The Natural History of the Varieties of ManLatham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)
Science
The Natural History of the Varieties of Man
Latham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)
Ethnology
_General name._--None. Some particular tribes call themselves
_beye_=_men_; some, _donki_=_people_.
Called by the Ostiaks, Kellem.
" " Chinese, Tung-chu.
" " Mantshu, Orotuhong.
" " Mongols, Kham-noyon.
_Authority._--Klaproth's _Asia Polyglotta_ and _Sprachatlas_.
A more northern position, a greater range of climate, an approach
in some cases to the hunter and fisher, rather than to the pastoral
states, a more partial abandonment of the original Shamanistic
Paganism, and a later literature are the chief points which
differentiate the Tungús tribes from the Mongol. Add to this, that
the influence of the Tungús upon the history of the world is limited
to the conquest of China by the present Mantshu dynasty. In other
matters--indeed in these--the difference between the two branches is a
difference of _degree_ rather than of _kind_. I limit my remarks upon
the Tungús tribes--whose civilization is represented by that of the
Mantshus--for the sake of leaving time and space for a more important
branch of the Turanian stock--the Turk.
Some of the Tungús tribes--_e.g._ the Tshapojirs--tattoo their faces.
THE TURK BRANCH OF THE TURANIAN STOCK.
_Distribution._--1. As a _continuous_ population--East and
west--from the neighbourhood of the lake Baikal, 110° E. L.
to the eastern boundaries of the Greek and Slavonic countries
of Europe, about 21° E. L. North and south; from the northern
frontiers of Tibet, and Persia, about 34° N. L., to the country
north of Tobolsk about 59° N. L.
2. As an _isolated_ population--Along the lower course of the
Lena, and the shores of the White Sea, chiefly within the
Arctic Circle. These are the Yakut Turks. They are wholly
disconnected from the other Turkish tribes; and surrounded by
Tungús and Yukahiri tribes.
3. As portions of a _mixed_ population--In China?, Tibet?,
Mongolia?, Persia, Armenia, the Caucasian countries, Syria,
Ægypt, Barbary, Greece, Albania, and the Slavonic portion of
Turkey in Europe. Turk blood in most of the royal families of
the East.
_Religion._--Preeminently, though not exclusively, Mahometan;
generally of the Sunnite doctrine. Shamanism amongst the
Yakuts. Buddhism amongst the Turks of the Chinese Empire,
Christianity amongst those of Siberia.
_Language._--Spoken with remarkable uniformity over the whole
area; so much so that the Yakut of the Icy Sea is said to
be intelligible to the Turks of Central Asia, and even of
Constantinople.
_Physical Conformation._--In some cases almost identical with
that of the Mongolians, in others almost European. Generally
speaking, it partakes of the character of the non-Turkish
natives of the numerous countries with which the Turk area is
in contact.
In Turkey, Ægypt, and the Persian frontier much intermixture.
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