STUDY Vil. 3 



vidence to the inhabitants of tropical countries. 

 White refleéls the rays of the Sun, and black ab- 

 forbs them. The firft, accordingly, redoubles his 

 heat, and the fécond weakens it Experience de- 

 monftrates this in a thoufand different ways. Na- 

 ture has employed, among other means, the oppo- 

 fice effect of thefe colours, for multiplying, or 

 weakening, on the Earth, the heat of the Orb of 

 day.^The farther you advance toward the South, 

 the blacker are men and animals ; and the farther 

 you proceed northward, the whiter is the colour 

 of both the one and the other. Nay, when the 

 Sun withdraws from the northern regions, many 

 animals which were there, in Summer, of different 

 colours, begin to whiten ; fuch as fquirre's, wolves, 

 hares... ..and thofe of the fouthern regions, to 

 which he is approaching, then clothe themfelves 

 with tints deeper and more abforbent. ; Such are, 

 in the feathery race, the widozv, the cardinal, &c. 

 which exhibit much more powerful colouring, 

 when the Sun approaches toward the Line, than 

 when he is retiring from it. It is, therefore, by 

 adaptations of climate, that Nature has made the 

 inhabitants of the torrid Zone black, as flie has 

 ■whitened thofe of the icy Zones. She has given, 

 befides, another prcfervative againfh the heat to 

 the Negros who inhabit Africa, which is the 

 hotteft. part of the Globe, principally by reafbn of 

 that broad belt of fand which croifes it, and whofe 



B 2 utility 



