into a liquid and partially solid matter; the liquid part is like milk, and is called "chyle," and it is taken up by absorbent vessels, by "endosmose," a peculiar power which membranes have of allowing liquids to pass through them when there is a more dense liquid on the other side (as described in the experiment at page 123, "Vegetable Kingdom,"), and, passing through the vessels called "lacteals," is mixed there with the impure blood as it is about to be returned to the heart, and from thence to the lungs, where impurities are got rid of in the form of carbonic acid. The lungs (fig. 91), in performing this office, expose the blood (contained in thousands of minute blood-vessels) to the air which enters the windpipe at every inspiration or breath, the windpipe divides into two, and these each into two more (the bronchial tubes), and so on until they are no larger than a hair; at the end of each tube is a little "air-cell," on the membraneous walls of which the vessels containing the blood are distributed as a network. The blood when it enters the lungs is of a dark purple or blackish colour, and is loaded with carbonic acid; this blood is received by the heart from the great veins, which pour it into the right auricle, this contracting, sends it into the right ventricle, which, in turn, sends it through the pulmonary arteries into the lungs; while there, it is exposed in the network of vessels which ramify on the walls of the air-cells; another process of endosmose takes place, and the carbonic acid passes through the walls of the vessels into the air-tubes, and escapes by the breath; at the same time that this carbonic acid is cast off, an equal bulk of oxygen is absorbed from the air, so that the air which enters the lungs, and that which passes out, are the same in bulk--plus watery vapour--although what enters is pure air, and what is expelled, is loaded with carbonic acid. The blood, having exchanged carbonic acid for oxygen, is now altered from a black to a bright scarlet colour, and is in a condition to be circulated through the system. On leaving the lungs by the "pulmonary veins," it enters the left auricle of the heart, and passes from thence to the left ventricle, which is very powerful, and forces it by compression upwards into the "aorta" (the first great artery), and thence through the other arteries, which divide, and become smaller and smaller until it arrives at every part of the body, forming a network of fine vessels which are called capillaries; so perfectly are these vessels distributed, that it is almost impossible to cut or prick any part of the body without wounding one of them, and thereby drawing blood. When these capillaries have supplied this pure blood to repair and renovate every part of the system, and received for the new material, that which is worn out or spoiled, they urge it onwards to where they unite into small veins, and, as these continue to unite, they form large trunks, and pour the blood, now black and impure, into the right auricle of the heart, together with the fresh material (chyle) derived from the food, again to be sent through the lungs and purified for fresh circulation. This description applies as well to the other Mammalia as it does to Man, for these classes do not differ from Man in their physical structure, except in form and size, and the alteration in the proportion of the various parts to adapt each to its peculiar purpose.
MAN is, without doubt, the only animal possessed of reflective and reasoning faculties, and the possession of these has raised him immeasurably above all the rest. He has also physical capabilities suitable to a dominant being whose race is destined to people the earth in every part. Were his constitution formed like that of the Chimpanzee or the Ourang, he could only live in the very hottest of climates; but it is found that Man is healthy and happy through ranges of temperature, which would prove fatal to most other animals. In the frigid regions of the north, the Laplander enjoys many comforts which he fancies could never be obtained in any other latitude, and the Bushman of Africa, following the wild animals of that region, and needing no covering to shield him from the burning rays of the sun, deems his lot the happiest that can be. The human race are gradually increasing in number, and there is scarcely a spot capable of being inhabited at all, but they are found there; and, wherever Man comes, the wild animals of the region retire or become entirely extinct, excepting those which serve him as food, such as the Ruminants.
The difference between the highest of the lower animals and Man, is so distinct, that no more need be said about it; but among men themselves, there is a great difference; between the European, and the Negro or the Hottentot, there is a vast distinction, but the most simple would at once say they are both men, and possessed of the essential qualities of men; and there can be no doubt that all men of every kind form _one species_. This is a point pretty well settled among all who have written on the subject; and indeed, great as the difference is among men, it is not half so great as that which exists between the Bull-dog and Italian Greyhound, and yet they are both dogs; or between the Race-horse and the Dray-horse, and yet who is there can doubt of these both being of the same species.
Blumenbach made out five varieties--namely, 1, Caucasian; 2, Mongolian; 3, American; 4, Malay; 5, Ethiopian or Negro. Pickering[2] describes eleven varieties, and arranges them as follows:--
WHITE. 1. Arabian. 2. Abyssinian.
BROWN. 3. Mongolian. 4. Hottentot. 5. Malay.
BLACKISH-BROWN. 6. Papuan. 7. Negrillo. 8. Indian or Telingan. 9. Ethiopian.
BLACK. 10. Australian. 11. Negro.
[Footnote 2: Pickering's "Races of Man." By John Charles Hall, M.D., p. 300.]
In this arrangement the "Arabian" corresponds with the "Caucasian" of Blumenbach; both names are given from the supposed country of the original members of the race; the appellation "European," used by Dr. Latham is, however, a much more appropriate one than either, both the Caucasian and Arabian being now limited to the inhabitants of the localities from which their names were derived. The Arabian, Caucasian, or European family occupy the chief part of Western Europe, the British Isles, and the United States of America, and is fast spreading in other parts of the American Continent and in Australia. It is characterised by a fair complexion, arched nose, ruddy cheeks, thin lips, and the frequency of blue eyes and light hair. Its members are at this present time the highest and most civilised classes in the world, being further advanced in religion, arts, sciences, and literature; also their capacity for enterprise and speculation, and their love of novelty, is far beyond that of any other variety of the human race; anything new that offers the smallest chance of being beneficial is at once adopted by them and carried out. This is, perhaps, the great secret of their advancement, for the other most numerous variety of the human family, and which exceeds the European in numbers (the Mongolian), has but little capacity for change of any kind, in fact, appears to admire and adhere to those matters only, which have the most undoubted stamp of antiquity--such a mode of feeling especially obtains among the Chinese. Dr. Latham divides the European family into--
1. THE BASKS. 2. THE SKIPTAR. 3. THE KELTS. 4. THE GREEKS AND LATINS. 5. THE SARMATIANS. 6. THE GERMANS.
The BASKS appear to have been the original inhabitants of Spain and Portugal, which have abandoned their former habitation and now dwell in the mountains of Navarre and Gascony, just as the American Indians may be supposed to dwell at some future time in the Rocky Mountains.
The SKIPTAR are the inhabitants of Albania, much resembling in personal appearance the Turks and Sclavonians, but having a language derived from a different source. The following is a description of the Albanian, from the "Penny Cyclopædia:"--
"The Albanians are about five feet and a half high, muscular and straight in their persons. Their activity, and the tight girdles which they wear, render them small round the loins; they have full broad chests, long necks, long oval faces with prominent cheek bones, and flat raised foreheads, arched eyebrows, blue or hazel (rarely quite black) lively eyes, thin straight noses, thin but open nostrils, and small mouths furnished with good teeth. Their complexions are white in youth, but become tinged a dusky hue in old age."
The KELTS (or Celts) were the former inhabitants of both France and England, they are now to be found chiefly in Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland, and are called Gaelic Celts; the English are a mixture of these with Saxon and German, but still retain a good deal of the blood of the Celts; in Wales the Celts are derived from the ancient British branch. The English retain more of the Germanic language, while the Welsh retain most of the original British; the French are Celtic mixed with Roman, and have therefore a great admixture of Latin in their language. The Kelts appear to have been a race above the usual height, with red or light hair, ruddy complexion, and of a fierce and impetuous disposition.
The GREEKS and LATINS.--Of this stock, the inhabitants of Italy and Greece are the purest descendants, but it is extended with more or less contamination to Spain and the Danubian Principalities. Italy was probably the original seat of both races.
The SARMATIANS.--This stock inhabits Russia, Poland, Bohemia, Hungary, and Servia, all speaking the Sclavonic languages.
The GERMANS.--This race inhabits Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, and its immediate branch the English, forming the Anglo-Saxon family, are extended to America, Canada, Australia, and other parts of the world by colonisation.
Dr. Pickering calls the European race Arabian, and makes it extend through the whole of Europe, India, Arabia, and the northern parts of Africa, believing all these to have been derived from the same stock, and forming variations of the same family. The language spoken by the Europeans of all classes has been called Indo-European, hence Pickering classes with them the Hebrews, Armenians, Parsees, and many more, all derived from a stock supposed to have migrated from Asia into Europe and Africa.
The ABYSSINIAN.--This race inhabits the table lands of Abyssinia, and its extension into the interior. Dr. Pickering thus describes the appearance of three individuals of this race whom he met at Singapore--
"The hair was much alike in all three, and was crisped and fine, neither coarse enough nor in sufficient quantity to form a resisting mass. The beard of one individual was in pellets absolutely like the close wool of the Negro, but the prominence of nose, greater even than usually occurs in the white race, bore sufficient testimony to his purity of descent. The second individual had the face very much elongated, but the nose was not particularly prominent. The third had a straighter beard, which was black and grey in regular stripes. The complexion was the same in all three, and though very light, was by no means of a sickly hue, and indeed these persons might readily have been passed in the streets as belonging to the white race."
The MONGOLIAN race, according to Pickering, includes the inhabitants of part of China and all the north-eastern parts of Asia, also the aborigines of North and South America, with the exception of a tract of land on the south-western coast, including what is now California, and part of the United States. This race is probably the most numerous in the world. The complexion of the Mongolian is decidedly yellowish brown, but rather pale withal (it is well seen in the Chinese); the head is flattened from before to behind, and expanded from side to side, so that in some well-marked cases the head is as broad as it is long, the eyes are drawn upwards at the outer angles, and appear wide apart, from the inner angle, being but little prolonged inwards, the cheek-bones are prominent; the eyes black, and the hair black and straight. The best specimens of this family are the Tartars and Chinese. The Chinese are highly skilful in most of the useful arts, especially in agriculture. Their history extends very far back, and probably the longest series of recorded events in existence, being continuous for a period of about 4,000 years, during the whole of which time they have been in a state of civilisation nearly the same as they are at the present time.
The aboriginal tribes of America belong to this family. Dr. Latham derives their origin from the Esquimaux (or Eskemo), and their migration from north-eastern Asia, Kamschatka, and the Aleutian Islands, to the eastern or Pacific shores of America.
The Chinese and Tartars are of a decidedly yellow tint. The Americans are of a dark copper-coloured hue, hence their designation "Red Indians."
The HOTTENTOT. This race inhabits the south of Africa, and parts extending thence into the interior; they are of a yellowish-brown complexion, small in stature, with hair consisting of small black knobs of a crisp sort of wool, separated from each other in such a way that the skin of the head may be distinctly seen between them. They are strictly nomadic, scarcely ever remaining in any fixed spot, but following the animals they hunt and kill for food, upon the flesh of which, with a few roots, they live.
Dr. Livingstone denies that they are very small in stature; speaking of the Bushmen, a tribe of the Hottentot family, he says:--"They are the only real nomads in the country, they never cultivate the soil, nor rear any domestic animals, save wretched dogs; they are so intimately acquainted with the habits of the game, that they follow them in their migrations from place to place, and prey upon them, and thus prove as complete a check upon their inordinate increase as the other carnivora. The chief subsistence of the Bushmen is the flesh of game, but that is eked out by what the women collect of roots, beans, or fruits of the desert.
The MALAY family are a coast-dwelling people, delighting in the water, and never found very far removed from it; they inhabit the southernmost coast of China, from Siam southwards, and all the adjacent islands. They are of a dark rich brown colour, with straight, coarse, black hair and scanty beard, which in some is quite wanting. Some of the members of this family are above the usual standard of height, such as the Polynesians and Tahitians. The moral character of the Malays, generally speaking, is of an inferior order. They are a race differing much, in some respects, from the Negro and Red Indian, being of peculiarly active temperaments; they exhibit considerable intellectual capacity, and are an ingenious people. It is extremely probable, from the fact of their being found in islands surrounded by others in the hands of the Ethiopic race, that they have pushed out the less active variety, and, in short, annihilated them; and it is likely that they will in turn suffer extinction at the hands of a superior variety, or a variety rendered superior by civilisation.
The PAPUAN race inhabit the Feejee Islands and the coasts of New Guinea; they are almost black, with a rough skin and thick woolly hair, which grows much longer than in the Negro, and which they wear curled up so as to form a resisting mass, and no bad protection against the blow from a club (their national weapon). Their height is above the average of Europeans. Fish and yams are their chief food.
The NEGRILLO are nearly black in colour, short in stature, with projecting jaws and thick woolly hair, the nose not so flat as the Negro, nor the lips so thick; they inhabit the interior of New Guinea and a few islands in its locality, of which they appear to have been the aborigines, the central parts only being occupied by them; the coasts are inhabited by the Papuan and Malay races, who have driven the Negrillo aborigines from their former abode to the central mountains.
The INDIAN or TELINGAN race inhabit the whole of Hindostan, and parts of Persia. The complexion is much the same as in the two preceding races (Negrillo and Papuan), and is so decidedly darker than in the Malayan, that by common consent it is called black, although, on comparison, the two differ widely from that of the unmixed Negro. The greater part of Hindostan is, however, inhabited by a mixed race, partly Persian, partly Arabian.
Pickering describes them as follows:--"The features approximated very closely to those of the White race, but in general the mouth appeared to be wider, the nose rather less prominent, and the lips sensibly thicker. The profile was less vertical than in the surrounding Malays, the lower part of the face projecting with a regular arch, as in the Mongolian, and there was a further correspondence with the latter race in the frequent instances of the arched nose. The beard occurred more frequently, and was more copious than in the Malay race; the hair was straight and fine, and I have never seen it any other colour than black."
The ETHIOPIANS inhabit the central and north-east part of Africa, Nubia, and the upper districts of the Nile. They are black, but their features are not far removed from the European, except in the fulness of the lips, and they are in some cases extremely handsome. The hair is black and crisp, but not completely woolly, and grows sufficiently long to be plaited, which is the usual mode in which it is worn by the females of this race.
The AUSTRALIANS.--The natives of Australia are quite black, and have the nose and mouth very wide; the lips are thick, but not so much so as in the Negro; the hair is black and curly, but not woolly; the eyes are very small, deeply set, black, and keen; the lower part of the face does not project like that of the Negro. These make a wide distinction between the two races, although they have been confounded with each other.
The NEGRO.--This race appears to differ from the European more than any other. The skin of the Negro is quite black and shining, the hair black, closely crisped into a sort of wool, and never growing to any great length; they have but little beard, the nose is flat and broad, and the lips very thick and protruding, as is also the whole lower part of the face; the front teeth also project outwards, and the whole contour of the face and head is backwards, forming a gradually receding outline. They inhabit the interior and eastern parts of Africa conjointly with the Hottentot.
The preceding is a slight outline of the various races of men which inhabit the earth; their numbers are in the gross somewhere about a thousand millions, and it has been computed as follows, bearing in mind that these numbers are but a rude approximation to truth:--