THE HUMAN SPECIES. 161 



Mongolic nations it is unknown, or very rare, and it is 

 equally so with the aboriginal tribes of America. 



The stature of mankind is unquestionably influenced 

 by the adequate supply of wholesome food ; and hence 

 the civilized nations of moderate climates are more 

 generally of an equal standard than barbarians and 

 savages, among which the hunter and pastoral nomad 

 tribes arrive at the greatest stature. But, in these 

 cases, a Caucasian element may be expected to be 

 present, whether we take the Miao-tze of China, the 

 Caffres of Eastern Africa, the Patagonian Araucas of 

 South America, or the Creeks and other tribes in the 

 north. For, if some latent cause of this kind did not 

 produce the difference, all other tribes in the same 

 climate, and under similar conditions of food and mode 

 of life, would acquire a similar height ; yet this is not 

 the case ; and it is even known, in both the Americas, 

 that the union of two tribes, differing in this respect, 

 has produced, in one generation, the disappearance of 

 a superior growth. Ancient history likewise represents 

 the northern Gauls (Belgae), and the Teutonic nations, 

 as far superior in stature to the civilized Romans, 

 though they do not appear, in their barbarous habits, 

 to have been better fed than the tall tribes of North 

 America. In gracefulness of proportion, the American 

 mixed white races with Negroes, both of French and 

 British, and still more, of Spanish origin, yield to none 

 i any part of the world ; and it is a mistaken notion 

 elieve in the assertion, that the standard contour 



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