VARIETIES OF MANKIND. 



1337 



consists of Sanscrit words, although Sanscrit 

 is no longer the spoken language of any part 

 of India ; and they are acquainted with only 

 the simplest form of Hindoo mythology ; 

 whence it may be fairly concluded, that they 

 separated from the common stock at a very 

 early period. 



Thus, then, we have very strong evidence 

 that a certain relation exists between climate 

 and colour; and it is no valid objection to 

 the existence of such a relation, to say that it 

 is not perfectly uniform. For it is at least as 

 uniform as the relation between colour and 

 race, even where the climatic influences are 

 the same ; that is, the difference of shade 

 among people of different races that have 

 been exposed sufficiently long to the same 

 climatic influences, is not greater than that 

 which presents itself among individuals of the 

 very same nation. It would seem that, among 

 the most dark-skinned races, there is a greater 

 variety of complexion than is found in those 

 of fairer hue. Such has been already shown 

 to be the case among the Polynesian islanders ; 

 and the following extract from Bishop He- 

 ber's Journal will serve to indicate the amount 

 of variety existing among the Hindoos. " On 

 first landing," he remarks, " the great differ- 

 ence in colour between different natives 

 struck me much. Of the crowd by whom 

 we were surrounded, some were as black as 

 Negroes, others merely copper-coloured, and 

 others little darker than the Tunisines whom 

 I have seen in Liverpool. Mr. Mill, the 

 principal of the British College, who came 

 down to meet me, and who has seen more of 

 India than most men, tells me that he cannot 

 account for this difference, which is general 

 throughout the country, and every where 

 striking. It is not merely the difference of 

 exposure, since this variety is visible in the 

 fishermen, who are naked all alike. Nor 

 does it depend on caste, since very high-caste 

 Brahmins are sometimes black, while Pariahs 

 are comparatively fair. It seems, therefore, 

 to be an accidental difference, like that of 

 light and dark complexions in Europe ; 

 though, where so much of the body is exposed 

 to light, it becomes more striking here than 

 in our own country." So among the in- 

 habitants of Central Europe, it appears that a 

 considerable modification in complexion has oc- 

 curred, which is not sufficiently accounted for 

 by the climatic change that has taken place 

 in it since the classical epoch. For the Ger- 

 manic nations were unanimously described by 

 ancient authors as exceedingly fair, possessing 

 yellow or red hair, and blue or grey eyes ; but 

 these characters are now far from being pre- 

 valent among them, and it is only amongst 

 the Scandinavian races that they are common 

 to the mass of the people. 



On the whole, then, it must be concluded 

 that the Colour of the Skin is a character of 

 such variable nature, that no positive line of 

 demarcation can be drawn by its aid between 

 the different races of mankind ; and whilst it 

 must be freely admitted that we are far from 

 comprehending all the influences which ope- 



rate to modify it, there seems ample evidence 

 that climatic variations, whose agency is ex- 

 erted for a sufficiently long period, are among 

 the most efficient. This statement is ob- 

 viously not invalidated by the fact, that Ne- 

 groes and other dark-skinned people, who 

 have lived for some time in temperate cli- 

 mates, have not lost their characteristic hue. 

 For there is no example on record, so far as 

 the author is aware, in which a Negro tribe 

 or set of families has maintained itself for even 

 three or four generations in a temperate 

 climate, without intermixture either with the 

 surrounding " whites " or with " blacks " of 

 more immediate tropical descent. And until 

 it shall have been shown that a continuous 

 descent of many generations has taken place, 

 in a group of Negroes completely isolated from 

 the parent stock, and exposed to the condi- 

 tions which are presumed to favour the pro- 

 duction of the xanthous variety, without any 

 considerable departure from their present com- 

 plexion, there will be no negative evidence at 

 all equivalent in probative value to the facts 

 already cited on the affirmative side of the 

 question. 



5. We have now to inquire into the cha- 

 racters furnished by the colour, texture, and 

 mode of growth of the Hair, which have been 

 much relied on by some writers, as more per- 

 manent and distinctive than those furnished 

 by the hue of the skin. Thus, the Negro is 

 usually characterised by his " woolly " hair ; 

 while the Mongolian races are affirmed to be 

 peculiar in the scantiness of their pilous 

 covering ; and the Hottentots are further 

 separated by its tufted arrangement, which 

 has been compared to the mode in which 

 the bristles are set in[a scrubbing-brush. Now 

 in regard to the 'colour of the hair, it is 

 scarcely necessary to remark that it cannot 

 be taken alone as a distinctive character of 

 races ; since it is liable to present the most 

 extreme variations within the limits of any 

 one. Among the xanthous Anglo-Saxons, 

 for example, jet-black hair is by no means 

 uncommon ; although various shades of brown 

 are most frequently met with. Among Ne- 

 groes, on the other hand, it is not at all rare 

 to meet with a more or less complete de- 

 parture from what may be freely admitted to 

 be the prevalent character of their race. In 

 the instances which have been already cited 

 as proving the want of constancy in the com- 

 plexion of the dark or melanic races, a corre- 

 sponding change manifests itself in the colour 

 of the hair, which often becomes of a reddish 

 brown, or even of a much lighter hue. These 

 may occur in individuals, or in whole tribes. 

 Thus, Dr. Pickering speaks of having seen 

 two children, in whom "the Negro aspect had 

 so entirely disappeared, that they might have 

 passed for the children of Europeans, but for 

 the remarkable appearance of the hair," which 

 he could " compare to nothing but a white 

 fleece." * The (Singhalese, according to the 

 testimony of Dr. Davy, present as many va- 



* The Races of Man (Bohn's edition), p. 188 



