6. By Social a superficial observation of the species shows that its members differ materially in their capacity for social organizations, both of a civil and religious character. Some have thought that these might serve as a basis for distinguishing kinship of blood and forming a classification of nations.
Systems of Consanguinity and the most ambitions attempts in this direction was that of an American scholar, Mr. Lewis H. Morgan. He made a voluminous compilation of the systems of consan guinity and affinity of all tribes and nations, ancient and modern, as far as lie was able to obtain them, and where they proved identical in cha racter his theory was that the tribes were descended from a common stock.
As usual, exclusive attention to one such trait involved him in conflict both with every previous system and with all historic probability ; which, however, did not shake his faith in his hypothesis. Thus he found that the system of consanguinity of the sub-tribe of Seneca-Iroquois in West ern New York was identical in many characteristics, which he deemed radical, with that of the Tamil people of Southern India ; and, in spite of the enormous distance separating them and their diversity in so many other respects, he declared that the most satisfactory theory to explain this was to suppose that they were descended from common ancestors, who had been accustomed to this mode of stating the family relations. Few have been found willing to follow him thus far.
Systems of have been regarded by some as race peculiarities. Monotheism has been said to belong to the white race, fetichism to the black, and polytheism to the yellow. While this also has a certain degree of truth in it, inasmuch as certainly these religions are most prevalent among the races assigned to them in the scheme, yet many circumstances go to show that the religion of a race is mainly a matter .of culture and instruction. Mohammedanism, the most mono theistic of religions, has millions of converts among the blacks of the Soudan ; many of the white race in South America have sunk to a fetichism as low as that of the natives, although it may still be called by the name of Christianity ; and faithful converts to the religion of the Bible are counted in large numbers in every race.
distinction between pastoral and hunting tribes has by some been elevated to one of racial division. It is certainly a curious fact, and one most deeply influencing the destiny of races, that some have enjoyed from earliest historic times the power of subjecting lower animals to their use, and that others have never possessed or exercised this talent. Although the African elephant is as docile as that of Asia, and was tamed with great success by the Carthaginians and Numidians of the white race, it has never been brought under subjection by the blacks. It would be
difficult to estimate the enormous advantage to intellectual development which those two animals, the horse and the cow, have been to that por tion of the human race which domesticated them. Without his trained dogs it is doubtful if the Eskimo could have established himself in the regions of the frozen North.
In contrast to this it is noticeable that the pure American race in no part of the continent domesticated any animal for draught or burden, none for its milk, and even the dogs which were often found in their possession were rather for food than to aid in the chase. The feeble llama of Peru was the only animal of any importance which was known as a domestic beast, and it was limited to a very narrow geographical area. The pas toral life, with its flocks and herds, its notions of personal property, and its humanizing care for the lower animals, was unknown throughout the American continent, as it was throughout Australia and in many portions of Africa held by the black race exclusively.
Results of the above Comfiarisons.—From this review of the various plans proposed to classify the human species into its several races, it will be apparent that no one of them is entirely satisfactory. Taken alone, each conflicts with well-marked traits laid down by the others. This is as we might expect from the unity of the species. All that we can aim to do is to group under some general and loose-fitting subdivisions those members of the species which display the greater number of similarities.
For this purpose it is doubtful if we can have recourse to any better system than that long since suggested by Linnaeus, and arrange the differ ent tribes and peoples under the great continental areas which they mainly inhabited at the period when they were first known to history, or where sound reasoning from other sources, as from language (see p. 52), would place them.
In this manner we may with propriety speak of the American race, which includes all the inhabitants of the New World at the period of its discovery, with the possible exception of the Eskimos ; the Oceanic race, which embraces the native tribes of Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Madagascar, including representatives of three stocks, the Malayan, the Papuan, and the Australian, and numerous crosses of all these ; the Asiatic or Mongolian, whose home is or was definitely located in Central and Western Asia ; the African or Negro race, pure types of which were found scarcely anywhere outside of that continent ; and, finally, the European, which at a period pre-historic indeed, but easily traceable by archwology and language, was confined to Europe, the extreme north of Africa, and the extreme west of Asia.