t of great interest that the Pygmy race does not seem
confined to Africa, for tribes of men resembling the Pygmies in stature
and in various other particulars are found in widely removed localities,
as in Malacca, the Andaman Islands, and the Philippine Archipelago,
while there are indications that they once spread widely over this
island region of the earth. Those of the Philippines, known as Negritos
or Aetas, have been somewhat closely observed and may be briefly
described.

The Negritos are similar in stature to the Pygmies of Africa, the men
averaging four feet eight inches high, and they are like them in general
appearance. They are darker in complexion, some being as sable as
negroes, and all of them darker than the African Pygmies. Their features
are coarse and ill-shaped, their nose depressed, lips full, hair black
and frizzled. In body, like the Pygmies, they are thin and
spindle-legged. The calf of the leg is not developed in any of these
dwarfish people. The Negritos possess one marked and significant
characteristic,--the separation of the great toe. This, while it has not
the full power of movement shown in the apes, is much more separated
from the others than in the whites, and can be readily used in grasping.
By its aid the Negrito can not only pick up small objects, but can
descend the rigging of a ship head downward, holding on like a monkey by
his toes. It may be said that among uncivilized and barefoot people the
great toe is usually very mobile. The artisans of Bengal can weave, the
Chinese boatmen can row, with its aid, and it adds much to facility in
climbing.

The Negritos wear little clothing, have no fixed abodes, and pass a
wandering life in the forests, living on game, honey, wild fruits, roots
of the arum, and other forest food. Their weapons consist of a bamboo
lance, a bow of palm wood, and a quiver of poisoned arrows. It is
certainly a striking fact that, wherever found, from South Africa to the
Far East, the Pygmy tribes possess the art of poisoning their weapons.
This art is not practised by the surrounding peoples, and is the
strongest evidence of a community of origin. It seems to point back to a
remote period when the Pygmy peoples spread far through the tropics of
the Eastern hemisphere, though in the region now under consideration
they have almost vanished through the assaults of the Malays.

The Negritos are very alert physically, being remarkably fleet of foot,
while they can c