THE 



POPULAR SCIENCE 

 MONTHLY. 



MAY, 1880. 



CLIMATE AND COMPLEXION.* 



By J. M. BUCHAN, M. A. 



THERE is a great diversity of opinion as to the reason of the dif- 

 ferences of complexion to he observed among mankind. Roughly- 

 speaking, the hue of the skin varies with the latitude, the fairer races 

 having their homes at a distance from the equator ; the darker, within 

 or near the tropics. This fact would seem to point to the position of 

 the sun with reference to those on whom he shines as the cause. But 

 the question presents difficulties which this supposition does not aid us 

 to solve. 



At the same distance from the equator we find the fair English- 

 man, the yellow Mongol, and the copper-colored Indian. To the north 

 of the white Russian and Finn live the swarthy Lapp and Samoyed. 

 North of the Caucasus are dark-skinned Tartars, south of it fair-com- 

 plexioned Circassians. The aborigines of America vary less in color 

 than the natives of the Old World. None of them are as fair as the 

 Swede, none as black as the negro of Congo, and those living in Bra- 

 zil on the equator are not the darkest. There are blacker men in Aus- 

 tralia and New Guinea than in Borneo and Sumatra, though these 

 islands are on the equator and those are not. The Shillooks of the 

 Upper Nile, who live about 10 north latitude, are blacker than the 

 Monbuttoo who are six degrees farther south. 



Many attempts have been made to explain these and similar facts. 

 It has been asserted that mountaineers are fairer than lowlanders in 

 the same latitude. This is generally the case, but there are some 

 striking exceptions to the rule. The natives of the Mexican plateaus 

 are as brown as those of the coast, and the Aymaras and Quichuas of 



* This paper embodies the substance of a communication made to the Canadian Insti- 

 tute, Toronto, at a recent meeting. 

 vol. xvii. 1 



