224 THE DESCENT OF MAN. 



change of appearance. Their bodies and limbs become 

 elongated; and I hear from Col. Bernys that during the 

 late war in the United States, good evidence was afforded 

 of this fact by the ridiculous appearance presented by the 

 German regiments when dressed in ready-made clothes 

 manufactured for the American market, and which were 

 much too long for the men in every way. There is, also, a 

 considerable body of evidence showing that in the Southern 

 States the house slaves of the third generation present a 

 markedly different appearance from the field slaves.* 



If, however, we look to the races of man as distributed 

 over the world we must infer that their characteristic dif- 

 ferences cannot be accounted for by the direct action of 

 different conditions of life, even after exposure to them for 

 an enormous period of time. The Esquimaux live exclu- 

 sively on animal food; they are clothed in thick fur, and 

 are exposed to intense cold and to prolonged darkness; yet 

 they do not differ in any extreme degree from the inhabit- 

 ants of Southern China, who live entirely on vegetable 

 food and are exposed almost naked to a hot, glaring cli- 

 mate. The unclothed Fuegians live on the marine pro- 

 ductions of their inhospitable shores ; the Botocudos of 

 Brazil wander about the hot forests of the interior and live 

 chiefly on vegetable productions; yet these tribes resemble 

 each other so closely that the Fuegians on board the 

 " Beagle" were mistaken by some Brazilians for Botocudos. 

 The Botocudos again, as well as the other inhabitants of 

 tropical America, are wholly different from the negroes 

 who inhabit the opposite shores of the Atlantic, are ex- 

 posed to a nearly similar climate and follow nearly the 

 same habits of life. 



Nor can the differences between the races of man be ac- 

 counted for by the inherited effects of the increased or 

 decreased use of parts except to a quite insignificant degree. 

 Men who habitually live in canoes may have their legs 

 somewhat stunted; those who inhabit lofty regions may 

 have their chests enlarged; and those who constantly use 

 certain sense organs may have the cavities in which they 

 are lodged somewhat increased in size, and their features 

 consequently a little modified. With civilized nations the 



* Harlan, "Medical Researches," p. 533, Quatrefages ("Unite de 

 I'Espece Humaine," 1861, p. 128) has collected much evidence on this 

 head. 



