THE GEOGRAPHICAL SKIN. 273 



enfeebled life of man ; and in general the rainbow of human skins 

 is a divine signal against these floods of the sun. The power of 

 climatization is measured very much by the ability of the skin to 

 stand up for itself, or else to take on the restored balance that color 

 produces between the surface and outward influences. The colored 

 parts in each instance appear to be a distinct tribal organization, re- 

 quired in different shades and proportions by various races under 

 the same sky 3 for there is nothing to make it probable that the 

 English skin for instance, place it under the line for a number of 

 generations, would assume the jettiness of the Negro, or the tawny 

 shade of the Malay.* We may therefore see that among the causes 

 that have led to the present distribution of races, the relative life of 

 the skin is one ; and that certain tribes would instinctively move 

 down the sides of the planet, until they found the spot where the 

 slanted sun-beams were dilute enough to befriend, and not injure, 

 their undefended skins ; the flaming sword behind chasing them 

 away to more frigid destinies as their loves waxed fainter. And in- 

 deed the light and heat are continually operating in all great migra- 

 tions, from the east to the west, and now from the west to the east; 

 much as the same causes in nature produce winds and currents, 

 which are inanimate migrations.f 



* The clothing of the different races is significant, relatively to the present 

 state and future prospects of our skins. Under the line, where the rule of the 

 skin is blackness and also thickness, we clothe in white and light garments ; in 

 the temperate regions, in dark woolen clothes. Showing that opposite condi- 

 tions to those of the skin, are sought in the clothing. Were the skin able to 

 keep its own balance, it would be what the clothing now is, whitest at the 

 equator, and darker where greater heat is wanted, and where less bleaching 

 power is given. 



f We see remains of the migratory principle by which the world has been 

 peopled, and which has forced the races to quit the fairest spots, and to move 

 onwards, often into comparatively inhospitable regions, in the fact that many 

 persons are born out of their health's latitude, and cannot live in our English 

 climate, but are sent away to Madeira, Italy, the South of France, or Australia, 

 where they can continue an existence which would be early extinguished here. 

 What was once the rule of races happens now with individuals, and that excep- 

 tionally : yet as it goes on from all countries, it amounts to the collection of new 

 races destined to be united in the amity of new mother climates. The develop- 

 ment of a human race is like that of a human body. At first its parts are movable, 

 and are not born in the places which they are subsequently to occupy : emigra- 



