SPECIES AND VARIETY. 233 



lead us plainly to the conclusion, that the various races of 

 human beings are only to be regarded as varieties of a single 

 species. Whether this one species owes its origin to one 

 pair, a male and a female, is a question which zoology does 

 not possess the means of solving ; a question which is of no 

 more importance respecting our own species, tlian it would 

 be in the case of the elephant, lion, or any other animal. 



CHAPTEH II 



On the Colour of the Human Species. — Structure of the Parts in 

 ivhich the Colour resides — Enumeration of the various Tints. — 

 Colour and Denominations <f the mixed Breeds. — Various Co- 

 lours of Animals. — Production of Varieties. — Spotted Indivi- 

 duals. — Other properties of the Skin. 



Although a general survey of organized bodies, in both 

 the animal and vegetable kingdom, by no means leads us to 

 regard colour as one of their most important distinctions, 

 but, on the contrary, will soon convince us that it may un- 

 dergo very signal changes without essential alterations of 

 their nature ; and although this remark holds equally good 

 of the human subject, yet the different tints and shades of 

 the skin, oifering themselves so immediately to observation, 

 and forcing themselves, in a manner, on the attention of 

 the most incurious, have always been regarded by the gene- 

 rality of mankind as the most characteristic attribute of the 

 various races. These several hues form, indeed, very con- 

 stant hereditary characters, clearly influenced by the colour 

 of both parents in the mixed offspring of different varieties, 

 and bearing a very close and nearly uniform relation to that 

 of the hair and iris, as well as to the whole temperament of 

 the individual. 



The skin, in which the colour of animals resides, is a 



