If man was specifically one, where did he originate and how did he spread over the world? “As to man’s cradle-land there have been many theories, but the weight of evidence is in favour of Indo-Malaysia.” The problem of distribution “has been met by geology, which proves that the earth’s surface has undergone great changes since man’s appearance, and that continents, long since submerged, once existed, making a complete land communication from Indo-Malaysia.... Proofs no less cogent are available of the former existence of an Eurafrican continent, while the extension of Australia in the direction of New Guinea is more than probable.... The western hemisphere was probably connected with Europe and Asia, in Tertiary times.” The article Ethnology closes with a description of the four divisions of the human race proposed by Huxley, which have already been enumerated.
Separate articles supplementing these two main articles, Anthropology and Ethnology, especially in the field of comparative anatomy, are: Anthropometry (Vol. 2, p. 119) for physical measurements, including the Bertillon system used to identify criminals; Brachycephalic (Vol. 4, p. 366), or short-headed, a term applied to Indo-Chinese, Savoyards, Croatians, Lapps, etc.; Dolichocephalic (Vol. 8, p. 388), or long-headed, like Eskimos, negroes, etc.; Mesocephalic (Vol. 18, p. 179), for the type between the two; Prognathism (Vol. 22, p. 424), for jaw protrusion; Craniometry (Vol. 7, p. 372) and Cephalic Index (Vol. 5, p. 684), for the measurement of skulls and heads; Steatopygia (Vol. 25, p. 860), for a peculiar heaviness of hips found in some negro and other savage peoples; Monogenists (Vol. 18, p. 730), on the theory that all men are descended from a common original stock; and Polygenists (Vol. 22, p. 24) on the opposite theory.
North American Indians
One of the most elaborate ethnological articles in the Britannica is of particular interest to Americans, that on Indians, North American (Vol. 14, p. 452), by Dr. A. F. Chamberlain, professor of anthropology, Clark University, Worcester, Mass. It is equivalent to more than 100 pages of this Guide, and there are also scores of brief articles on different North American Indian tribes. A few, only, of the many interesting topics treated in it may be mentioned:
The name “American Indians”—due to the mistaken early belief that the New World was a part of Asia. “Amerind” a suggested substitute. Various uses of “Indian.” French “sauvage” the original of “Siwash.”
Popular fallacies of the origin of the Indians—Welsh, “lost Ten Tribes,” etc.
Linguistic stocks. Table of languages. General description; varied character; enormous compound words, like deyeknonhsedehrihadasterasterahetakwa for “stove-polish.” Indian literature.
Migrations of Indian stocks. Tabular conspectus of 180 tribes—situation and population, degree of intermixture, condition and progress, and authorities on each.
Population, physical characteristics, race mixture.
Culture, arts, industries, religion, mythology and games.