B. The (unity or non-unity) of the American populations as compared with those of the Old World.
In p. [351], it is stated that the two (three?) sections of the American aborigines which interfere with the belief that the American stock is fundamentally one, are—
I. The Eskimo.
II. The Peruvians (and Mexicans).
I. Taking the Eskimo first, the evidence in favour of their isolation is, physical and moral.
The latter I think is worth little except in the way of cumulative evidence, i. e. when taken along with other facts of a more definite and tangible sort. The Eskimo civilization (such as it is) is different from that of the other Americans; and how could it be otherwise when we consider their Arctic habitat, their piscatory habits, and the differences of their Fauna and Flora? It is not lower; i. e. not lower than that of the ruder Indians; a point well illustrated in Dr. King's paper[165] on the Industrial Arts of the Eskimo.
The physical difference is of more importance.
And, first as to stature.—Instead of being shorter, the Eskimo are, in reality, taller than half the tribes of South America.
Next, as to colour.—The Eskimo are not copper-coloured. Neither are the Americans in general. It is only those best known that are typical of the so-called Red race; there being but little of the copper tinge when we get beyond the Algonkins and Iroquois.