MAN, PHYSICALLV CONSIDERED. 467 



are at present, if the causes which produce them should 

 cease, or if their operation should be varied by other cir- 

 cumstances and combinations. 



' The state of society is said to have great effect on 

 the formation and color of the body. The nakedness of 

 the savage, the filthy grease and paint with which he 

 smears his body ; his smoky hut, scanty diet, want of 

 cleanliness, and the undrained and uncleared country 

 which he inhabits not only darken his skin but render it 

 impossible, that it ever should be fair. On the other 

 hand the conveniences of clothing and lodging; the plen- 

 ty and healthful quality of food; a country drained and 

 cultivated, and treed from noxious effluvia; improved 

 ideas of beauty ; constant study of elegance, and the in- 

 finite arts for attaining it, even in personal figure and ap- 

 pearance, give cultivated an immense advantage over 

 savage society, in its attempts to counteract the influence 

 of climate, and to beautify the human form.' 



' In tracing the globe,' says Smith, ' from the pole to 

 the equator, we observe a gradation in the complexion, 

 nearly in proportion to the latitude of the country. Im- 

 mediately below the arctic circle, a high and sanguine 

 color prevails; from this you descend to a mixture of red 

 and white ; afterwards succeed the brown and the olive, 

 the tawny, and at length the black, as you proceed to the 

 line. The same distance from the sun, however, does 

 not in every region, indicate the same temperature of 

 climate. Some secondary causes must be taken into con- 

 sideration as correcting and limiting its influence. The 

 elevation of the land, its vicinity to the sea, the nature 

 of the soil, the state of cultivation, the course of winds, 

 and imny other circumstances, enter into this view. Ele- 

 vated and mountainous countries are cool, in proportion 

 to their altitude above the level of the sea.' 



It is stated by Lawrence, and is a well known fact, 

 that ' the color of the Europeans nearly foliows the geo- 

 graphical position of countries. This part of the world 

 is occupied almost entirely by a white race, of which the 

 individuals arc fairer in cold latitudes, and more swarthy 

 and sunburnt in warm ones. Thus the French may be 

 darker than the English, the Spaniards than the French, 



