SEARCH
0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Prev | Current Page 723 | Next

Humboldt, Alexander von, 1769-1859

"COSMOS: A Sketch of the Physical Description of the Universe, Vol. 1"

" Regarding the persistency
of types of conformation in the hot and cold regions of the earth, and in
the mountainous districts of the New Continent, see my 'Relation
Historique', t. i., p. 498, 503, and t. ii., p. 572, 574.

In my opinion, however, more powerful reasons can be advanced in support of
the theory of the unity of the human race, as, for instance, in the many
intermediate gradations* in the color of the skin and in the form of the
skull, which have been made known to us in recent times by the rapid
progress of geographical knowledge -- the analogies presented by the
varieties in the species of many wild and domesticated animals -- and the
more correct observations collected regarding the limits of fecundity in
hybrids.**

[footnote] On the American races generally, see the magnificent work of
Samuel George Morton, entitled 'Crania Americana', 1839, p. 62, 86; and on
the skulls brought by Pentland from the highlands ot titicaca, see the
'Dublin Journal of Medical and Chemical Science', vol. v., 1834, p. 475;
also Alcide d'Orbigny, 'L'homme Americain considere sous ses rapports
Physiol. et Mor.', 1839, p. 221; and the work by Prince Maximilian of Wied,
which is well worthy of notice for the admirable ethnographical remarks in
which it abounds, entitled 'Reise in das Innere von Nordamerika' (1839).


Pages:
711 712 713 714 715 716 717 718 719 720 721 722 723 724 725 726 727 728 729 730 731 732 733 734 735