result."

The gypsy tribe, of which Dr Prichard takes no notice, would seem to
form an exception from the great mass of mankind as to the absence of
religious creed. The opinions and theories respecting it we must leave,
as it forms of itself a wide field for discussion; and, having fully
occupied the space allotted to us, we must here bring to a close our
sketch of a work which, notwithstanding the somewhat unreadable
character of the central portion, has supplied to the public a valuable
collection of recorded facts, expressed for the most part in clear,
untechnical language. We have not entered into questions of contrast or
similitude with the opinions of other authors. Had we done so, we must
have adopted a style of criticism interesting only to those who are
specially engaged in the subject, and so incapable of limitation that
every paragraph would serve for an article longer far than that which we
have here written. Dr Prichard appears nowise unwilling to refer to each
author his due share of merit, and is by no means sparing of copious
extracts, taken with no partial view of supporting a theory. At the risk
of being considered only a compiler, he has, at all events, avoided any
affectation of originality.

With regard to the proposition sought to be established by the author,
the book before us does not appear to be conclusive. The question as to
the community of origin of mankind, viewed purely as an inductive one,
appears still involved in obscurity. On the one hand, the fact of
continual degeneration, resulting from the intermarriage of members of
the same family, would require for its explanation either a miraculous
interference in the first periods of human existence, or a gradual
change in the constitution of man, whereby what once was harmless has
become injurious, when the necessity for it is removed; moreover,
according to the evidence contained in this book, the races of mankind
cannot be traced backward to a single pair. But, taking the three great
divisions, the Semitic, the Hamitish, and the Japetic, as derived from
Shem, Ham, and Japhet, the various Allophyllian and American aborigines
would appear to have existed, and to have been spread over the world
before the above nations overran it. On the other hand, supposing that
the mere power of reproduction be not of itself sufficient evidence of
identity of species, the similarity of physical formation, of periodic
changes, and of psychical instincts