10. The present Fellahs are the lineal and least mixed descendants of the ancient Egyptians;
and the latter are. collaterally represented by the Tuaricks, Kabyles, Siwahs,
and other remains of the Libyan family of nations.
11. The modern Nubians, with few exceptions, are not the descendants of the monumental
Ethiopians; but a variously mixed race of Arabians and Negroes.
12. Whatever may have been the size of the cartilaginous portion of the ear, the osseous
structure conforms, in every instance, to the usual relative position.
1 3 . The teeth differ in nothing from those of other Caucasian nations.
1 4 . The hair of the Egyptians resembles in texture that of the fairest'Europeans bf the
present day.
1 5 . The physical or organic characters which distinguish the several races of men are as old as
the oldest records of our species.
The sentiments here enunciated he subsequently modified in one
essential particular. In his letter to Mr. Bartlett of Bee. 1st, 1846
(published in vol. 2d of the Transactions of the American Ethnological
Society, p. 215,) after reiterating his conviction that the pure
Egyptian of the remotest monumental period differed as much from
the negro as does the white man of to-day, he continues:_
“ My later investigations have confirmed me in the opinion, that the valley of the Nile
was inhabited by an indigenous race, before the invasion of the Hamitic and other Asiatic
nations; and that this primeval people, who occupied the whole of Northern Africa, bore
much the same relation to the Berber or Berabra tribes of Nubia, that the Saracens of the
middle ages bore to their wandering and untutored, yet cognate brethren, the Bedouins of
the desert.”
Further details on this point will he found on pp. 231 and 232 of
the present work.
The reception of this hook was even more flattering than had been
that of its predecessor. To admiration was added a natural feeling
of surprise, that light upon this interesting subject should have come
from this remote quarter. Lepsius received it on the eve of departure
on his expedition to Djebel-Barkal, and his letter acknowledging it
was dated from the island of Philse. One can imagine with what intense
interest such a man, so situated, must have followed the lucid
deductions of the clear-headed American, writing at the other side of
the world. But probably the most gratifying notice of the book is
that by Prichard, in the Appendix to his Natural Histoiy of Man, of
which I extract a portion. He quotes Morton largely, and always
with commendation, even where the conclusions of the latter are in
conflict with his own previously published opinions.
“ A most interesting and really important addition has lately been made to our knowledge
of the physical character of the ancient Egyptians. This has been derived from a
quarter where local probabilities would least of all have induced us to have looked for it.
In France, where so many scientific men have been devoted, ever since the conquest of
Egypt by Napoleon, for a long time under the patronage of government, to researches into
this subject; in England, possessed of the immense advantage of wealth and commercial
resources; in the academies of Italy and Germany, where the arts of Egypt have been
studied in national museums, scarcely anything has been done since the time of Blumenbach
to elucidate the physical history of the ancient Egyptian race. In none of these
ountries have any .extensive collections been formed of the materials and resources which
'lone can afford a secure foundation for such attempts. It is in the United States of America
that a remarkable advancement of this part of physical science has been at length
achieved. ‘ The Transactions of the American Philosophical Society’ contain a memoir by
Dr Morton of Philadelphia, in which that able and zealous writer, already distinguished
by his admirable researches into the physical characters of the native American races, has
brought forward a great mass of new information on the ancient Egyptians.” (p. 57.)
This brings -us at once to the consideration of Morton’s opinion
upon the much-vexed question of the unity or diversity of the various
races of men, or rather of their origin from a single pair; for that alone
practically has been the topic of discussion. It is a subject of too
much importance, both to the cause of science and the memory of
Morton, to he passed over slightly. Above all, there is necessary a
clear and fair statement of his opinions, in order that there may he
no mistake. His mind was progressive on this subject, as upon many
others. He had to disabuse himself of erroneous notions, early acquired,
as well as to discover the truth. It is therefore possible so to
quote him as to misrepresent his real sentiments, or to make his
assertions appear contradictory and confused. I propose to show the
gradual growth of his convictions by the quotation, in their legitimate
series, of his published expressions on the subject.
The unity and common origin of mankind have, until recently, been
considered undisputed points of doctrine. They seem to have been regarded
as propositions not scientifically established, so much as taken
for granted, and let alone. All men were held o ' to be descended from
the single pair mentioned in Genesis ; every tribe was thought to be
historically traceable to tbe regions about Mesopotamia ; and ordinary
physical influences were believed sufficient to explain the remarkable
diversities of color, &c. These opinions were thought to be the teachings
of Scripture not impugned by science, and were therefore almost
universally acquiesced in. By Blumenbach, Prichard, and others,
the unity is assumed as an axiom not disputed. It is curious that
the only attack made upon this dogma, until of late, was made from a
theological, and not from a scientific stand-point. The celebrated book
of Peyrerius on the pre-Adamites was written to solve certain difficulties
in biblical exegesis, (such as Cain’s wife,' thè city he builded,
&c.,) for the writer was a mere scholastic theologian.* He met the
fate of all who ventured to defy the hierarchy, at a day when they
had the civil power at their back. Now they are confined to the
calling of names, as infidel and the like, although mischief enough
* Prae-Adamitse, sive exercitatio Super versibus duodecimo, decimotertio et decimo quarto
capitis quinti Epistolas D. Pauli ad Romanos. Quibus induCuntur primi Homines ante
Adamum conditi. Anno Salutis mdclv.