Note 194 — Chapter V
Hugh J. C. Beavan translation
Doctor Martius is a curious example of the extravagances to which monogenist ideas may lead. In order to explain the moral character of the Americans, he is obliged to suppose a frightful cataclysm [great inundation] which happened, he cannot say when, and adds, “Is it the profound terror felt by those unhappy people who escaped from this awful calamity which, being transmitted without a diminished intensity to following generations, has troubled their reason, obscured their intelligence, and hardened their heart?” Compare Morel, Traité des Dégénérescences de l’espèce humaine, 1857, and Discours Inaugural à l’Académie de Rouen, 1857.