AND COLOUR OF THE IRIS. 269 



countries. There is a mixture of hair witli the wool in the 

 argali, the supposed wild original of our flocks. The sheep 

 of some of the Tatar tribes have a similar mixture ; and the 

 same thing will occur in this country where the breed is 

 neglected. In these cases, if the animals with the best 

 fleeces are selected to breed from, and this rale be observed 

 constantly, the wool would be gradually improved, and the 

 hairs disappear; or, vice versa, the sheep would become 

 entirely hairy. 



Goats, rabbits, and cats, in Angora, a small district of 

 Asia Minor, are remarkable for the length and softness, as 

 well as snowy whiteness of their coverings. 



If these goats, and those furnishing the material from 

 which the precious shawls of Cashmere are fabricated, are 

 of the same species with our domestic animal, and with the 

 wild goats considered as its original stock, the variation far 

 exceeds what we observe in the hair of the various human 

 races ; and this, together with the examples of the dog and 

 sheep, will prove to us that a difference in the hair is not a 

 sufficient ground for establishing a distinction of species. 



The various races of mankind exhibit considerable dif- 

 ferences in the beard and the hair on other parts of the 

 body, as well as in that of the head. One of the most 

 general characters of the dark-coloured nations, at least of 

 those which belong to the Mongolian, American, and Afri- 

 can varieties, is either an entire want of beard, or a very 

 thin one developed at a more advanced age than is usual 

 with us : on the contrary, a copious beard has always been 

 the pride of the white races ; and, from its being a distin- 

 guishing attribute of the male, has been commonly regarded 

 as a mark of masculine strength. Dark-coloured nations 

 with strong beards are as uncommon as individuals of the 

 white races with an Inconsiderable growth of this covering. 

 A general smoothness of the whole body is combined with 

 this diminution of the beard ; and these characters are ren- 

 dered more striking by the very common practice among 

 the dark-coloured nations of carefully eradicating or destroy- 

 ing the hair; which affords another example of their great 



