 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ESSAY

CAUSES or was VARIETY

on _ '1'

    
   

. \ ..
I- a“;
COMPLEXION AND FIGURE
' IN THE

HUMAN SPECIES.
S T R I C T U R E S
OH Lou) KAMES’S DISCOURSE
ON THE.
ORIGINAL DIVERSITY or MANKIND.

'9

 

BY THE REV. SAMUEL STANHOPE ”SMITH, DJ).

Vice-Prcﬁdem and Profclfor of Moral Philofophy
In the CoYlege of New-131%,: ;
And Member of the American Philofophical Society
Held at Philadelphia,
For promoting Ufcful Knowledge.

 

A NEW EDITION.
WITH SOME ADDITIONAL NOTES,

By a Gentleman of the Umvnsn‘v of Edinburgh,

PHILADELPHIA PRINTED,

AND ED I NB U RG H REPRINTE-D,

‘ For C. ELLIOT, Enmnvxau- ; and C. ELLIOT and
T. KAY, at Dr CULLEN’ 5 HEAD,
Oppoﬁtc Somerfet-Place, N° 332. Strand, London.

M,DCC, LIXSVHI.

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A HE fubf’tance of the following Effay '
was delivered in the annual Orationt
before the Philofophical Society in Phila?
delphia, February 28th, x787.--And the
whole is'publiﬂmd at the requef’t of the

Society.

 

 

A: a MEETING of the AMERICAN PH;- .
LOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, on Friday
Evening, the 28th of February 1787.

EDIE) ELDEDGEEQDJE? ﬂDBﬂﬂQEIRQEE.

T H AT the .themlu of the Society he given
to the Rev. Dr. SAMUEL 8. SMITH,
for his ingeniom and learned Oratz'on deliver.—
ea' this Evening, and that he he reqzzeﬂea’ to
ﬁrm/h the Society with a Copy If the ﬁzme
ﬁr Publication.
Extraﬂ from the Minutes,

‘ JAMES HUTCHINSON,‘
ROBERT PATTERSON,
‘SAMUEL MAGAW,

JOHN FOULKE. ' .

S eereterier.

 

:8 R E F‘A (:21;

v

BY TEE EDITOR.

HERE is certainly no fubjeﬁ in the feicnce'cf?

NA no mu. His-roar more curious and intercit-

ing than that which mfpeébs the variety of COMPLEX-

mu and of FIGURE «among mankind :-—-And although

much has been smitten to point out theft: varieties, and

to iﬂveﬁigarte the tanks which have produced them,

‘ yet hitherto but little accurate information has been de-

rived from the molt laborious refearches of the ﬁrst]: na-
Waliﬁs‘ef the age.

Tm; writings of Jefuits and of Bnecamizces are the
priaeipai {ources from which our knowledge of man in
his favage ﬂat: has been 'detived; but thc'falfehoods
and the errors with which their works are pregnant, are
daily becoming more evident ; and thofe fyﬂems or hy-
yodiefes, which wexe eﬁablilhed on authorities f0 clir
tremely weak, are now tottering int-o that contempt
and negleﬁ, which muﬂ: neceﬂhrily await every fyﬁem
whole baﬁs is not. confimé’ted of faﬂs‘

DURING the lall; 60 years, we have colleé‘ted more
data concerning the nasu'ral hiﬁory of man than have,
" ~perhaps, been given to us in every preceding age '; and;
it would certainly be uncandid not to obfcrvc that it is

vi PREFACE.

to Britain we are chieﬂy indebted for this augmenta-
tion of our knowledge of the Human Specie:.-—-The
three voyages of that great, but unfortunate, navigator
Captain Cook, have efpecially contributed to eradicate
former errors, and to eftablilh permanent truths in the
hiﬂory of man.

BUT notwithf’tanding the large collection of facts
of which we are poﬂ'eﬂ‘ed, the Natural Hiﬁory of Man
{till continues among the moﬂ: imperfeét fubjeé’ts of
human inquiry. The difﬁculties neceﬂ'arily attendant
on this part of knowledge are extremely obvious ; but,
independent of thefe diﬁiculties, there are other cir-
cumﬁances which, for fome time at leal’t, niuﬂ: leave a
chafm in the hillory of our fpecies.

. THOSE extenﬁve regions of Africa and of America,
with the limits of which we are fcarcely acquainted,
will, no doubt, furnifh future philofophers with new
varieties of man: varieties whofe caufes will afford
ample room for fpeculation and inquiry.

IF we can rely on the teltimony of fome voyagers
and travellers, there are tribes of men in the northern
continent of the New World, whofe COMPLEXION, in
particular, diEers very eﬂ'entially from that of the other
nations of Indians *; and whofe hiftory, therefore, could
not fail of being intereﬂing to the philofopher.

THUS, it is afﬁrmed, that in the year 1774,. the crew
of a Spanilh frigate difcovered a white and fair nation
on the weft coaft of America, in the latitude of 55°
43’ 1-. Were this fact more authentically decided, it

‘ Memoire fur lea Pays de l'Aﬁe ct de l’Amerique, par'] N. 3113613..
Paris, I 7 75 .
1‘ La Hontan. Nouv. Voyage. lett. I6. vol. I,

P .R E F A C E. vii“

WOuld, as Mr Zimmerman obferves, aﬂ‘ord‘ new matter-
to many fyltems, and it might, perhaps, have no incon-r
conﬁderable inﬂuence on our notions concerning the
operation of PHYSICAL caufes. »

THE noble ardor for difcovery and inveftigation
which fo eminently charaéterifes the eighteenth cen-
tury, it is to be hoped, will not fuﬁ'er us to remain
much longer ignorant of the natural hittory of our f’pe—
ciesz—New phenomena of Complexion and of Figure
will daily be brought to light; and the hiltory of man
will then aﬂ'ume its juﬂ' Ration among the fubjeéts of
human inquiry.

IN the prefent ftate of our knowledge, .afyﬂematic
view of the Natural Hillary of Man can hardly be ex-
peé’ted; a colleétion of faéts arranged with but little
attention to method is all we can naturally hope for.
| THE author of the work now before us, furnifhes us,
however, with an inftance how much may be accompliﬂr.
ed, evenby an individual, in a fubjeél; replete with dif.
ﬁculties, when genius andjudgment are aided by labour,
and when the objeét is purfued with a fteady regard to
truth.

BUT it is not our intention to enter into any pa-
negyric of the ElTay of Dr Smith ;——the public will
ever judge for themfelves, and pay the tribute of ap-
_ plaufe where it is due.

THE work was originally printed in Philadelphia,
and the prefent edition has been carefully correé’ted
from a Copy containing a great number of alterations, &c.
. in the author’s own hand-writing, with which the Edi-
,»tot was fortunately furnifhed.

 

viii" PREFACE.

IT was our origina! intention to have greatly enlar-
ged both the ESSAY and the STRICTURES, with Note:
331d Illzyiratians; but a variety of unforefeen circum-
ﬁances have prevented us from accomplifhing this ob-
jeﬁ :——we cannot, therefore, but apologife for the {mall
number we have added ;-—-though we hope the long
:16an of the work will be, in fome meafure, compenfa—
ted for by the fuperior neamefs and correélnefs of this
Eurapean Edition.

Em}: BURGE,’
-, April, 1778.
A.

ESSAY

CAUSES OF THE VARIETY

_COMPLEXION my FIGURE
HUMAN SPECIES.

be

 

' N the hiﬁory and philofophy of human
nature, one of the ﬁrft objeé‘ts that
ﬁrikes an obferVer is the variety of

complexion and of ﬁgure among mankind.

To aﬂign the caufes of this phenomenon

has been frequently a fubjeé’t of curious

fpecuiation. Many philofophers have re- _
folved the difﬁculties with which this in- ' <3 '

. quiry is attended, by having recourfe to the

arbitrarynhypotheﬁs that men are origi-

B

Io Of Complexion and Fégure

salleemgsfren diﬂercat, ﬂockwd. .2113 '
ihemEemdividedtbytnarure into different
» g fpegieﬁ. But as we are not at liberty to
' i. inake this fuppoﬁtion, f0 1 hold it to be
a?” H nnphilofophical to recur to hypotheﬁs,
~ 1 a when the whole effect may, on proper in-
.-V’veﬁigation,‘be accounted for by the or-
W -' dinary laws of nature.

 

‘3“ On this difcuﬂion I am now about to
i enter; and {ball probably unfold, in its
progrefs, fome principles, the full import-
ance of which will not be obvious, at ﬁrft
View, to thofe who have not been accu-
ﬁomed to obferve the operations of nature
with minute and careful attention. Prin-
ciples, however, which, experience leads

* It is no {mall objeé‘tion to this hypotheﬁs, that
there fpecies can never be afcertained. We have no
‘ means of diltinguilhing how many were originally
formed, or where any of them are now to be found.
And they mull: have been long ﬁnce fo mixedgby the
migrations of mankind, that the properties of each
fpccies can never be determined. Beﬁdes, this {up-
fpolition unavoidably confounds the whole philofophy
3w" human nature—Sec rem/(ﬂan qf t/si: £3722}.

in, ibe Human Spirits. 1 1

me to believe, will acquire additional CV5.“
dance from time and obfervation.

Off the caufes of thefe varieties among
mankind,I {hall treat under the bends...»

1. Of CLIMATE.
II. Of the STATE of SOCIETY.

In treating this fubjeé’c, I {hall not efpouﬁ: .
any peculiar fyﬁem of medical principles
«.whicb, in the continual revolutions ofopi-
nion, might be in hazard of being after-
wards difearded. Iihalvl, as much as. pof—
ﬁble, aVoid uﬁng terms of art; or attemptf
ing to explain the manner of operation of
the caufes, where diverﬁty of opinion a-
mong phyﬁciéns has left the fubjec‘l in
doubt.

And, in the beginning, permit me to
make one general remark, which muﬁ Qf-v
ten have occurred to every judicious 1131'
quirer into the powers both of moral and

B ‘2

9

ﬁn ' 0f Complexion and Figure

‘T'j'of phyﬁcal eaufeséthat every permanent

and charaé‘teril’tical variety in human na-
ture, is effeé’ted by ﬂow and almof’c imper-
ceptible gradations. Great and fudden
changes are too violent for the delicate
conﬁitution of man, and always tend to
deﬁroy the fyﬁem. But changes that be-
come incorporated, and that form the cha-
racter of a climate or a nation, are pro-
greﬂively carried on through feveral ge-
nerations, till the caufes that produce them
havei‘at‘tained theirputmoﬂ: operation. In
this way, the minutef’t caufes, aﬁing con-
ﬂantly, and long continued, will neceffari-
1y create great and confpicuous differences
among mankind.

1. Of the ﬁrﬂ: clafs of caufes, I {hall treat
under the head of climate.

In tracing the globe from the pole to the
equator, we obferve a gradation in the;
complexion nearly in proportion to the la—
titude of the country. Immediately below
the aré’tic circle a high‘ and fanguine co-
lour prevails. From this you defcend to

I

I

the mixture of red and white. Afterwards 1
fucceed, the brown, the olive, the tawny, i
and .at length the black, as you proceedto'

the line. The fame diﬁance from the fun,

however, does not, in every region, indi—

cate the fame temperature of climate.
Some fecondary caufes muﬂ: be taken into
conﬁderation as correcting and limiting its
inﬂuence. The elevation of the land, its
vicinity to the fea, the nature, of the foil,
the [late of cultivation, the couirfe of winds,

. and many other circumﬁances, enter into '

this view. Elevated and mountainous
countries are cool in proportion to their
altitude above the level of the fea—Vici-

nity to the ocean produces oppoﬁte eHeéisX

in northern and fouthern latitudes ; for
the ocean, being of a more equal tempera-
ture- than the land, in one cafe corrects the
cold, in the other moderates the heat.
Ranges of mountains, fuch as the Appe—
nines/in Italy, and Taurus, Caucafus, and
Imaus, in Aﬁa, by interrupting the courfe
of cold winds, render the proteﬁed coun—

, tries below them warmer, and the counv
B 3

f"

L? E"'2

V, Vl‘ , I ' ‘

in the Human Species. I 3 I; ,

a.

 

 

 

:4 0f Complexion and Figure

tries above them colder, than is equivalent
to the proportional (inference of latitude.
The frigid zone in Aﬁa is much wider
than it is in Europe; and that continent
hardly knows a temperate zone. From

* ' the northern ocean to Caucafus, fays- Mon-,-

tefquieu, Alia may be conﬁdered as a ﬂat
mountain. Thence to the ocean that
wafhes Perﬁa and India, it is a low and
level country without feas, and proteéied
by this immenfe range of hills from the
polar winds. The Aﬁatic is, therefore,
Warmer than the European continent be—
low the for‘tieth degree of latitude; and,
above that latitude, is much' more cold.
Climate alfo receives fome difference from
the nature of the foil; and fome from the
degree of cultivation—Sand is fufceptible
of greater heat than clay; and an uncul-
tivated region, {haded with forefts, and co—
vered with undrained marfhes, is more
frigid in northern, and more temperate in

‘ fouthern, latitudes, than a country laid

‘ {open to the direét and conf’tant aé’tion of

the fun. Hiltory informs, that, when

in the Human Specicr. 15.

Germany and Scythia were buried in fo-
reﬁs, the Romans often tranfported their
armies acrofs the frozen Danube; but,
ﬁnce the civilization of thofe barbarous
regions, the Danube rarely freezes. Ma-
ny other circumﬁances might be enume—
rated, which modify the inﬂuence of cli—
mate. Thefe will be fufﬁcient'to give a
general idea of the fubjeét. And by the
intelligent reader they may be eaﬁly ex-
tended, and applied to the {late of parti—
cular countrieﬁ

B4

" IT has long been known, that elevated or rnoung.
tainous countries are much cooler than countries cons
lilting of plains and valleys. Indeed, the difference
of heat in thefe oppoiite ﬁtuations, is {0 conﬁderable,
that even under the equator the mountains are cover:
edT with colleélions of eternal Inow. As we afcend
the Alps, the Andes, and the Apalachian, thnfe great
chains, the former of which divides fome of the Yair—
cit portions of EuroPe, and the latter, which run
through almoﬁ the whole extent of America, we ob-
ferve nearly a regular diminution in the temperature
of the atmofphere. On the fummits of fome Vof'thofe

‘mountains, we in vain look for the genial inﬂuence
of the fun :—-—E_very animal, every vegetable, exhibits

 

1 6 Obemplexion ahd Figure-

- From the preceding obfervations we at.
rive this canguﬁong That there is a general

incontel’tahle evidence of it: feeble operation :—Even
in the warmeﬂ; regions of our globe, therefore, on
the more elevated lands, the complexion of man inay
remain but little inﬂuenced by heat. Thus, although
at the foot of the Andes we ﬁnd a race of fwarthy
men ; yet on. the valley of @ito, which is elevated
feveral thoufand feet from the level of the fea, the
inhabitants are by no means fwarthy.

The VICINlTY of a country to the, {ea will alfo,
in fome degree, inﬂuence its climate. The tempea
rature of the ocean is mere equable than that of the
land: Hence countries bordering on the ocean will
be cooler in fu‘mmer and warmer in winter, than
fuch as are at a diftance from it.

From the nature of the SOIL, climate alfo receives
fome alteration. The fandy foils, fuch as are to be
found in many of the eaﬁern, countries, are well
known for their infupportable heat. ”I

CULTIVATION has a molt wonderful inﬂuence in
altering the climate of a country. This the experi-
ence of every day teaches us : and we may lay it down

. as a fundamental propolition, that a country buried
in foreﬁs, and covered with marfhes, will be much

in the Human Species. 17

. ratio of heat and cold, which forms what
we call climate, and a general refemblan'ce

colder than a country which has undergone a degree
of cultivation. In the latter cafe, the rays of the
fun have a direél: action upon the furface of the
earth ;. through the medium of which, it is well
known our atmofphere is principally heated: where-
as, in the former'cafe, the rays of the fun with difﬁ-
culty communicate their inﬂuence to the earth; and
the prodigious perfpiration from the leaves and other
furfaces of the vegetables, together with the evapora—
_ tion from the marfhes, will prove a great fource of
cold. This change in the climate of a country from
cultivation is frequently effected very rapidly. Thus
in diEerent parts of North America, ﬁnce the begin-
ning of the prefent century, and even in the memory
of many who have fcarcely paiTed the period of mam
hood, {the feverity of the winter feafons has been
greatly mitigated: And it may reafonably be con-
jeétured (notwithﬁanding what Mr Kirwan feems
to fuppofe to the contrary), that in the lapfe of a few
centuries, the climate of this continent will be as
moderateas that of Europe. Similar changes from
cultivation have been obferved in the climate of Ger.
many ﬁnce the time of Julius Caefar, and in that of
Ruflia during’the prefent century. Nor is the tem-
perature of thefe climates as yet by any means f’tatio-
nary. Germany, it is true. is in general well culti-.-

\

18 0f Complexion and figure

of nations, according to the latitude from
the equator; fubjeéi,,however, to innume-
rable varieties from the inﬁnite combina-
tions of the circumﬁances I‘have fuggeﬁn
ed. After having exhibited the general
eﬁ'eét, I {hall take up the capital deviations

vated; but the extenﬁve deferts and forefts which
lie to its north and north-eaft, render it at prefent
much colder than it otherwife would be:—-—For the
ﬂate qf uncultivated land: adjacent to the beﬂ culti—
vated country, has a great inﬂuence on the climate If
the latter. Thus 1700 years ago, Italy was much
better cultivated than it is at prefent; and yet at that
time the cold of the climate was {0 intenfe as to
freeze the wine in their calks. Virgil, who relates
this faét, alfo gives dire&ions for ﬂickering cattle
from the froit and {now of the winter feafon ; direc-
tions which at prefent are entirely unneceﬂ‘ary to the
Italian. The ingenious Dr Williamfon has beauti-
fully explained this {eeming difﬁculty, by having re-
courfe to the Rate of the countries which lie to the
north of Italy. Thefe, he obferves, in the time of
Caefar, were buried in foreﬁs; and the climate being
confequently Cold, Italy could not but be eonﬁder-
ably aﬂ‘eéted: but ﬁnce Germany has been better cul-
tivated, its climate, and that of Italy, have both be?
come more temperate.
EDITOR.

in the Human Species. 19

from it that are found in the world, and
endeavour to ﬂlOW, that they naturally re-
fult from certain jconcurrences of thefe
modifying caufes.

Our experience veriﬁes the power of cli-
mate on the complexion. The heat of .
fummer darkens the ﬂiin, the cold of win-
ter chafes it, and excites a fanguine colour.
Thefe alternate effeé’ts in the temperate
'zonetend in fome degree to correct one
another: ‘But when heat or cold predo—
minates in any region, it impreiTes, in the-
fame proportion, a permanent and charac-
teriflical complexion. The degree in which
it predominates may be conﬁdered as a
conﬁant caufe to the aﬁion of which the
human body is expofed. This caufe will
affeé‘t the nerves by tenﬁon or relaxation,
by dilatation or contraélion—lt will aﬁ'eél;
the ﬂuids by increaﬁng or lefTening the
perfpiration, and by altering the propor-
tions of all the fecretions~lt will peculi-
arly [affect the {kin by the immediate ope-
ration of the atmofphere, of the fun’s rays,

20 0f Complexion and Figure

or of the principle of cold upon its deli-
cate texture. Every fenﬁble difference in
the degree of the caufe, will create a viﬁble
change in the human body. To fuggeﬂ;
at prefent a ﬁngle example.-—-—A cold and
piercing air chafes the countenance and
exalts the complexion. An air that is
warm and mif’ty relaxes the conﬁitution,
and gives fome tendency, in valetudinari-
ans efpecially, to a bilious hue. Thefe
effects are tranﬁent, and interchangeable
in countries where heat and cold alternate-
ly fucceed in nearly equal proportions.
But when the climate conﬂantly repeats
the one or the‘other of thefe effects in any
degree, then, in proportion, an habitual

colour begins to be formed. Colour and

ﬁgure may be ftyled habits of the body.
Like other habits, they are created, not by
great and fudden impreﬂions, but by con-
tinual and almof’t imperceptible touches.
Of habits both of mind and body, nations
are fufceptible as well as individuals. They
are tranﬁnitted to offspring, and augment-
ed by inheritance. Long in growing to

in the Human Species. 21

maturity, national features, like national
manners, become ﬁxed, only after a fuc-
ceﬂion of ages. , They become, however,
ﬁxed at lafi. And if we can afcertain any
eﬂ‘eéi produced by a given ﬁate of wea-
ther or of climatek it requires only repeti-
tion during a fufﬁcient length of time, to
augment and imprefs it with a permanent
character. The fanguine countenance will,
for this reafon, be perpetual in the higheft
latitudes‘ of ' the temperate zone; .and we
{hall for ever ﬁnd the fwarthy, the olive,
.the tawny, and the black, as we defcend to
the fouth.
The uniformity of the eﬁ'eél in the fame

climate, and 'on men in a ﬁmilar [late of

fociety, proves the power and certainty of
- the caufe. If the advocates of different
human fpeCies fuppofe that the beneﬁcent
Deity hath created the inhabitants of the 3:
earth of diﬂ'erent colours, becaufe thefe satin“
colours are beft adapted to their refpec‘tive 33-! , + '7‘
zones; it furely places his benevolence in 3 1,. f :1"
a more advantageous light to fay, he has“ l {i Y t
given to human nature the power of ac— ‘ AV ,

"mmwd‘

, ‘. ,_=~’
ft
r,

A ‘5.

at".

éz OfC‘Qmplexion and Figure

commodating itfelf to every zone. This

pliancy of nature is favourable to the uni—
ons of the moft dif’tant nations, and faci—
litates the acquiﬁtion and the cxtenﬁon of
fcience, which Would otherwife be conﬁned
to few objects, and to a very limited range.
It opens the way particularly to the know~
ledge of the globe which we inhabit;a

{abject fo important and interefting to
man. —It 1s veriﬁed by experience. Man—
kind are for ever changing their habita-
tions by conqueﬁ or by commerce. And.

we ﬁnd them in all climates, not only able

to endure the change, but fo aﬂmilated by
time, that we cannot fay with certainty

,3 “I whofe anceﬁor was the. native of the clime,

and whofe the intruding foreigner.

I will here propofe a few principles on

a the change of colour, that are not liable

to difpute, and that may- tend to ﬁxed fame
light on this fubjeé’c. °

In the beginning, it may be proper to

‘Qbferve, that the ﬂcin, though extremely

3

I

in the Human Species. 23”.:

delicate and eaﬁly fufceptible of impref-
[ion from external caufes, is, from its
ﬂruéiure, among the. leaﬂ: mutable parts
of the body *. Change of complexion
does for this reafon continue long, from

whatever caufe it may have arifen. And
if the caufes of colour have deeply penea ’M
trated the texture of the ﬂrin, it becomes
perpetual. Figures, therefore, that are i
ﬁained with paints inferted by puné‘tures ' ,

made in its fubﬁance, can never be eEa-
ced 1‘. An ardent fun is able entirely to

‘ Anatomiﬁs inform us that, like the bones, it has
few or no veﬂ'cls, and therefore is not liable to thofe
changes of augmentation or diminution, and conti—
nual alteration of parts, to which the flefh, the blood,
and whole vafcular {y Rem are {ubjeéh r t

f It IS well known what a length of time is requi-
red to eﬁ'ace the freckles contraéled in a fair {kin by
the expofure of a {ingle day. Freckles are feen of all
{hades of colour. They are known to be created by
the fun; and become indelible by time. The fun
has power equally to change every part of the (kin,
when equally expofed to its action. And it is, not
improperly, obferved by fome writers, that colour
may be juiily conﬁdered as an univerfal freckle.

”ﬁlm-1‘? ‘
1,: ‘fi‘[!
'l’ flit; 3:1

(“1,1 M ""

I“) 1‘7 K?

3:1..15

'J. 1v; 3

,{iﬁri’

'24. OfCOmflexion am! Figure ‘

penetrate its texture. Even in our climate,
the. ﬂiin, when ﬁrﬂ expofed to the direéi
and continued aé‘tion of the folar rays, is ind
ﬂamed into blif’ters, and fco’rched through
its whole fubﬁance. Such an operation
not only changes its colour, but increafes
its thicknefs. The ﬂimulus of heat exci-
ting a greater ﬂux of humours to the ﬂtin,
tends‘to incraﬂ‘ate its fubf’tance,‘ till it be-
comes denfe enough to reﬁll the aﬂion of
the exciting caufe*. On the fame prin—
ciple, frié‘tion excites bliﬁers in thehand
of the labourer, and thickens the {kin till
it becomes able to endure the continued
operation of his rinf’truments. The face
or the hand, expofed uncovered during an
entire fummer, contracts a colour of the
darkeft brown. In a torrid climat€,where
the inhabitants are naked, the colour will
be as much deeper as the ardor of the fun
is both more conf’tant and more intenfe.
I

* Anatomil’ts know that all people of colour haVe
their {kin‘thicker than people of a fair completion,
in proportion to the darknefs of the hue.

in the Human Specier; is

And if we campare the dark hue that;

among us, is fometimes formed by conti- ‘ ' ' ;

nual ‘eipofu‘re', with the colour of the Af— v 5

'rican; the diﬁ’erenee is'tiot greater than is
proportioned to the augmented heat and
canftan'cy ‘of the climate ””2

The prineiple of colOut is not,ihov‘veirer,
to be derived folely from the aetion of the
run upon the fkin. Heat, efp’ecially When
united with putrid Exhalations that copi-
ouﬂy impregnate the atr'nofp‘here' in Warm
.and uncultivated regions, relates the net--
vous fyﬁem; The‘bile- in c0nfequence is
augtnented,‘and {héd through the Whole
mafs “of the body. This liquor tinges the
complexion of a yellow colour,- which af-
fumes by time a darker hue. In many
other inﬁance‘s, we fee that relaXation,»

’5“ If the force of ﬁre be fuflicietit at a given di-
{tance to footch the fuel, approach it as" much near—
er as is proportional to the diﬁ'erence of heat be-

tween our climate and that of Africa; and it will burn
it black.

2 G

26 Of. Complexion mid Figure

whether it be carried by .the vapouréq’of
ﬁagnant waters, ’or . by; fed éntary "occupa—
tion's, orfby lofs of blood, or bylinidolence,
fubjeé’cs men todiforders of the :bile, and-
difcolours .the ﬂ;in.: ltﬁhas been ‘proved
by phyﬁcians, that infervi'd'clinfratcs' the
bile is alwa‘ys augmented in proportion to
the heat? Bile expofe’d to the .funiand
air, is kno‘Wn to change its Colour. to black
msblaCk is therefore the tropical'hue. Men
who__ remove from northern; téwffouthern.
regions are u‘fually attacked by dangerous
diforde‘rs that leave the blood impoveriﬂi-
edg,» , andyﬂiedv a yellow" appearance jojver ;the
ﬂaring“ \Thefe: di-{ordfersi "are perhaps the
efforts of nature in breaking :dovifhi‘and
changing the-conﬁitgtion, in. order to ac-
commodate it to: .the‘climate-i ’orftogive
icthat degree of relaxation, and to mingle
with it that proportion of bile, which is
necelTary for its new ﬁtuagion T On this
dark ground-the huelvof the climate be-

’* See Dr I‘VFCIurg on the bile.
j“ Phylicians differ in their opinions concerning]
the {late of the bile in warm countries. Sorrie {up

. in [be Human Specierq 27

Comes, at‘length, deeply and permanently
impreﬂ‘ed.

On the fubjeé’t of the phyﬁcal caufes of
colour, I {hall reduée my pr’inciple’s;.to a.
few ﬁiortfpropoﬁtions, derived chieﬂy from
experience and obfervation; and placed in
fuch conneé’tion as to illuf’trate and fup-
port one another. , They may ’beenlarged
and multiplied by men of leifure and ta-
lent-s who are difpofedﬂto purfue the in-
quiry farther. ' -~ ,2 ,

I. It is a faét, that the fun darkens the

ikin, although there be no uncommon re-
dundancy of the bile.

pofe that it is thrown out to be a correéior of putri-

dity. Others fuppo‘fe, that in all relaxed habits, the .

bile is it’felf in a putrid ﬁate. I decide not among
the opinions of phyﬁcians. Whichever be true, the
theory I advance will be, equally juft. The bile will
be augmented; it wilLtinge the Ikin; and there, whe-
ther in 3. found or putrid (tare, will receive the aﬁion
of the‘ifun and atmofphere, rind be, in proportion,
changed towards black.

C 2 ’

28 0f Complexion/and Figure

, '2. It is alfo a fact, that redundancy of
bile darkens the ﬂsin, although there be
no uncommon expofure to the‘fun 9*.

3. It is a faé’t equally certain, that‘where
both caufes co-operate, the effect is much
greater, and the colour .much deeper T.

4. It is difcovered by anatomifis, that
the {kin conﬁf’ts of three lamellz, or folds:
u-the external, which in all nations‘isan
eXtremely ﬁne and tranfparent integument;
-the interior, which is alfo white;-—-and
an intermediate, which is a cellular mem-
brane ﬁlled with a mucous fubﬁance.

5. This fubftance, whatever it be, is al— '
tered in its appearance and colour with
every change in the conﬂitution—Asap-

"' Redundancy of bile long continued, as in the
cafe of the black jaundice, or of extreme melancholy,
creates a colour almoft perfectly black.

1- This we fee veriﬁed in thofe perfons who have
been long fubjeé’c' to bilious diforders, if they have
been much expofed to the fun. Their complexion
becomes in that cafe extremely dark.

in the Hume/2 Species._ 29

pears in blufhing, in fevers, or in confe-
quence of exercife‘ A lax nerve, that does
not propel the blood with vigour, leaves
it pale and fallow—~it is inﬂantly affected
with the fmalleﬂ furoharge of bileyand
Rained of a yellow colour. \

6. The change of climate produces a
proportionable alteration in the internal
ﬂare and ﬁruéture of the body, and in the
quantity of the fecretions*. In fouthern
climates particularly, the bile, as has been
remarked, is always augmented,

7. Bile, expofed to the fun and air in a
ﬁagnant, or nearly in a ﬂagnant ﬁate,
tends in its colour towards black,

8. The fecretions, as they approach the

" This appears from, the diforders with which men
are ufually“ attacked on changing their climate; and
from the difference of ﬁgure and afpcét which takes
place in confequence of fuch removals. This latter
reﬂeétion will afterwards he further illuﬁrated.

C‘s

 

30 0f Campfexion and Figure

' extremities, become more languid in their
motion, till at length they come almoﬁ to
a ﬁxed ﬁate 1n the fkin.

9.7 The aqueous parts efcaping eaﬁly by
'perfpiration through the pores of the ﬂsin,
thofe that are more denfe and incraiTated
remain in a mucous or glutinous ftate in
that cellular membrane between the Intes-
'rior fkin and the fcarf, and receive there,
during a long time, the impreﬂions of'ex-

ternal and difcolouring c‘aufes. '

10. The bile is peculiarly liable to be-
come mucous and inctaffated*; and in
this ﬁate, being unﬁt for perfpiration, and
attaching itfelf (ironeg to that {pong}; tif-
fue of nerves, it is there detained for a
length of time, till it receives the repeated
action of the fun and atmofphere.

11. From all the preceding principles
taken together, it appears that the com—
* In this {late it is always copiouﬂy fOund in the

ﬁomach and intef’tines, at leaﬁ; in confequcnce of a

bilious habit of body.

W)

S at)” “RC '2 ,
(X4 ﬁlm/i: ~ 6 «’“s

in tbeHuman'Species. " 31

plexion.:in anyrclimate will be‘ Changed
towardsblach in proportion 'to the degree
of heat in the atmofphere, and to the
quantity of bile 1n the ﬂiin.

12. The vapours of ﬁagnant watersvvith
which uncultivated regions abound ; all
_ great fatigues and hardlhips ; poverty and

z . .mr r,“

naﬂinefs; tend, as well as heat, to augment '

the bile. y' Hence, no lefs than from their
nakednefs, kfavages will always be difco-
loured, even in cold, climates For though
cold, when afliﬁed by fucculent nouriﬂh

Evclothmg furnifhed in civilized fociety,

:3 propels the blood with force to the extre~
ﬂimities, and clea1s the complexion; yet

when hardlhips and bad living relax the
fyﬁem, and when pear and ﬂ1i1veri7ng fa—
vages, under the arctic cold, do not polTefs
thofe conveniences that, by opening the
pores and lcherilhing the body, aﬂift the
motion of the blood to the I'urface, the
ﬂorid and fanguine principle is repelled,
and the complexion is left to be formed.

,1 . ‘
' C4- , ' .' "(-3. 1

my

(,1, '11:?” W46"! 17’ V ' 1 A." »

U

g; ament, and by the comfortable lodging and

‘7‘“ ‘1" :1

.2 Fig?

32 0f Complexion and Figure Iii-a

¥

by the dark coloured bile; which, in thrill?“
cafe, becomes the more dark; becaufe the.
obﬁrué‘tion of the pores preferves it long-
er in a ﬁxed {late in the ikin, Hence,
perhaps, the deep Lapponian complexion,
which has been eﬂeemed a phenomenon’
f0 difﬁcult to be explained.

1.13,. Gold, Where it is not extreme *, is
followed by a contrary eﬂ'eét. 1t correﬂs
the bile, it braces the conﬁitution, it pro—
pels the'bloml to the furface of the body
with vigour, and renders the complexion
clear and. ﬂorid, T-

,. ‘-"' Extreme cold -is_ folloﬂved by an effect ﬁmilar to

- that of extreme heat. It relaxes the conﬁitution by
overﬁraining it, and augments the bile. This, toge—
ther with the fatigues and hardfhips and other evils
of favage life, renders the complexion darker beneath
' the arétic circle, than it. is in the middle regions of
the temperate zone even in a favage Rate of fociety. U

+ Cold air contains a conﬁderable quantity of
nitre; and this ingredient is known to be favour-
able to a clear and ruddy complexion—TIM accu-
rate clpemz'ﬂry offbeprq/ent age bar taught 21:; Ma: tbe
gneient and vulgar opinion {but air contain: NITRE,

in {be Humor: Species, 3§

Such are the obfervationswhich I pro.-
pofe ‘ concerning the proximate caufe of
colour in the human fpecies. But I re:-
mark,with pleafure, that whether this theo-
ry be well founded, or not, the fact may
be perfectly afcertained, that climate has
all that power to change the complexion
which I fuppofe, and which is neceifary to
the prefent fubje&.——It appears from the
whole ﬁate of the world—it appears from
obvious and undeniable events within the
memory of hiﬁory, and from events even ’
within our own view.

Encircle the earth in every zone, and, .
making thofe reafonable allowances which
have been already fuggefied, and which
. will afterwards be farther explained, you

is founded manly in theory and in ignorance.-—7'be

“ clear and ﬂorid” complexion, tberey‘brc, i: not to 6:
attributed to any nitrou: principle contained in, but“.
folely to tbeﬂimulu; of, cold air. 7773 #6? of nitre

on the inanimate mufcularﬁbre is well known,- Imt, it

i: to be pnfumed that it: tﬂeé? on tbe complexion of
the living body would, even in large quantities, be very.

inconﬁderablg, ‘ H EDITOR.

34 0f complexion and Figure

w‘ill fee‘every‘zone marked by its diﬁiné’t

and charaéteriﬁical colour. ‘ The black
prevails under the equator; under the tro-
pics, the dark copper; and on this ﬁde of
the tropic of Cancer, to the feventieth de-
‘gree of north latitude, you fucceﬂively
difcern the olive, the broWn, the'fair, and
the fanguine complexion. Of each; of
thefe there are feveral tints or fhades. And
under the aré’tic circle, you return again
to the dark hue. This general uniformi—
ty in the effeél; indicates an inﬂuence in
the climate, that, under the fame circum—
ﬁances, will always operate in the fame
Vmanner. The apparent deviations from
the law of climate that exiﬂ: in different
regions of the globe will be found to con-
ﬁrm it, when I come, in the progr'efs of
this difcourfe, to point out their caufes *5.

The power of climate, I have faid, ap-
pears from obvious and undeniable events

"“ Independently on the eﬂ'eéis of the Rate of fo-
ciety which will be hereafter illul’crated, there are, in
reality, various climates under the fame parallels.

. in {be EzmanSpgciw. . i 35

within the memory- of hiﬁ'orjr. From the
Baltic to, the Mediterranean you trace the
different latitudes by various {hades cf
colour. From the fame, or from nearly
refemb‘ling. nations, are derived the. fair
German, the dark F renc’hman,’ the fwarthy
Spaniard ands Sicilian. The fouth‘of Spain
is 'diltinguifhed by complexion from'the
north. The fame obfe‘rvation” maybeap-
plied to melt of the other countries Of
Europe. And if we would extend it be-
yond Europe to the great nations of the
call, it is applicable to Turkey, tO’Arabia,
to Perfia, and to China. The people of
Pekin arefair; at Canton, they are nearly
black. The Perﬁans near the Cafpiancvfea
are among the fairel‘t people in the world *5;
near the gulph Of Ormus they are of a dark
olive. The inhabitants of the Stony and

Defert Arabia are tawny; while thofe‘ of »
Arabia the Happy are as black as the Ethi- ‘

opians. In thefe ancient nations, colour

holds a regular progreﬂion with the latir- 7

"‘ The fazr Circaﬂian has become proverbial of the
women of a neighbouring nation ~.

rid"

‘ ”fr?“
' ,A‘

36 0f Compfexion and Figure

titude from the equator. The examples of
the Chinefe and the Arabians are the more
deciﬁve on this fubjeét, becaufe they are
known to have continued, from the remo-
teft antiouity, unmingled with other na-
tions. The latter, in particular, can be
traced up to their origin from one fami-
ly. ‘But no example can carry with it
greater force on this fubjeét than that of
the Jews. Defcended from one ﬂock,
prohibited by their moﬂ facred inﬁitu—
tions from intermarrying with other na-

\ tions, and yet difperfed, according to the

divine predictions, into every. country on

, the globe, this one people is marked with

the colours of all. Fair in Britain and

‘ Germany, brown in France and in Tur-
xkey, fwarthy in Portugal and in Spain,

olive in Syria and in Chaldea, tawny’ or
copper coloured in Arabia and in Egypt *2

Another example of the power of cli-
mate, more immediately fubjeﬁ to our own
view, may be {hown in the inhabitants of »

l

* Buffon’s Nat. Hiﬁ. Vol. III. ‘

in tbe Human Specier. 37

thefe United States. Sprung within a few
years from the Britifh, the Irifh, and the
German nations, who are the fairel’t people
.in Europe,' they are now fpread over this
continent from the thirty-ﬁrﬂ to the forty-
ﬁfth degree of northern latitude. And,
notwithﬂanding the temperature of the
ciimate—nOtwithﬁanding the fhortneﬁ; of

the period ﬁnce their ﬁrﬁ eﬁabliihment in-

America—:notwithﬁanding the continual
mixture of Europeans with thofe born
in the country—notwithﬁanding previous
ideas of beauty that prompted them to

guard againft the inﬂuence of the'ciimate ‘

-—and notwithf’tanding the ﬁate of high
civilization in which theyxtook poffeﬂion
of their new habitations, they have already
fuﬂ'ered a viﬁble change. A certain coun-
tenance of palenefs and of foftnefs ﬁrikes
a traveller from Britain the moment he
arrives upon our Ihore. A degree of fal-
lownefs is viﬁble to him, which; through
familiarity, or the want of a general ﬁan-
dard of comparifon, hardly attraéis our
obfervation. This eﬁeét is more obvious

. .38 Of-Compi’eximz and Fz'gz'gre

in the-middle,- andgftill more in the {outlia
em, than -, in the northern ﬂates. It is
more obfervable in the lowlands near the
ocean; than as you approach the Apalachig-
an-mounta'ms {and more in the lower and
labouring elafTeSOf people, than in famii
li'es 'of eafy-fortune; who poﬁefs thelmeans
, 'and' the inclination to proteét their com.-
plexion. The inhabitants of New-Jerfey,
below the falls of the riVers,:are-fomewhat
darker in. their; -eolour than the peoplei of
Pennfylvaniga; both abecaufe the land :is
lower in its'ﬁtuatiom and becaufe it lS"CO#
I‘vered‘ With algreater' quantity of ﬁagnant
«yawn- A -'more fouthem latitude taug—
\ méhts the Colour along the-{bores of Mary-
land ’andHVirginia; At' length the low
lands of t’het‘Carolinas and of Georgia de-
generate to»’~a' complexion that is but a few
{hades lighter than that of the Iroquoise
I {peak of the, poor and labouring elaﬁee
., of the people, whoare always rﬁrft and molt
deeply aﬁeﬂed by the inﬂuence: of climate,
and who eventually give the national com—
plexion to every country. The change of

in tbe Human Spain. 39

complexion which has already paired '(1p'«i

on thefe people is nOt eafily imagined by 3

an inhabitant of Britain, and furnilhes the 3 r3,
icleareﬂ evidence to an attentive obferver :1
of nature, that, if they were. throWn, like L )
the native Indians, into a ‘favage ﬁate, they (3,, ,3: ti
would be perfeé’tly marked, in time, with i i
the fame colour *. Not only their com-

* ’In fupport of our author’s obfervation, We may
mention the inhabitants of the weftern frontiers of

the United States. Thefe people are, in general, in :3 3 , 3
a Rate of fociety nearly as rude as that of the Indi< {r 3 , K :
Vans. Indolence, and an unbounded love of liberty, u. .. l r J‘- "”3" 5“
are [the molt {hiking features 30f their charaéter, 3,33 1: s it ' 3:.
They are almoft entire {hangers to agriculture, and ‘- , 1,335,131 '

fubﬁit chieﬂy by hunting. This mode of fubﬁﬁence g 3; 3 3 3 , '
has imprinted on them, not only the MANNERS, but ,3 i3 3 3 r 3-,;
even the COMPLEXION and the FEATURES of their i .- , ,1-
favage neighbours. It is alfo worthy of obfervation, 341W ‘
that thofe Europeans, and others, who have intermix-

ed with the Indians, and have embraced their man- —
nets and mode of living, are more efpecially obferved

to partake of their appearance. “ At the Shawano

“ main-camp,” fays Mr Adair, “ I faw a Pennfylvani-

“ an, a whiterhan by birth, and in profeﬂion a Clari-

“ ﬁian, who, by the inclemency of the fun, and

“ his endeavours of improving the red colour, was

“ tarnifhed with as deep an Indian hue, as any of

‘1
at)"

40 0f Complexion and Egan

plexion; but their whole conﬂitution, feeins
to be changed; So thin and meagre is the
habit of the poor, and of the overfeers of
their ﬂaves, that, frequently, their limbs
appear to have a difpropottioned length to‘
the body, and the {hape ofyéthe ﬂeeleton is
Evidently difeernible through the ikin’lt;

i‘ the camp, thongh he had been in the wdodé
“ only the {pace of fouryears.” (T‘ze Hg’ﬂa'ry of the
Almerimn Indium, 8:0. p; 3.4.) If; then; thefe re-
markable changes are wrought on the fyﬁem, in the
term of a few years, We. ought not to be furpri‘fed at
feeing even the meﬁ: oppoﬁte time and features pro-
duced from the long and permanent operation of
PHYSICAL and of MORAL caufes‘. EDITOR.

"* The darlc colon? of the natiVes‘ of the “led-India;
Iﬂzmdé is ivell known to approach very neat a dark
eopper. The dc-fcendents of the Spaniards in South
America are already become eopper-coloured: (See
Phil. Tranf of Roy. Soc Lond. N° 476. Sea. 4. )
The Portuguefe of Mitomba in Sierra Leona on the
wait of Africa have, by intermarrying with the na-‘
tiv es, and by adopting their manners, become; in a
few generations, perfeéily ailimilated m afpeﬁ, ﬁgure‘
and complexion: (Seé Treatife on the Trade of Great
Britain to Africa, by an African merchant.) And

Lord Kames, who cannot be fufpeéied of partiality
x i i . i

a, . ,
Kr ,‘ ‘ ’ u ' '.
w y i '

O

‘ in 2796‘ Human Siberia. 4i

If thefe men had been found in a diﬁant,

region where no memory of their origin
remained, the philofophers who efpou‘fe the
hypotheﬁs of different fpecies of men would
have produced them in proof, as they have
often done nations diﬂinguiﬂled by {mallet
(inferences than dit’tinguifh thefe from
their European ancel’tors*. Examples ta-

on this fuhjeé’t, fays (if another Portuguefe fettlement

‘4 , on the wait of Congo, that the defcendents of thofe
polifhed Europeans, have become, both in their per- '

tons and their manners, more like bealts than like
men. (See Sketches of Mah, prel. difc.) Thefe ex;
amples tend to ftrengthen the inference drawn from
the changes that have happened in the Anglo-Ame-
ricans. And they {how how eaﬁly climate would
allimilatc foreigners to natives in the courfe of time,
if they‘would adopt the fame manners, and equally
expofe themfelves to its inﬂuence.

‘ The habit of America is, in general, mOre Ilen-
der than that of Britain. But the extremely meagre
afpeé’t of the po’oreft and loweft clafs of people in
Tome of the fouthern Rates may arife from the follow;
ing caufe : That the changes produced by climate are,
in the ﬁrl’t inltance, generally difeafes. Hereafter;
when the conﬁitution {hall be perfeétly accommodae

D

42 Of Complexion and Figure

ken from the natives of the United States
are the ﬁronger, becaufe climate has not
had time to imprefs Upon them its full
character. And the change has been re—
tarded by the arts of foci’ety, and by the
continual intermixture of foreign natiOns.

Thefe changes may, to perfons who
think fuperﬁcially on the fubjeéi, feem
more ﬂow in their progrefs than 1s con-
ﬁflent with the principles hitherto laid
down concerning the” inﬂuence of climate.
But in the philofophy of human nature,
it is worthy of obfervation, that all na-

x

7‘ ted to the climate, it will by degrees aﬂ'ume a more
regular and agreeable ﬁgure. The Anglo-Ameri-
Cans, however, will never refemble the native Indians.
Civilization will prevent f0 great a degeneracy either
in the colour or the features. Even if they were
thrown back again into the favage ftate, the refem-
blance would not be complete, hecaufe the one would
receive the impreﬁions of the climate on the ground
of features formed in Europe,-—-the others have re-
ceived them on the ground of features formed 1n a
very different region of the globe. The eﬁeﬁs of
fuch various combinations can never be the fame.

in the Human Specie}. 4g

tional changes, whether moral or phyﬁcal,

advance by imperceptible gradations, and “ I

are not accomplifhed but in a {cries of
ages. Ten centuries were requiﬁte to po-
lilh the manners of Europe. It is not im—
probable that an equal {pace of time may
be neceffary to form the countenance, and
the ﬁgure of the body ;—-—-to receive all the
infenﬁble and inﬁnite impreﬂions of - cli—
mate ;&—to combine thefe with the eﬁ‘eéts
that refult from the [fate of fociety;—-to
blend both along with perfonal peculiari-
ties;—--and, by the innumerable unions of
families, to melt down the whole into one
uniform and national countenance*. It
is even queﬁionable, whether, amidft eter-
nal migrations, and conqueﬂs, any nation
in Europe has yet received the full effects

* In lavage life, men more fpe’edily waive the
charaé‘teriﬂic‘ features of the climate, and of the {late
of fociety: becaufe the habits and ideas of fociety
among then-1 ate few and ﬁmple‘; and to the aétio'ri
of. the climate they are eitpofed naked and defence:
lefs to fuller its full force at once. I

2 Dz

I

44 OfCamplcxion and Figure

of thefe caufes. China and Arabia are;
perhaps, the only civilized countries in the
world, in which they have attained their
utmol’t operation; becaufe they are the
only countries in which the people have
been able, during a long fucceﬁion of
ages, to preferve themfelves unmixed with
other nations. Each parallel of latitude
is, among them, diﬁinéUy marked by its
peculiar complexion. In no other nations
is there fuch a regular and perfect grada-
tion of colour’ as is traced from the fair
natives of Pekin, to Canton, whofe inha-
bitants are of the darkeﬁ copper ;-—or,
from the olive of the Defert Arabia, to the
deep black of the province of Yemen. It
is plain then, that the caufes of colour, and
of! other varieties in the human fpecies,
have not yet had their full operation on
the inhabitants of thefe , United States.
Such an operation," however, they have al-
ready had, as aﬁords a ﬂrong proof, and
an intereﬁing example, of the powerful in- ,
ﬂuence of climate *.

* The reader will pleafej to keep in mind, that in

a“?

6

in the Human Speciér. 45

The preceding obfervations ‘have been
intend-ed chieﬂy to explain the principle
of colour. I preceed now to illuﬁrate the
inﬂuence of climate on other varieties of
the human body.

remarking on the changes that have paired on the
Anglo-Americans, I have in view the mafs of the
people : and that I have in view, likewife, natives of
the fecond or third generation; and not fuch as are
fprung from parents, one or both of whom have been
born in Europe; though even with regard to thefe
the remarks will be found to hold in a great degree.
I am aware that particular inﬁances may be adduced

' that will feem to contradict. each remark. . But fuch

examples do not overthrow general concluﬁons de-

rived from the body of the populace. And thefe in-

ﬁances, I am perfuaded, will be very rare among
thofe ‘ who have had a clear American defcent by
both parents, for two or three generations. They
will be more rare in the low and level country, where
the climate is more different, and the defcents more
remote from Europe, than in the countries to the well:
where the land rifes into hills. Here the climate is
more ﬁmilar to that in the middle of Europe,‘ and the
people are more mingled with emigrants from Ire;
land and Germany.

2 D3

 

46 Ofﬂoﬂplexion and F zgure

It would be impoﬂible, in the compafs
of a difcourfe like the prefent, to enter
minutely into the defcription of every fea-
ture of the countenance, and of every
limb of the body, and to explain all the
changes in each that may poﬂibly be pro-
duced by the power of climate combined
with other accidental caufes. Our know-
ledge of the human conﬁitution, or of
the globe, or of the powers of nature, is,
perhaps, not fuﬂiciently accurate and ex-
tenﬁve to enable us to offer a fatisfaélory
folution of every difﬁculty that an atten-
tive or a captious obferver might propofe,
But if we are able, on juft principles, to
explain the capital varieties, in ﬁgure and
afpeél, that exiﬁ among different nations,
it ought to fatisfy a re‘afonable inquirer;
as no minuter diﬂbrences can be fuﬂicient

to conﬂitute a diﬁiné’t fpecies.

,‘ (“V
.

Ifhall, therefore, conﬁne my obferva-

«3 tions, at prefent, to thofe confpicuous va-.

rieties that appear in the hair, the ﬁgure
of the head, the ﬁze of the limbs, and in

,. 2" ‘? theprincipal features of the face.

A ‘5,“ '7» y"
i J” g _

in. the Human Spain. 47

' The hair generally follows the law of
the complexion; becaufe its roots, being
planted in the ﬂiin, derive its-nourifhment
and its colour from the fame fubflance
which there contributes to form the com~
plexion. Every gradation of colour in
the ﬂdn, from the brown to the perfectly
black, is accompanied with proportionable
{hades in the hair. The pale red, or fandy
complexion, on the other hand, is ufually
attended with rednefs of the hair. Bee-
tween thefe tviro points is found almoﬂ:
every other/colour of this excrefcence ari—
ﬁng from the accidental mixture of the
principles of black and red in different
proportions. ‘ White hair, which is found
only with the faireft fkin, _feems to be the
middle of the extremes, and the ground in
which they both are blended *. The ex-
tremes, if I may fpeak fo, are as near to
each. other as to any point in the circle,

* That black hair is fometimes fuppofed to be uni—
ted with the faireﬁ: Ikin, arifes from the deception
which the contraﬂ: between the hair and {kin puts
upon the ﬁght. '

D 4

x 48 A Of Complexion and F zgure

and are often found to run into one ano—
ther. The Highlanders of Scotland are
generally either black or red.- A red beard '
is frequently united with black hair. And
if, in a red or dark coloured family, a child ’
happens to deviate from the law of the
houfe, it is commonly to the oppoﬁte ex-
treme. On this obfer'vation permit‘me to
remark, that thofe who deny the identity
of human origin, becaufe one nation is red
and another is black, might, on the fame
principle, deny, to perfons of different
complexion, the identity of family. But
as the theft, in the latter inﬁance, is certain,
we may, in the former, reafonably con—
clude, that the {late of nerves or ﬂuids
which contributes to produce one or other
of thefe eﬁ'eé’ts in a ﬁngle family, may be
the general tendency of‘a particular cli-
mate. In this example, at leaft, we fee
that the human conﬂitution is capable of
being moulded, by phyﬁcal caufes, into
many of the varieties thatxliﬁinguifhman-
kind. It is contrary therefore to found
philofophy, which never aﬂigns different;

in the Human Specier. 4.9

eaufes,without neeefﬁty, for ﬁmilar events,
to have recourfe, for explaining thefe van
rieties, to the~ hypotheﬁs of feveral original .
l'pecies*. '

Climate poﬂ’efl‘es great and evident in»
ﬂuence on the hair, not only of men, but
of all‘other animals. The changes which
this excrefcence undergoes in the -'s at ‘
, leal‘t equal to what it quers in mani‘i?f If,

9.

* If we fuppofe diﬂ'erent fpecies to have been creas
ted, how {hall we determine their number? Are any
of them 101’: ? or where {hall we at prefent ﬁnd them
clearly diﬁinguiihed from all others ? or were the
fpecies of men made capable of being blended toge-
ther, contrary to the nature of other animals, f0 that
they can never be difcriminated, proving, thereby,
' that thefe diverﬁties were unneceﬁhry to the end for
which. they are fuppofed to be created? If we have
reafon, from the Varieties that exil’t in the fame family,
or in the fame nation, to conclude that the Danes, the
French, the Turks, and people even more remote, are
of one fpecies; have we not the fame reafon to con-
clude, that the nations beyond them, and who do not
differ from the laf’t by more confpicuous (liﬁinétions,
than. the laﬂ; diﬂ‘cr from the ﬁrl’t, are alfo of the fame
fpecies? By pUrfuing this progreﬂion, we {hall ﬁnd
but one fpecies from the equator to the pole.

I

l

50 0f Complexion and Figure

in one cafe, thefe tranfmutations are ac:-
knowledged to be conﬁﬂent with identity
of kind, they ought not, in the other, to
be efteemed criterions of diﬁinét fpecies.
Nature hath adapted the pliancy of her
work to the ﬁtuations in which {he may
require it to be placed. The beaver, re—
moved to the warm latitudes, exchanges
its ﬁlair’ and the fheep its wool, for 'a eoarfe
hair ‘that preferves the animal in a more
moderate temperature. The coarfe and
.black {hag of the bear is converted, in the
arctic regions, into the limit and whitef’c
fur. The horf'e, the deer, and almoﬂ
every animal protected by- hair, doubles _
his coat in the beginning of winter, and
' {beds it in the fpring when it is no longer
ufeful. The ﬁnenefs and denﬁty of the hair
is augmented in proportion to the latitude
of the country. The Canadian and Ruﬂians
furs are, therefore, better than the furs of
climates farther fouth. The colour of the
hair is likewife changed by climate. The
bear is white under the arctic circle; and
in high northern latitudes, black foxes are
mof’t frequently found. Similar 636615 of

in the Human Species. 51

climate are difcernible on mankind. Al-
molt everyination is diftinguifhed by fome
peculiar quality of this excrefcence. The
hair of the Danes is generally red, of the
Engliih fair or' brown, and of the French
_ commonly black.‘ The Highlanders of
Scotland are divided between. red and
black. Red hair. is frequently. found in
the cold and elevated regions of the Alps,
although black be the predominant com-
pleXiQn at the foot of; thofe mountains.
The aborigines of America, like all people
of colour, have black hair; and it is gene-
rally long and ﬂraight. The ﬁraightnefs
of the hair may arife from the relaxation
of the climate, or from the humidity of an
uncultivated region 1‘. But whatever he

1‘ THIS ﬂraig/ytmj} of the hair of the American In-
dians may, we think, be eaﬁly accounted for without
a fuppoﬁng (and it certainly would be, at belt, a gratui-
tous fuppoﬁtion) that the climate of the New World is
either more relaxing or more humid than that of many,
and thofe extenﬁve, regions of the other hemifphere.
Indeed, as this condition of the hair is as obfervable "
among the Indians of the Floridas‘and of other fervid
parts of America, as among thofe who dwell to the

,i

52 / \OfCOmPIKxiOIZ dﬂszg‘arg

the caufe, the Anglo-Americans already'
feel its inﬂuence. And curled locks to

frequent among their anceﬁors are rare in
the United States *.

north, where the climate is certainly more humid, it
would be unphilofophical to attempt an explanation
of the faét from the inﬂuence of this Rate of the cli-
mate. The cuflom of anointing the hair, which is
u‘niverfal among the tribes of America, is, of itfelf,
‘fuﬁicient to account for the fact ; efpecially as we ﬁnd
among ~almoi’t all the northern AﬁatiCS (among whom
this practice alfo preyails) the fame {traightnefs of
hair. But {till if it is true that thehair of the Anglo-
.American is lefs fufceptible of the curl than that of
his anceftor, we muf’c call in to our aid fome other
caufe to explain the phenomenon. At prefent, how-
ever, we are incapable of afcertaining this caufe ; we
will, therefore, rather confefs our ignorance than at,
tempt to amufe by a fanciful conjecture. EDITOR.

”’f They are molt rare in the fouthern ftates, and'
in thofe families that are farthel’t defcended from
their European origin. Straight lank hair is almoﬁ‘.
a general charaé’teriﬁic of the Americans of the fe—
cond and third race. .It is impoﬂible, however, to
prediét what effeét hereafter the clearing of the coun-
try and the progrefs of cultivation may have on the
hair as well as other qualities of the Americans:

in the Human Specier. 5 3

Black~ is‘ the molt ufual colour of the
, human hair; becaufe thofe‘ climates that
are moft exteriﬁve, and molt favourable to
population, tend ”to the dark complexion.-
Cliinates that are n0t naturally marked by
a peculiar colour, may owe the accidental
predominancy of one to the conﬁitutional
qUalities of an anceflral family.—~They
may owe the prevalence of a variety of
colours to the early fettlement of different
families; or to the migrations or conqueﬁs
of different nations. England is, perhaps
for this reafon, the country in which is
feen the greateﬁ variety in the colour of
the hair. '

But the form of this excrefcence which
'principally merits obfervation, becaufe it
. feems to be fartheft removed from the or-
dinaryxlaws of nature, is feen in that
[fog/[e and curled fubf’tance peculiar to a

part of Africa, and to a few of the Aﬁatic
iflands.

They will neceﬁ‘arily produce a great change in the
climate, and confequently in the human conﬁitution.

i sruw‘

54 Of Complexion and Figure

This peculiarity hasbeen urg'ed as a tie:
ciﬁve charaéler of a diﬂiné’t fpecies With ,

' more aﬂiirance than became philofop’hers

but tolerabl‘y acquainted with the opera-
tions of nature. The fparfenefs of the
African hair is analogous to the effect
which a warm climate has been {h-own to
have on other animals. Cold, by obﬁruéi-
ing the perfpiration, tends to throw out;
the perfpirable matter accumulated at the
ﬂiin in an additional coat of hair. A
Warm climate, by opening the pores, eva-s
pOrates this-matter before it can be Con-
Creted into the f'ubf’tance of hair; and the?
laxnefs and aperture of the pores render
the hair liable tO’be eaﬁly eradicated by
innumerable accidents.

Its curl may refult in part, perhaps,
from external heat, and in part from the

,nature of the fubﬁance or fecretion by’

which it is nourilhed. That it depends
in a degree on the quality of the fecretion,
is rendered probable from its ’appearance‘
on the chin, and on other parts of the hu—

in the Human Species. 55‘

man body’.‘ Climate is as much diﬁin—
guifhed by the nature and proportion of
the fecretions as by the degree of heat.
Whatever be the nutriment of the hair, it:
feems to be combined in-the torrid zone
of Africa with fome ﬂuid of'a highly vo- { ‘4
latile or ar’dent quality. That it is com- '1a»-%-i;"“‘°'
bined with a ﬁrong volatile falt, the ranl; 9h“. 3””
and oﬁ'e-nﬁve fmell of many African na- 1 r: 5;. ‘
tions gives us reafon to fuf'peé’c. Saline "
fecretions tend to curl and to burn the i h
hair. The evaporation’of‘ any volatile
fpirit Would render its furface dry and
difpofed to contract; while the center con-
tinuing diﬁended by the vital motion, .. ,.
thefeoppoﬁte dilatations and contractions 7" " " I i
would neceITarily produce a curve, and > K .
I make the hair grow involved. This con- ' a , i. '
Ev“ .

. jeéiure receives fome conﬁrmation by 013‘er g a ,

ferving, that the negroes born 1n the Uni- 1? ,,_ ,;
ted States of America are gradually loﬁngi‘; ‘ a,
« ' the ﬁrong ﬁnell of the African zone; their 1 ‘ I " 2

hair is, at the fame time, growing lef‘s in- i U
volved, and becoming denfer and longer*.

,
r
.1
1

5.

’* Many negroes of the third race in America have;

 

56 , 0f Com/216x507: and Figure
External and violent heat parching the
(,1, ﬁt _ (extremities of the hair tends likewife-to
’ involve it. A hair held near the ﬁre in-
ﬁantly coils itfelf up. The herbs roll up
. ﬂ _ a A on? their leaves, in the extreme heats of farm.
kXt‘EV‘ *5 met, during the day, and expand them

Etﬁﬂﬁi to l-iﬂi again in the coolnefs of the evening. Af—
{in/Mi?“ a: rica is the hotteﬂ; country on the globe.-
,th: mama The ancients who frequented the Aﬁatic
3‘” at /zone el’teemed the African an uninhabi-

tablezone of ﬁre. The hair as well as the
whole human conf‘titution fufFers, in. this
region, the effects of an intenfe heat.

thiclt clofe hair, extended to four or five inches in’
length. In fome who take great pains to comb and
d‘refs it in oil, it is even longer, and, they are able to‘
extend it into a fhort queue’". This is particularly the
cafe with fome domel’tic fervants whohave more lei-
fure and better means than others to 2cheriih their
hair. Many negroes, however, cut their hair as fall:
a as it grows, preferring it fhort;

E ' -
‘ 3f Thefac? here mentioned h j the author afoul: (1:14
dzﬁenal evidence to our idea, that thoﬂraightneﬁ of the
hawwﬁ~ the ahorzginal American, and of the northern
Aﬁatic; i: accaﬁoned hy the prac‘lice of conﬂantly
anointing their heads. EDI TOR.r

 

in the Human Siberia. 57

The manners of the people add to the 1‘:

ginﬂuence of the "climate. Being favages

/: they have few arts to proteé‘t them from
1}

the Iky preferving the life of children";

its intenﬁty. The heat and ferenity of 2:1:

1: ~11 ~,

without: much care of the parent, they e 1—» 1 “1}“;(5

feetn to be the molt negligent people of
their offspring in the univerfel". Able {it}?
themfelv-es to endure the extremes of that?
; ardent climate, they mure their children 4"
i from their. moft tender age. They (11111::
them to lie in the aihes of their huts, or
to roll in the dull and fand beneath the
[direct rays of a burning fun. The mo-
_ ther, if {he 15 engaged, lays down the in-
fan: on the ﬁrPt fpot {he ﬁnds, and‘ is fel-
1 dom at the pains to feek the inifcrable

W

. \ 1 i , 1. V

! » ., ,u “E i I‘, x1 3’; ,r i 3-. ~ 1
, . «A , . . - ,(,__ ,

1 §§ i

3.! ’ : .9..- (,1 1(4;

‘ The manners of a people are formed, in a great
meafure, by their necellities. The dangers of the {1
North-American climate render the natives uncom-

monly. attentive to the prefervation of their children. (A

The African climate not laying its ﬁwage inhabitanté
under any necellity to be careful, they expofe their
children to its utmoll inﬂuence without concern.

l1 (1 ,1 Basil-451‘“

111‘

. ra “’
1“,! r2} ‘-

3 fig 1: will Of nComplmzon and Figure

. i. 3 3 3‘fhelter of a barren fhrub, Wthh 15 311 that
j t311e interior country affords. Thus the
hair is crifped, while the complexion is
_ blackened by exceﬂive heat ‘3. There is

‘3 <1. ,

,3? :43“.
._,,%-~-.? 2
v."' V” i "

paaw‘

1 ' t} I have myfelf been witnefs of this treatment of
\ V children by the ﬂaves in the fouthern Rates, where
‘1‘; V they are numerous enough to retain many of their
i African cuﬁoms. I {peak of the ﬁeld ﬂaves who, li-
ving in little villages, on their plantations, at a diltance

‘1.- from their matters manﬁons, are ﬂow in adopting
w the manners of their fuperiors. There I have feen
the mother of a child, within lefs than fix weeks af-
ter it was born, take it with her to the ﬁeld, and lay

it in the fand, beneath a hot fun, whilefhe hoed her
corn-row down and up. She would then fuckle it

a few minutes and. return to her work, leaving the
child in the fame expofure, although {he might have
gained, within a few yards, a convenient ihad-e.
Struck at ﬁrf’t with the apparent barbarity of this-
treatment, I have remoni’trated with them on the fub—
jeé‘t, and was uniformly told, that dry fund and'a hot
fun, were never found to hurt them. This treat-
ment tends to add to the injury that the climate does

“1“ to the hair. A ﬁmilar negligence among the poor,
{7 who fufTer their children to lie in afhes, or on the
*1, - “‘1. i naked ground, and who expofe them, without cover-
111g for their heads, to the fun and wind,- we find
2.1” 3 i ‘ greatly injures their hair. W e rarely fee perfons

.. r '4
.r 1 1s an“: (3
1 , :.,,~‘>,‘- .

 

in the Human Specier.‘ 59

"probably a concurrence of both the pre-
ceding caufes in the production of the ef-
fect. The inﬂuence of heat either exter-
nal, or internal, or of both, in giving the
' form to the hair of the Africans, appears,
nor only from its fparfenefs and its curl,
but, from its colour. It is‘ not of a {hin-
ing, but an aduﬁ black, and its extre-
mities tend to brown as if it had been
fcorched by the ﬁre.

Having treated fo largely on the form

of this excrefcence in that country where
itdeviates fartheﬁ from the common law
of the fpecies, - I proceed to conﬁder a 5’ ‘

few of the remaining varieties among
mankind.

The whole of the Tartar race are of low
ﬂature—Their heads have a difpropor-
3 E 2

who have been bred in extreme poverty, who have it
not {hm-t, and thin, and frittered. But the heat of

the {and and of the fun in Africa muft have a much

more powerful eﬂeﬁ.

66 0f Complexion and Figure

tioned magnitude to the reﬂ of the‘hbdy
-—-'-'Their {boulders are raifed, and their
necks are {hon—Their eyes are fmall,
and appear by the jutting of the eye-
brows over them, to be funk in the head
w—The 'nofe is fhort, and rifes but little
from the face—*The cheek is elevated and
fpread out on- the ﬁdes—The whole fea-
tures are remarkably coarfe and deform-
ed. And all thefe peculiarities are aggraa
vated, as you proceed towards the pole, in
the Lapponian, Borandian and Samoiede
races, which, as Buﬁ‘on juﬁly remarks, are
Tartars reduced to the laﬁ degree of de-
generacy—A race of men refembling the
Laplanders we ﬁnd in a ﬁmilar climate in ‘
America. The frozen countries round
Hudfon’s bay are, except Siberia, the
coldeﬂ in the world. And here the in-
habitants are between four and ﬁve feet
in height—Their heads are large—Their
eyes are little and weak—And their hands,
feet, and whole limbs uncommonly fmall*.

*igTh‘e Esqyluaux is the variety of our fpecies

in the Human Specier. 6 I

Thefe effects naturally refult from ex-
treme cold. Cold contracts the nerves, as
it does all folid bodies. The inhabitants
grow under the conﬁriétion of continual
frol‘t as under the forcible compreﬂion of
fome powerful machine. Men will there-5
fore be found in the higheﬁ- latitudes,
for ever {mall and of low 1lature*. The

. E 3

to which the author here alludes. This wretched
and diminutive race of men, who may be ranked
among the degeneracies of nature, appear to be evi—

. dently of the fame {lock with the Laplanders, the

Greenlanders, and fome other northern nations Mr
Hearne has traced them as far to the north as the la-
titude of 72°; and it feems very probable, that in
thefe high and frozen regions they have fubﬁﬂed
from a very remote aera. They have, however, been
difcovered in climates more genial ; as in the iﬂands ’
between the continents of Alia and America; and
at Norton’s Sound, Oonalafhka, and Prince William’s
Sound. ED 1T 0 R.

3“ A moderate degree of cold is neceﬂ‘ary to give
force and tone to the nerves, and to raife the human
body 'to its largeft ﬁze. But extreme cold overﬂrains
and contraé’ts them. Therefore Lini" northern tribes
are not only fmall, but weak and timid.

 

'62 , 0f Complexion and Fzgurc

exceﬂive* rigors of thefe frozen regions
affect chieﬂy the extremities. The blood

*' That CLIMATE has fome inﬂuence on the STA:
TURE of mankind no one who is in the leaft accug
(turned to obferve the operations of nature can difg
pute.’ Yet we prefume that the diminutive ftature
of the Efquimaux, and of {time other northern tribes,
both of the’ old and of the new hemifphere, cannot
be attributed entirely, nor perhaps chieﬂy, to the ope-
ration of the climate in which 'they pafs their mifc-
table exif’tence. The Tfhchutlki, though they inhag
bit fome of the higheﬂ latitudes of Alia, are among
the tallef’t and belt made men of that continent,-—-or
indeed of any other part of the world, hitherto dif-
covered f,-——an_d, if we take a {urvey of mankind in
all the intermediate latitudes from the higheﬂ: to the
loweﬂr, we {hall ﬁnd them (the Efquimanx and a few.
other nations only excepted) deviating but little from
one general ﬁandard of {tature :—-—The Hottentot at
the fouthern promontory of Africa is as tall as the
northern native of the fame continent ;———little differ-
ence is obferved between the northern and the fouth-
ern Aﬁatic, or between the European or the Ame-
rican in thefe different tituations. I

It is not, then, climate {0 much as the STATE of
SOCIETY which eﬁhﬁs a diEerence in the ﬂature of
mankind : Thofe nations who are the moﬂ: diminw
tire in ﬁature will, generally, be found the mott rnde

in the Human Species. 6 3

circulating to them with a more languid
and feeble motion has not fuﬂicient vi-
gour to reﬁll the impreﬂions of the cold.
Thefe limbs confequently fuﬂ‘er a greater?
contraction and diminution than the refl:
of the body. But the blood ﬂowing with
warmth and force to the breaﬁ and head,
and perhaps with the more‘force, that its
courfe to the extremities is obflruéted, dif—
tends thefe. parts to a difproportionate ﬁze.
There is a regular gradation in the effect
of the climate, and in the ﬁgure of the
people from the Tartars to the tribes
E 4

in manners. The Efquimaux inhabits one of the
mol’t ﬁeril regions of the earth, a region to which
nature feems to have denied even the common 116-,-
cefFaries of life. This wretched man has done no-
thing to improve his wretched condition 5-he is

. content merely to exif’t on a few of the vegetables
which his country produces ; and on the ﬂeih of the
feal, and the oil of the whale. Such food his fyltern
is incapable of ailimilating, or forming/into nutris
tious juices, debilit)r and difeafe confequently enfue,‘
and the growth of the body advances but ﬂowly.

EDITOR.

/

64 Y 0f Complexion and Figure

round Hudfon’s bay. The Tartars are
taller and thicker than the Laplanders or
the Samoiedes, becaufe their climate is
lefs fevere. The northern Americans are .
the moft diminutive of all, their extremi-

ties are the fmalleﬁ, and their breaﬁ and
head of the molt difproportioned magni-
tude; becaufe, inhabiting a climate equal-
ly fevere vvith the Samoiedes, they are re-.- '
duced to a more favage Rate of fociety *,

Extreme cold like’wife tends to form

* The neighbourhood of the Rufﬁans, of the Chi—
nefe, and even of the Tartars who have adopted ma-
ny‘ improvements from the civilized nations that bone
der upon them, give the Laplanders and Siberians
conﬁderable advantages over the northern Americans
who are in the molt abject Rate of favage life, and
totally deflitute of every art either for convenience
or proteﬂion, The principles Rated above apply to
all thefe nations in proportion to the degree of cold
combined with‘the degree of favagenefs. Thé inha—
bitants of the northern civilized countries of Europe
are generally of lower ftature than thofe in the
middle regions. 'Bnt civilization and a milder cli-
mate prevent them from degenerating equally with
the northern Aliatics and Americans.

in the HumdnlSpecz'u. 65

the next peculiarities of thefe races, their
high ﬂioulders, and their fhort necks.
Severe froﬂ prompts men to raife their
{boulders as if to protect the neck, and to
cherilh the warmth of the blood that
ﬂows to the head. And the habits of an
eternal winter will ﬁx , them in that poﬁ-
tion.:—.—The neck will appear {hortened
beyond its due proportion, not only be-
caufe it fuffers an equal contraé‘tion with
the other parts of the body; but becaufe
the head and breaﬁ being inereafed to a
difproportioned ﬁze, will encroach upon
its length; and the natural elevation of
the {houlders will bury what remains {0
deep "as to give the head an appearance of
telling upon them for its fupport. That
‘thefe peculiarities are the effect of cli-‘
mate *, the examples produced by French

* As climate is often known peculiarly to aﬁeﬁ
certain parts of the body, philofophy, if it were ne-
ceﬂ'ary, could ﬁnd no more difﬁculty in accounting
for the (hurt necks of the Tartars, and other northern
tribes, as a difeafe of the climate, than {he ﬁnds in
giving the fame account for the'thick necks {ofte-

1’3 V'v‘.

l 66 . OfComplexion and Figure

miﬂionaries in China, of mail refpeé’table.

'charaélers, leave us no room to doubt, who

allure us that they have feen, even in the.
forty—eighth degree of northern'latitude,
the poﬂerity of Chinefe families who had
become perfect Tartars in their ﬁgure and
afpeét; and who were diﬂinguiﬂied, in
particular, by the fame fhortnels of the
neck, and by the fame elevation of the
lhoulders *.

That coarfe and deformed features are

gthe necelTary production of the climate

cannot have efcaped the attention of the

_mo{t incurious obferver. Let us attend
to the effects of extreme cold. It contrasts

the aperture of the eyes 5 it draws down
the brows; it raifes the check 5 by the

quently found in the regions of the Alps. But the
obfervations before made will probably convince the
attentive reader that there is no need to refort to fuch
a folution of the phenomenon, when it feems f0 ea-
ﬁly to be explained by the known operation of natu-
ral caufes.

* See Recueil 24 des lettres ediﬁantes.

in the Human Spec-‘55:, Q7

preﬂ'ure of the under jaw againﬁ the up-
per it diminifhes the face in length and
fpreads it out at the ﬁdes; and diﬁQrts the
{hape of every feature.

This, which is only a tranﬁent imprel'e-
lion in our climate, fopn effaced by the
conveniences of fociety, and by the chan-
ges of the feafon, becomes a heightened
and permanent effect in thofe extreme
regions, ariﬁng from the greater intenﬁty,
and the conﬁant aéiion of the caufe, The
naked and defencelefs condition of the
people augments its violence; and begin-
ning its operation from infancy when the
features are moﬁ tender and fufceptible of
impreﬂion, and continuing it, without re—
. million, till they have attained their ut—
moﬁ growth, they become ﬁxed at length
in the point of greatel’t deformity, and
form the character of the Hudfon or Sibe-
rian countenance.

The principal peculiarities that may re~
quire a farther illuﬂzration are the {mall-

‘68 Of Complexion ima' Figure

nefs of the nofe, and depreﬂion of the
middle of the face; the prominence of
the forehead, and the extreme weaknefs
of the eyes.

The middle of the face is that part
which is molt expofed to the cold, and
confequently fuﬂ‘ers moﬁ from its power
of contraé’tion. It ﬁrﬂ: meets the wind,
and it is fartheft removed from the feat
of warmth in the head. But a circum-
ﬁance of equal, or, perhaps, of greater im—
portance on this fubjeﬁ, is that the inha-
bitants of frozen climates naturally draw--
ing their breath more through the’nofe,
than through the mouth *, thereby direét
the greateﬁ impulfe of the air on that fea-
ture, and the parts adjacent. Such a con—
tinual fiream of air augments the cold, and

“‘ A froﬂy air inhaled by the mouth chills the bo-g
dy more than when it is received by the noﬁrils;
probably becaufe a greater quantity enters at a time.
Nature therefore prompts men to keep the mouth
elofed during the prevalence of intenfe froﬁ.

1?: tbe Human Spacing 69

by increaﬁng the contraétion of the parts,
reflrains the freedom of their growth’“.

Hence, likewife, will arife an eafy folu-
tion of the next peculiarity, the promi-
nence of the forehead. The fuperior
warmth and force of life in the brainthat
ﬁlls the upper part of the head, will natu—
rally increafe its ﬁze, and make it over-
hang the contraéled parts below.

Laﬁly, the eyes in thefe’ rigorous cli-
mates are' ﬁngularly affected. By the pro-'
jeé’tion of the eye- brows, they appear to
befunk into the head; the cold natural-
ly diminifhes their aperture; and the in-
tenﬁty of the. frail concurring with the
' glare of eternal fnows, {o overﬁrains thefe
tender organs, that they are always weak,

‘ On the fame principle the mercury in a thermo-
meter may be contraéted and funk into the bull), by
directing upon it a conﬂant ﬁream of air from a pair
of bellows, if the bulb be frequently touched during
the operation with any ﬂuid that by a fpeedy evapo-
ration tends to increafe the cold.

78 0f Cbmjzlexieh ah)! Figure

and the inhabitants are often liable to
blindnéfs at an early age. ' i

In the » temperate 'zone on the Other
hand, and in a point rather below than
.above the middle region of temperature,
the agreeable warmth of the air difpo‘ﬁng
the nerves to the mof’t free and eafy ex-
panﬁon, will open the features and increafe
the orb of the eye *. Here a large full
eye, being the tendency of nature, will
grow to be ei’teemed a perfeé'tion. And in
the {train of Homer; 13ml; «01,:wa would
Convey to a Greek an idea of divine beau-
ty that is hardly intelligible to an inhabi-

* It is perhaps Worthy of remark, that, in the three
continents, the temperate climates, and eternal cold,
border fo nearly upon one another, that we pafs a1-
melt inﬁantly from the former to the latter. And
we ﬁnd the Laplander, the Samoiede, the Mongou,
and the tribes round Hudfon’s bay in the neighbour-
hood of the Swede, the Ruﬂian, the Chinefe, and
the Canadian. Without attention to this remark,
haﬁy reafoners will make the fudden change of fea-
tures in thefe nations an objeétion againlt the pre-
ceding philofophy.

in the Haitian S 'ea‘eri 7t

tant of the north of Europe. All the prin-
ciples of the human conﬁitution unfold-'-
ing themfelves freely in fuch a region, and
Anature aéting without conﬁraint will be
there feen molt nearly in that perfection
which was the original deﬁgn and idea of
,the Creator Jr.

II. Having endeavoured to afcertain the
power of climate in producing many va-
rieties in the human fpecies, I proceed to
illuﬂrate the inﬂuence of the {late of {0-,
ciety.

On this fubjeé't I obferve,

I. In the ﬁrﬁ place, that the eﬂ‘eé‘t of cli-a- ‘

+ It may perhaps gratify my countrymen to reﬂect
that the United States occupy thofe latitudes that 4
have ever been mol’t favourable to the beauty of the
human form. When time {hall have accommodated
the conﬂitution to its new Rate, and cultivation {hall _
have'meli’orated the climate, the beauties of Greece :1
and Circaﬂia may be renewed in America , as there i
are not a few already who rival thofc of any other
quarter of the globe.

54‘ '

, . 722 ' 0f Complexion and Fégarc"

mate is? augmented by a lavage Rate, and
correéled by a Rate of civilization. And

2; In the next place, that by the ﬁate of
fociety many‘ varieties in the human peta-
fon are entirely formed. '

In the ﬁrPt place, the effeét of climate is
augmented by a favage {late of foci‘ety and
correé’ted by a {late of civilization.

A naked favage, feldom enjoying the
protection of a miferable'hut, and com-
a ' pelled to lodge on the bare ground and un-
der the open ﬂiy, imbibes the influence of
the fun and atmofphere at every pore.
. He inhabits an uncultivated region ﬁlled
with Ragnant waters, and covered with pu-
" trid vegetables that fall down and corrupt
on the {pot Where they have grown. He
pitches his Wigwam on th‘eﬁde of a river,
that he may enjoy the convenience of ﬁlli-
ing as well as of hunting. The vapour of
rivers, the exhalations of marfhes, and the
noxious efﬂuvia of decaying vegetables, ﬁll
the whole atmofphere in an unimproved

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(is) . 2 £23126 Human Special. , 73

I;

country, and tend to give a dark and bili-‘
ous hue‘ to the complexion *. And the
fun aﬂing immediately on the {kin in this
Rate will neceffarily impref's a deep co-
lour.

* The foref’ts in uncultivated countries abforb a

great part of thefe putrid vapours, otherwife they
would be Contagious and 'm‘ortal. But as nature nea
Ver makes her work perfeét, but leaves the comple-w
tion of her fchemes to exercife the induﬁry and wif-
dom of man, the growing vegetables do not abforb
the whole eﬂluvia of the decaying, and of the noxious
marfhes that'overfpread the face of fuch a region.
Nothing but civilization and culture can perfeétly in. V (if 2 25"“
purify the atmofphere. Uncurvated as well as warm

countries therefore naturally tend to a’bilious habit,

and a dark complexion. It may feem an objeétion

againﬁ; this obfervation, that in America we often

ﬁnd bilious diforders augmented in confequence of
. cutting down the timber, and extending the planta-

tions. The reafon of which probably is, that the in-‘ ,

dolence or neceﬂities of a new country frequently

lead men to clear the ground without draining the

marlhcs; or fmall plantations are furroun’ded by un-.

improved foref’ts. Thus, the vegetables that abforb-

ed the noxious moiﬁure being removed, it is left to

fall in greater abundance on man.

x -4 magi

74: ' 0f Complexion and Fzgzzre

J; ‘9'

This effeé‘c is augmented by the praélice
of painting, to which favages are often

i 1 { obliged to have recourfe 1n order to pro.

tea: themfelves from the impreﬁions of

, the humid earth on‘ which they lie, or of a'

noxious atmofphere to which they are ex-
pofed without covering. Painting taken"
up at ﬁrf’t through neceﬂity is afterwards-
employed as an ornament; and a favage
is feldom feen without having his {kin co-
vered with fome compoﬁtion that fpoils
the ﬁnenefs of its texture, and impairs the’
beauty and clearnefs of its natural colour.
This is known to be the eff‘eé’t of the ﬁnei’t
paints and walhes that are ufed for the
fame purpof'e in polifhed fociety. Much
more will it be the eﬂ‘eét of thofe made
and filthy un-guents which are employed
by favages. And as we fee that coloured
marks im.preffed by punétures in the {kin '
become indelible, it is reafonable to be—
lieve that the particles of paints inﬁnuated
into its texture by forcible and frequent“
rubbing will tend, in like manner, to cre-
ate a dark and permanent colour.

 

in the Human Species. 7 5

To this may be added, that the frequent
fumigations by which they are obliged to
guard againﬂ; the annoyance of innume~
rable infects in undrained and uncultiva-
ted countries ; and the fmoke with which
their huts, unfkilfully built, and without

chimneys, are eternally ﬁlled, contribute
to augment the natural darknefs of the fa— .,»i , ,

yage complexion. Smoke difcolours the
Ikin of thofe labourers and mechanics who
are habitually immerfed in it—It ﬁains
every object long expofed to its action, by
entering the pores, and adhering ﬁrongly
to the furface.-——It inﬁnuates itfelf in a ﬁ-
milar manner into the pores of the ﬂtin,
and there tends to change the complexion,
_on the fame principles that it is changed
by inferted paints.

And laﬁly, the hardfhips of their con-
dition that weaken and exhaufl the prin-
ciple of life—their fcanty and meagre fare
which wants the fucculence and nourifh-
ment which give freihnefs and vigour to
the conﬁitution—the uncertainty of their

4. F 2

‘ ...n

76 0f Complexion and Elgar:

prOviﬁon which fometimes leaves them to
languilh with want, and fornetimes enables ‘

K ‘ them to overf’train themfelves by a furfeit

-—and their entire inattention to perfon-
al and domef’tic cleanlinefs, all have a pro—,
digious elfeé’t to darken the complexion,
to relax and emaciate the cohf’titution, and .
to render the features coarfe and deform-
ed. Of the inﬂuence of thefe caufes we
have an example in perfons reduced to ex-
treme poverty, who are ufually as much
diftinguifhed by their thin habit, their una-
couth features, and their fwarthy and
fqualid afpeét as by the meannefs of their
garb. Na‘kednefs, expofure, negligence
of appearance, want of cleanlinefs, bad

._ lodging, and meagre diet, f0 difcolour and

injure their form as to enable us to frame

fo’me judgment of the degree in which
fuch caufes will contribute‘fto augment the
inﬂuence of climate in favage life. Inde-
pendently on climate, thefe caufes will
render it impoﬂible that a favage fhould
ever be fair. And the co-operation of
both, lwill_ufually render men in that [late

 

in ibt Human Specier. 77

of fociety extremely .dark in their com-
? plexion. And generally they will be mere
coarfe and hard in their features and lef's
robuft in their perfons, than. men who en'-
joy with temperance the advantages of ci-
‘vilized- fociety *. '

F3

.* One of the greateft diﬂiculties withfwhich a wrig-
ter on this fubjeét has to combat, is the ignorance
and fuperﬁcial» obfervation of the bulk of travellers
who travel without the true fpirit of remark. The
ﬁrf’t objects that meet their View in a new country
and among a new people, feize their fancy and are
recited with exaggeration: They feldom have judge-
ment and impartiality fuflicient to examine and reas
fon with juﬁnefs and caution; and from innume-
rable facts which neceliarily have many points of
diﬁerence among themfelves, to draw general concluq

- ﬁons. Such concluﬁons, when mofl: juﬁly drawn,
they think they have refuted, when they difcover'a
ﬁngle example that feems not to coincide with them.
In reafonings of this kind there are few perfons who
fuﬁiciently conﬁder that, however accurately we may
invef’tigate caufes and effects, our limited knowledge
will always leave particular examples that will [cent
to be exceptions from any general principle—To aP-g
ply thefe remarks.—A few examples, perhaps, mayop,

4:

“h.

.....

 

73 OfComﬂexion anil F igure

As a favage ﬁate contributes to augment
the inﬂuence of climate; or, at lealt, to ‘

cur, among favages, of regular and agreeable features,
or of ﬁrong and mufcular bodies; as in civilized f0-
ciety we meet with fome rare inﬁances of altonilh-
ing beauty. If, by chance, a perfon of narrow obfere
vation, and incomprehenﬁve mind, have feen two or
three examples-of this kind, he will be ready on this

. ﬂender foundation, to contradié’t the general remark,

I‘have made'concerning the courfe and uncouth fea—
tures of favages, and their want of thofe ﬁne and
mufcular proportions, if I may call them f0, in the
human body, that indicate ﬁrength combined with

fwiftnefs. Yet, it is certain, that the general counte—

nance of favage life is much more uncouth and
coarfe, more unmeaning and wild, as will afterwards
he feen when I come to point out the caufes of it,
than the countenance of polilhed fociety: And the
perfon is more ﬂender, and rather ﬁtted for the
chace, than robuﬁ: and capabie of force and labour.—
An American Indian, in particular, is commonly
fwift ; he is rarely very ﬁrong. And it has been re-
marked, in the many expeditions which the people of
thefe ﬁates have undertaken againﬁ the favages, that,
in clofe quarters, the firength of an Anglo-American
is ufually fuperior to that of an Indian of the fame
ﬁze. The mufcles, likewife, on which the ﬁne pro.

Li portions of perfon f0 much depend, are generally

{mallet- and more lax, than they are in improved fo-

 

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‘1 f‘Y
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fag) w

in the Human Species. 79

exhibit its worft effeéts upon the human
Conﬁitution ; a f’tate of civilization, on the
other hand, tends to correét it, by furnifh-
ing innumerable means of guarding againft
its power. The conveniences, of clothing
and of lodging—the plenty, and healthful
‘ quality of food—a country drained, culti‘
F 4

ciety that is not corrupted by luxury, or debilitated
by fedentary occupations -,—their limbs, therefore,
though {’traight, are lefs beautifully turned—A de-
ception often palfes on the fenfes in judging of the
beauty of favages—and defcription is often more ex-
aggerated than the fenfes are deceived. We do not
cxpeﬂ: beauty in favage life. When, therefore, we
happen to perceive it, the contraft with the ufual
condition of that {tate impofes on the mind. And
the exalted reprefentations of favage beauty, which
we fometimes read, are true only by comparifon with
favages.—-—There is a difference, in this refpeét be-
tween man, and many of the inferior animals which
were intended to run wild in the foreﬁ- They are
always the melt beautiful when they enjoy their na-
tive liberty and range. They decay and droop when
attempted to be domeflicated or conﬁned. But man,
being deﬁgned for fociety and civilization, attains, in
that (late, the greateﬁ perfeétion of his form, as well:
as of his whole nature.

8o 0f Complexion and F igm‘c

- vated, and freed from noxious efHuvia—e
improved ideas of beauty—the conﬁan‘t
ﬁudy of elegance, and the inﬁnite arts for
attaining it, even in perfonal ﬁgure and
appearance, give cultivated an immenfe
advantageover favage fociety in its at-
tempts to counteract the inﬂuence of. Clif'
mate, and to beautify'the human form.

2, I come now to obferve, What is of
much more importance on this part of
the fubjefc't, that all the features of the
human countenance are modgﬁcd, and its
,entire exprcﬁwz radically formed, by the ‘
{late of fociety. V , '

Every objeét that impreﬂés the fenfes,
and every emotion that rifes in the mind,
affects the features of the face the index_
of our feelings, and contributes to form
the inﬁnitely various countenance of man.
Paucity of ideas creates a vacant and un-
meaning afpecf’t. Agreeable and cultiva-
ted fcenest compofe ﬁhe features, and ren-
glerthem regular and gay. Wild, and dc?

'in the Human Species; 8t

formed, and folitary foreﬂs tend to im~
prefs on the countenance, an image of
their own rudenefS. Great varieties are
, created by diet and modes of living. The
delicacies of reﬁned life give a foft and
elegant form to the features, Hard fare,
and conﬁant expofure to the injuries of
the weather, render them Coarfe and un-
couth. The inﬁnite attentions of polifh-
ed fociety give variety and expreﬂion to
the face. The want of intereﬁing emo-
tions leaving its mufcles lax and unexertc
ed, they are quered to dil’tend themfelves
to a larger and groiTer ﬁze, and acquire a
foft unvarying fwell that is not dif’tinéily
marked by any idea. A general flandard
of beauty has its effect in forming the hu-
inan cOuntenance and ﬁgure. Every paf—
~ ﬁon, and mode of thinking has its pecu-
liar expreﬂion—And all the preceding
characters have again many variations ac-
cording to their degrees of ﬁrength, ac-
cording to their combinations with other
principles, and according to the peculiari-
ties .of conﬁitution or of climate that form

82 0f Complexion and Figure

the ground on which the different impref-
ﬁons are received. As the degrees of ici-
vilization, as the ideas, paﬂions, and ob-
‘eﬂs of fociety in diﬁ'erent countries, and
under different forms of government are
inﬁnitely various, they open a boundlefs
ﬁeld for variety in the human counte-
nance. ‘It is impoﬂible to enumerate
than—They are not the fame in any two
ages of the world.——It would be unnecef-
fary to enumerate them, as my objeﬂ is
not to become a phyﬁognomif’c, but to
evince the poﬂibility of fo many differ-
ences exiﬁing in one fpecies ; and to fug-
geﬁ a proper mode of reafoning on new
varieties as they may occur to, our obfer—
vation.

For this purpofe, I ﬁnal], in the ﬁrft
place, endeavour, by feveral'faé’ts and i1-
luﬁrations to evince, that the Rate of fo—
ciety has a great effect in varying the ﬁg
gure and complexion of mankind.

I {hall then fhew in what manner fame

 

in the Human Specier. 83

of the molt diftinguifhing features of the

favage with Whom we are belt acquainted,
naturally refult from the rude condition
in which they exil’t.

To evince that the {late of fociety has a.
great effeét in varying the ﬁgure and com-
plexion of mankind, I {hall derive my ﬁrft
illuflration from the feveral clafres of men
in poliihed nations. And then I {hall
{hew that men in different Rates of focie-
ty have changed, and that they have it
continually in their power to change, in
a great degree, the afpcét of the fpecies,
according to any general ideas or {land-
ard of human beauty which they may
have adopted.

"'1. And in the ﬁrft place, between the
feveral clafTes of men in poliihed nations,
who may be conﬁdered as people in dif-
ferent Rates of fociety, we difcern great
and obvious diﬁinélions, ariﬁng from their
focial habits, ideas and employments.

, _.r.
(«lair
\ a
ii» ‘

g a
’ ,

I”
.\:L‘,“: A,
v .

.2 if," r»
favage, and particularly of the American :3 ~tw

7"”

" '
‘

1

y; I"

“J; 1.,»
l

 

84 0f Complexion and Egan

The poor and labouring part of the
community are ufually more fwarthy and
fqualid in their complexion, more hard in ‘
their features, and more coarfe and ill-
formed in their limbs, than perfons of
better fortune, and more liberal means of
fubﬁﬁence. They want the delicate tints
of colour,‘ the pleaﬁng regularity of fea-
ture, and‘the elegance and ﬁne proportions
of perfon. There may be particular ex-
ceptions. Luxury may disﬁgure the one
-——-a fortunate coincidence of circumﬁances
may give a happy ailemblage of features
to the other. But thefe exceptions do not
invalidate the general obfervationik, Such

a“ It ought to be kept in mind through the whole
of the following illuf’trations that, when mention is
made of the fuperior beauty and proportions of per-

‘fons in the higher claﬂ'es of fociety, the remark is
general. It is not intended to deny that there exilt
exceptions both of deformity among the great? and of
beauty among the poor. And thofe only are intend- ‘

‘ ed to be defcribed who enjoy their fortune with
temperance; becaufe luxury and excefs tend equal-
ly with extreme poverty to debilitate and disﬁgure
the human conﬁitutionr

p in tbe’Human Species; ' 35’

diﬁiné’cions become more conﬁderable by
time, after families have held for ages the
fame ﬁations in fociety. They are molt
confpicuous in thofev countries in which
the laws have made the mol’t complete
andpermanent diviﬁon of ranks. What
an immenfe difference exif’ts, in Scotland,
between the chiefs and the commonalty
of the highland clans? If they had-been
feparately found in diﬂ'erent countries,
the philofophy of fome writers would have
ranged them in different fpecies. A ﬁmi—
lar dii‘tiné’cion takes place between the no-
bility and peafantry of France, of Spain,
of ltaly, of Germany. It is even more
confpicuous in many of the eaﬁern na-
tions, where a wider dil’tance exiﬁs be-
tween the higheﬂ and the loweft clalfes in
fociety. The mire; or nobles of Calicut,
in the Eaﬁ-Indies, have, with the ufual
ignorance and precipitancy of travellers,
.been pronounced at different race from the
populace; becaufe the former elevated by
their rank, and devoted only to martial
ﬁudies and atchievements, are diﬁinguilh-

86 0f Complexion and F z'gur‘e'

ed by that manly beauty and elevated {la-‘-
ture fo frequently found with the profef; (
ﬁon of arms, efpecially when united with
nobility of defcent; the latter, poor and
laborious, and expofed to hardihips, and ‘
left, by their rank, without the fpirit or
the hope to better their condition, are
much more deformed and diminutive in
their perfons; and in their complexion
much more black. In France, fays Buf-
fon, you may diﬁinguifh by their afp’eéi
not only the nobility from the peafantry,
but the fup'erior orders of nobility from
the inferior, thefe from citizens, and citi-
zens from peafants. You may even di-
ﬂinguifh the peafants of one part of the
country from thof'e of another according
to the fertility of the foil, Or the nature of
its produé’t. The fame obfervation has
been made on the inhabitants of different
counties in England. And I have been
aiTured by a limit judicious and careful
obferver, that the diﬂ'erence between the
people in the eaf’tern, and thofe in the
weftern counties in Scotland, is fenﬁbl-e

 

in the Human Species. 87‘

and firiking. The farmers who cultivate
the fertile countries of the Lothians have
a fairer complexion, and larger perfons,
than thofe who live in the weft, and oba
tain a more coarfe \ and fcanty fubﬁl’tence
from a barren foil *.

* It is well known that mark" and meagre food is
ever acc‘ompanied in mankind with hard features and
a dark Complexion. Every change of diet, and every
variety in the manner of preparing it, has fome ef-
fect on the human conﬁitution‘. A fervant now lives
in my family who was bound to me ﬁat- ten years of
age. Her parents were in abjeéi poverty. The child
was, in confequence, extremely fallow in her com-
pleXion; {he was emaciated, and as is common to
children who have lain in the afhes and dirt of mife—
table huts, her hair was frittered and Worn away to
the length of little more than two inches. This girl
‘has, by a fortunate change in her mode of living, and
indeed by living more like my own children than like
a fervant, become, in the fpace of four years, freih
and ruddy in her complexion, her hair is long and.
ﬂowing, and {he is— not badly made in her perfoni
A ﬁmilar inﬁance is now in the family of a worthy
clergyman, a friend and neighbour of mine. And
many fuch infiances of the inﬂuence of diet, and”
modes of living, will occur to a careful and attentive
obferver. It equally aﬁeﬁs the, inferior animals. ‘

 

88 0f Complexion and F z'g'ure’

If, in England, there exiﬁs lefs differa
ence between the ﬁgure and appearance of
perfons in the higher and lower claITes of
fociety, than is feen in many other coun-
\ tries of Europe, it is becaufe a more gene-1

The horfe, according to his treatment, may be inﬁ-
nitely 'varied in {hape and ﬁze. The ﬂefh of ma-
ny fpecies of game diﬁ‘ers both in ﬁnite and colour
according to the nature of the grounds on which
they have fed. The ﬂefh of hares that have fed on
high lands, is much fairer than of thofe that have fed
in valleys and on damp grounds. And every keeper
of cattle knows how much the firmnefs and ﬂavour
of the meat depends upon the manner of feeding..
Nor is this unaccountable: Fcﬂ‘ as each element has
a diEerent effeét on the animal fyﬁem; and as the
elements are combined in various proportions in dif-
ferent kinds of food, the means of fubﬁf’tence will
neceﬂarily have a great inﬂuence on the human ﬁgure
and~complexion. The diﬁ'erence, however, be-
tween the common péople in. the eaﬂern and weftern
Countries of Scotland, in fe'veral counties in England,
and in other nations, 'arifes, perhaps, not only from
their food, and the foil which they inhabit, but, in
part likewife, fromtheir occupations, as huibandmen,
mechanics, or manufacturers. Hufbandry has gene-
rally a happier effect on perfonal appearance, than the
fedentary employments of manufacture. .

 

in 25: Human Spain} 89’

ral diﬁ'uﬁon of liberty and wealth has re-
duced the diEerent ranks more nearly to a.
level. Science and military talents open
the way to eminence and to nobility. EEn-
‘couragements to indultry, and. ideas of 1i—
berty, favour the acquiﬁtion of fortune by
the loweﬂ orders of citizens-—‘—And, thefe
not being prohibited, by the laws or cu-
ﬂoms of the nation from afpiring to con-
nections with the highef’t ranks, families
in that country are frequently blended.
; You often ﬁnd in citizens the beautiful
ﬁgure and completion of the nobleft
, blood; and, in noble houfes, the coarfe
features that were formed in lower life.

Such diﬁiné'tions are, as yet, 1er obviJ-
"bus in America, becaufe the people enjoy
_ a greater equality; and the frequency of
migrationvhas not permitted any foil, or
{late of local manners, to imprefs its char-
raéter deeply on the conﬁitution. Equa-
lity of rank and fortune, in the citizens-‘-
of the United States, ﬁmilarity of occupaf-
tions, and of fociety, have produced fuck

G

.315);
x

,i
., ,i “a,
igv A
in» . . 9'
Iii/l".
, m M

9o Of Complexion and Figure

uniformity ofcharaéter, that, hitherto, they
are not ﬁrbngly marked by fuch differ-
ences of feature as arife folely from focial
diﬁinéiions. And yet’ there are begin-
ning to be formed, independently on cli-
mate, certain combinations of features,
the refult of facial ideas, that already ferve,
in a degree, to diﬁinguilh the Rates from
one another. Hereafter they will advance
into more conﬁderable and charaé’teriﬂic
diﬁinéiions.

If the white inhabitants of America af-

‘ford us lefs confpicuous inﬁances, than

fome other nations, of the power of focie—
ty, and of the difference/of ranks, in va-

rying the human form, the blacks, in the

fouthern republics, afford one that is high-
ly worthy the attention of philofophers.

Its-It has often occurred to my own obfer—
V vation.

‘ The ﬁeld ﬂaves are badly fed, clothed '

and lodged. They live in {mall huts on

H, the- plantations where they labour, remote

«La
?»
'3
n
,M‘
”N

in the Human Spa-tier. 9!

from the '{ociety and example of their fu-
periors. Living by themfelves, they re-
tain many of the cuﬂoms and manners of
their African anceftors. The domeflic
fervants,‘ on the other band, who are kept
near the perfons, or employed in the fa-
milies of their mafters, are treated with
great lenity, their fervice is light, they are
fed and clothed like their fuperiors, they
fee their manners, adopt their habits, and
infenﬁbly receive the fame ideas of ele-
gance and beauty. The ﬁeld ﬂaves are,

. m confequence, ﬂow in changing the,

iafpeél and ﬁgure of Africa. The domef’cic‘

fervants have advanced far before them in“, '
acquiring the agreeable and regular feaJ‘" 2’“
tures, and the expreﬂive countenance of‘

'civilized fociety.—-The former are fre-
quently ill ﬂiaped. They preferve, in a
great degree, the African lips, and nofe,
and hair. Their genius is dull, and their
countenance ﬂeepy and {lupid—The latter

are ﬂraight and well proportioned; their

hair extended to three, four, and [ome-

times. even to ﬁx or eight inches; the ﬁle
G 2

 

. W “Hymn w—W

92 0f Complexion and Figure

and fhape of the mouth handfome, their
features regular, their capacity good, and
their look animated *.

* The features of the negroes in Americgal have

- tmdergone a greater change than the complexion;

becaufe depending more on the {fate of fociety than

on the climate, they are fooner fufceptible of altera-

‘ . tion, from its emotions, habits and ideas. This is
z} 1 ,‘ ‘ {trikingly veriﬁed in the ﬁeld and domeﬁic ﬂaves.
I!" ' i The former, even in the third generation, retain, in
.1 ' a great degree, the countenance of Africa. The
”L \ ,_ nofe though lefs ﬂat, and the lips “though lefs thick
than in the native Africans, yet are much more ﬂat.
and thick than in the family fervaxnts of the fame race.
,Thefe have the nofe raifed, the mouth and lips of a
_ moderate ﬁze, the eyes lively and fparkling, and of-
k, i ten the whole compofition‘ of the features extremely
agreeable. The hair grows fenﬁbly longer in each
fucceeding race; efpecially in thofe who drefs and
cultivate it with care. After many inquiries, I have
found that, wherever the hair is {hort and clofely
curled in negroes of the fecon'd or third race, it is
' becaufe they frequently cut it, to fave themfelves the
1 trouble of drefﬁng. The great difference between
‘ 2‘ C _ i . the domel’cic and ﬁeld ﬂaves, gives reafon to believe
that, if they were perfectly free, enjoyed property,
_ , and were? admitted as“: liberal. participation of the
l lei fociety, rank and privileges of their mailers, they

at??? fa .- - ._ ’l

l! s‘ ' ’ . ‘1 .
~ 7 * 9 ‘ L‘ r ‘
.4 . ' t .1“ l . V
.. r L ‘ , i
r t .:‘A ~‘ ‘ s ‘
, t s _-r ‘

in the Human-Species. 9 3

Another example of the power of fo-
eiety is well known to every man acquaint-
ed with the favage tribes difperfed along
the frontiers of thefe republics, There
yOu frequently fee perfons who have been
captivated from the flares, and grown up,
from infancy to middle age, in the habits
of favage life. In that time, they univer-
fally contract fuch a ﬁrong refemblance
of the natives in their countenance, and
even in their complexion, as to afford a
{hiking proof that the differences which
exil’t, in the fame latitude, between the
Anglo-American and the Indian, depend
principally on the Rate of .fociety *1

G3

would change their African peculiarities much
falter.

"' The refemblance between thefe captives and the
native favages is {o ﬁrong, as at ﬁrft to {trike every
obfcrver with altonifhment. Being taken in infane
cy, before fociety could have made any impreﬂions
upon them, and {pending in the folitude and rude-
nefs of favage life that tender and forming age, theyE
grow up with the fame apathy of countenance; the,

W“

94' OfComplcxion and Figure

The college of New-Jerfey ‘furnilhes, at
prefent, a counterpart to, this example. A

fame lugubrious wildnefs,' the fame fwelling of the
features‘and mufcles of the face, the fame form» and
attitude of the limbs, and the fame charaéteriﬁic gait,
which is a great elevation of the feet when they walk;
with the toe fomewhat turned in, after the manner
.of a duck. Growing up perfeétly naked, and expo-
fed to the conl’tant milieu of the fun and weather,
amidft all the hardfhips of the favage (late, their co-
lour becomes very deep. As it is but a few lhades
lighter than that of the natives, it is, at a {mall die
ﬁance, hardly diﬁinguiﬂiable. This example anrdg
another proof of’ the greater cafe with which a dark
colour can be impreﬂ‘ed, than eﬂ'aced from, a ﬂcin
originally fair. \ The caufes of colour are naive in
their operation, and fpeedily make a deep. imprellion.
'White is theground On which this operation is recei-
ved. And a white ﬂtin- is to be preferved only by
.proteéting it from the aétion of thefe caufes. Pro-
teétion has merely a negative inﬂuence, and mull:
therefore be ﬂow in its eﬁ'eé’ts; efpecially as long as
the fmalleft degree of pqﬁtive agency is fulfercd from
the original caufes of colour And as the {kin rc-
tains, with great conﬁancy, impreﬁions once recei—
ved, all dark colours will, on both accounts, be much
lefs mutable than the fair complexion. That period
of; time, therefore; which would be fuﬁicient in a far--
yage ﬁate, to change a white ﬂint to the glarltcf’c hse

in the Human Specier. ' 915%

young Indian, now about ﬁfteen years of
age, was bmught from his nation a number
of years ago to receive an education 1n this
inﬁitution. And from an accurate ohfer-
Vation of him during the greater part of

that time, I haVe received the molt'per-

feet conviction that the fame Rate of fo-
ciety, united with the fame climate, would
make the Anglo- -A1nerican and the Indian

countenance very nearly approximate. He \
G 4

the climate can imprefs, would, with the molt careful
protection, lighten a black colour, only a few ﬂ1ades.
And becaufe this poﬁtivc and aétive inﬂuence produ-
ces its eﬁ‘eét fo much more fpeedily and powerfully '
than the negative inﬂuence, that conﬁﬂts merely in
guarding againﬂ its operation ; and ﬁnce we fee that
the {kin retains impreﬂions long, and the tanning-
incurred by expoling it one day to the fun, is not, in
many days, to be eﬁ'aced, we may jul’tly conclude
that a dark colour once contraéted, if it be expofed
but a few days in the year to the action of the fun
and weather, will be many ages before it can be en-
tirely elfaced. . And unlefs the diﬂerence of climate
be [0 .conliderable as to operate very great changes A
on the internal conl’titution, and to alter the whole
ﬁate of the fecretions, the negro colour, for example,
may, by the expofure of a poor. and fervile Rate, be
rendered perpetual. 3 ’

‘

96* Of Complexion and Figure

was too far adVanced in favage habits to
render the obfervation complete; becaufe,
allimp’reﬂions received in the tender and
pliant ﬂate of the human conftitution be-
fore the age of feven years, are more deep
and permanent, thaniin any future and
equal period of life. There is an obvious
difference between him and his fellow:-
ﬂudents in the largenefs of the mouth,
and thicknefs of the lips, in the elevation
of the cheek, in the darknefs of the com-
plexion, and the contour of the face. But
thefe differences are fenﬁbly diminifhing.‘
They feemr the falter to diminiih in pro.-
portion asrhe lofes that vacancy of eye,
and that lugubrious wildnefs of counte-
nance peculiar to the favage Rate, and ac—
quires the agreeable exprgﬂion of civil life.
The expreﬂion of the eye, and the‘foften-
ing of the features to civilized emotions
and ideas, feems to have removed more
than half the difference between him and
us. His colour, though it is much lights.-
ver than the complexion of the native fay
vage, as is evident from the Rain of blufh-
ing, that, on a near'infpeﬂion, is inﬁant;

in the Hagan Spades; 97 ’

1y difcernible, ﬂillfforms theprincipal-"div
Itinétion 3“. There is lefs difference be:
tween his features and thofe of his fellow-e
ﬂzudents, than we often fee between per-.-
fons in civilized fociety. After a careful
attention to each particular feature, and
campar’ifon of it with the correfpondent
feature in us, I am now able to difcover
but little difference. And yet there is an
obvious difference in the whole counte—
nance. This circumﬁance has led me to

conclude that the varieties among man-
kind are much lefs than they appear to be. ,
Each ﬁngle trait or limb, when examined

apart, has, perhaps, no diverﬁty that may

not be eaﬁly accounted for, from known
and obvious caufes. Particular differences
are fmall. It is the refult of the whole
that furprizes Us by its magnitude. The;
combined effect of many minute varieties,
like the produét ariﬁng from the multi-
plication of many {mall numbers, appears

V ’3" See the preceding note for a reafon why the
complexion is lefs changed than many of the feas
taxes, 3

.. ‘5’)

1
W
1,

\"u-

.i ' 5 , , .V
4‘, -‘ v, , ,. .., /
7 v" i T ﬂ 5 i ivé‘f I, .4

«
,"w :

98 " Of complexiangw Fzgm

great and unaccountable, And we have
not patience, or {kill it may be, to divide-
this combined refult into its leaﬁ portions,
and to fee, in that ﬂare, how eafy it is of
.comprehenﬁon or folution.

iii,

The Rate of fociety comprehends diet,

’5 ‘clothing, lodging, manners, habits, face of
the country, objeéts of fcience, religion,
E intereﬂs, paﬂions and ideas of all kinds,

inﬁnite in number and variety. If each
of thefe caufes be admitted to make, as
undoubtedly they do, a {mall variation on

i the human countenance, the diﬁ‘erent com-

binations and refults of 'the whole Inuit

. ineceﬁ‘arily be very great; and combined

virith the effeé'ts of climate will be ade—
quate to account for all the varieties we

‘ ﬁnd among mankind 3“.

* As all thefe principles may be made to operate
in very different ways, the eﬁ'ef’t of one may often
be counteraﬁed, in a degree, by that of another.
And climate will eﬂéntially change the eﬁ'eéi‘s of all.
The people in di‘Ferent parts of the fame country
may, from va ricus combinations of thefe caufes, be

.. ,
,r ,, n . . 4. 3 .
M». u.. , ' ' .J': . . " .‘ ., l \ ,1

‘. ‘ E. 1 C' : ll “ f, ! ‘__ y a z, ,, “.7 LV" “4;“,

(

.1.”th .Hilwn Special? :‘ 9's: .. In, _

Another origin of the varieties fpring-
ing from the {late of fociety is found in
'the power which men poﬂ‘efs over their]-
{elves of producing great changes in the
human form, according to any common
ﬂandard of beauty which‘they may have
adopted. The ﬁandard of human beau-
ty, in any country, is a general idea form,-
m from the combined effect of climate

and of the {late of I fociety. And it recis- '

procally contributes to increafe the eﬂ'eé};
from which it fprings. Every nation va-
ries, as much from others in ideas of beau-a
ty as. in perfonal appearance. Whatever
be that i‘tandard2 there is a general effort

very different. And, from the' variety of combina-
tion, the poor of one country may' have better com-
plexion, features and proportions of perfon, than
thofe in another, who enjoy the molt favourable ad-
vantages of fortune. Without attention to thefe cir-
cuml’tances, a haity ohferver will be apt to pronounce
the remarks in the eﬂay to be ill-founded, if he exa~
mines the human form in any country by the ePfeét
that is faid to arife from one principle alone, and do
not, at the fame time, take in the concomitant or corn
reeling inﬂuence of other caufes. .

1 oo ‘ OfComplcxion and F guns

to attain it, with more or lefs ardor and
lfuccefs, in proportion to the advantages
which men poffefs in fociety, and to the
eftimation in which beauty is held.

To this objeé’t tend the inﬁnite pains to
compofe the features, and to form the at!-
titudes of children,' to give them the gay
and agreeable countenance that is created
in company, and to extinguifh all deform-
ing emotions ,of the paﬂions. To this
object tend many of ‘ the arts of poliihed
life. How many drugs are fold, and how.
many applications are made for the im—
provement of beauty? how many artiﬁs
of different kinds live upon this idea of-
beauty? If we dance, beauty is the ob-
jeé‘t 5 if we ufe the fword, it is more for
beauty than defence; If this general ef-
fort after appearance fometimes leads the
decrepid and deformed into abfurdity, it
has, however, a great and national effect.—
Of its effect in creating diﬁinétions among
nations in which different ideas prevail,
and different means are employed for at-
taining them, we may frame fome conq-

in tbe Human Specie}. , I on

ception, from the diﬁiné’tions that will in
the‘ fame nation, in which ﬁmilar ideas ‘
prevail, and ﬁmilar means are ufed, only
in different degrees. What a difference is
there between the' foft and elegant tints of
complexion in genteel life, and the coarfe
ruddinefs of. the vulgar ?—between the
uncouth features and unpliant limbs of an
unpolilhed ruﬁic, and the complacency of
countenance, the graceful and eafy air and
ﬁgure of an improved citizen B—between
the {haped and meaning face of a well
bred lady, and the {oft and plump {impli-
city of a country girl ?—-We now eaﬁly
account for thefe diﬁ'erences, becaufe they
are familiar to us, or becaufe we fee the
operation of the caufes. But if we fh'ould
ﬁnd an entire nation diftinguifhed by one
of thefe charaﬁers, and another by the
contrary, fome writers would pronounce
them different races ; although a true phi-
lofopher ought to underﬁand that the cul-
tivation of oppoﬁte ideas of beauty muf’c
have a greater eﬁ'eé‘c in diverﬁfying the hu-
man countenance, than various degrees, 01',
nodes, bf cultivating the fame ideas. The

U

 

at 02 Of Complexioh am! figure

countenance of Europe was more various,
three centuries ago, than it is at prefent;
The diverﬁties that depend upon this caufe
are infe’nﬁbly wearing, away as the 'pro-
grefs of reﬁnement is gradually approxi—
mating the manners and ideas of the
people to one ﬁandard.» But the inﬂuence
of a general idea,- or ﬁandard, of the hu-
man form; and the pains taken,- or the
means employed, to bring cor Own per-
fons to it, are through their familiarity
often little obferved. The means employ-
ed by other nations. who aim at a diﬁ'er-
ent idea, attraét more notice by their no-
velty.——The nations beyond the Indus, as
well as the Tartars, from whom they feem
tgihaxie derived their ideas of beauty with
their origin 3“, univerfally admire fmall

* It is probable that the countries of India and‘
China might have been peopled before the regions
of l‘artary; but the frequent con'quel’ts which they
have fuﬂ'ered, and particularlythe farmer, from Tar.-
tarian nations, have changed their habits, ideas and
petfons, even more perhaps than Eur0pe was chan-
ged by the deluge of barbarians that overwhelmed A;

in the Human Simian :03

eyes and large ears. They are at great
pains, therefore, to cumprefs their eyes at
the corners, and to ﬁretch their ears by
heavy weights appended to them, by
drawing them frequently with the hand,
and by cuttingtheir rims, fo that they
may hang down to their ﬂloulders, which
they conﬁder as the highel’t beauty. On
the fame principle, they ‘extirpate the hair
from their bodies ; and, on the face, they
leave only~ a few tufts here and there
which they ﬂiave. The Tartars often ex-
tirpate the whole hair of the head, except
a knot on the crown, which they braid
and adorn in different manners. Similar
ideas of beauty with regard to the eyes,
the ears and the hair; and ﬁmilar cu-
‘ﬁoms, in the Aborigines of America, are
no inconﬁderable proofs that this conti-
nent has been peopled from the north-
eaﬁern regions of Aﬁa *. In Arabia and

in the ﬁfth century. The prefent nations beyond
the Indus are, in effect, Tartars changed by the power
of climate, and of a new Rate of fociety.

’3 :The celebrated Dr Robertfon, in his“ hiftory of

104 Of Complexion med Figure

Greece large eyes "are eﬁeemed beautiful;
and in thefe countries they take extraor-

~ K America, deceived by the miﬁnformation of haﬁy of

ignorant obfervers, has ventured to aﬁert that the na-

tives of America have no hair on their: face or or!

their body; and like many other philofophers, has fet

' himfelf to account for a faét that never exiﬁed. It

‘ may be laid down almoft as a general maxim, that‘
the ﬁrlt relations of travellers are falfe. They judge
its of ideas and habits contraéted in their own. They
judge from particular inﬁances that may happen to
have occurred to them, of the ﬁature, the ﬁgure and
the features of a whole nation. Philofophers ought
never to admit a faél on the relations of travellers, till
their charaé’cers for intelligence and accurate obfervaé
tion be Well afcertaine'd 3 nor even then, till the ob-'
fervation has been repeated, extended, and compared
in many different lights, with other faéts. The In-
dians have hair 6n the face and body; but from a
falfe fenfe of beauty they extirpate it with great pains.
And traders among them are well informed, that
tweezers for that purpofe are proﬁtable articles of
commerce.

ml ﬂrange fatality has almaﬂ uniformly attended the
refedrche: of the ma]! celebrated writer: on the natural,
‘ a: well a: on the civil, hi/lory of the new world .- The
Gaunt dc Buﬁon, the Ahhé Reyna], and Dr Robert/3n;

in the Human Specie}; :05

Qinai'y pains to (bash ’the llids, and cx*
tend their aperture; In India, they dilate
H

in particular, have, on thiefuhjeﬂ, erred ﬂ; fregiieiztly,
and/o egregiouﬂy, that their work: can hardly he read
without centempt3——-In thewantann'ef: of ﬂoecula‘tion‘,
and in the hurry of compoﬁtion, theft gentlemen (to
whom the world has long paid a deference hordering
en veneration), aﬂuming the talex of idle, credulou: and
ignorant traveller: a: philofophic tint/u, have bentui
red to dedhee from them concluﬁon: of no finall importé
ance in the hi/iory of our fpecien ——‘The‘yfeem' to have
conﬁoired, a: if it were in uni/on with each other, to ,
place the native: of the new hemi/‘bh‘ere in the Iowa]!
grade of HU MANITY to repre/ent them not only de-‘ 1
ﬂitute of the ufual quantity of intelleé? allotted to mim-
hind in other portions of the earth, of thofe milder viré
tue: and paﬂion: which digniﬁ/ man, but alfo to repre-
-fent him a: dejlitute of that vigour of body which is oh-
ﬁrved among the native: of other region: of the glohe
-'-—Bizt of all the error: which have feized the imagia
‘ion of thefe writers, nonefeem: to he more general
than that which is the fuhjett of this note. life/hall,
therefore, take fome pain: to remove it entirely from
the mind: of tho/2 who have either heenfo unfortunate
to adopt, with implicity, the aﬂ‘ertion: of great autho-
rities, or who have notahad an opportunity cf inqui-
ring into the minutiee efﬂmeriean hi/z’ory. I

\ 106 Of Complexion and Figure

the forehead in infancy, by the applicaa
tion of broad plates of lead. In China

A
/

It i: a curfew and an intereﬂingfaft, that through-
' out the whole continent ,of America, the tribe: inha-
biting that immenfe portion of the earth, were in the
praftice of extraéting from the face and body, the hair
with which nature had furni/hed them, in common
with other nation: : “ The beardliy} countenance, and
fmoath/hin” of the American, have been noticed not on-
ly by the early and more ignorant, but even by fame of
the later and , more intelligent viﬁtor: of the New
World, (See the “ Mcmoires Philofophiques, Hiﬁo-
riques Phyﬁqucs concernant la decouverte dc l’Ameri-
qua,” of Don Ullea); andithe conﬂquenees which have
been drawn from this popular error, hay/e been great.

Had thefe writert, however, extended their inqui-
ries a little further into the cu/z’om: of the American,
they would have di/coverednothing peculiar, no “ vice,"
in the conﬂitution of hi: fyﬂem ;—and had they been
acquainted with the biﬂory of fame ’of tho/e very na-
tion: by whom it i: probable, America way, at [e .
in. great part, peopled, they would have obferved ax
milarity of cuﬂom, which [hould equally intitle them to
the appellation they have be/I'owea' on the American.
Strahlenberg irforme m, that the Tungtﬁ, the Kal-
muckt, the Xarai/ei and the falcuhti, barbarous na-
tion: who inhabit the northfrn and weﬂern part: of
peg/m, extraéi the hair which grow: about their moat/25..

iii the time» Sheen. me

they compref's the feet. In Caﬂ'raria, and §

many other parts of Africa, and in Lap-
H 2

But although the American: (in ‘camnién with other
nations) are furni/hea' with hair on their face: and on
their Indies, yet there can [re little dwhtfr'om the uni—‘
ted tétimony 9f many write”, a: well defrom our 011m
ehfervatian, that they are but fpmfely fupplied’ with
thi: excrefcence. 771i: remark will apply to the greaté
er number If not to all the tribe: in the new hemiﬂihere‘.
~e-The .Mexican: in particular, if we may credit 614'-
vigero (THE HISTORY OF MEXICO, vol. 1. p. 78.
and vol. 2. p. 330'. he.) have but very thin hardy,
and, in general, are without hair on their arm;~ and legs.
é—Thi: fparfeneﬁ of hair, however, i: not peculiar to
the American : Traveller: [relate the fame if the Lap-
lander:,—th’e Samojeds,‘——anzl of the Oﬂiaciu ,--—-af the
Chine/e,—‘-the fapane/E, and if the matinee if the Phi;-
lippine i/landL—But the celebrated write”, above men-v.
- tibned, were either ignorant ef the/e circumﬂan'cet; or
they were unwilling to mention them, hecaufe; perhaps,-
,they impeached the wretched [y/tem: which they have
Maintained: And whit/t fame nice or imperfeétion in“
the conﬂitution if the American were deduced, at lea/t
in part, from the fme'athneft ofhi: ﬂirty—the Chineﬁ:
and the japane/e, were permitted to enjoy the rep“;
tation of their vigour unnwle/ted.

Even, however, admitting the truth of this popae
Iar opinion, that the [meat/37290 qf/Fn i5 peculiar to

 

108 0f Cothlexion mid Figure

land, they ﬂatten the nofe in order to ac"

complifh a capricious idea of beauty. The

tbe inbabitant‘: of tbe new bemifpbere, [till tbe in e‘
fence: 'wbicb bave been deduced from it by Dr Roberta
fan, and by otber write”, are truly ludicrou: and cone
temptible : for bowever ignorant tbeﬁe celebrated wri-
ter: may be of tbe NATURAL (a: tbey bave evidently
been of tbe CIVIL) bi/lory cf an extenﬁve variety cf
our/peciey, tbere can be not longer any doubt, tbat a
'want ofappetite,—-—an incapacity (f [abound-an im--

1‘; potency or incapacity if performing tbe buﬁneﬁ of ge—

neration,--in ﬂoort, a general imbecility botb of body

and ofmind, tbefe are no more cbarafteriﬂic of tbe

Jmerzcan tb'an tbqy are of tbe Ajz‘atic, of 1/13 African,
z or we” oft/7e “ enligbtened European.” “M

It 1: indeed truly qﬂamﬂiing, tbat Dr Robertybn in
particular jbould bave ever adopted, on tbefaitb of '
jefuit: and of Buccaneen, tale: of/o groﬂ' and extra—
vagant a nature ;—a: a divine be fbould believe tbat
tbe American: were defeended from tbe fame COMMON
ﬂock witb bimfelf: be bay, indeed, leaned to tbi: be-
lief: be ba: pointed out tbe very countries from 'wbicb,‘
be tbinbs, America received ber inbabitant: ,-—to wbat
caufcI, tben are we to attribute tbe want of a beard ;
-——a12 imbecility of body and an imbecility of mind ?—
no caufe: can be aﬂgned but tbofe 'wbicb bave been
adopted by tbe wretcbed ant/nor :ftbe RECHERCHES
PHIVLOSOPHIQUES SUR LES AMERICAINS, and tbey
need only be Mentioned to be refuted—For even admit-r

in the Human Specter. 109

ﬂtin, in many nations, is darkened by art;

and all favages eﬁeem certain kinds of de—

formity to be perfeé’rions‘ ; and I’tFive to
heighten the admiration of their perfons,
by augmenting the wildnef's of ' their fea-

tures. Through every country on the
globe we might proceed in this manner,
pointing out the many arts which the in-

habitants praﬂife to reach fome favourite
idea of the human form. Arts that infen-
ﬁbly, through a courfe of time, produce
a great and confpicuous effeé’t. Arts which
iare uﬁfally fuppofed to have only a perfo-
nal inﬂuence; but which really have an
operation on pofterity alfo. The procefs
of nature in this is as little known as in
all her other works. This eﬂreé‘t is fre-
quently feen. Every remarkable change
of feature that has grown into a habit of
the body, is tranfmitted with other perfon-
al properties, to offspring. The coarfe

ting that any given [late of climate were capable of
producing the efeﬂ: juﬂ mentioned, yet furely it will
not be‘imagined that one general efeé? can re/ult from
the operation qffo many and fa dtﬁierent can/es.
EDITORa

H3

110, I OfComplcxi‘on and Figure

features of labouring peeple, created by
hardlhips, and by long expofure to the
weather, are communicated.—The broad
feet of the rul‘tic, that have been pread by
often treadinv the naked ground ; and the

large hand and arm, formed by conﬂant

labour, are difcernible in children. The
increafe or diminution of any other limb
or feature formed by habits that aim at an
idea of beauty, may, in like manner, be
imparted. \Ve continually fee the effect
of this principle on the inferior animals.
The figure, the colour and properties of.
the horfe are ’eaﬁly changed according to

~ the reigning taﬂe. Out of the fame ori-

ginal Rock the Germans who are fettled
in Pennfylvania, raife large and heavy
horfes; the Irilh raife fuch as are much
lighter and ﬁnaller. According to the
pains beﬁowed, you may raife from the
fame race, horfes for the faddle and horfes
for the draught. Even/the colour can be
{peedily changed according as falhion is
pleafed to vary its caprice. And, if taﬁe
prefcribes it, the ﬁneﬂ horfes ﬂiall} in a

 

. dragge- \-. ”f7 a

in the Human Species. ‘ I I 1

fhort time, be black, or white, or bay *.
Human nature much more pliant, and af-
fected by a greater variety of caufes from
food, from clothing, from lodging and
from manners, is {kill more eaﬁly fufcep«
tible of change, according to any general
ﬁandard, or idea of the human form. To
this principle, as well as to the manner of
living, it may be, in part, attributed that
the Germans, the Swedes and the French,
in different parts of the United States, who
live chieﬂy among themfelves, and culti-
vate the habits and ideas of the countries
from which they emigrated, retain, even
in our climate, a ﬂrong refemblance of
their primitive flocks. Thofe, on the other
hand, who have not conﬁned themfelves
‘to the contraéied circle of their country-
men, but have mingledxfreely with the
Anglo-Americans, entered into their man—
ners, and adopted their ideas, have aﬂ‘u-
med fuch a likenefs to them, that it is not
H 3

* By chooling horfes of the requiﬁte qtialities, to
fupply the ﬁnds. ‘

‘1 12 0f Complexion and F igure

eafy now to (liftinguiih from onevanother-
people who have fprung from fuch differe
ent origins, -

I have {aid that the procefs of nature in
this, as in all her other works, is inexpliq
cable, One fecondary caufe, however,
may be pointed out, which feems to have
conﬁderablel inﬂuence 0n the event-*. Con,
nexions in marriage ,will generally be
formed- on this idEa of human beauty in

* Beﬁdes this, men will foon difcover thofe kinds
of diet, and 'thofe modes of living that will be molt
favourable 'to their ideas. The power of imagina~
tion in pregnant women, might perhaps deferve fome
iconﬁderation on this fubjeét. Some years ﬁnce, this'
principle was carried tolexcefs. I am ready to be-_
lieve that philofophers, at prefent, run to extremes ‘
on‘the other hand. They deny entirely the inﬂuence
.of imagination. But ﬁnee the emotions of fociety
have fo great an inﬂuence, as it is evident they have,»
in forming the countenance; and ﬁnce the refem-
blance of parents is communicated to children, why
{hould it be deemed incredible that 'thofe general
ideas which contribute to form the features of the
parent, fhould contribute alfo’ to form the features oi
the child?

in the Human Spain. 1 13

any country. An inﬂuence this which
will gradually approximate the counte—
nance towards one common ﬁandard. If
men in the affair of marriage, were as
much under management as fome other.
animals,‘an abfolute ruler might accom-
plifh, in his dominions almof’t any idea of
the human form.- But, left as this con- ‘
nexion is to the paﬂions and intereﬂs of
individuals, it is more irregular and im—
perfect in its operations. And the negli—
gence of the vulgar, ariﬁng from their
want of taﬁe, impedes, in fome degree, the
general effect There is, however, a com-
mon idea which men infenﬁbly to them—
felves, and almoﬂ: withOut deﬁgn, purfue.
And they purfue it with more or lefs fuc-
eefs in proportion to ’the rank and taﬁe of
different claffes in fociety, where they‘do
not happen in particular inﬁances, to be
governed in connexions of marriage by
interel‘t ever void of taﬂe. The fuperior
ranks will always be ﬁrﬂ, and, in general,
moﬁ improved, according to the prevalent:
idea of national beauty; becaufe they

114 Of Complexion and F igure

have it, more than others, in their power
to form matrimonial connexions favonr-
able to this end} The Perﬁan nobility,
improved in their idea of beauty, by their
removal to a new climate, and a new ﬂare
of fociety, have, within a few races, al-
moﬁ eff-deed the charaéters of their Tarta-
rian origin. The Tartars, from whom
they are diefcended, are among the molt
deformed and Rapid nations upon earth.
The Perﬁans, by obtaining the moﬁ beau«
tiful and agreeable women from every
country, are become a tall, and well fea—
tured, and ingenious nation. The pre—
fent nations of Europe have, with the

reﬁnement of their manners and ideas,
changed and reﬁned their perfons.. No-

thing can exceed the pié‘tures of barba~

‘ film and deformity given us of their an-
cellars, by the Roman writers. Nothing
1‘ can exceed the beauty of many of the pre-

fent women of Europe and America who
are defcended from them. And the Eu-

,ropeans, and Americans are, the moft
beautiful people in the world, chieﬂy, be-

caufe their ﬁate of fociety is themoﬁ im—

in the Human Special. “1 15

proved. Such examples tend to {hew how
much the varieties of nations may depend
on ideas created by climate, adopted by
inheritance, or- formed by 'the inﬁnite
changes of fociety and manners *. They
ihew,1ikewife, how much the human race
might be improved both in perfonal and
in mental qualities, by a well—directed
care.

The ancient Greeks feem to have been
the people molt fenﬁble of its inﬂuence.
Their cuf’toms, their exercifes, their laws,
and their philofophy, appear to have had

“‘ Society in America is gradually advancing in re-
ﬁnement: and, if my obfcrvation has been jail, the
prefent race furnifhes more women of exquiﬁte beau-
ty than the laﬂ, though they may not always be found
in the fame families. And if fociety {hould continue
its progreﬂive improvement, the next race may fur-
nilh more than the prefent. Europe has certainly
made great advances in reﬁnement of fociety, and
probably in beauty. And if cxaﬁ piétures could have
been preferved of the human countenance and form in
every age ﬁnce the great revolution ma in by the bar,
barians, werihould, perhaps, ﬁnd Europe as. much
improved in its features as in its manners.

w

’1

, I 16 . 0f Complexion and Figure

in view, among other objects, the beauty
and vigour of the human conﬁitution.
And it is not an improbable conjeé‘ture,
that the fine models exhibited, in that
country, to ﬁatuaries and painters, were
one caufe of the high perfection to which
the arts of f'culpture and painting arrived
in Greece. If fuch great improvements
were introduCed by art into the human
ﬁgure, among this elegant and ingenious
people, it is a proof, at once, of the inﬂu-
ence of general ideas, and of how much
might be effected by purfuing a juﬁ fy-
ﬁem upon this fubjeé’t. Hitherto, it has
been abandoned too much to the govern-
ment of chance. ‘The great and noble
have ufually had it more in their power
than others to feleé’t the beauty of nations
in marriage: and thus, while, without
fyf’tem or deﬁgn, they gratiﬁed only their
own tafte, they have generally diﬂinguiih-
ed their order, as much by elegant pro-
portions of perfon, and beautiful features;
as by its prerogatives in fociety. And
the tales of romances that deferibe the fu-
perlative beauty of captive ,princelfes, and

in the Human Species; ‘ I 17

the ﬁfticms .of poets, who charaé’terife their
kings and nobles, by uncommon dignity
of carriage and eleganceof perfon, and by
an elevated turn of thinking, are not to be
afcribed folely to the venality of writers
prone to ﬂatter the great, but have a real
foundation in nature *. The ordinary
{train of language, which is borrowed
from nature, vindicates this criticifm. A
, princely perfon, and a 1201226 thought, are
ufual ﬁgures of fpeechT.—Mental capa-

"‘ Coincident with the preceding remarks on the
nations of Europe, is an obfervation made by Capt.

Cook, in his laft voyage, on the iﬂand OhWyhee, '

and on the iﬂands in general, which he viﬁted in the
great fouth fea. He fays, “ the fame fuperiority
9‘ which is obfervable in the Era: [or nobles]
“ through all the other iﬂands, is found alfo here.
" Thofe whom we faw, were, without exception,
“ perfeé’tly well formed; whereas the lower fort, be-
“ ﬁdes their general inferiority, are fubjeét to all the
“ variety of make and ﬁgurethat is feen in the popu-
“ lace of other countries.” Cook’s third voyage,
book 3d, chap. 6th.

1- Such is the defei'ence paid to beauty, and the
idea of fuperiority it infpires, that to this quality,

I.

h

it

518 7 0f Complexion and Figdre

city, which is as various as climate, and
as perfonal appearance, is, equally with the
latter, fufceptible of improvement, from
ﬁmilar‘caufes. The body and mind have
fuch mutual inﬂuence, that whatever con-
tributes to change the human conﬂitution
in its form or afpeé’c, has an equal inﬂu-

.. ence on its powers of reafon and genius.

And thefe’ have again a reciprocal effect in
forming the countenance. One nation
may, in confequence of conﬁitutionai ups-u
culiarities, created more, perhaps, by the
(late of fociety, than by the climate, be
addicted to a grave and thoughtful philo—
fophy; another may pOHEFS a brilliant
and creative imagination ; one may be ena

perhaps, does the body of princes and nobles, col:
ieﬁivcly taken, in any country, owe great part of
their influence over the populace. Riches and mag:
niﬁcence in drefs and equipage, produce much of
their effect by giving an artiﬁcial beauty to the per;
for). How often does hif’cory remark, that young '
princes have attached their fubjeéts, and generals
their foidiers, by extraordinary beauty ? And young
and beautiful queens- have ever been followed» ant!
ferved with uncommon enthuﬁafnn

in the Human Species. I 19'

(lowed. with acutenefs and wit; another
may be diﬁinguifhed for being phlegma-
tic and dull. Baotian and Attic wit was
not a fanciful, but real (liftiné‘tion, though
the remote origin of Cadmus and of Ce-
crops was the fame. The Rate of man-
nets and fociety in thofe republics produ-
ced this difference more than the Boeotian
air, to which it has been f0 often attribu-
ted. By the alteration of a few political,
or civil, or commercial ini‘titutions, and
confequently, of the objeéls of fociety and
the train of life, the eﬁabliihment of which
depended on a thoufand accidental caufes,
Thebes might have become Athens, and
Athens Thebes. ’ Different periods of fo-
ciety, different manners, and different ob-
jeé’ts, unfold and cultivate diiTerent powers
_ of the mind. Poetry, eloquence, and phi- 7
lofophy feldom ﬂourilh together in their
highelt luﬁre. They are brought to per-
feétion by various combinations of cir- _
cumf’tances, and are found to fucceed one
another in the fame nation at various pe-
riods, not becaufe the race of men, but be-
caufe manners and objects are changed,

71,20 0f06mpléxion dimi Figurg

If.as faithful a picture could be left td
pol’terity of perfonal as of mental quali-
ties, we {hould probably ﬁnd the one, in
thefe feveral periods, as ~Variou's as the
other ; and we {hould derive from them a
new proof of the power of fociety to mul—
tiply the varieties of the human fpecies.
Not only deﬁciency of objects to give
fcope to the exercife of the human intel-
leé't is unfavourable to its improvement;
but all rudenefs of manners is unfriendly
to the culture, and the exiﬁence of tafte,
and even coarfe and meagre food may
have fome tendency to blunt the powers
of genius. Thefe caufes have a more
powerful operation than has hitherto been
attributed to them by philofophers; and
merit a more minute and extenﬁv‘e illu—
ﬁration than the fubjeét of this difcourfe‘
will admit. The mental capacities of fad-
Vages, for thefe caufes, are ufually weaker
' than the capacities of men in civilizedfo‘a
ciety *. The powers of their minds,

* The exaggerated reprefentations which “C fomea
times receive of the ingenuity and profound wifdom
l .

D

in the Human Specier. 12 I

through defect of objects to employ them,
lie dormant, and even become extinct.
The faculties which, on fome occaﬁons,
they are found to poifefs, grow feeble
through want of motives to call forth
their exercife. The coarfenef‘s of their
food, and the ﬁlthinefs of their manners,
tend to blunt their genius. And the Hot-
tentots, the Laplanders, and the people of
New-Holland are the moﬁ: fiupid of man-

' kind; for this, among other reafons, that

they approach, in thefe refpeél's, the near-
eft to the brute creation f.

' I

of favages, are the fruits of weak and ignorant fur.
prize. And favages are praifed by fome writers for
‘the fame reafon that a m‘onkey is—-a certain imita-
tion of the aé’tions of men in fociety, which was not.
expeﬁed from the rudenefs of their condition. There
are doubtlefs degrees of genius among favages as well
as among civilized ,nations ; but the comparifon
{hould he made of favages among themfelves 3 and
not of the genius of a favage with that of a polifhed.~
people.

/ 1- It is well known that the Africans who have

y been brought to America, are daily becoming, under

all the difadvantages of fervitude, more ingenious and

.
.33

1 2 2 3 0f Complexion and Figure

I am now come to fhow in what man-
ner the features of favage life are affected
by the Rate of fociety.

Civilization creates fome afﬁnity in coun-
tenance among all polifhed nations. But
there is fomething fo peculiar and fo ﬂu-
pid in. the‘general countenance of favages,
that they are liable to be conﬁdered as an
inferior grade in the defcent from the hu—

man to the brute creation. As the civi—

lized nations inhabit chieﬂy the tempe-
rate climates, and favages, except in Ame-
rica, the extremes of heat and cold, there
differences in point of climate, combined
with thofe that netgl‘arily arife out of their
{late of fociety, ' Ave produced varieties
fo great as to aﬁonilh haﬁy obfer‘vers, and
hafly philofophers; The varieties, indeed,
produced in the features by favage life are
great ; but the real fum of them is not {0

)

fufceptible of inﬂruélion. This diet}, which has
been takennotice of more than once, may, in part
perhaps, be attributed to a change in their modes of
living, as well as to fociety, or climate.

 

in tbe Human Spain. I 2 3

great as the apparent. For the eye taking
in at one View, not only the actual change
made in each feature, but their multiplied
and mutual relations to one another, and '
to the whole; and each new relation gi-
ving the fame feature a different afpeél,
by comparifon, the ﬁnal refult appears
prodigious *.—'—For example, a change made
in the eye, produces a change in the Whole
countenance; beeaufe it prefents to us,
not {ineg the difference that has happen-
ed in that feature, but all the differences
that arife from its combinations with every
feature in the face. In like manner, a
change in the complexion prefents not its
own difference only, but a much greater
effect bya ﬁmilar combination with the .
Whole countenance. If both the eyes and
'the complexion be changed in the fame
perfon, each change, affecting the Whole
features, the combination of the two re-
fults will produce a third incomparably,

12

" See pages 83 and 84. . 3 ,

.124 Of Complexion and Figure

greater than "either. .If, in the fame way,
we proceed to the lips, the nofe, the cheeks,
and to every ﬁngle feature in the vifage,
each produces a multiplied effect, by com-
parifon with the whole; .and the refult of
all, like the product of a geometrical feries,
is {0 much beyond our ﬁrft expectation,
that it confounds common obf'ervers, and
will fometimes embarrafs the moft dif-
cerning philofophers, till they learn, in
this manner, to, divide and combine ef-
r- feels.

t“ at: 2, To treat this ﬁlbjeﬁ fully, it would be

necelfary, in the ﬁrfi place, to afcertain
, t ‘ the general countenance of favage fociety
t —-—and then, as there are degrees in the fa-

.Q'se .vage as well as. in the civilized ﬂare, to

7 if: diﬁ'inguifh the feveral modiﬁcations which
each degree makes in the general afpeétl—

and, in the lal‘t place, to conﬁder the almol’t l
boundlef‘s varieties that arife from combi~

ning thefe general features with the effects

of climate and of other caufes already men-
tinned—I do not propofe, however, to

purfue the {abject to fuch extent, 1 ﬂiall

in the Human Spade}? " i I 2 5

endeavour to draw, only, the general out-
lines of the favage countenance as it is
formed by the'ﬁate of fociety; and {hall‘ .
leave its changes refulting from the differ— “I, It ‘ 3’4 I
cut degrees of that ﬁate, and from _the
combinations of thefe with other caufes \

. Isa»-

preﬂive—The whole compolition of his . ,
countenance is ﬁxed and ﬁupid—and over , :.
thefe unmeaning features is thrown an air ,gfIi .
ofvvildnefs and melancholy—The mufcle’s
of the face are {oft and lax—and the face _ ,.....=.

is dilated at the {ides—the mouth is large, ,, I p
the lips fvvelled' and protruded-.—and they;~ b
nofe, in the fame proportion, depreﬂhd *. ~, V

and effects, to exercif‘e the leifure and ob- I is”
fervation of the ingenious. . 1;; f
”if“
The eye of a favage IS vacant and unex- wi’g , ,3
ti 5\ i

This 16 the piéiure -—To explain it I ohd
I 3 ,

"“ In this reprefentation of the favage countenance,
I have chieﬂy in view the American lavage; although
its general lineaments, and the caufes alligned for
them, may, in a great degree, be univerfally appliedga'

 

! 26 - 0f Complexion iana’ Figure

ferve, that the expreﬂion of the eye, and
of the whole countenance, depends on the
nature and variety of thought and emo-
tion. Joy and grief, folitude and compa-
ny, objeé‘ts of attention, habits, manners,
whatever occupies the mind, tends to im-
profs upon the countenance its peculiar
traits. Mechanical‘occupations, andcivil
profeﬂions, are often dif’tinguifhed by pe-
culiarities in m‘anner and afpeé’t. We
frequently ,difcriminate with cafe religious
denominations by a certain countenance
formed by the habits of their profeﬂion.
Every thought has an inﬂuence in form-
' ing and diverﬁfying the charaﬂer of the
countenance, and vacuity of thought. leaves
~it unmeaning and ﬁxed. The inﬁnite va-
riety of ideas and emotions .in civilized

fociety, will give every clafs of citizens

fume dif’tinguilhing expreﬂion, according
to their habits and occupations ; and will
beﬁow on each individual fome ﬁngular
and perfonal traits, according to his geni-
us, education, or purfuits.‘ Between fa-
‘vag? @199 Fivilizcd (fogicty there vi“ be all
iyhe'difference that can arife from think.-

in the Human Species... I 27 _' ., .

ing and from. want'of thought. Savages

will hié’é‘lﬁt‘u that uniformity among them-

{elves in the fame climate, that‘arife from
ipcancy of mind, and want of emotion.

Knowledge is various, but ignorance is:;.

ever the fame. A vacant eye, a ﬁxed and

., unmeaning countenance of idiotiﬁn, feem
to reduce the favage in his afpeft many " '
grades nearer than the citizen, to the brute
creation. The folitude in which he lives, 2,
difpofes him to melancholy. He feldom
fpeaks or laughs. Society rarely enlivens:
j his features.- When not engaged in the t
' (chace, having no object to roufe him, he ‘V
reclines‘ ﬂuggifhly on the ground, he wan; V
" ders careleﬁsly through the foreﬁ, or he
ﬁts for hours in one pof’ture, with his eyes

ﬁxed to a ﬁngle point, and his fenf'es loft
in fullen and unmeaning reverie. Thefe
folitary and melancholy emotions ferve to
caﬁ over his vifage, which other caufes
render ﬁxed, and un'expreﬂive, a fad and
lugubrious air. The wildgfcenes’of na-
ture in an uncultivated country imprei‘s
fame refemblance of themfelves on the

If

i iaw"?

5
. i.
. A 50/

I g 28 -. 0f Complexion and F igzire

features—and the paﬂions of war and
rage, which are almoﬂ: the only ones that
occupy the mind of a favage, mingle with
the whole an afpeé‘t of brutal ferocity 3“.

,Paucity of ideas, folitude and melan-

icholy, contribute likewife in no fmall de-

gree, to form the remaining features of a

tfavage—a large and protruded mouth, a

dilated face, and a general laxnefs and .
{well of all its mufcles 1‘.

Society and thought put a {triélure up-
on the mufcles of the face, which, while

* The inhabitants of the numerous fmall iﬂands in
the great Southern and Paciﬁc oceans form an excep-
tion to this remark. Prevented, by their ifolated
Rate, from engaging in perpetual vhoflilities with
neighbouring tribes, like the continental favages,
they are dillinguifhed by an air of mildnefs and com-
placence which is never feen upon the continent.

4} That thefe are natural tendencies of folitude,
and vacancy of thought, we may difcern by a {mall
attention to ourfelves, during a ﬁnﬁlar (late, or limi-
lar emotions of mind.

W

in the Human Sperm." :29

it gives them “ meaning \and expreﬂion,
prevents them from dilating‘and fwelling
as much as they would naturally do. They
coll‘eét the countenance more towards the ‘
center, and give it a greater elevation there“,
But the vacant mind of the favage leaving
the face, the index. of fentiment and paf—
ﬁon, unexerted, its mufeles are relaxed,
they confequently fpread at the ﬁdes, and
render the middle of the face broad.

Grief, peculiarly, aﬁ‘eé’ts the ﬁgure of the
lips, and makes them fwell.———So do all fo—
litary and melancholy emorions. r ‘-When,
therefore, thefe are the natural refult of
the {late of fociety-—when "they operate
from infancy, and are feldom counterac-
ted by the more gay and intenfe emotions

I'

"“ The advancement of fociety and knowledge is-
probably ‘one reafon why the Europeans in general
have a more elevated countenance than the Aﬁatics.
The reader will be kind enough to remember that all
remarks of this nature are only general, and not in?
tended to reach every particular inl’tance, or to inﬁy-
nuate that there may not, in the inﬁnite variety of
natnre, be many particular exceptions.

‘I 30 0f Complexion and Figure

of civil life, the, effect will at length be“
come conﬁderable, The mouth of a fa—
vage will generally be large, and the lips,
in a lefs or greater degree, thick and pro-

truded *.

The nofe affects, and is aﬂ'eé‘ted by the
other features of the face. The whole fea-
tures ufually bear fuch relation to one a-
nother, that if one be remarkably enlar-
ged, it is accompanied with a proportion-
al diminution of others.‘ A prominent
nofe is commonly connected with a thin
face, and thin lips. On the other hand, a
broad face, thick lips, or a large and a
blunt chin, is accompanied with a certain
depreﬂion of the feature of the nofe. It
feems as if the extenfion of the nerves in
one direction, reftrained and fhortened

"" The ruftic ftate, by its folitude and want of
thought and emotion, bears fome analogy to the fa-
vagc. And we fee it accompanied by ﬁmilar eﬂ"e€ts
on the vifage. The countenance vacant, the lips
thick, the face broad and fpread, and all its mufeles
lax and fwelling.

in the Human Specie}. ' x 3 1

them in another *. Savages, therefore,
commonly have this feature more ﬁmk
and ﬂat, than it is in civil fociety. This,
though a partial, is not the whole caufe of
that extreme ﬂatnefs which is obferved in
part of Africa, and in Lapland; Climate
enters there, in a great degree, forethe ef-
feﬁ; and it is aided by an abfurd fenfe
of beauty that prompts them often to deg-
prefsit by art T.

"‘ By a fmall experiment on ourfelves we may renu.
der this effeéi obvious. By a protuﬁon of the lips,
or by drawing 'down the mouth at the corners, we
{hall ﬁnd a ftrié‘rure on the nofe that, in an age when
the features were foft and pliant, would fenﬁbly tend
to deprefs it. A like tendency continued through the
Whole of life, would give them an habitual pofition
very different from the common condition of civili-
zed fociety; and the effeét would be much greater
than would readily occur to our ﬁrft reﬂeé‘tions upon
the fubjeét.

f That fuch an eﬂ’eé‘t {hould be the refult of die
mate is not more wonderful than the thick necks
created by the climate of the Alps; or than other eE.
{6&5 that certainly fpring from this caufe, within our
oWn knowledge. That it arifes from climate, or the
ﬂate‘of foCiety, or both, is evident, becaufe the nofe

It?"

«I?

'13: Of Complexion and Figure

The preceding obfervations tend 'torac—
count for fame of the moﬁ diftinguifhing
features of favages. - To thefe I might
have added another general reafon of their
pec-uliar wildnefs and uncouthnefs in that
{late of fociety.—The feelings of favages,
when they deviate from their ufual apathy,
are ' moftly of the uneafy kind ; and to
thefe they give an unconﬁrained expref—
preﬁion. From this caufe will neceffarily
refult a habit of the face, in the highef’t
degree rude and uncouth. As we fee, a
ﬁmilar negligence among the vulgar adds
exceedingly to that ,difguﬂing coarfenefs
which f0 many other caufes contribute to
create. '

I have now ﬁnifhed the difcuﬂion which
Ipropofed, as far as I deﬁgn at prefent
to purfue inf—Many of the obfervations
which have been made inrthe progrefs of
it may, to perfons not accuflomed to a
nice examination of the powers of natural

,f‘ ml,-

w, , ., ..
1,, .

.1: .’ v i . , . \. .
is becoming more prominent in the pofterity of thofe

who have been removed from Africa to America.

1

in the Human Species. , 3133

caufes, appear minute and unimportant.
It -' may be thought that I have attributed
’too much to the inﬂuence of principles
that are f0 ﬂow in their operation and im-
, perceptible in their progrefs. But, on this
Inbjeéi, it deferves to be remembered, that
the minuteft caufes, by acting conﬁantly,
are often productive of the greateﬁ con-
fequences. The 'inceffant drop wears a
cavity at length in the hardeft rock. The
impreﬂions of education, which ’ﬁngly ta-
ken are fcarcely difcernible, ultimately pro-
duce the greatef’t differences between men
in fociety. How ﬂow the progrefs of ci-
vilization, which the inﬂuence of two
thoufand years hath, as yet, hardly ripen-
ed in the nations of Europe? How mi-
nute and imperceptible the operation of
each particular caufe that has contributed

to the ﬁnal refult? And, yet, how immenfe 1

the difference between the manners of
Europe barbarous, and of Europe. civili-
zed? There is furely not a greater differ-
ence between the ﬁgure and af'peé’t of any
two nations on the globe. The pliant na-

ture of man is 'fuIceptible of change from

x 34 0f Complexion and Figure

the minutef’c caufes, and thefe chan'geé,
habitually repeated, Create at" length con-
fpicuous diﬁiné’tions, The effect proceeds
increaﬁng from one generation to another,
till it arrives at that point where the con-
ﬁitution can yield no farther to the power
of the operating caufe. Here it alfumes a
permanent form and becomes the charac~
“tier of the climate or the nation.

Superficial thinkers are often heard'to
aik, why, unlefs there be an original dif-
ference in the fpecies of men, are not all
born at leaﬂ; with the fame figure, or coma
plexion? It is fufﬁcient to anfwer to fuch
inquiries, that It is for the fame reafon,
whatever that may be, that other refem~
blances of parents are communicated to
children. We fee that ﬁgure, ﬁature,
complexion, features, difeafes, and even
powers of the mind become hereditary.
Tothofe who can fatisfy themfelves with
regard to the communication of thefe pro-
perties, the tranfmiﬂion of climatical or
national differences ought not to appear
furpriﬁng-—the fame law will account for'

in the Human Specier‘. , 1.35

both—If it be afked why a fun-burnt face

or a wounded limb is not alfo communi“

cated by thefame law 2 it is fuﬂicient to
anfwer that thefe are only partial accidents
which do ”not change the inward form.
and temperament of the confiitution. It
is the conﬁitution that is conveyed by
birth. The caufes which 1 have attempt-
ed to illuﬁzrate, change, in time, its whole
ﬁruﬂure and compoﬁtion—And when any
change becomes incorporated, ['0 to fpeak,
it is, along with other conﬁitutional pro-
perties, tranfmitted to offspring.

I proceed now to conﬁder the exceptions
exil'ting among mankind that feem to con-
tradict the general principles that have
been laidmdownconcerning the inﬂuence
. of climate, and of the Rate Of foiciety.

I begin with obferving, that thefe ex- ‘ ,__' _ ,
ceptions are neither f0 numerous nor ('0
great as they have been reprefented by ig- w- .

norant and inaccurate travellers, and by
- credulous philofophers. Even Buﬁ‘on feems
to be credulous when he only doubts con-

l

I \VE 136 Of Complexion and Figure

7‘ ,cerning the relations of Struys, and Other
;' prodigy+mongers, who have ﬁlled the hi-
ﬂories of their voyages with crude and

hafty obfervations, the eﬁ'eé’ts of falfehOOd,

‘ or of {lupid furprife. Nothing can ap-

pear more contemptible than philofo-
phers with folemn faces, retailing like
maids and nurfes, the ﬁories of giants*

”‘ .--—of. tailed men T—of a people without

* Buﬂ‘on, defcribing the inhabitants of the Marian,
"or Ladrone iﬂands, fuppofes that they are, in gene-
ral, a people of large ﬁze; and that fome may have
been feen there of gigantic ﬁature. But before Buf-
fon wrote, there was hardly a navigator who did not
fee many giants in remote countries. Bufl‘on has the
merit of rejeé’ting a great number of incredible nar-

‘ rations.

1- Lord Monboddo fuppofes that mankind, at ﬁrlt,
had tails—that they have fallen off by civilization-—
but that there are {till forrie nations, and fame indivi-
duals, who haVe this honourable marl; of afﬁnity with
the .brutes. What eﬂ'eél: might refult from the con-

,_jun£tion of a lavage with an ape, or an Orang—

’ Outang, it is impoflible to fay. But a monflrous -

birth, if it {honld happen, however it maybe exagge-

‘ rated by the ignorance of failors, fhould never be

digniﬁed as a fpecies in the writings of philofophers.

I in the HumanSpecz'N. [37

teeth *-—-and of fome abfolutely without,
' necks 1‘. It is a ‘fhame for philofophy at
thiQ‘day to be {wallowing the falfehoods,
and accounting for the abfurdities of fail-
ors. We in America, perhaps, receive
fuch tales with more contempt than other
nations; becaufe we perceive 'in fuch a
ﬂrong light, the‘falfehood of ﬁmilar won-
ders, With regard to this Continent, that
were a few years ago reported, believed,
and philofophifed on in Europe. We hear
every day ‘the abfurd remarks, and the
falfe reafonings of foreigners on almof’t
every object that comes under their obfer-Q

vation in this new region. Iheyﬁjudgeiof, ., Q \

things, of men, and of manners under the

* A molt. deformed and deteﬁable people whom
Buﬁbn fpeaksiof as natives of New-Holland.

f Sir Walter Raleigh pretends to defcribe a people
of that kind'in Guiana. Other voyagers have given
a limilar account of fome of the Tartar tribes. The
ﬂecks of thefe Tartars are naturally extremely ﬂiort;
and the fpirit of travelling prodigy has totally deﬁroy-

'~ ed them.

‘ ‘ 15’

e.
54.;

9.13

'\§:Vj

 

[:38 0f . Complexion and Figure

igﬂneugggﬁhabiwrandoideaaframeiina
different .clinatsrandn a diﬁ‘erento {tantof
{99;ng ; or they infer genéral and err’one-
ous concluﬁons from ﬁngle and miﬁaken
faé’ts, viewed through that prejudice, which
previous habits always form in common
minds 3“ ' I,

1‘ ' i , r
1., - r, , ~\ 1' s .
f '1" 1 a»: ‘1," , ; ‘3 i... 2'” X’s“ Li 1 A.

. l
’1‘ It requires a greater portion of reﬂexion and philo«
fophy than falls to the lot of Ordinary travellers to enable
them to judge with propriety of men-and things in di-

- litant countries. Countries are defcribed from a ﬁngle .

fpot, manners from a ﬁngle aé’cion, and men from the
~firﬂ: man that is teen on a foreign fhore, and perhaps
him only half fe'en, and at a diftanée. From this {pi-
rit, America has been reprefented by different travel-
lers as the melt fertile or the molt barren region on
the globe. Navigators to Africa often fpeak of the

' fpreading foref’ts and luxuriant herbage of that arid

imminent, becaufe fome fcenes of this kind are pre-
fented to the eye along the {hores of the Gambia and
the Senegal. And furprife occalioned by an uncom-
mon complexion or competition of features, has in-

’ creafed or diminilhed the ﬁature of diﬂ'erent nations

beyond all the proportions of nature—Such judg—
ments are ﬁmilar, perhaps, to thofe which a Chinefe
Tailor would form of the United States who had feen
only cape May; or would form of Britain or of
France, who had feen only the ports of Dover or of

' \

, "7:2,...” ’2' 3,1,“,

in the Human Species. r 39

, Since America is better known, we ﬁnd
no canibals in Florida; no men in Guiana
i , K a

Calais. ‘What information concerning thofe king-
doms could fuch a viﬁ‘tant afford his countrymen,
from fuch a viﬁt? Beﬁde the limited fphere of his

obfervation, he would fee every thing with al’tonifh-J
ment or with difguf’t, that would exaggerate, or di- '?

{tort his reprefentation. He would fee each aé’tion ‘

by itfelf without knowing its connexions ; or he
would fee it with the connexions which it would have ‘
in his own country. A ﬁmilar error induced Capt.
Cook, in his ﬁrﬁ: voyage, to form‘ an unfavourable opi-
nion of the modelly' and chal’tity of the women of
Otaheite, which more experience taught him to cor-
reé't. Many fuch falfe judgments are to be found in
almoi’t every writer of voyages or travels. The fa-
vages of America are reprefented as frigid, becaufe
they are not ready forever to avail themfelves of the
opportunities offered by their {late of fociety, to vio-
late the chaftity of their females. They are fometimes

,’ reprefented as licentious, becaufe they often lie pro-

mifcuouﬂy round the fame ﬁre. Both judgments are
falfe, and formed on prepoifeﬂions created in, fociety.
Simplicity of manners, more than conﬁitution, or
than cli’mate, produces that appearance of indifference,
on the one hand, that is called frigidity, and that.
promifcuousintercourfe, on the other, that is {uppo-
{ed to be united with licence. Luxury, rel’traints,

 

 

140 Of Complexion and F zgztre

with beads funk into their breaﬂs; ‘no
martial Amazons. The giants of Patago-‘
nia have difappeared; and the fame fate
{hould have attended thofe of the Ladrone
iﬂands, whom Buﬁ'on, after Gemelli Carre-

and the arts of polifhed fociety inﬂame deﬁre, which
is allayed by'the coarfe manners, and hard fare of fa-
vvage life, where no ﬁudied excitements are ufed to
awaken the pailions. The frontier counties of all
thefe Rates at prefent afford a {hiking example of the
truth of this reﬂexion. Poor, and approaching the
roughnefs and ﬁmplici’sy of favage manners, and li-
» .ving in cabins that have no diviﬁons of apartments,
whole families, ‘and frequently {hangers lodge toge-
ther 1n the fame incl-ofure without any fenfe of inde.
cency, and with fewer violations of chaﬁity than are
found ‘amidi’t the ref’traints. and incitements of more
7 polifhed fociety. On a like foundation cowardice has
‘been imputed to the natives of America, becaufe they
profecute their wars by f’tratagem—infenﬁbility, be-
caufe they fufFer with patience—and thieviihnefs, be-
caufe a favage, having no notion of perfonal property
hut that which he has 1n prefent occupation and en-
joyment, takes without fcruple what be wants, and
I fees you do not need. In innumerable inﬁances '
"the 218; of one man, the ﬁgure or i’tature of the ﬁrlt
(vagrant feen upon a dii’cant ﬂ10re, has fumifhed the
Etharaé’ter of a whole nation. It is abfurd to build
“ philofophic theories on the ground of fuch {’tories.

 

in the Human Specier. I 4:

ti, has been pleafed to mention. ’Taver~
nierle tales of the ﬁn'ooth and hairlefs bo-r
diesof the Mogul women, may be‘ranked v ,v
with thofe which have. fo long, and fo
falfely attributed this peculiarity to the '
natives of America, The fame judgment, -
may we form of thofe hiﬁories which re-'
prefent nations without natural affection ;
without ideas of religion; and without '
moral principle 3“. In a word, the greater

K3

*' Nations have been judged to be without reli-

/,. gion becaufe travellers have not feen temples ; be- i {

caufe they have not underﬂood their cuﬁo‘ms, or their I I

language; or have not feen them engaged in any at}

of worihip. Nations have been judged to be without , t "W

natural aﬁeaion, becaufe one man has heenfeen to I i:

do an aé’t of barbarity. But one of the nations which 2 '

{eems to have departed fartheft from the laws of ha, I

man nature’ is mentioned by Lord Kames in his lau-

dable attempts to difprove the truth of revelation. Via ,

He thinks it certain that the Giagas, a nation of Afri-

ca, could not have defcended from one origin with ‘

the wit of mankind, becaufe, totally unlike all others, ; , If}.

they are void of natural affec’tion. They kill, fays ‘

his Lordihip, all their own children as foon as they :4

,f- 4A,, :15 t

l are born, and fupply their places with youth .{tolen ’

 

 

142 Of Complexion and Figure

part of thofe extraordinary deviations from
the laws of climate, and of fociety, which .,
formerly obtained credit, arevdifcovered, by
more accurate obfervation, to have no ex-
iftence. If a .feW marvellous phenomena

’ are ﬁill retailed by credulous writers, a

ﬂiort time Will explode thein all, or lhow
that they are mifunderﬁOod, and enable \
philofophers to explain them on the known ~
principles of human nature.

Leaving fuch pretended facts and the
reafonings to which they have given rife,
to deferved contempt, I {hall conﬁder a few
apparent deviations from the preceding

“ ﬁfrom the neighbouring tribes. If this character had

been true, even his Lordfhip’s zeal for a good caufe,

might have fufi'ered him to reﬂeét that the Giagas

3: could not have continued a feparate race, longer than

the ﬁrft ftock {hould have lived. The Rolex: youth
would refemble their parents, and would,‘ at length,
compofe the nation. And yet the Giagas, according
to his Lordfhip, would continue to kill their children,

' and to be a (landing monument of the falfehood of

the fcripturesl An excellent fpecimen of the eafy
faith of inﬁdelity. Prelim. Difc to Sl'ctches of
the bill It ofMan‘ .‘3: Lord Kamea.

 

in [be Human Species. :43

principles that have been afcertained. It
will not be neceffary to go into an extent-
ﬁve detail of minute differences. Thele
might be tedious and unimportant : I {hall

- propofe only the moﬁ: confpicuous; per-
fuaded that, if they are fatisfaétorily ex-
plained, 'every reafonable inquirer will
tell; convinced that natural caufes exift in
every country fuﬂicient to account for
ﬁnaller dif’tinﬁions.

In tracing the fameparallels'from eaft
to weft, we do not always difcern the fame
features and complexion. In the coun-
tries of India, and on the northern malls

‘of Africa, nations are mingled together
who are diﬁinguifhed from one another
by great -varieties. The torrid zone of
Aﬁa is not marked by fuch a deep colour
nor by fuch parched hair as that of Afri-

~ ca; and the colour of tropical America is,
in general, lighter, than that of Aﬁa.

* ; Africa is not uniform. The complexion

‘y of the wef‘tern coaf’t is a deeper black than
K 4

,~,,

 

I44. 0] Complexion and Figure

that of the eaftern. It is even deeper ‘on
g . the north of the equator than on-the fouth.
iv The Abyfﬁnians form an exception from

'3 r; i all the other inhabitants of the African
15* H zone—and when we go beyond that zone
‘- I r to. the fout‘h, theHottentots feem to be a

gar: geirace by themfelves. In their manners the

\Otzé; L; i L mof’t beaﬂly, and 1n their perfons and the
‘9‘ faculties of their minds approaching the
a ‘ neareﬁ to brutes of any of the human
i fpecies.

For the explication of thefe varieties it
is neceffary to obfervc, that the fame pa-
rallelof latitude does not uniformly indi-
cate the fame temperature of heat and cold.
Vicinity to the fea, the courfe of winds,
the altitude of lands, and even the nature
of the foil, create great differences. in the
fame climate. The ﬁate of fociety in
which any, nation takes poffeﬂion of a
new country has a great eﬁ‘ec’t in pre'f'er-
ving, or in changing their original appears-
ance. Savages necelTarily undergo great
changes by fuﬂ‘ering the whole action and
force of clirnate without protection. Men

 

I

i , in the Human Species. 145

in a civilized [late enjoy innumerable arts
"by whichthey are enabled to guard againlt
its inﬂuence, and to retain fome favourite
idea of beauty formed in their primitive
feats : Yet every migration produces a
change. And the combined effects of
many migrations, fuch as have been made
by almoﬁ all the prefent nations of the
temperate zone, muﬁ have great inﬂuence
in varying the human countenance. For
example—A nation which migrates to a
different climate will, in time, be impref—
fed with the characters of its newvﬂate.
If this nation {hould afterwards‘return to
itsnriginalfeatr, it would not perfeéllyre-
cover its primitive features and complexi-
on, but would receive the imprefiions of
I the ﬁrﬁ climate, on the ground of thofe
created in the 'fecond. In a new removal
the combined effeél of the two climates
would become the ground, on which would
be impreffed the charaé’cers of the third.
This exhibits a new caufe of endlefs va-
riety in the human countenance.

The-{e principles will ferve to explain

P’t

I "14.6 Of‘Ci'omplexion and F ﬁgure

'many of the differences that exif’t in thof‘e
countries which have been the fubjeéts of
mol’t frequent conquelt *. India and the
northern, regions of Africa, have-been of-
ten conquered, and many nations have
eflablifhed colonies in thefe countries for
the purpofes of commerce. A11 thefe na-
' tions before their migrations, or their con-
quef’ts, were in a 1er or greater degree
civilized. They were able, therefore, to
preferve, with fome fuccefs, their original
features againﬁ the inﬂuence of the cli-
mate. Their diet, their habits, their man-
ners and their arts, all would contribute
to this effect. As thefe cauf'es are capable
of creating great varieties among men,
much more are they capable of prefer-
ving varieties already created; -The Turks,
' therefore, the Arabs, and the Moors in the
north of Africa, will remain dif’tiné’t in
their ﬁgure and complexion, as long as

"‘ Efpecially if religion, manners,~ policy, or other
caufes, prevent people from uniting freely in mar-
riages, and from fubmitting to the fame fyl‘tem of go=

' vernment and laws. 3

i

.21; the Human 8pm? . .1 .2147

their manners are different. And the'con-
tinent 'and' iﬂands of India will be ﬁlled
with a various race of people while the
productions of their climate continue to.
invite both conqueﬁs and commercef The
climate will certainly change in a degree
the appearance of all the nations who re-
move thither; but the difference in the
degree and the combination of this effect
with their original characters, will {till
preferve (among them elTential and confpi-g
guous dil’tinétions'iig

*' From the preceding principles we may jultly
”" conclude that the Anglo-Americans will never re-
femble the native Indians, Their civilization will‘
prevent fo‘great a degeneracy. But were it pollible
that they fhould become favage, the refemblance could 7
. never be complete; becaufe the one would receive
the impreﬂioné of the climate on a countenance, the
ground of which was formed in Europe, and in a
Rate of improved fociety; the other has plainlyire—
ceived them on a countenance formed in Tartary. ‘
, And yet the refemblance becomes near and {hiking
in 'thofe perfons who have been captivated by the In-
dians in infancy, and have grown up among them in
the habits of favage life. Thefe principlcs likewife
will lead us to conclude that the Samoiedes are T are

 

148 Of complexion and Figure

Another variety which feems to form an
exception from the principles hitherto laid
down, but which really eﬁablifhes them,
is that the torrid zone of Aﬁa isnot’ mark—

it

y, Ed by fuch adeep colour, nor, except in a
1 I: ”few countries,»by fuch curled hair, as that
f ”(of Africa. The African zone is a region
5"of burning {and which augments the heats

of the fun to a degree almof’t inconceivable.
That of Alia conﬁﬁzs chieﬂy of water which,
abforbing the rays of the fun, and ﬁlling
the atmofphere with a cool and humid va-
pour, creates a wind comparatively tem-
perate over its numerous iﬂands and nar—

' row peninfulas, The principal body of

its lands lies nearer to the northern tropic
than to the equator. In fummer the winds
blow from the fouth acrofs extenﬁve o—
ceans ; in the winter from continents that

tars degenerated by the eﬁ'eéts of extreme cold—and
that the Empire of China and mof’t of the countries
of India have been peopled from the north. For
their countenance feems to be compofed of the {oft
‘ feature of the Lower Aﬁa, laid upon a ground form.-

ed in the Upper Aliav ._ 3

,- in the Human Spacing " 14.9
the fun has long deferred *.. Yet, under
all the advantages of climate which Aﬁa
enjoys, we ﬁnd in Borneo and New—Guinea,
and perhaps in fome others of thofe v'aft
infular countries, which, by their poﬁtion
and extent, are fubjeél: to greater heats
than the continent, or by the favage con—
dition of the inhabitants, fuﬂ'er the inﬂu-

‘ race of men refembling the African ne-
groes. Their hair, their complexion and
their features, are nearly the fame. At
the dil’tance of more than three thoufand
‘ miles acrofs the Indian ocean, it is impofé

’ ﬁble that they {hould have fprnng from "77. "

t
7A., : «

ence of thofe heats, in a higher degree, a i ”it?

”A3215:
3 , ..

the favages of Africa, who have not their:

1 means of making fuch extenﬁve voyages T.
Similarity of climate, and of manners, have

"“ The monfoons are found to blow over the whole
Aﬁatic zone.

‘ f The Europeans were highly civilized before they
difcovered the continent of America, which is not f0
remote from their fhores as Borneo or New—Holland
is from the coaﬂ of Africa. ‘

l

"r'
i

,-

4 I." "‘7?“

J

. ‘1:

 

,,)(

 

1 5° OfGo'ﬁqblexion and Egan.

created this ﬁriking refemblance, between
people {'0 remote from one another.

The neXt apparent exception we difco—w

ver in Africa ‘itfelf. Africa, like Europe
and Aﬁa, is full of varieties, ariﬁng from

: the fame caufes, vicinity. to the fun, eleva-
tion of the land, the heat of winds, and
the manners 'of the people. But the two

principal diﬂinﬁions of colour, under

. Which the ref’t may be ranged, that pre-

vail'from the northern tropic, or a little
higher, to the Cape of Good-Hope, are the
Caﬂre and the negro. The Caffre com-
plexion prevails along the eaﬁern coaf’c,
and in the country of the’Hottentots.

., The negro, on the weﬁern coaﬂ: between
lithe tropics. The negro is the blackeﬂ:

.1 ' colour of the human ‘Ikin, the Caffre is
U ,,_ , ‘. much lighter,,and feems to be the inter-
“ ‘mediate‘ grade between the negro and the

: ,Qf‘”

native of India. The caufe of this differ-
ence will be obvious to thofe who are ac-
quainted with that continent. ' The winds

under the equator, following the courfe

of the fun, reach the eaftern coaﬁ of Af- ‘ '

in the Human Species. 15 1

Vrica, cooled by blowing over immenfe

oceans, and render the countries of Aian,

Z'anguebar and Monomotapa, compara-
tiii'éli"temperate. But after they have tra-

vrfed that extenﬁve continent, and 111 a
' ﬁgﬂ'age of three thoufand miles have col— , 3‘ .. 4 1 .
leéied all the ﬁres of the burning defert to 1 A V ‘

pour them on the countries of Guinea, of
Sierra-Leona, and of Senegal, * they glow:

with an ardor unknown 1n any other por— ‘

tion of the globe. The intenfe heat, which,
in this region, makes fuch a prodigious
change on the human conﬁitution, equally
transforms the whole race of beaﬁs and of
vegetables. All nature bears the marks of
a powerful ﬁre1‘..' And the negro is no.

; .- * Thefe countries receive the wind after blowing

T over the widelt and hotte'Pt part of Africa, and confeA -
quently fuffer under a more intenfe heat than the
countries of Congo, Angola, or Loango to the fouth

" of the equator. Accordingly, we ﬁnd the people of
a deeper black in the; northern than in the fouth’ern
i‘eé’tion of the torrid zone. ‘

f The luxuriancy of the trees and herbage along
the banks of the great, rivers has deceived {ome tra.

'. : 1 ‘ 7
,1 2 “:1 1n

n, ‘1

{02,16fo

,8 " ,2?
2 f A 1
Far-ﬂ" ‘
V

{1"}... 1

' 152 OfComjilcxion and Figure

. more changed from the Caffre, the Moor,

or the European, than the proportional
laws of climate, and of fociety, give us
reafon to expect. Above the Senegal, we.
ﬁnd in the nation of the Foulies a lighter
{bade of the negro colour; and immedi-
ately beyond them to the north, the dark.
eﬁ copper of the Mooriih complexion.
There is a .fmaller interval between the
copper Colour and the perfectly black on
the north than on the fouth of the torrid
zone; becaufe the Moors being more ci—
vilized than the Hottentots, are better able
to defend themfelves againﬂ: the imprefa

'ﬁons of the climate. But the Hottentots,

being the moﬁ favage of mankind, fuﬂ‘er

vellers who have reprefented Africa as a rich and fer-
. tile country. As foon as you leave the rivers, which
are very few, you enter on a parched and naked foil.
And the whole interior parts of that continent, as far

X as they have been explored, hre little elfe than a de-

fert of burning fand, that often rolls in waves like the
ocean. Buﬁ'on mentions a nation in the centre of
Africa, the Zuinges, who, the Arabian writers fay,
are often almoft entirly. cut off, by hot winds that rife .
out of the furrounding deferts.

"F

in tbe Human Sperz‘er. ‘ 153

the inﬂuence of their climate in the ex— '

treme. And they endeavour, by every

mean, to preferve the features and the, ,
complexion of the equator, from whence, .

it is probable, they derived, with their 5 ,'

ancef’tors, their ideas of beauty. It is more ,
eafy to preferve acquired features or com- °

plexion, than to regain them after they
have been loft. The Hottentots p‘referve
with fome fuccefs, thofe that they had ac-
quired under theequator. They ﬂatten,
by violence, the nofe of every child foon
after it is born; they endeavour to deepen
the colour of the {kin by rubbing it with
the moft ﬁlthy unguents, and by expoﬁng
it to the inﬂuence of a fcorching ‘fun ; and
their hair'they burn up by the vileﬂ; com-
poﬁtions. Yet, againft all their efforts,
the climate, though it is but a few degrees
, declined from the torrid zone, viﬁbly pres
vails. Their hair is thicker and longer
than that of the negroes; and their com-
plexion near the Cape is the lighteﬁ Rain
of the Caﬁ‘re colour. Allowing for the
eﬁ‘eé’ts of their favage condition, and of
L

.. v .
/

154 OfComplexian and F igure

their brutal manners, they are marked
nearly with the fame hue that diﬁinguilh-
es the correfpondent northern latitudes*.

As you afcend along the eaftern coaﬁ:
from Cafraria to Aian, the complexion be-
comes gradually deeper, till fuddenly you.
ﬁnd, in Abyﬂinia, a race of men refem-
bling the fouthern Arabians, Their hair.
is long and ﬁraight, their features tole-
rably regular, and their complexion a very
dark olive approaching to the black. This
ﬁngularity is eaﬁly explained on the prin~
ciples already el’tablifhed: and it is an ad-
ditional conﬁrmation of thefe principles
that they are found to reach all the effects
to which they are applied. The Abyﬂi~
nians are a civilized people, and bear evi-'
dent marks of Aﬁatic origin. They are
ﬁtuated in the mildeﬁ region of tropical

:4 _..\\ A

1.x r.

'P" With regard toother peculiarities that have been
related of this people, and that reduce them in their
ﬁgure the neareﬁ; to the brute creation of any of the
human fpecies, great part of them are falfe, others
exaggerated, and thofe that are true are the natural
effspting 0? their brawl mnem-

in the Human Sperier. I 5 5

Africa, and are fanned by the temperate
winds that blow from the Indian oceans; n
Abyﬂinia is likewife a high and mountai-V“:
nous country, and is walhed during half l *

the year by deluges of rain which impart
unufual coolnefs to the air. It is, perhaps,
one of the mofl elevated regions on earth,
as, from its mountain fpring two of
the largeft and the longeﬂ: rivers in the
world, the Niger and the Nile *. This al-

titude of the lands, raifes it to a region of~ ;.

=the atmofphere that is equivalent to many

degrees of northern latitude 1”. Thus, the 1

L2

“‘ The prodigious and inceﬂ’ant deluges of rain that
fall ‘in Abyﬂinia during ﬁx months in the year, are
the caufe of the overﬂowing of the Nile. They ren-
der the atmofphere temperate, and are a proof of the
elevation of the country, no lefs than the length of the
rivers that originate in its mountains. The-greateﬂ:
quantity of rains ufually fall on mountains and the
higheﬁ: lands; and their elevation may, in a great
meafure, be determined by the length of the rivers that
iﬂ'ue from them.

+ Some writers inform us that the barometer rifes
in Abyﬂinia, on an average, no higher than ao’inches.
If this be true, that kingdom mull; be ﬁtuated more

“v .g,
.g .

e'

x 56 0f Complexion and F igurc

civilization of the people, the elevation of
the country, the temperature of the winds,
and incelTant clouds and rain during that
feafon'of the year in which the fun is ver—
tical,_all contribute to create that form and
eolour of the human perfon in Abyﬁiniai,
which ”is conﬁdered as .a prodigy in the
torrid zone of Africa.:

Having confidered the principal objec-
tions to the preceding theory exiﬂing in
India and Africa, it may be ekpeé’ted that
I {hould not omit to mention the white

Negroes of Africa, and the white Indians

of Darien, and of fome of the Oriental

5'. .
, '2’" iﬂands, which are f0 often quoted upon

\ this fubjeét. Ignorant or intereﬁed wri-

3} ters have endeavoured to magnify this
‘ 'phenomenon into an argument for the

original (liﬁinﬁion of fpecies, But thofe

than two miles above the level of the fea, But if we
{hould fuppofe this account to be exaggerated, {till
vie muft judge its altitude to be very great, conﬁder—
ing that it is almof’c entirely a region of mountains,
which are the fources of thofe vaft rivers. I

. in the Human Specie}. i 57

55th have examined the fact with greater
accuracy», have rendered it evident that
their colour is the effect of fome diﬁema—
per. Thefe whites are rare; they have all
the marks of an extreme imbecility; they
do not form _a feparate race, or continue
their own fpecies; but are found to be the.“
accidental and difeafed production of pa—
rents who themfelves poffefs the full cha—
raéters of the climate *.
' L 3

1TH,

* Mr James Lind, a phyfician of great reputaa {f 7
tion, has recorded a ﬁmilar deviation from the law '
of climate in‘a black child born of white parents. .
The faél: he aﬂ'ures us occurred to his own obferva- '
tion. Sée Phil. Tranf. of Roy. Soc. Lond. N ° 424.

The {mall tribe of red people, which Dr Shaw, in
his travels, relates that he [aw in the mountains of
Aurefs, a part of the val}; ridge of Atlas, are probably
a remnant of the Vandals who, in the ﬁfth century,
conquered the northern countries of Africa. Their
manners, and the altitude of their ﬁtuation, in thofe
cold mountains, may have contributed to preferve
this diftinétion between them and the Moors and
Arabs, who live in the low lands. Lord Kames, who
WriteSI with inﬁnite weaknefs on this fubjeét, exclaims

\ 158 Of Complexion and figure

‘ It now remains only to account for the
afpeé‘t of the favage natives of America,
which Varies from the examples we have"
conﬁde'red in the other portions of the
Earth Their complexion is not fo fair as
that of Europe or of Middle Aﬁa. It is
not f0 black- a-s that of Africa, and many
of the oriental iﬂandsr There is a great-
er uniformity of countenance throughout
this whole continent than is found in any
other region of the globe of equal extent.

That the natives of America are not fair,
is a natural confequence of the principles
already eﬁablifhed in this eifay; in which

with an air of triumph, if the climate in a thoufand
years has not changed thefe people into a perfe& re-v
femblance of the aborigines, we may fafely pronounce
it neVer will change them,—-I confefs it, if they prec
ferve their prefent elevation. But to conclude that
the climate cannot change them on the plains, becaufe
it has not changed them on the mountains, is the
fame kind of reafoning as it would be to conclude
that the fun could no: melt {now at the bottom of
[Etna or Pambamarca becaufe it continues eternally
frozen at the top.

in the Hum-an Specier. ‘159

it has Been‘ fho‘wn that favages, from their
'expofure', their hardfhips, and their man-
ner of living, mull; even in temperate cli-
mates, b'e difcolonred by diEerent {hades
of the tawny complexion.

The unifOrmity of their countenance re-
fults in fome degree from that of the cli-
mate, which is the lefs various, that Ame-e
'rica poﬂEH'es the coo‘leﬂ: tropical region in
the world. But it refults principally from
their (late of fociety, their manners, their
means of fubﬁﬁence, the nature and limi—
'tation of their ideas, which preferve an un-
=common refemblance from Canada to Cape
Horn. Though Complexion is lefs diver-
ﬁﬁed inlAmerica than in other regions of
the earth ; Yet there is a fenﬁble gradation
of colour.*, till you arrive at the darkeﬂ:

L4

* In travelling from the great lakes to Florida or
Louiﬁana, through the Indian nations, there is 3 vi-
lible progreﬂion in the ’darknefs of their complexion.
‘ And at the councils of confederate nations, or at
treaties for terminating an extenlive war, you often

160' Of Complexion and Figare

hue of this continent in the nations On the
weft of Brazil. Here: the continent being
wider, and confequently hotter, than in
any other part between the tropics, is more
deeply coloured. ' And the Toupinamboes-
and Toupayas, and other tribes of that re-
gion, bear a near r‘efemblance, in their
complexion, to the inhabitants of the ori-
ental zone. ‘We ﬁnd indeed no people in
America fo black as the Africans. This is
the peculiarity that attraéls moﬁ obferva-
tion and inquiry. The caufe I ﬁpropofe
now to explain. , 7

The torrid zone of America is uncom-
monly temperate. This effeé’t arifes in

fee fachems and warriors of very diﬂ‘erent hues. But
the colour of the natives of America, though diverli-

' ﬁed, is lefs various than in other quarters of the globe
of equal extent of latitude. And as the fame {late
of fociety univerfally prevails, there is a fyl’tem of
features that refults from this, which is every where‘

i'ﬁmilar. Thefe features giving the predominant afpefl:
to the face, and being united with a complexion lefs

oVatious than in Africa or Alia, form what is called
the uniformity of the American 'countenancc.

in tbe Human Species; '16 1

part from its fhape; in part from its high
mountains, and extenﬁve'lakes and rivers ;‘
and in part from its uncultivated ﬂare,
All uncultivated regions, covered with fo—
reﬁs and with waters, are naturally cold*;
The torid zone of America is narrow—its
mountains and its ri‘Vers are immenfe—A
and Amazonia may be conﬁdered, during
a great portion of the year, as one exam--
ﬁve lake Jr. Let us advert to the inﬂuence
of thefe circumﬁances. The empire of
Mexico is a continued iﬁhmus of high and
mountainous lands. Cool by their eleva—
tion, they are fanned on each ﬁde by Wind‘s
from the eaﬁern and weﬁern oceans. Ter- _
ra Firma is a hilly region. . Amazonia,

I

"* The difference, in print Of climate, which cul-
tivation has produced between modern and ancient
Europe, is well known. And it is probable that, if
civilization than, in future time, be introduced into
Tartary, that frozen climate will be molliﬁed, and
the deformed Tartars may, with change of climate
and of manners, become p'erfonable men.

J; On account of its numerous rivers and its ﬂood-
ed lands. 4

162' OfCamplexfon and ﬁgure

though low and'ﬂat, is ihaded by bound-'-
lefs foreﬁs, and coded by the numerous
waters that ﬂow into the largeﬂ rivers in
the world. The mildnefs of its atmo-
fphere is augmented by the perpetual eaﬁ
wind that blows under the equator. This
wind having depo'ﬁted in the Atlantic
Ocean the heats acquired in 'its paifage
acrofs the ”continent of” Africa, regains a
moderate temperature before it arriires at
the American coafh In America it con-'-
tinues its courfe over thick forei’ts and in-
numerable Water's, to the mountains of the
Andes. The Andes are Colder than the
Alps. And the empire of Peru defended;
on one ﬁde, by thefe frozen ridges ; fan‘-
ned on the other by a perPEtual weﬂ Wind
from the Paciﬁc ocean; and coVered by a
Canopy of denfe vapour, through which
the fun never penetrates with force, enjoys
a temperate atmofphere. The vaﬁ foreﬁs
of America are an eﬁ‘eé}: of the tempera-
ture of the air, and contribute to promote
iti Extreme heat par‘ches the foil, and
converts it into‘an arid {and—luxuriant

in the Human Sperm. 1'63

vegetation is the fruit of a moil’t earth, and
a temperate ﬂiy. And the natchs, inha-
biting perpetual fhade, and refpiring in
the grateful and refrigerating efHuvia of
vegetables, enjoy, in the midft of the tor“
rid zone, a moderate climate.

Thefe obfervations tend to {how that, as
far as heat is concerned in the eﬂ'eé’t, the
colour of the American mull be much leis
deep than that of the African, or even of i '
the Aﬁatic zone. And to me it appears,
and, I doubt not, to every candid and in-
telligent inquirer, that the co-operation of
f0 many caufes is fully adequate to ac-
count for the differences between the com-s
plexion of the Negro and of the Indian.

Thus have I concluded the examination,
which I propofed, into the caufes of the
principal varieties of perfon that appear in
the different nations of the earth. And I
am happy to obferve, on this fubjeﬁ, that
the molt accurate invel‘tigations into the
power of nature ever ferve to conﬁrm the

" . i164; ’ 0f Complexion and Figure "l i

_, faé’ts vouched by the authority ofr'revelaz
i tion. A juﬂzﬂphilofophy will always be

. i found to be coincident with true theology.

The writers who, through ignorance of
3 nature, or through prejudice againl’t reli-
gion, attempt to deny the unity of the hu-4
man fpecies, do VnOt advert to the confu—
ﬁon which fuch principles tend. to intro-
duce. The ‘fcience of morals would be
abfurd; the law of nature and nations
would be annihilated ; no general princi-
ples of human conduct, of religion, or of
poliCy could beframed ; for, human na-
ture, originally, inﬁnitely various, and, by‘

‘ the changes of the world, inﬁnitely mixed,-

could not be comprehended in any fyﬁemt
The rules which would refult from the
ﬁudy of our own nature, would not apply
to the natives of other countries who would
be of different fpecies ; perhaps, not to
two families in our own country, who
might be fprung from a diﬂimilar compo-
ﬁtion of fpecies. Such principles tend to
confound all fcience, as well as piety; and

leave us in the world uncertain whom to _

(:1

in the Human Sperm. 165

truﬂ, or what opinions to frame of others.
The doctrine of one race, removes this
uncertainty, renders human nature fufcep—
tible of fyﬁem, illuﬁrates the powers of
phyﬁcal caufes, and opens a rich and ex-
tenﬁve ﬁeld for moral fcience. The unity ;

of the human race I have conﬁrmed'byl?

'\
1

:1

.} y '1???

i'

gag/aw {1% C“

[VA/R. L'V‘

~r

explaining the caufes of its variety—Th6;

ﬁrﬂ and chief of thefe I have fhown to be"
climate; by which is meant, not [’0 much
the latitude of a country from the equa-
tor, as the degree of heat or cold, that dev-
pends on many conneéted circumﬂzances.

l
l
«I

The next, is the Rate of fociety, which; g

greatly augments or corrects the inﬂu-’
ence of climate, and is itfelf the inde-
pendent caufe of many confpicuous di-
ﬁiné‘fions among mankind. Thefe caufes
,may be inﬁnitely varied in their de-
gree, and in their combinations with
other principles. And in the innumerable
migrations of mankind, they are modifi-
ed by their .own previous effects in a
prior climate, and a prior Rate of focie— -

Q

i

any»; 5’;

166 Of Complexion and Figure

ty *3 Even where all external circumﬂ’ances
feem to be the fame, there may be fecret
caufes of difference, as there are varieties
in the children of the fame family. The
fame country often exhibits differences a—
mong individuals ﬁmilar to thofe which
diﬁinguilh the mof’t diﬁant nations. Such
differences prove, at leaf’t, that the human
conﬁitution is fufceptible of all the changes
that are feen among men. It is not more
aﬁonilhing that nations, than that indi-
yiduals fhould differ T. In the one cafe,

* Vide pages 146 and 147.

1- It would be lawful, if it were neceﬂ'ary, to have
recourfe to accidental caufes to account for the va-
rieties of nations; and to fuppofe that a country
might have, at ﬁrft, been peopled by fome anceﬂor
molt like the natives in features and in ﬁgure. It
would not (be a {trained fuppoﬁtion, becaufe we fre-_-
quently fee deformed perfons in civil fociety refemble
almoﬂ: every favage nation. And thofe who are ac-
quainted with American migrations know, that, com-
monly, the mof’t poor, and lazy, and deformed, are
the ﬁrft to pufh their fortune in a rude and favage
wildernefs, where they‘ can live, without labour, by
ﬁfhing and hunting.

,4

in the Human Spain. 167

we know with certainty, that the varieties
have‘arifen out of the fame origin; and, i
in the other, we have reafon to conclude, J ‘ " r "a?
independently on the facred authority of ' " .
revelation, that from one pair have fprung' ~ \
all the familics of the earth... '

STRICTURES ‘

 

S’TRICTURES

LORD KAMES’s DISCOURSE

I

ON THE

ORIGINAL DIVERSITY 0F MANKIND. / ~

 

_ QRD Kames, in a preliminary dif-'
courfe to his Sketches of the Hiﬁory

of Man, has undertaken to combat the
principle which I have endeavoured to
maintain, that all mankind are fprung
it. from one pair. His reputation {lands fo-
v high in the literary world, that we may
juﬂly prefume he has comprehended in .
that diﬁertation whatever can be urged
with folidity againﬂ this opinion. Every V
M

1 7o Striﬁurc’r biz

reader will probably deem the refutation
of fuch an antagoniﬂ, no inconﬁderable
addition to the force of the preceding ar-
gument.

The character of Lord Kames, as an
author, appears in this difcourfe far in-
~ ferior to that which he has juﬂly obtain-
ed from his other works. And in fome
ﬁrié’tures which I am now to make upon
it, I propofe to {how that many of the
fuppofed faé’ts on which his Lordfhip re-
lies in the train of his argument, have no
exiﬁence, and that almoﬂ the whole of his
reafoning is inconcluﬁve.

, In the ﬁrﬁ place he lays, “ certain it is
i “ that all men, more than all animals, are
“ not equally ﬁtted for every climate. ‘
“ There were therefore created different
.p .“ kinds of men at ﬁrﬁ, according to the
‘3; “ nature of the climate in which they
“ were to .live. And if we have any be-
“ lief in providence, it“ ought to be fo.
“ Becaufe men, in changing their climate

Lord-Kama? Dycomﬂ’. I 7 I

“ ufually become ﬁckly and often degea
“ nerate.” '

This power of the climate to change the
petfon which his Lordﬂlip confeﬂies, when
he calls it the degenerating of mankind, is
the principle for whichI plead ; and which,
:7 united with the inﬂuence of the Rate of
fociety, is fuﬁicient to explain all the
changes that are Viﬁble in the diEerent
nations of the earth. Are not the inhabi-

tants of Guinea and of Lapland, degene— ‘
rated races compared with the inhabitants

of France and England? If thefe people

had, in their own climates, attained the =

perfeé’tion of their nature, and the civili-
zed Europeans had, by being tranfplant-
ed thither, degenerated far. below them,
the argument then would have had fome
force. But ﬁnce the greateﬁ degeneracy
of Europeans is only a refemblance of
thefe favages, the example concludes againﬂ‘.
his Lord‘fhip’s principle.

But men, he contends, were not made
M 2

I72 Striﬁurer on‘

' for different climates, “ becaufe, in change-
“ ing their climate, they ufually become
, “ ﬁckly.”

This argument {uppofes that man was
not made for ﬁtuations in which he is liable
to encounter danger or difeafe. And yet
we fee him, as it were by the appointment
of providence, continually encountering
both. If this argument were of weight,
‘ man is only an intruder on this world;
for, every where he meets with ﬁcknefs,
and with death. True it is, men, by ma-
king great and fudden changes of climate
or of country, are ‘eXpofed to difeafe. But
'it is equally true of ﬁmilar changes even
in the modes of living. And the argu-
‘ment proves only that all fuch alterations
fhould be made gradually, and with pre-
caution. lf this prudential' conduct be
obferved, the human conflitution, as is
known from aélual experiment, is capable
of enduring the inﬂuence of every climate.
It becomes, in time, aﬂimilated by its ﬁtu-
ation. And the progeny of foreigners
'come at length to refemble the natives, if

'A

Lord Kamer’r Dg/l‘omﬂ’. 173

they adopt the fame manners.—e—In Ame-
rica we are liable to diforder, by removing
incautiouﬂy from, a northern to a fouthern
Rate; and even from one part to another
of the fame ﬂare: but it would be abfurd
_ to conclude thence, that we are not of one
fpeeies from New~Hamplhire to Georgia.
Shall we conclude that the top of every
hill, and the bank of every river are inha—
bited by different fpecies, becaufe the late-5
ter are lefs healthy than the former? The
conﬁitution becomes attempered, in a de-
gree even to an unhealthy region, and then
is feels augmented fymptoms of diforder,
on returning to the molt falubrious air
and water: "but does this prove that na—
ture never intended fuch men to drink
clear water, or to breathein a pure atmo-
fphere? This argument deﬂroys itfelf by
the extent of the confequences, which Lit
. draws after.it_, 1

His Lordfhip’s fecond argument, which
is only a repetition of part of the ﬁrfl, is
certainly an extraordinary example of phi?
. M 3 .

174 Striﬁurer on

lofophic reafoning—.—“ Men,” fays ,he,
“ mul’t have been originally of different
ﬂocks, adapted to their refpeﬁive cli-
mates, becaufe» an European degenerates
‘both in vigour and in colour on being
removed to South America, to Africa, or
“ to the Eaft Indies.”

The fact is as his Lordfhip ﬁates it. An
European changes his colour on being re-
moved to thefe diftant climates. But one
would think that true philofophy {hould
have drawn from this fact a contrary con—

__ _ cluﬁon. Certainly if an European had
not degenerated, as he expreITes it, in colour

and in vigour, on being removed my other
climates, it would have been a ﬁronger

\proof of the original difference of races.

He conﬁrms this obfervation, however,

by the example of “ a. Portuguefe colony

“ on the coaﬁ of Congo, who in a courfe

“ of time,'he afﬁrms, have degenerated f0

“ much, that they fcarceretain the ap-Q
“ pearance of mm”, . a

Lord Kamer’: Dy'comjé. I 7 5

A fact more to the purpofe of the pre-
ceding eiTay could not be adduced. Let
it be applied to the neighbouring tribes of
Negroes and of Hottentots. Though they',~

in like manner, are become fo‘ rude that '
fcarcely do they retain the appearance of p .
men, does not his Lordfhip’s example prove .1 , .

that, in fome remote period, they might
have defcended from the fame origin with
thefe degenerated Portuguefe ?

His Lordfhip has been egregiouﬂy de-
ceived in the fact from which 'he attempts
\to prove that America is not adapted to
European conﬁitutions. He afferts that
“ Charleftown in Carolina is infufferably
.“ hot; becaufe (fays he) it has no fea-
“ breeze—that Jamaica itfelf is “a more
“ temperate climate—and that the inha-
“ bitants of both die fo fall that if conti-
nual recruits did not arrive from Eu-
rope to fupply‘ the places of, thofe that
perifh the countries would be foon de-
“’ populated.”—-How cautious {hould phi-

C‘

lofophers be of afferting faéis, without

M4

1 .

176 Striﬁurex on

7:, well examining the authority on which
they receive them! All thefe affertions are
equally and entirely falfe. And if a phi-j
lofopher, and a Lord of Seﬂions in Scot-
land, talks. fo ‘ignorantly of that country
which, from its long and‘ intimate con-
neé‘tion with Britain, he fhould have un-
derﬂood better than any other, we may
juflly prefume that he is lefs acquainted
with the Aﬁatic and African nations; and
that the objec‘lions drawn from them by
him, and by inferior writers, againﬁ the
doctrine of one race, are ﬂill more weak
and unfounded.

His Lordihip ufes, as another argument
for the original diverﬁty of fpecies among
mankind that common European miﬁake,
that “ the natives of America are deiﬁ-
“ tute of hair on the chin and body.”

That philofophers ihould fometimes be
deceived in their information is not fur-
priﬁng; but they are certainly blameable,
after having found in $0 many repeated
examples the falfehood of voyagers, oi;-

‘ 4

i 1 l 3
>1: V”. - ‘i

l 2/ .1 ,

h "\: " 1 '

Lord kdfﬁéﬁ: Di/Eamﬂ. 177 '

their incapacity for obfervation,‘ to reﬂ,

on fuch dubious tales, an argument againﬂ: ,
the 11109: common and facred opinions of

mankind*. ' _

His Lordfhip, in the next place fays with
truth, that “the northern nations, to pro-
“ teét them from the cold, have more fat
than. the fouthern.”—-But from this
principle he draws a falfe concluﬁon, that
“ therefore the northern and fouthern na-
“ tions are of different races, adapted by
“ nature to their refpeé’tive climates.”—-
He ought to have drawn the contrary
concluﬁon, that nature hath given fuch
pliancy to the human conﬁitution as to

H

* Ihave {hown in the eﬂiiy that this peculiarity
has been falfely imputed to- the natives of America ';
and that they are not, in this refpeét, diftinguifhed,
by nature, from the tell of mankind. They have a

‘ cuftom, founded on a capricious idea of beauty, of
pulling out their hair with tweezers. And hai’ty
" and fuperﬁ'cial travellers have been deceived, by the ,
apparent fmoothnefs of the chin and body, into the
imagination, that they are naturally deﬁitute of this

. excrefcence.

, . ' ‘i ,/ ‘1
. . (Ag ;-‘ 4.1m, Ami?" {—ﬂ'ﬂ I}? if,"

 

I

ll 78 Striﬂurt’: on

enable it to adapt itfelf to every clime.

' The goodnefs of the Creator appears .in

forming the whole world for man, and not
conﬁning him, like the inferior animals, to
a bounded range, beyond which he can-
not pafs either for the acquiﬁtion of fci-
ence, or for the enlargement of his habi-

, ration. And the divine wifdom is feen in

mingling in the human frame fuch prin-
ciples as'always tend to counteract the ha-
zards of a new ﬁtuation. Fat proteé’ts the

.f‘vitals from the too piercing inﬂuence of

Cold *. But this covering being too warm
for fouthern regions, nature hath enabled
the conﬁitution to throw it ofF by perfpi-

ration. The phyﬁcal caufe of this efl‘eét

ought to have' been no fecret to a philo-
fopher who treats of human namrc. Not
to mention the natural effects of the re-
laxation of heat ; or the bracing of cold,
on the nourilhmEnt of the body ;/ it is fuf—

*‘ Almoft all animals that run wild in the forelt,
grow fatter at the approach of winter; and they {till

augment their fat by being removed to a latitude far-
ther north,

Lord Kamer’: Dg'ﬁamﬂ. 1 79

ﬁcient to obfervé, that the profufe perfpi- ‘
ration that takes place in fouthern lati-
tudes, carries off the oily with the aque4
ous parts, and renders the conﬁitution
thin ; but a frigid climate, by obl’trué‘ting
the evaporation of the oils,condenfes them
in a coat of fat that contributes to pre-
ferve the warmth of the animal fyﬂem.
Experience veriﬁes this inﬂuence of cli-
mate. The northern tribes, which iffued
from the foreﬁs of Germany, and over-
run the fouthern. provinces of the Roman
Empire, no longer retain their original
groﬂhefs, and their vaf’t ﬁze. The confli-
tution or Spain, and of other countries in
the fouth Of Europe is thin; and the Eu-
ropeans in general have become more thin
by emigrating to America. Here is a
double experiment, within the memory of
hiﬂory, made on entire nations. Many
ﬁngle examples will occur ‘to every man’s
obfervation. The argument, therefore,
which this writer derives from the fatnefs
of one nation,and the leannefs of another,
is inconcluﬁve for the purpofe for which

i“

I 80 Stric‘i’urer on

he urges it, the proof of different fpecies
of men.

His next attempt is to prove that nes-
groes are of a different fpecies from whites.
‘He fays, “ their {kin is more cool and
I“ adapted to their fervid climate. For a
themiometer applied to the body of an ‘
African, will not indicate the fame de- '
gree of heat as when applied to the b0!-
dy of an European.” ‘

C‘

u

‘C

The no ’I will not dirpute.‘ But ad-
mitting it to be true with regard to the
Europeans who travel to Africa, it is ca-
pable of explanation f'on the known prin—
ciples of natural fcience. Perfpiration ‘
from the human body is analogous to the
evaporation of ﬂuids, which is one of the
molt cooling proceffes in nature. It be-.
comes a‘condué‘tor to the internal heat,
which it carries oﬁ" as fal’t as it is excicp
ted, and thereby preferves the body in a
moderate temperature. But‘when perfpi—
ration is obﬁruﬂed, the retained heat in]?
mediately raifes a fever in the fyﬂem,

Lord Kames’s DJCOmfe. I 8 I

The more profufe therefore the perfpirae
tion is, under the fame degree of external
heat, the more temperate will be the
warmth of the {kin 9*. In fweating, the
{kin is fenﬁbly cooler than before the
fweat begins to ifTue from the pores. In
the torrid zone the heat relaxing arid open-
ing the pores of the natives, will render
both fenﬁble and infenﬁble perfpiration in
them more copious and conflant, than in
the natives of northern regions who re—
move thither. Their conftitution not be-
ing yet perfectly accommodated to the
climate, they do not perfpire fo freely.
Being more full of blood, and highly to-
ned, they fuﬂ‘er, ‘in that fervid climate,

* For a {imilar reafon likewife, among others, the
furfa’ces of all ﬂuids, preferve a greater coolnefs un-
der the action of the dime: rays of the fun than the
furfaces of folid bodies. The action of the fun pro-
“ duces evaporation; and by this vapour the excited
heat is condua‘ed oil, which, by remaining in folid
bodies, renders them warmer than ﬂuids. ’And this
is equally true, whether we conﬁder heat, with mo,
dern philofophers, as an element, ‘or with the old phi-
lofophers, as only an internal commotion of parts.

182 ' Strifl‘me: or:

the. additional heat of an habitual fever".-
If the fact however be, as his Lordﬂtip
ﬁates it, the experiment mull have been
made on the whites in Africa, before the
conftitution Was pr0per1y reduced to quer
the intenfe heats of that region. For, in
this climate, I can afﬁrm from atf’tual ex-
periment, that the fkin of a negro is not
cooler than that of a white perfon. 1 have
applied the thermometer fucceﬂively to
, two perfons in my family of the fame fex,
and nearly of the fame age, the one white,
and the other black; and after making the
trial in all refpeﬂs as equal as poﬂible, I
have not been able at the end of half an
hour to difcover any difference in theele—
vation of the mercury.

Some of hisLordlhip’s following re!
marks and reafonings, I beg leave to treat
a little more brieﬂy.

“ Is“ it poﬂible (he alks) to account for
“ the low flature, and little feet, and large
“ head of the Efquimaux? or for the low

Lord Kama’: Diﬁourfe. 1 8 3

“ ﬁature and ugly vifage of the Laplan-
“ ders, by the aélion of cold. P”

I have endeavoured to account for them
from the aé‘z’z'on of cold in conjunction with

the/late ofﬁcial]. .,

“ But the difference of latitude (he fays)
“ between the Laplanders, and the Nor-
“ wegians and Fins, is not fuﬂicient to ac-
“ count for the difference of features.” '

I have already explained the reafon of
this ‘phenomenon. The temperate cli-
mates border upon eternal cold, and civi-
lized on favage fociety, in every quarter
of the globe. ' I have {hown that the for-
ces of ‘thefe two powerful caufes combined,

are fully adequate to account for thefe
different eﬂeﬂs.

His Lordfhip confeffes, that “ it has
“ been lately difcovered by the Per: 11:],
“ an Hungarian, that the Laplanders were
“ originally Huns.”

184‘. Striﬁufer on

.Pere He] has no doubt given authentic
'evidence of the faé‘t, as appears by the
canviﬁion‘ it has produced in his Lord-
;[hipi But it is ﬁrange that it {hould not
have occurred to this ingenious writer,
that, from the fame ,Huns are defcended,
likewife, fome of the molt beautiful na-
tions in Europe.

As an objeaion againﬁ: the power of
climate \to changethe complexion, he fays,
“ the Moguls and the fouthern Chinef'e
“ are white.” ‘If he means that they are
not black, it is true: If he means that-they
are as White as the Europeans, it is falfe. If
' the Moguls are lefs difcolour‘ed than fome
other nations in the fame latitude, I have
before aﬂigned the reafon. The Rate of
civilization to which they had arrived,
previouﬂy to their taking poifeilion of
their prefent feats, “enabled them to defend ,
themfelves with fome fuccefs againl‘t the
impreﬁions of a new climate. ‘

His Lordfhip adds, “ Zaara is as hot as
f‘ Guinea, and Abyﬂinia is hotter than

Lord Kamw’: Dg'f‘i'éurfc’. 185'

“ Monomotapa, and 'yet the inhabitants
“ of the former are not fo black as thofe
“ of the latter.” His Lordfhip’s hiftori-

cal, as well as phyﬁeal, knowledge, needs a

little emendation. Zaara is not f0 hot as.

Guinea,- nOr‘J‘s Abyﬂinia (’0 hot as Mono-
motapa. But if it were equally hot, there
i are other caufes that produce a wide diﬂ‘e'?
rence between the ﬁgure and complexion
of thofe nations 9*. The Abyﬂinianst are

civilized, the Monomotapans are Iii--

Vage; The Abyffinians derive their ori-
gin from Arabia; and civilization enables
them to preferve their original features.

. The Monomotapans are evidently defce'nd-g

ed from the negroes of the equator, and

their favage habits have continued the

ﬁgure of their anceftors with little varia-
tions , 4

His Lordfhippr‘oceeds, ‘.‘ there are many
inﬂances of races of people preferving
“ their original colour in climates very
“ different from their own.” This is
> N

u

”" See page 130 of the Eﬁ‘ny.

I 86 Striﬂure: oh

I nearly true of civilized nations, the rea-
fons of which have been already afﬁgned.
It is not, however, by any means true, in
the extent in which he aflerts it *. He adds,
“ and there is not a ﬁngle inﬁance to the
contrary.” To his Lordihip, the Por-
tuguefe of Congo might have been that
inﬁance.

“

Another» argument for the original dia
verﬁty of nations, on Which fome reliance
is placed in this preliminary difcourfe, is
taken from the variety of difpoﬁ'tion, fpi-
tit and genius exiﬂing in different coun-
tries. 7

On this part of the fubj'eét fome of his
remarks are f0 ridiculouﬂy weak, that it is
difﬁcult to treat them with a ferious face.
Some of the oriental iﬂands he mentions
'wbofe inhabitants are 170/2516, and other: who/e
inbabz'iaim are boﬁbitable to ﬂraizgerr, and

* This has been fuﬁiciently ﬂlOWIl in the prece-
ding Eﬂhy.

Zora; Kidnze'xgy Diﬂomﬁ. _ 187

thence concludes a diver/it}! of ﬂecks;
Kindnef's or averﬁon to ﬁrangers depends
on fo many contingent caufes,‘ that there
cannot be a more equivocal foundation on
which to tell the argument for different '
races. ,Nations that have been often ex—
pofed to hollile‘ attacks, will be fufpicious
of foreigners, and prone to repel them;
Nations who hatie feldom feen the face of
an eneniy Will be difpofed to receive them
withkindnefs and hofpitality. As well might
be have proved, that Europe in the tenth,
and in the eighteenth century, was inha-
bited by different fpecies of men, from the ‘
facility and fecurit'y with which a ﬁranger
can now pafs through all its kingdoms,-
and the hazards to which he was then
expofed. His Lordfhip goes on to con-s
ﬁrm tliis argument by the example of
fame nations who are full of courage and
prompt to combat; and of others who har’d-
1y know the art: of war, or have conﬁdence
to meet an’ enemy in battle. \Vith equal rea-
fon [I might conclude that the Greeks 'are
not the fame fpecies now as when they
N 2,

1 8 8 Striﬂure: oh

gave birth to Ageﬁlaus, Miltiades, and
Alexander: That the Romans were not
the fame fpecies under Cmfar when they
conquered, as under Auguf‘tulus when they ‘
lof’t a world. ’And that, among the Jews,
the Effenes, who were peaceful hermits in
the foreﬁ, Were not the fame fpecies with
tHe .martial Pharifees who reﬁﬁed Titus.
But the argument is too abfurd to merit
even this anfwer. V “’

Her {peaks in the next place of the
“J cowardice of the American Indiana” of
-whorn he is manifeﬂly ignorant, as a cri-
terion of a difliné’t fpecies. He proves the
charaﬁer, becaufe they do not ﬁght like
the Europeans in an open'ﬁeld. An Indi—
an philofopher, who {hould have exainin-
ed the fubjeét as fuperficially as Lord
Kames, would probably retort the charge
of cowardice on the Europeans, becaufe
they do not fuffer torture like the natives
of America. . Nations have different ideas
of courage and honour, and they exert
thefe principles in diEerent ways. The
military education of an Indian Conﬁfts in

Lord Kamcx’r Dg/cozzrﬂ. - I 8 9

learning to. make War by ﬁealth, and to
fuffer with heroic fortitude. The rea-
fons of their conduct in both, arife na-
turally out of their [late of fociety *. No
people have fuperior courage. They differ
from civilized nations only in the man~
ner of exerciﬁng it. I ' V

Another example of difference of difpo-
ﬁtion, which proves, in his Lordihip’s opié-
nion, diverﬁty of race, he gives in “ the
“ Giagas, a nation of Africa, who bury all
“ their own children as foon as born, and
“ fupply their places with others itolen
“ from the neighbouring, tribes.” On
this tale I have made the proper comment
already. If his Lordﬂiip’s opinion were
not well known, we {hould fufpeél that
heireafoned in this weak manner only to
expofe to' ridicule his favourite doﬂrine
of the difference of fpecies among men.
Surely no devotee was ever guilty of more ‘
implicit faith than this unbeliever !

N3 2

’" Thefe reafons are well illuﬁrated in Dr Robert~
fan’s Hiltory of America.

190 Striﬂur-er an

The Japanef‘e; his Lordfhip eﬂeems, on
this fubjec}, a valuable example. “ The
“ Japanefe ‘(l‘ays he) differ effentially from
the reft of mankind; becaufe when,
others would kill their enemies, they kill
them/617261 through fpite.” If 1 miﬁake
not, a native of this felf~mi1rdering coun-
try might ﬁnd many of the fame tribe
under London bridge.

gt
u

‘6

The JapanEfe fumifh his Lordlhip With
another. example equally good. “ They
“ never fupplicate the gods, like other
men, in dif’trefs.” That. differénce is
Certainly very ﬁriking, between them and
a certain clafs ‘of men who never fuppli-
cate their Maker at any other time. And
yet I have known many Japanefe; in my
time, who have even curfed their Maker,
in diﬁrefs; as the author of their misfor?
tunes.

$5

His Lordlhip‘acknowledges indeed that
thefe arguments are not altogether conclu-
ﬁve ; and therefore he proceeds to produce
others that he eﬂeems more perfect in their

‘ Lord Rama’s Dycomfe. I 9 I

kind. Thefe'I {hall quote at full length,
that I may diminifh nothing of their force ;
and endeavour to anfwer in as few words
as polliblea

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“ But not to re& upon prefumptive evi-
dence, (fays he) few animals are more
affeﬂed than“ men generally are, not only
with change of feafons in the fame cli-
mate, butwith change of weather in the
fame feafon.~ Can fuch a being be ﬁt- -
ted for all climates equally? 'Impoﬂible
i—horfes and horned cattle ﬂeep on the
bare ground wet or ‘dry without harm,

.and yet were not made for every cli—

mate: can a man then be made for
every climate, who is ('0 much more de-
licate, that he cannot {leep on wet ground
without the hazard of fome mortal dif-
eafe” E—This is the argument. But it is

refuted by the whole experience of the
world. The human conﬁitution is the
11109: delicate of all animal‘fyﬁems: but .
it is alfo the molt pliant, and capable of
accOmmodating itfelf to the greateft varie~

N4

192 Striﬁure: on

ty of ﬁtuations. The lower animals have
no defence againl’t the evils of a new cli-'
mate but the force of nature. The arts of
human ingenuity furnifh a defence. to
man‘ againﬁ the dangers that furround
him in every region. Accordingly we fee
the fame nation pafs into all the climates
of the earth—reﬁde whole winters at the
pole—plant Colonies beneath the equator
wpurfue their commerce and efiabliih
their factories, in Africa, Alia, and Ame-
rica. Theycan equally live under a burn-
ing, and a frozen fky, and inhabit regitms
where thofe hardy animals could not ex—
ifL—It is true, fuch great (changes ought
.not to be hazarded fuddenly and without
precaution. The greatefl evils that have
arifenx from change oficlimate have been
occaﬁoned by the prefumption of health
that refufes to ufe the necefTary precau—
tions, or the neglect of ignorance that
knows not what precautions to ufe *. But

”" Captain Cook has merited great praifc for the»

‘ fervice he has rendered to mankind, by improving

the art of preferving health in long voyages, through
the moﬁ dii’tant climates}.

-“

Lord Kamw’r Difcour/é. 1 93

when changes are gradually, and prudent-
. 1y effeéted, habit foon accommodates the
i conﬁitution to a new ﬁtuation, and hu—
man ingenuity difcovers the means of
guarding againl‘t the dangers of every feaé
fan, and of every climate.

'But “ men (fays his Lordfhip) cannot
“ ﬂeep on the wet ground without hazard
“ of fome mortal'difeafez” and therefore
he concludes, that “ they were not ﬁt-
ted for all climates.”———I fuppofe by men
he means Europeans ; becaufe the favages
of America ﬂeep on the ground without
hazard, in every change of weather. Whe-
ther he admits the favage into the rank of
men or not, he concludes, from this cir- ‘
cuml’tance, that they are of a diHerent
fpecies from the civilized and polifhed
people of Europe—If his Lordfhip had
viﬁted the foreﬁs of America, .he would
have found in this, as well as in other in;-
f’tances, how little he was acquainted with
human nature. He would have feen this
argument, on which he reﬁs as a capital

1-94. Striﬂure: on

proof, totally overturned. He would have
feen Europeans, or the defcendants of Eu-
ropeans, become by habit, as capable as
favages, of uﬁng the naked earth for their
bed, and of enduring all the changes of an
inclement Iky. The Anglo-Americans on
the frontiers of the ﬂares, who acquire
their fuﬁenance principally by hunting,
enter with facility into all the habits‘of
favages, and endure with equal hardinefs
the want :of every convenience of polifhed
fociety *. So that this argument, like all

* Not only the hunters, who have been long ufed
to that mode of life, are able to lodge, without inju-
ry, on the 'wet ground, and under all ifcafons; but
the large companies 'of men, women, and children,
who are continually removing from the interior parts
of the United States, to the wef’tern countries, for
the fake of occupying new lands, encamp every night
in the open air. They ﬂeep on the earth, and free

A quently under heavy fhowe‘rs of {now or rain. They
kindle a large ﬁre, in the centre of their encampment,
and ﬂeep round it, extending their feet towards the
pile. And many of them have aﬂhred me that, while
their feet are warm, they fuﬁ'er little incdnvenience
from the vapour of the ground, or even {mm rain or
fnow.

\ Lord Kames’r Diﬂourﬁ’. 195

the left, is not only inconcluﬁve' to his
purpofe, but militates againl’t him. ..

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“ But the argument I‘chieﬂy rely on,
(rays his Lordfhip) is, that were all men
of one fpec‘ies, there never could have
exiﬂed, without a, miracle, different
kinds, fuch as exift at prefent. Giving
allowance for every fuppofable varia-
tion of climate, or of other Caufes, what
can follow but endlefs varieties among
individuals, as among tulips in a garden?
Inﬂead of which we ﬁnd men of differ-
ent Kim/r; the individual: of each kind
remarkably uniform, and differing no
lefs remarkably fmm the individuals of
every other kind, Uniformity without
variation is the offspring/of nature, ne-
ver of chance.”

How often do'philofophers miftake the

eagernefs and perfuaﬁon of their own minds,
for the light of truth and reafonl—The
ﬁrﬂ part of this argument is no more than _
an ardent and zealous afiertion. As it rei‘ts
on no proof, it needs no refutation. And

196 StriEZure: oiz

’ I conﬁdently appeal to the attentive and
reﬂeﬂing reader to judge, whether I have
notlaﬂigned adequate caufes of this effect,
withoutthe fuppofe-d neceﬂity of recurring
to miraclel ‘- l

The fecond part of this argument, on
which fo much reliance is placed, cuntains
a ﬁne ﬁmilitude; but that “ﬁmilitude
operates direé’tly againft his principle.
“-What can follow, he afks, but endlefs
‘ varieties among individuals, as among

tulips in a garden E”—I anfwer, ‘that
fuch varieties among individuals are found
in every climate, inevery region, in every
family. But different climates muf’t ne-
ceifarily produce varieties not among indi-
vidual: but among kinda For the fame
climate or the fame Rate of fociety, opera~
ting uniformly as far as it extends, muﬁ
produce a certain itm'for'migr in the kind,
and operating diﬁ’renlly from every other
climate, or every other Rate of fociety,
muf’t render that kind a’zﬁrmt from all
h Others.—“ Uniformity,» (fays he) is the
“ oﬁépring of nature never of chance.”

3‘

Lord Kamer’r Di. your/é. y :97

Could his Lordfhip mean to inﬁnuate by

this remark, that the operations of climate

' are the effect of chance, .or that all its va-

rieties are not governed by uniform and,
certain laws ? Philofophy is alhamed of

fuch reafoning in one of her champions!

He adds, _“ there is another argument
' “ that appears alf'o to have weight, horfes
with refpeél to ﬁze, {hape and fpirit, dif-
fer widely in different climates. But
let a male and female of whatever cli—
mate, be carried to a country where
“ horfes are in perfection; their progeny
will improve gradually, and will ac-
quire, in time, the perfection of their
kind. Is’not this a proof that all horfes
“ are of one kind 2.” '

His Lordfhip hardly needs an opponent,
he reafons fo ﬁrongly againft himfelf.
The fpecies of men, no lefs than that of
horfes, cha‘ngesits appearance by every.
removal to a new climate, and by every
alteration of the Rate of fociety. The pre-
fent nations of Europe are an example in

198 Striﬁure: cit

(the way of improvement; the Europeans
which he acknowledges have degenerated
by removing to Africa, Aﬁa, and South
~ America, are an example in the contrary
progreﬂion. Carry the natives of Africa
or America to Europe, and mix the breed,
as you do that of horfes, and they will ac-
quire in time, the high perfection‘ of the
human form which is feen in- that polifh-
ed country. Men will acquire it in the
fame number of defeents as thefe animals.
No, fays his Lordﬂiip, “ a mullatto will
“ be the refult of the union of a white
“ with a black 4*.”

That is true in the Brit defcent, but not
in the fourth or ﬁfth; in which, by a pro-
per mixture of races, and by the habits of
civilized life, the black tinge may be en‘-
tirely eﬁ‘aced. ’ I

* The fame thing, his Lordfhip might have re-

l marked, takes plates in horfes as in the human race.

The properties of two different breeds will, in the ﬁrft
defcent, be equally blended in the offspring.

Lord Kames’: Dg'fcouI/é. 199

There is, at prefent, in the College of
New-Jerfey, a ﬂriking example of .a ﬁmi-
lar nature, in two young gentlemen of one
of the ﬁrft families in the {late of Virgi--
nia, who are defcended, in the female line,
from the Indian Emperor Powhatan. They
are in the fourth defcent from the Princefs
Pocahuntis, 'a high—fpirited and generous
woman. And though all their anceftors
in Virginia have retained fome characters,
more or lefs obvious, of their maternal
race, yet, in thefe young gentlemen, they
feem to be entirely eﬂ'aced. ' The hair and
complexion, of one of them in particular,
is very fair, and the countenance and ﬁ-
gure of the face is perfeé‘tly Anglo-Ame‘
rican. 'He retains only the dark and vi-
vid eye that has dif’tinguiﬂled the whole
family, and rendered fome of them remark- _
ably beautiful. His Lordfhip’s argument,
therefore, if it be good, is a clear proof
againﬁ: himfelf, that all men are of one
kind.

He c0ncludes, however, from the pre-
ceding remarks which he has made, “ that

200 Stric‘lurcr‘ of:

“ mankind mull have been originally creas

ted of different fpecies, and ﬁtted foi‘
the different climates in which they
were placed, whatever change may have
happened, in later times, by war or
commerce.” ' V

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Let us afk, why ﬁtted for the different
Climates in'vvhich~ they were- placed 3-—
The proper anfwer is,- ‘becaufe they could
not exiﬁ in Other climates; . or, becaufe
they-attain the greatefl perfection of their
nature onlyinv their oanJBoth thefe tea-‘-
fons, in the. prefent cafe, areiﬂconﬁl‘tent‘
with experience. Let us remember “ the
“ changes that have been produced by war"
“ and by commerce.” Nations have tranf—
planted themfelves to other clime’s; yet‘
they continue to exiﬁ: and ﬂourilh—fo-
, reigners have become afﬁmilat‘ed to the
natives. Inﬁead of attaining, in theirpr-i- '
mitive abodes, the perfeétion of their'na-
ture, they have improved by migrating to
new, habitations. The Goths, thé‘Moguls,
the AfriCans, have become inﬁnitely meli-
orated by changing thofe Ikies, for which

Lord Kamer’r Dﬁomfe. 201

it is faid they were peculiarly ﬁtted by na-2
ture. They muft therefore have defeated,
or improved upon, the intentions of their
' Creator; or, at leaft, have {hown the pre-
cautions attributed to Him, by this author,»
to have been unneceffary. Lord Kames,
having endeavoured to demonﬁrate, in the
manner we have feen; the exiﬁence .of ori-
ginal varieties among mankind, proceeds
to the concluﬁon in an equal ﬁream of co“-
gent reafoning. “ There is a remarkable
“ faét (fays his Lordihip) which conﬁrms
“ the foregoing conjectures : as far back as
hiﬂor‘y goes, the earth was inhabited by
favages divided into many fmall tribes,
each tribe having a language peculiar to
“ itfelf. Is it not natural then to fuppofe
“ that thefe original tribes were different
races of men {placed in proper climates,
and left to form their own language?
But this opinion we are not permitted
to adopt, being taught a different leifon
by revelation. Though we cannot doubt
of the authority of Mofes, yet his ac-
count of the creation is not 'a' little
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puzzling. According to that account -
all men mu-Pt have fpoken the fame lan-
gnage, viz. that of our ﬁrll; parents. But
what of all feems the molt contradiéiory
to that account is the ﬁzvage ﬂute. Adam,
as Mofes informs us, was endued by his
Maker, with an eminent degree of
knowledge; and he certainly muﬁ have
been an excellent preceptor to his chil-
dren, and their progeny, among whom
he lived feveral generations. Whence

. then the degeneracy of all men to the

favage (late? To account for that dif-
mal‘cataftrophe mankind muﬁ have fuf—
fered fome terrible convulﬁon. That
terrible convulﬁon is revealed to us in
the hiliory of the tower of Babel. By
confounding the language of all men,
and fcatterinzg them abroad upon the
face of the earth, they were rendered
favages. And to harden them for their
new habitations, it was neceﬂ‘ary that
they lhould be divided into different
kinds,ﬁtted for different climates. With-
out an immediate change of bodily con-
ﬁitution, the builders of Babel could not

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Lord Kamesls Di/Eozlr/Z;; 2’53

pollibly havefubﬁﬁe’d, in the bnrning
region of Guinea, or in the frozen reé
gion of Lapland. If the common lan--
guage of men had not been confound-l» '
ed upon their attempting the tower of
Babel, laﬂirm that there never could
have been but one language. Antiqua-
ries Conﬁa‘ntly fuppofe a migrating {pi-
rit in the original inhabitants of' the
earth,- not only without evidence,- but
contrary to all probability. Men never
defert their connexions nor their'counn

- try without neceﬂity. Fear of enemies,~,

andof wild beaﬁs as well as the attrac-
tion of fociety, are more than fuﬂieient
to reﬂrain them from wandering; not
to mention that fava‘ges are peculiarly
fond of their natal foil.”

‘When ignorance begins to fneer at re-

relation, and at opinions held‘fa‘cred by
mankind, it is too contemptible to proVoke'
refentment; or to merit a, retaliation in’

._kind.-—'-—‘Nhen a p’hil‘ofopher defcends to

the dilhoneﬁ; talk, the molt proper treate

02

_ 204. Slrz'ﬁure: on

ment is to hold out to the world his weak~
nefs and miﬁake. Mankind will heap
upon him the contempt he deferves for
intermeddling with a fubjeét he does not
underf’tand. Abfurdity and error are at
no time f0 defpicable as when, in a ridi-
culous conﬁdence of fhrewdnefs and faga—
city, they afTume airs of fuperiority and '
fneer. It Would be tedious to remark all
the weakneiTes of the paragraph I have juﬂ:
quoted. One I will point out, and then
I {hall fhow, that the whole foundation of
this reafoning is falf'e, and indicates an
utter ignorance of human nature in. that

ﬁate of fociety of which he fpeaks.

“ Without an immediate change of bo-
“ dily conﬁitution (fays he) the builders
‘.‘ of Babel could not‘poﬂibly have fubﬁﬁ- '
“ ed in-the burning region of Guinea, or
“ the frozen region of Lapland.” Yet ex-
perience teaches us that mankind can ex—
' iii in every climate. The Europeans, to
mention no others, have armies, or colo-
Dies, in all the regions of the globe. And \
if his Lordfhip believes that the intenﬁty

Lord Kamr’: Dgﬁowj/é. I 205

of a frozen, or a torrid climate,‘was fufﬁ-
cient to have deﬁroyed ,the builders of
Babel, he fhould have no objeé’tion furely,
after fuch a declaration, to acknowledge
that they might have altered the ﬁgure, or
changed the complexion. Yet his Whole
object is to combat this principle. He al-
lows the greater, he denies the lefs effect.-
But errors, or contradictions of this kind,
Lord Kames, in his zeal againfi an ob-
noxious doélrine, eaﬁ-ly overlooks.

lepropofed in the next place to ﬂiow,
that the whole foundation on which the
reafoning in this paragraph reﬁs is falfe,
and only proves his ignorance of human
nature in that {late of fociety of which he
fpeaks.—It reﬁs on two principles, 1/3,
That the children of Adam or Noah could
never have become favage if thefe. fathers
of the race were the wife men which Mo-
fes reprefents them to be ;-—-and 207], That
there never could have exiﬁed a diverﬁty
of languages. On the other hand, I doubt
not of being able to prove that the favage

. O 3

206 - Sirié'z’ura: on

condition of the greater part of the world
was the neceffary confeq-uence of one fa?-
mily, and of the {late of the earth as Mo-
fes reprefeilts it immediately after the de-
l-uge.—-—And that out of the fayage Rate,
diverﬁtyi of languages would naturally
arife.

I am not now going to explain the hiflory
of Babel, or to unfold or defend the mi~
raCles recorded in the facred fcriptures. I
take the matter on his Lordihip’s ground,
who, no doubt, molt devoutly and fer-
vently difbelieves all miraculous interpo-
fition of the Deity, and :lhow that, in tbe
nature Q/‘I/Jl'ﬂgd‘, man would become favage, _
and language would become divided.

‘Man defcended after the deluge into anI
immenfe wildernefs, in which the bcaﬁs
would naturally multiply inﬁnitely falter
than the human race. Agriculture would
probably, from habit and inclination, be
the employment of Noah, and his immedi—
ate defcendants; and with them would

\‘commence the civilized {late which can ,

Lord Kama”: Dyeomﬁ. 207

be traced without interruption, fromthe
countries which they occupied, and the
period in which they lived, down to our"
country, and to‘ the prefent times—But
agriculture furniihes too ﬂow and labori-
ous a fubﬁﬁence to be grateful to all men.
Many, in the midft ofa wildernefs ﬁlled
with beaﬁs,-would be ready to forfake the
toils of clearing and cultivating the ground,
and to feek their proviﬁon from the chace,
which has been ever a favourite exercife
of mankind, particularly in rude ages.
Hunting would foon fpread them over
extenﬁve regions, and difperfe them wide-—
ly from one another.‘ Single families, or
Colleétions of a few families, feated in fe-
parate diﬁric’ls of a country almoﬁ bound-
lefs,would become independent tribes, and
the mode of procuring fubﬁﬁence would
render them favage. His Lordihip {up-
pofes that there is an invincible objection
againﬁ fuch difperﬁon, and fuch manners,
him the example and advice of a venerable
auction and in the facial difpoﬁtion of
mankind—The example and advice of
0 4

\2‘08 ‘Striﬂure: 071

'Noah and his fons would doubtlefs have
great inﬂuence on that civilized :people,
Which ihvould naturally grow up‘round
their immediate habitation. But how
{hould they inﬂuence their remote defcen-
dants who were ranging the foref’ts at the
diﬁance of an hundred or .a thoufand
leagues ? To anfwer this quei’tion, he con-
ﬁdently pronounces that mankind would
always have been within the reach of this
example, ’becauf'e they never would have
feparated from one another, and from the
pleafures of improved fociety.—“ ' Men
“ (lays he) never defert their connexions,
‘=‘ nor their country, without neceﬂity.—-—
Fear of enemies, and of wild beaﬂs, as
well as the attraélions Of fociety, are
more than fuﬂicient to reﬁrain them from

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‘-‘ Wandering : no: to mention that favages

‘-‘ are peculiarly fond of their natal foil."

Thefe ideas are derived from civilized
fociety,’ and are nor applicable to favage
life. ’Tis ridiculous to talk of the fear of
wild beaﬁs to men whofe diverﬁon it is to
purfue and ﬂay them g—and not much

1.1m! Kamex’: Dg/Eomf/é. 209

lefs abfurd is it to talk of the attractions
of fociety, and of attachments to atria-tail
foil, to people in a wildernefs, ‘-to whom
.migration is a habit—to whom every fpot
of ground is equal Where they can ﬁnd
‘ game—and who feel the charms of the
chace more fenﬁbly than the charms of,
fociety. \Vhat is the pleafure of fociety
in that rude ﬂatel—Deltitute of fenti-
ment, or converfation, it is little more than
the pleafure that dumb animals feel at the
approach of other animals of the fame
fpecies. The chace, which to them is
produé’tive of higher and ﬁrong'er enjoy-
ments, eaﬁly breaks the feeble ties of fuch
fociety; and hunters, like beal’ts of prey,
delight in folitudes and de-ferts.—Men in
fuch a ﬁate migrate through caprice, or
. through curioﬁty, or for the convenience
of hunting—The inﬂuence of extenﬁve
lands lying in common, and ready to be
occupied by the ﬁrft comer, is extremely
viﬁble on the inhabitants of thefe United
States. Their fathers came from Europe
with all thofe ﬁxed habits, and thofe ten-
, dencies to local attachments which can teas

210 . Strift’ure: 0n

fonably be imputed to any people. They
toolegpoﬁ'eﬂion of a boundlefs foreﬁ, which ‘
had a fp‘eedy and an aftonifhing eﬂ‘eé’t on
their manners. The Anglo-Americans dif—
cover comparatively little attachment to a
native foil. No hereditary poﬂhﬂion, no
objeﬁs of antiquity feize the imagination,
and fix it to a certain fpot. The people
migrate without reluctance to the greateﬁ;
diftances—they change their habitations
«as foon as they become ﬂraitened in their
quarters—~and forfake their friends, and ,
the place of their nativity, for apparently
fmall conveniences. This is more the cafe
as you paf's from the- cultivated lands near
the ocean, towards the weftern frontiers.
In proportion as the citizens of thel‘tates
approach the vicinity of the Indian tribes,
ﬁmilarity of ﬁtuation produces alfo a great
approximation of manners. If his Lord-4
{hip had feen America, he would have [con
men forever migrating from the midﬁ of
fociety to uncultivated deferts—he would
have often feen them forfake the con-
ﬁraints of civilization, for the indepen—
dence, and the charms of a ﬂare approaCllf-

Lord Kama”: Diﬂ‘durjE. I e i :-

ing to lavage—he would have I g
frontiers of all the United States: ﬁll _ _ _
the defcendants of Europeans, who have;
in a great meafure, adopted the manners
of the native Indians, along with their
mode of procuring fubﬁftence—whe would
have feen thefe people, as foeiety advances
upon them from the cities, and the fea-
coaft, retreating before it into the wilder-
nefs—he would have feen men decline the
labours of agriculture as a toil, and prefer
the fatigues of hunting to all other'plea-
fares—he would have feen that mankind
often ﬁnd charms in the indolence and im-
dependence of, the favage {late fuperior to
thofe that refult from the reﬁnements and
attraétions of civil fociety, which muf’t be
purehafed with labour, and held by fub-
ordination—he would have feen that wan-
derers have no attachment, as he fuppofes,
to their natal jail-e—he would have feen mul-
titudes of the people of thefe United States,
change their habitations without regret—
he would have feen the Indians, either i
ﬁngly, or in companies, travel for many
moons fucceﬂively, to explore other foreﬁs,

   

2 12 ‘ Strit‘t’um an

  

feel: for other rivers—he might
'en whole tribes rife from their feats
at once, and carrying with them the bones
of their fathers, feek new habitations at
the dil’cance of an hundred. or two hun-
dred leagues—But his Lordfhip has not

feen them, and he {peaks of the favage
ﬁate without underﬂanding it, and of hu-
man nature,'in the beginning of time,
without knowing how it would operate
then, or how it has operated, in ﬁmilar
ﬁtuations, in later periods. Like many.
other pliilof'ophers, he judges and reafons
only from what he has feen in a {late of
fociety highly improved; and is led to
form wrong concluﬁons from his own ha-
bits and prepolTeflions. On his principles,
a favage ﬁate could never have ’exiﬁed, on
the fuppoﬁtion of many races of men,
more than of one. Fear afwz't’d aegis, and
the attrac’ﬁom of facial}! would have held
each race together and prevented tbs-ir- dif-
perjian. Every art of agriculture would
have been tried, before they would have
extended their habitations into the dan-
gerau: wildernefs. A civilized communi—

Lord Kames’: DgYEduijE. i ‘ £13

  

ty would have arifen round the; r ' ”
bitations. And when they 1110111;
been compelled by neceﬂity to enlarge
their limits, they would have done it in
fociety. The foreﬁ would have fallen be—
fore them as they advanced; and fear and
the focial principle would have equally Q
contributed to reﬂraih them from the ha—
zards and the difperﬁon confequent upon
the fpirit of the chace. The world, in-
ﬁead of being filled with numerous tribes
of favages, would have every where pre-
fe'nted to us civilized and polifhed nations.
His Lordfhip, on this fubjeé‘t, for ever
reafons againf’t himfef. He means to com-
bat the doctrine of one race by‘the exiﬁ—
ence of the favage ﬂare; which yet, is a
neceffary confequence of that doé‘trine,
and would be certainly precluded on his
own principles.

His Lordfhip’s next error iconﬁfis in ,
aiTerting that, “ on the fuppoﬁtion of one i
“ race, there never could have exiﬁed a
“ diverﬁty of languages.” This error
[is the confequence of the preceding.

#5, l3. ‘ Siriﬂzlre’: 012' '

  
  
 

‘ “ineiples are intimately co’nn‘e‘éieci
..‘ Similarity of language would
ﬁrm 7‘22in have’arifen out of univerfal ci-
' vigiliZation, continued down from the ori-
ginal (if the race. Div-erﬁty of language
naceﬁ‘arily fp‘rings out of ti: favage Rate.
The favageﬁate has few wants, and fur-
niﬂres few ideas that require terms to ex-
prefs them. 'The habits of folitude and
ﬁlence incline ‘a favage rarely to fpeak.
When he {peaks it is chieﬂy in ﬁgures, and
the fame terms are ufed for different ideas *0-

l‘; Savages fpealc i2) much hy' ﬁgurehand even by
gellure', that it greatly contraéts the limits of their
language; They have no adjeé'tives, no particles, no '
abﬂraél: terms, so fingular denoininations. They
have no parts of fpeech but the'fubﬁantive and the!
Verb; Their verbs are conﬁned to a very few Rates
and aétions of animals; and perhaps fo'me other ob«
jeas of nature that are molt familiar. Their fub-'
fiantives conﬁl’c of a few general names; of animals,
of vegetables, and of faint: of the mail: obvious parts’
of the inanimate world, fuch as rocks, rivers, mo‘u‘n—I
rains. When they would exprefs a quality, they do‘
it ﬁguratively by applying the name of one fenﬁble’

i-objeéuc to another. A {wift man is a deer; a wife or
an artful man is a fox; a ﬁrong, a furious, or a con-1

'Lam’ Kama”: , Dymr/a ’ z 17'

ohe race. In all the writings of th"'
thor, there is not another examp:
much weak and inconcluﬁve reafo‘ ._ ,3;
This might in juﬁice to be imputed to the
‘eauf‘e, and not to the writer. His talents
are un‘iverfallyacknowledged. It was for
that reafon IChof‘e to make thefe ﬂrié’cures
on him, rather than on an author of infe-
rior name; He has probably ﬂiOWn the
utmoi’t force of that caufe which he has
undertaken to defend. If he has failed
it is Only becaufe It is incapable of defence.
For, to’ him I may apply the lines which,
on another fubjeé‘t', he applies to Dr Roi"-
bertfon.

   
     

Si Pergania dZ'xtnf
Digfmdi pmﬁ'nf, mam Iiiz'jc dqﬁrgfdfdg’ﬂent.

 

FINIS.

 

 

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