Excerpt from Twelve Lectures on Primitive Civilizations, and Their Physical Conditions: Delivered at the Alexandra College<br><br>In order to meet this difficulty, it seemed ad visable to commence the course with a series Of Sketches of ancient civilizations, interweaving the effects Of climate and of race at suitable intervals. These sketches, at the desire of the class, ulti mately became the chief subject of the lectures. Intended originally as a means, they insensibly became an end. They do not profess to be ade quate, as a course Of instruction on the subject, but were intended to act as an incentive to the minds of a highly intelligent and zealous class. They are rather Offered as stimulant, than as nutriment, and were written from week to week during moments of spare time. Had they even been the Offspring Of complete leisure, the learned reader, who knows the complexity and difficulty of so great a subject, will be ready to excuse their many imperfections, and the inconsistencies into which the author may have been betrayed. The volume is, however, published at the desire of several very competent judges, who heard some of the lectures, and approved of their scope and design.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.