FIRST ORDINARY MEETING. 19 
cuticle, just as, on the older parts of a tree, I take the roughness of 
the bark to be a consequence of its thickness. 
But why should the eyes, skin and hair of the Polar tribes 
be darker than those of the blonde Europeans who live to the south 
of them? I suggest that it is on account of their perpetual or almost 
perpetual snows. It is a well-known fact that the rays of the sun 
reflected from the Arctic snows tan Europeans and produce snow- 
blindness in them. From these effects the natives enjoy, I under- 
stand, comparative immunity, which I think it fair to attribute to 
the colour of their skins and eyes. The hair, being anatomically a 
part of the skin, varies with it in colour. 
II. By a moist temperate climate I mean one occurring in 
a temperate zone in which the air constantly contains a large amount 
of moisture. Humidity does not to any considerable extent depend 
on the amount of the annual rainfall. The annual rainfall of 
London is twenty and one-half inches, that of Toronto twenty-seven 
inches ; yet the air of the former place is incomparably more humid. 
Countries in which the air is generally moist are distinguished 
from others in the same latitude by the limited range of the 
thermometer. This is due partly to the fact that the vapour of 
water cannot be so rapidly heated or cooled as air, and partly to 
the check which the presence of haze, mist, or cloud in the atmo- 
sphere puts upon radiation. A moist temperate climate is also 
warmer than others in the same latitude, for it owes its existence in 
every case to breezes from warm seas. Breezes from cold seas can- 
not produce a true humid temperate climate, because when they 
strike the land in summer they will be raised in temperature and 
rendered dry. 
In humid temperate climates, since the rays of the sun, falling 
obliquely through a moisture-laden atmosphere, lose much of their 
light and heat, much pigment is not needed. The vapour-clogged air 
does not facilitate perspiration, therefore a thin epidermis is desirable. 
The combination of a thin epidermis with little pigment will give a 
white complexion. 
The best example of a moist temperate climate is furnished by the 
countries lying around the North and Baltic Seas, which are appar- 
ently the native land of Huxley’s Xanthochroi. The central part of 
this district, namely Southern Sweden, is probably the place where 
there are most blondes. But Great Britain, though more humid, 
