DISTRIBUTION OF THE HUMAN EACE. G01 



being congenial to them, have multiplied prodigiously in the fertile plains in the neigh 

 bourhood of the river de la Plata. Azara says that all the wild horses are of a chestnut 

 or bay-brown colour, while the tame horses are of all colours, as in other countries. Hence 

 he conjectures this to be the original colour of the race. He makes a parallel observation 

 respecting the ox. Varieties in the colours of animals sometimes spring up casually 

 and sporadically ; in other instances they are generally prevalent in particular breeds. In 

 the different parts of England, "Wales, and Scotland there are different breeds of cattle 

 and of horses. In some districts, the oxen are always black ; in others, brown or spotted. 

 The cattle of particular countries are immediately recognised by their colour. Blumenbach 

 has noticed many examples of the same kind. He remarks that all the swine of Piedmont 

 are black ; those of Normandy, white ; and those of Bavaria, of a reddish brown colour. 

 The same author observes that the oxen of Hungary are of a greyish white ; in Franconia, 

 they are red. Horses and dogs are spotted in Corsica ; the turkeys of Normandy are 

 black ; those of Hanover almost all white. In Guinea, the dogs and the gallinaceous 

 fowls are as black as the human inhabitants of the same country." 



The cause of the introduction of these varieties of colour among the inferior animals of 

 the same species, which have become permanent, is involved in great obscurity ; but we 

 have good reason to suppose that differences of climate, situation, food, and habits are 

 some of the influential agencies in their production, chiefly perhaps the former, which 

 appears to operate to a considerable extent in the various colouring of the human race. 

 Both the plants and animals of hot regions display the deepest colours with which we are 

 acquainted, while lighter shades are characteristic of those that are situated in cold 

 countries. Within the tropics, the birds, beasts, flowers, and even fishes have the 

 respective hues of their feathers, hairs, petals, and scales uniformly very deeply tinctured ; 

 while, as we recede from the equator, the colour of the animal races progressively becomes 

 of a lighter cast, till, approaching the poles, white is their common livery. The same 

 remark is true very generally of the complexion of mankind. The black, dark-brown, and 

 copper colours prevail in equatorial districts ; the lighter olive is distinctive of the nations 

 immediately north of the tropic of Cancer ; and still lighter shades become more universal 

 in the higher latitudes. The Abyssinians are much less dark than the Negro races, for 

 though their geographical climate is the same, their physical climate is very different, 

 the high table-land of the country placing them in a lower temperature. Shut up within 

 the walls of their seraglios, and secluded from the sun, the Asiatic and African women 

 are frequently as white as the Europeans ; while, in our own country, exposure to the sun 

 is well-known to produce a deeper complexion, and artificial protection from its influence 

 is adopted to preserve a fair and unfreckled skin. The larva? of many insects deposited 

 in dark situations are white, and acquire a brownish hue upon being confined under 

 glasses that admit the influence of the solar rays. Facts of this kind indicate the 

 powerful operation of diverse climates in the various colouring of the human skin, and are 

 sufficient to show, that the different complexions of mankind are mere varieties of species, 

 introduced and rendered permanent by the continued action of local causes. 



2. The next most obvious and important of the human differences involves variety of 

 structure, especially in the shape of the skull. Taking this as the basis of a classification, 

 Professor Blumenbach proposed a division of mankind into five grand classes the 

 Caucasian, Mongolian, Ethiopic, American, and Malay, which has been very generally 

 adopted. The principal descriptive particulars of each, as given by that distinguished 

 naturalist, are the following : 



In the Caucasian race, the head is of the most symmetrical shape, almost round ; the 

 forehead of moderate extent ; the cheek-bones rather narrow, without any projection ; the 

 face straight and oval with the features tolerably distinct ; the nose narrow, and slightly 



