1338 



VARIETIES OF MANKIND. 



rieties of hair as they do of complexion ; its 

 hue ranging through black and brown to red 

 and even flaxen : and precisely the same is 

 true of the Tahitians and Marquesans among 

 the Oceanic race, as well as among many 

 other nations. The texture and mode of growth 

 of the hair, however, are characters on which 

 it would appear, at first sight, that more re- 

 liance may be placed. The pilous covering may 

 be described as " woolly," " crisped" or "friz- 

 zled," "flowing" or "wavy," and "straight." 

 The African and Oceanic Negroes alone are 

 characterised by "woolly" hair ; the Austra- 

 lians, Abyssinians, and many African nations, 

 usually have the hair more or less " crisped" 

 or " frizzled ; " among the Indo-Europeans, 

 the " flowing" or " wavy" character prevails ; 

 while a peculiar straightness most commonly 

 presents itself among nations of Mongolian 

 descent. It is obvious, however, that these 

 several terms express little more than differ- 

 ences in degree. For if "straight" hair has 

 a slight tendency to curl, it becomes " wavy;" 

 if this tendency be increased, it is commonly 

 termed " curly ; " the " crisped " or " friz- 

 zled " hair is little else than hair with a pecu- 

 liarly stiff and close curl ; and the " woolly " 

 covering of the head of the Negro is by no 

 means so different from the crisped hair of 

 other dark races, as the designation given to 

 it would imply, the chief difference consisting 

 in its closeness of texture and its tendency to 

 mat together. As Dr. Prichard has correctly 

 stated, it is clearly shown by microscopic ob- 

 servation that the hair of the Negro is not 

 really "wool," and it presents no constant 

 structural difference from the jet-black hair 

 which is not uncommon among Europeans. 

 It has lately been asserted, however, by 

 Dr. P. A. Browne, of Philadelphia, that the 

 following definite structural differences do 

 exist : " The hair of the white man presents 

 an oval section ; that of the Choctaw and 

 some other American Indians is cylindrical ; 

 that of the Negro is eccentrically elliptical or 

 flat. The hair of the white man, besides its 

 cortex and intermediate fibres, has a central 

 canal, which contains the colouring matter, 

 when present. The wool of the Negro has 

 no central canal, and the colouring matter is 

 diffused, when present, either throughout the 

 cortex, or this and the intermediate fibres. 

 In hair the enveloping scales are comparatively 

 few, smooth of surface, rounded at their 

 points, and closely embrace the shaft ; in 

 wool they are numerous, rough, sharp-pointed, 

 and project from the shaft. Hence the hair 

 of the white man will not felt ; the wool of 

 the Negro will." * Now, upon this it may be 

 remarked that neither of the characters speci- 

 fied by Dr. Browne will stand the test of 

 extensive observation. The form of the shaft, 

 as shown in transverse section, varies greatly 

 in the hairs of the same race, and even in 

 those of the same individual ; for not only is 

 it sometimes round, sometimes oval, and 

 (though more rarely) eccentrically elliptic or 



* Transactions of the American Medical Associa- 

 tion, vol. iii. p. 62. 



nearly flat ; but it may be even reniform, or 

 channelled on one side, a variety of which 

 Dr. Browne takes no notice, except as oc- 

 curring in the Hottentot. The central canal 

 of the hair, which is occupied by medullary 

 cells, is an extremely variable character ; 

 being often undistinguishable in the hair of 

 the white races. Moreover, the pigmentary 

 matter is sometimes almost exclusively con- 

 fined to the cells of the central canal ; some- 

 times it is equally diffused through the whole 

 fibrous substance forming the shaft of the 

 hair : and sometimes we have even seen it in 

 greatest abundance towards the periphery, 

 the centre being pale. Hence the elliptical 

 section, the absence of " central canal," and 

 the diffusion of pigmentary matter through 

 the hair, are not in the least degree peculiar 

 to the Negro, and cannot be regarded as 

 characteristic of his hair. So, again, the 

 writer takes upon himself to assert that there 

 is not a greater difference in the degree of 

 serration on the surface (which is due to the 

 imbricated arrangement of the scales forming 

 the cortical layer) between the hair of the 

 Negro and that of other races, than exists 

 among the individuals of any one race ; and 

 that the Negro's hair does not approximate 

 more closely to wool in this respect, than the 

 Negro's cranium does to that of the chim- 

 panzee. The only constant peculiarity of the 

 Negro's hair is the tendency to a close curl ; 

 and this seems connected with its form. As 

 a general rule it may be stated that the 

 roundest hairs curl least, and that those which 

 show most flattening are the most disposed to 

 curvature in their growth. But that there is 

 something also in the nutrition of the hair 

 which influences its mode of growth, appears 

 from the following fact stated by Mr. Erasmus 

 Wilson as the result of extensive observa- 

 tions : "I have collected several instances 

 in which the hair, naturally possessing a strong 

 curl, becomes lank and straight if its pos- 

 sessor be out of health ; the straightness of 

 the hair becoming as certain an index of a 

 disordered state of the economy, as a yellow 

 eye-ball or a white tongue."* 



Now if we attempt to apply the texture of 

 the hair to the discrimination of races, we 

 find that although it has a certain value as 

 affording a character of general applicability, 

 yet that this will not bear being carried too 

 minutely into particulars. Thus, among the 

 African nations, there are many whose affinity 

 to the Negro race cannot be questioned, and 

 which yet have merely " crisped " or " friz- 

 zled" hair, instead of a woolly covering ; and 

 there are others which cannot be shown on 

 any other grounds to have a different descent, 

 among whom the hair is long and flowing. 

 On the other hand, we not unfrequently 

 meet with individuals among the Anglo- 

 Saxon race, in whom the hair is not merely 

 curly, but " frizzled," and almost " woolly" in 

 its texture. Among the Oceanic races, again, 

 there is every gradation of the same kind ; 



* On the Management of the Skin, 3d ed. p. 77. 



