354 Win. Lowe : 



the amount of pigment is in direct proportion to the intensity 

 of the light of the country to which his ancestors had proved 

 their adjustment by centuries or millenniums of survival in 

 health and vigour."' 



But he misses the mark when he writes on page 68: — 



'■ Of course the surest colour is black, for it destroys all the short 

 rays, but as it transforms them into long rays the animal would 

 be put in jeopardy from heat. . . . Hence black animals are 

 almost always nocturnal." 



Among these nocturnal animals Woodruff includes the black 

 man : — 



" The negro is really a nocturnal animal, like other black 

 animals of the Tropics." 



And further, when he discusses '" Hirsuteness," his curious 

 statements are almost grotesque, as shown in the following 

 extract : — 



''We rarely appreciate how transparent the scalp and skull 

 really are. A candle in an empty skull shines through quite 

 plainly. Hence a hairless head would permit strong light to 

 penetrate to the delicate nerve cells which are here directly on 

 the surface, and it would be fatal. The greater amount of light 

 there is in a country, the thicker and blacker is the head hair. 

 It is perfectly evident why the ancient Europeans wavy hair 

 should become more and more kinky as man slowly migrated 

 south, for it is thus a better protection from light. There is 

 then no enigma in the apparently useless masses of kinky hair 

 of the negro. The hair is not needed as protection from the 

 heat or cold, for it is profuse in all countries, but it is a pro- 

 tection from the light." 



Leaving Dr. Woodruff for the present, we are now free to 

 seek for further evidence of the present state of knowledge on 

 this question from the actions and utterances of the Melbourne 

 academic authorities. 



Professors Spencer and (iilruth, at the request of the Common- 

 wealth Government, visited this year the Northern Territory, to 

 survey the land in favour of a white settlement. They have now 

 returned, and their report is favourable. Professor Osborne, in 

 the course of the 1911 University Stewart Lectures on "Climat- 

 ology " (as yet unpublished) prefaced his remarks by stating that 



