AN INFERIOR FELLOW DONE FOR.

17

Samuel George Morton, one of our own scientific and distinguished countrymen, who is, perhaps, (or was while he lived,) the very best authority extant upon the subjects of Anthropology and Ethnology, is quoted in Nott and Gliddon's "Types of Mankind," page 305, as having said,

"After twenty years of observation and reflection, during which period I have always approached this subject with diffidence and caution; after investigating for myself the remarkable diversities of opinion to which it has given rise, and after weighing the difficulties that beset it on every side, I can find no satisfactory explanation of the diverse phenomena that characterize physical Man, excepting in the doctrine of an original plurality of races."

Again, in the course of a letter which he addressed to George Robbins Gliddon, in May, 1846, Dr. Morton said,

"I maintain, without reservation, the following among other opinions that the human race has not sprung from one pair, but from a plurality of centres; that these were created ab initio in those parts of the world best adapted to their physical nature; that the epoch of creation was that undefined period of time spoken of in the first chapter of Genesis, wherein it is related that God formed man, 'male and female created he them;' that the deluge was a merely local phenomenon; that it affected but a small part of the then existing inhabitants of the earth; and, finally, that these views are consistent with the facts of the case, as well as with analogical evidence."

Again, in Nott and Gliddon's "Types of Mankind," page 307, Dr. Morton is quoted as having said,

"By the simultaneous creation of a plurality of original stocks, the population of the earth became, not an accidental result, but a matter of certainty. Many and distant regions which, in accordance with the doctrine of a single origin, would have remained for thousands of years unpeopled and unknown, received at once their allotted inhabitants; and these, instead of being left to struggle with the viscissitudes of chance, were, from the beginning, adapted to those varied circumstances of climate and locality which yet mark their respective positions upon the earth."

Hermann Burmeister, one of the most celebrated naturalists now living, in his work entitled "The Black Man," page 6, says,

The

“The first glance shows the negro to be of a peculiar race. most striking marks of peculiarity are in the relative dimensions of the various parts of his body, the black color of his skin, and his curly head of wool. The great length of his arms is a peculiarity which strikes the experienced observer at once. The much shorter body and longer legs of the negro are also characteristics which serve to increase the difference between him and the European."

Again, in his work entitled "The Black Man," page 17, Burmeister says,

“The black man is more disposed to be submissive than the European. He feels and silently recognizes the superiority of the white man, and is conscious of his own inferiority in capacity and knowledge. From hence, perhaps, comes that cowardice of the negro which all observers have remarked. It is a well-known fact that the negro will yield with hardly any resistance, although numerically superior, to a white force, and thinks himself overcome even before a blow has been struck."

Again, in his work entitled" The Black Man," page 15, Burmeister says,

"The desire of amusing himself while at work, either by dancing or singing, or otherwise, is a marked feature of the negro. If he cannot have his amusement during his work, he must have it immediately after. The slave who has been at work in the field from sunrise to sunset, generally sings and dances for an hour or more afterward, in the company of his friends, around the fire in front of his hut, which he never fails to light, either for amusement, or for warmth when it happens to be cold. The observation of such groups was always a source of much amusement to me. The sunny, ape-like nature of the negro is then very evident. It is quite interesting to observe a negro while walking alone, untroubled, on his way, perhaps carrying a load upon his head, as you most commonly meet him. Even then the negro is not in truth alone; he has himself for a companion, with whom he talks or plays incessantly; and the con

* * *

versation is commonly very loud, and kept up without any regard to the passers-by. In such moments, the negro, especially the slave, is thoroughly in his element; he gives free course to his nature, and enjoys himself with great delight although panting and gasping under his load, with the sweat pouring in torrents down his neck. The subject of these monologues generally involves some incident or event in the life, past or present, of the negro. * * * The words of these negro monologues are always sung in the same monotonous key, while the negro at the same time beats the load on his head with a stick, or shakes an instrument he has a tin box filled with shot. If his burden be heavy, he runs on in a trotting gait, knocking incessantly with his stick, or shaking his tin instrument, and singing and groaning in harmony. His groans are as rhythmical as his songs. When his burden is light, the negro assumes a grave gait, and cries aloud and very rapidly in a singing tone; he then staps a moment, gesticulates with his hand, and shouts some compliment to some fellow-sufferer, which is answered in the same loud tone, and with similar gravity. As the head remains fixed, the movements of the negro are accompanied by a free play of the features. The eye brightens, the mouth is distorted as it gives utterance to these odd cries, and the ape peeps out everywhere, as you look upon the old actor you have before you.

Again, in his work entitled, "The Black Man," page Burmeister says:

16,

"The highest enjoyment of the negro generally consists in idle lounging, and eating and drinking in quantity rather than in quality. The negro female delights in ornaments of dress, such as ear-rings, necklaces and finger-rings, and cares little for elegance or cleanliness.

*

* * The negro is untidy in his dress, and will, at any time, prefer some worthless rag to a whole shirt or an entire pair of breeches. The female is much more disposed to flaunt in finery than to wash herself, or to keep herself free from vermin, or to have whole clothes, or a supply of them. They have as little regard to economy as they have to cleanliness. * They are fond of rich dress, a silk handkerchief if they can get it, a pair of shining patent leather shoes, or a fine beaver hat. They, however, take no care of these objects; they do not wear them carefully, nor keep them for great occasions, but they use them up at once. When they require a change, and have not the means to purchase as good, they prefer wearing their fine things to their last rag, rather than put on any

thing less showy and costly. They recollect that they were once fine, and that thought consoles them."

Who is this Dr. Hermann Burmeister, this erudite and accurate observer, who speaks so knowingly and so interestingly about the negro? He is a German naturalist of world-wide repute; and although he himself has never been in any part of the United States, yet an English translation of his graphic description of "The Black Man" appeared in New York as long ago as the year 1853, it having been published there, at that time, by William C. Bryant & Co., editors and proprietors of the New York Evening Post; and it was then that that excellent newspaper thus ably and enthusiastically criticised and sketched both the work and its author:

"This Treatise on 'The Black Man' presents the most complete study of the comparative anatomy and psychology of the negro which has ever been in print, so far as we know, and the only one, we believe, that has any pretensions to scientific accuracy. It has been prepared by Hermann Burmeister, one of the most distinguished of our living naturalists, and at present Professor of Zoology in the University of Halle, in Germany. He spent about fourteen months of the years 1850 and 1851 in Brazil, and has just submitted to the press the second volume of his work, entitled, "Geological Pictures of the Earth," one chapter of which embodies the result of his studies upon the Natural History of the African, and which is now, for the first time, presented in English to the American public.

"That the reader may know what value to attach to these observations, we may as well give a few particulars of their author's life and position in Germany.

"Burmeister was born in 1807, at Stralsund; he published a 'Textbook of Natural History,' which was followed four years later by a larger manual of Natural History, which is a masterly work. Upon the death of Nitzsch, Burmeister was appointed, in 1837, 'Professor Extraordinary,' and, in 1842, Professor of Zoology in the University of Halle, where he now ranks as one of the most eminent and popular teachers in Germany. His greatest achievement as an author is his work on Entomology, in five volumes, the fullest treatise upon that subject in any language, and embracing the results of fifteen

years of devoted study to the subject. He is also the author of a 'History of Creation,' which has passed through five editions; of a work entitled, 'Geological Pictures of the Earth,' and a number of essays and disquisitions upon subjects cognate to his profession, which have appeared in various scientific journals.

"In 1848 he was chosen a member of the Berlin Parliament, where he signalized himself by his eloquence and his industry. His health compelled him to resign and go abroad. He arrived in Brazil in October, 1850, and spent fourteen months there, most of which time was devoted to the study of the black race. -with what success the reader will be able to judge. No one who gives these pages a faithful perusal will be long in discovering that nothing so elaborate or satisfactory has ever been printed upon the subject; and he will also see precisely to what extent the white and the black races differ, and how much further the former has progressed than the latter beyond the apish type."

It was to this same Dr. Burmeister, who is now paying his devotions to Nature in the Argentine Republic, that, presuming somewhat upon a pleasant acquaintanceship, I recently took the liberty to write as follows:

"When I tell you that we have twenty-eight millions of white people in the United States, and only about four millions of negroes, you could, if advised of all the facts in the case, hardly fail to be surprised at the unduly large percentage of black patients whom, during the four years of my Consular residence in Buenos Ayres, I have had occasion to send to the hospital for medical treatment. In this matter, your surprise would probably be increased, were I to inform you that, of all the mariners who come to this port on American vessels, only about one in sixteen is of the black race, and that one is seldom a mariner in the true sense of the word, but more generally a cook or a scullion, in which in-door situation he is screened from the severer hardships of the weather.

"Yet I think that I am quite within the bounds of truth when I say that nearly one-half of all the persons