762 



COLOUR. 



Colour, mined this subject with great accuracy of observation, 



^ and who informs us, that the negroes, in the United 



States, though inlcrmarryinp with each other, are gra- 

 dually losing the curled hair and black complexion of 

 their African progenitor*. 



Thus then, great heat, and the exposure of many suc- 

 cessive generations to its influence, are necessary to the 

 production of that colour which distinguishes the negro ; 

 end the same length of time, accompanied with an inver- 

 sion of circumstances, would be requisite to bring him 

 back to hi-i original hue. The Jews afford the most re- 

 markable illustration of these observations : though scat- 

 tered over the face of the earth, they have in general re- 

 mained a distinct and separate race, with not a drop of 

 blood in their veins but what has flowed in a direct course 

 from Abraham : yet how various is their complexion ? 

 They are found fair in Britain, brown in Spain and Por- 

 tugal, copper- coloured in Arabia and Egypt, and almost 

 wholly black in Abyssinia, and at Cochin in India. 



With regard to the Jews at Cochin, Dr Buchanan, in 

 his ( lirittian Researches, furnishes some particulars which 

 how, in a vi-ry remarkable degree, the effect both of 

 climate and of long residence. There are two descriptions 

 of Jews at Cochin, the one he denominates black, and the 

 other white Jews, and concludes, evidently without any 

 theory in his head respecting the sameness, or diversity 

 of the human species, that the former owe their dark 

 complexion to their long residence in the country, whilst 

 the latter have not resided long enough to complete the 

 dye. His;words are, " It is only necessary to look at 

 the countenance of the black Jews, to be satisfied, that 

 their ancestors must have arrived in India, many ages be- 

 fore the white Jews. Their Hindoo complexion, and 

 their very imperfect resemblance to the European Jews, 

 indicate that they have been detached from the parent 

 ftock in India, many ages before the Jews in the West." 

 There is therefore every probability that these white 

 Jews will one day become as black as their sable bre- 

 thren. This conjecture is in a great measure confirmed 

 by the remark of Dr Smith, that the people of theUni- 

 ted States, though sprung originally from many different 

 nations of Europe, have now all an uniform cast of fea- 

 tures and complexion. 



We trust it will sufficiently appear from the facts which 

 have been stated, that colour is a superinduced habit, 

 and that no particular shade of it can be regarded aa an 

 inseparable adjunct of human nature ; and when we ob- 

 serve that a white nation is never found under a fervid 

 sun, nor a black one under a moderate temperature, it is 

 impossible not to ascribe the difference of colour in the 

 human species to the variations of climate, with the other 

 accessaries which have been specied. There is no sud- 

 den transition of colour, no definable line of demarcation ; 

 but we observe the shades gradually deepening or mel- 

 lowing, according as the countries are exposed to a vio- 

 lent, or a moderate heat. This completely destroys the 

 argument, that a particular race different from the rest 

 of mankind, was necessary to people the torrid zone ; 

 on the same principle it might be alleged that as many 

 separate creations were necessary, as there are degrees of 

 latitude from the equator to the poles. 



There are indeed certain plants and certain animals, 

 confined, by the constitution of their nature, to particu- 

 lar districts of the globe, and which cannot thrive be- 

 yond these limits. But nothing is more obvious than 

 that the same species of men can exist, thrive, and mul- 

 tiply in every part of the known world, after their con- 

 stitution has undergone that kind of transformation 

 which is necessary to adapt them to their new situation. 



In fact, the very circumstance of man's being born with, r 

 out any natural covering or d> : Lh< injuries of N> ""*V^" 



different climates, shows thai . uik-d as an inhabi- 



tant of all : and the Author of his nature has given him 

 the power of adaptation, bntl m the resources of his own 

 ingenuity, and in those in-, .i^ibio changes which are ef- 

 fected in conformity with ilie laws of nature, over which 

 man has little or no controul. In the latter case, hc'cn- 

 joys no higher privilege than the bounty of heaven has 

 conferred on various species of animals wlucli arc found 

 indifferently in various climates ; but hive difienut co- 

 lours and appearances according to the situations in 

 which they are placed. Thus, hares, squirrels, and wea- 

 sels, are white in northern latitudes, but brown or gray 

 in milder climates. They are even found to vary their 

 colours in the same country, according to the different de- 

 grees of heat. In Sweden, for instance, the hares are gray 

 in summer, but perfectly white in winter. Lcput apuj 

 not, says Linnaeus, a"iliite cinereus, Iticmc semper i. 

 And in still higher latitudes, when the cold returns, both 

 birds and animals assume the livery of winter. 



Why then should we not expect to find the same va- 

 riations in the skin of the human species? It is, no ano- 

 malous appearance ; it is the general law of nature, and 

 we should have greater reason to be surprised did we 

 find man an exception. It is impossible to assign any 

 other cause for these varieties of colour than this, that 

 such is the will of the Author of nature. The seat of 

 colour in the human species has indeed been ascertained. 

 It has been found that the skin consists of three iainiiuc 

 or layers, the outer or scarf skin, the inner or true skin, 

 and a substance interposed between them, which, ;i- m 

 its nature and appearance, has been called rtie mucosum. 

 This is found to be the seat of colour, the outer and in- 

 ner portions of the skin being found the same both in 

 black and white people. This substance is found to be 

 black in the Negro ; reddish in the Mulatto ; brown in 

 the Gypsey ; white, with a slight shade of red, in Euro- 

 peans ; and of a dead white in the Albino ; whilst in all 

 these instances, the epidermis or scarl hkm is perfectly 

 white. But this is only an additional fact ; it is no ex- 

 planation of the phenomenon. 



If we can trust the accuracy of Barrere'n observations, 

 as stated in hii Dissert, stir la coulcur ties \egref, we 

 may perhaps go a little tarther, and ascertain tht imtmtli- 

 ate cause of the black colour. He supposes it to be 

 owing to the colo ir of the bile, which, from several dis- 

 sections of Negiocs which he made in Cayenne, he af- 

 firms to be as black as ink ; and as an effusion of the 

 bile in white people tinges the skin of a yellow hue, 

 the same effusion in Negroes will make the skin perfect- 

 ly black. This is, no doubt, a curious fact ; but why- 

 should the bile be constantly effused so as to tinge the 

 skin in black people, whilst this happens only occasion- 

 ally in the case of others ? And were we to suppose, 

 with Buffon, that both the bile and blood of Negroes 

 are much blacker than in the case of other persons, and 

 that the blackness of the skin is owing to these circum- 

 stances, this would only be removing the difficulty a 

 step farther back ; and it would still remain to be in- 

 quired to what this blackness of the blood and bile is 

 owing. In the present state of our knowledge, we must 

 be content to ascribe it, generally, to the heat of the 

 sun, without being able to explain how the effect is pro- 

 duced. 



But whatever may be the immediate or remote causes 

 of the Negro complexion, we can discover, at least, a 

 most bcneficent^ia/ cause of such an appointment. It 

 waa long ago discovered by Dr Frankljn, that black 



