previous year. Again, a colt, the property of the Earl of Suffield, got by Laurel, so resembled
another horse, Camel, “ that it was whispered, nay even asserted at New Market,
that he must have been got by Camel.” It was ascertained, however, that the mother of
the Laurel colt had been covered the previous year by Camel.
It has often been observed, also, that a well-bred bitch, if she have been impregnated by
a mongrel dog, will not, although lined subsequently by a pure dog, bear thorough-bred
puppies in the next two or three litters. The like occurrence has been noticed with the
sow. A sow of a peculiar black-and-white breed was impregnated by a boar of the wild
breed, of a deep chestnut color; the pigs produced were duly mixed, the color of the boar
in some being very predominant.' The sow being afterwards put to a boar of the same breed
as her own, some of the produce were observed to be marked with the chestnut- color that
prevailed in the former litter : and, on a subsequent impregnation, the boar being still of
the same breed as the sow, the litter was also observed to be slightly stained with the
chestnut color. What adds to the value of* the fact now stated is, that, in the course of
many years’ observation, the breed in question was never knowu afterwards to produce progeny
having the smallest tinge of chestnut color. We may here remark that it is only in a state of
domestication that animals produce offspring of Various colors. When left entirely to the
operation of natural causes, they never exhibit this sporting of colors ; they are distinguished
by various and often beautiful shades of color; but then each spècies is true to its
own family type, even to a few hairs or small parts of a feather. It is needless to repeat
examples of these facts ■— they are familiar to all rearers of animals ; among cattle they
are of every-day occurrence. There is another fact worthy of notice. It is well known
to cattle-breeders, that the term of utero-gestation is much influenced by the sire—the
calves of one bull will be carried longer in utero than those of another.
2. In the Human Species. — There are equally distinct breeds of the human family as of
any of the lower animals; and it is affirmed that the human female, when twice married,
bears occasionally to the second husband children resembling the first both in bodily structure
and mental powers. Where all the parties are of the same color,this statement is not
so easy of verification ; but, where a woman has had children by two men of different colors,
such as a black and a white man, it would be. comparatively easy to observe whether the
offspring of the latter connexion bore any resemblance to the former parent. Count Strze-
lecki, in his Physical History of Van Diemen’s Land, asserts that, when a native woman
has had a child by a European male, “ she loses the power of cbnception, on a renewal of intercourse,
with a male of her own race, retaining only that o f procreating with the white men.”
“ Hundreds of instances (says the Count) of this extraordinary fact are recorded in the
writer’s memoranda, all occurring invariably under the, same circumstances, amongst the Hu-
rons, Seminoles, Ked Indians, Yakies (Sinaloa), Mendosa'Indians, Auracos, South Sea
Islanders, and natives of,New Zealand, New South Wales, and Yan Diemen’s Land; and
all tending to prove that the sterility of the female, which is relative only to one and not
to another male, is not accidental, but follows laws as cogent, though as mysterious, as the
rest of those connected with generation.” In this sweeping assertion the Count may have
been mistaken: a traveller, could hardly have had opportunities for'ascertaining a fact,
which it must require years of careful observation to Confirm. It is certain that no such
thing exists between the whites and Negroes,, the two races with which we are the most
familiar; because examples are of frequent occurrence, where a Negress, after having
had a child by a white man, has had a family by a husband of her own color.
Instances are cited, where a Negro woman bore mulatto children to a white man, and
afterwards had by a black man other children, who bore a strong resemblance to the white
father, both in features and complexion. It is supposed by some, that the influence, exerted
on the generative system of a female of one race by sexual intercourse with the male of
another, may be increased by repeated connexions ; and Dr. Laing informs us of the case
of an English gentleman in the West Indies, who had a large family by a Negro woman,
and where the children exhibited successively, more and more, the European features and
complexion. I have living with me a black woman, whose first child was by a white man :
she has had six children since, by a black husband, who are perfectly black, and unlike the
first father; yet, it is a singular fact that these children, though strongly-marked Negroes,
bear no family likeness to either father or mother—their physiognomy is as distinct as that
of any two families of the same race. The children of a second husband may resemble
the first sufficiently to attract attention, even where there is no striking contrast of color;
thus Dr. Harvey cites'a case where a lady was twice married, and had issue by both husbands.
One of the children by the second marriage bears an unmistakeable resemblance
to her mother’s first husband; and what makes the likeness more discernible is, that there
was a marked difference in features and general appearance between the two husbands.
The chain of facts herein by this time linked together, aside from
many more of identical force that might easily he added, proves conclusively
that prolificacy between two races of animals is no test of
specific affiliation; and it therefore follows, as a corollary, that prolificacy
among the different races of men carries with it no evidence
of common origin. On the other hand, if it can he shown that the
law of hybridity prevails between any two human races, the argument
in favor of plurality of species would thereby he greatly
strengthened.
I think that the genus homo includes many primitive species; and
that these species are amenable to the same laws which govern species
in many other genera. The species of men are all proximate,
according to the definition already given; nevertheless, some are perfectly
prolific; while others are imperfectly so—possessing a tendency
to become extinct when their hybrids are bred together. At the
beginning of this chapter I referred to my own observations, made
some years ago, on the crossing of white and black races: and my
investigations since that time, as well as those of many other anatomists,
confirm the views before enunciated. So far as the races of men
can be traced through osteography, history and monuments, the present
volume establishes that they have always been distinct. hTo
example is recorded, where one race has been transformed into another
by external causes. Permanence of type must therefore be
regarded as an infallible test of specific character. M. Jacquinot
very dexterously remarks that, according to . the theory of unity of
races, a mulatto belongs to a “ species” as much as any other human
being, and that the white and black races would be hut “ varieties.”
When two proximate species of mankind, two races bearing a
general resemblance to each other in type, are bred together — e. g.,
Teutons, Celts, Pelasgians, Iberians, or Jews—they produce offspring
perfectly prolific: although, even here, their peculiarities cannot
become so entirely fused into a homogeneous mass as to obliterate
the original types of either. One or the other of these types will
“ crop-out,” from time to time, more or less apparently in their progeny.
When, on the other hand, species the most widely separated.