If we call to mind a summary of the general divisions of human beings throughout the world, we shall find little room to doubt of the identity of their genus, and shall, without much trouble of reflection, class them as different species of that genus:—­

------Facies non omnibus una,
Nec diversa, tamen.

Such seems to be the result of Mr. Lawrence’s judgment; and though we are aware that the descent of mankind from one common stock has been much questioned and controverted, particularly in Germany, we prefer resting upon the received opinion at present, to running the risk of shocking established notions, by entering into the merits of the contrary theory.

Men are classed by Dr. Blumenbach under five great divisions, viz. the Caucasian, Mongolian, Ethiopian, American, and Malay.  The Caucasian family may be asserted, though by its own members, to have been always pre-eminent above the rest in moral feelings and intellectual powers, and is remarkable for the large size of their heads.  It need not be more minutely described, than by saying it includes all the ancient and modern Europeans, (except the Laplanders and Fins;) the former and present inhabitants of Western Asia as far as the Ob, the Caspian Sea, and the Ganges, viz. the Assyrians, Medes, Chaldeans, Sarmatians, Scythians, Parthians, Philistines, Phoenicians, Jews, and Syrians; the Tartars on the Caucasus, Georgians, Circassians, Mingrelians, Armenians, Turks, Persians, Arabs, Hindoos of high caste, Northern Africans, Egyptians, Abyssinians, and Guanches.  They are supposed to have originally had brown hair and dark eyes.

The Mongolian family is of an olive colour and black eyes, flat nose and face, small stature, black hair, no beard, and thick lips.  It comprises the people of Central and Northern Asia, Thibet, Ava, Pegu, Cambodia, Laos, and Siam; the Chinese, Japanese, Fins, and Esquimaux.

The Ethiopian family is black, with black and woolly hair, compressed skull, low forehead, flat nose, and thick lips.  It includes all Africans not comprehended in the Caucasian family.

The American family has a dark skin, a red tint, straight hair, a small beard, low forehead, and broad face.  It includes all the American tribes, except the Esquimaux.

The Malay family is brown, varying from a light tint to black.  Their hair is black and curled, head narrow, bones of the face prominent, nose broad, and mouth large.  They inhabit Malacca, Sumatra, Java, and the adjacent islands; Molucca, the Ladrones, New Holland, Van Dieman’s Land, New Guinea, New Zealand, and the South Sea Islands.  They speak generally the Malay language.