THE RACES OF MANKIND. 



303 



crossing of races, anthropologists have a reason to give for the endless 

 shades of diversity among mankind, without attempting the hopeless 

 task of classifying every little uncertain group of men into a special 

 race. Among the natives of India, a variety of complexion and feature 

 is found which can not be classified exactly by race. But it must be 

 remembered that several very distinct varieties of men have contrib- 

 uted to the population of the country. So in Europe, taking the 

 fair nations of the Baltic and the dark nations of the Mediterranean 

 as two distinct races or varieties, their intercrossing may explain the 

 infinite diversity of brown hair and intermediate complexion to be 

 met Avith. If, then, it may be considered that man was already divided 

 into a few great main races in remote antiquity, then* intermarriage 



Fig. 16. Dravidian Hill-man (after Fryer). 



throuo^h acres since will s:o far to account for the innumerable sliohter 

 varieties which shade into one another. 



It is not enough to look at a race of men as a mere body of people 

 happening to have a common type or likeness. For the reason of their 

 likeness is plain, and indeed our calling them a race means that we 

 consider them a breed whose common nature is inherited from com- 

 mon ancestors. Now, experience of the animal world shows that a 

 race or breed, while capable of carrying on its likeness from generation 

 to generation, is also capable of varying. It must be admitted that 

 our knowledge of the manner and causes of race-variation among 

 mankind is still very imperfect. The great races, black, brown, yel- 

 low, white, had already settled into their well-known characters before 



