^9G DIFFERENCES IN THE ANIMAI- ECONOMY. 



The lice, whicli infest the bodies of Negroes, are darker 

 coloured and larger than those of Europeans*; but I be- 

 lieve that naturalists have not yet ascertained whether tliey 

 are of the same or of different species, in the two cases. 



It is hardly necessary to allude to the erroneous notion 

 of the seminal fluid being black in Negroes ; this, how- 

 ever, is expressly stated by Herodotus, but properly con - 

 tradicted by Aristotle. 



The blood and the bile have the same colour and obvious 

 external characters in the dark as in the white races. I am 

 not aware that any comparative chemical examinations of 

 these or the other animal fluids have been made. 



Dr. WiNTERBOTTOMf observed no difference between 

 African and European women in respect to the menstrual 

 discharge. The earlier maturity of the former seems to be 

 simply the effect of climate : it is equally observable in the 

 white iiaces which occupy warm countries. 



The very easy labours of Negresses, native Americans, 

 and other women in the savage state, have been often no- 

 ticed by travellers. This point is not explicable by any 

 prerogative of physical formation ; for the pelvis is rather 

 smaller in these dark-coloured races than in the European 

 and other white people. Simple diet, constant and labo- 

 rious exertion, give to these children of nature a hardiness 

 of constitution, and exempt them from most of the ills 

 which afflict the indolent and luxurious females of civilized 

 societies. In the latter, however, the hard-working women 

 of the lower classes in the country often suffer as little 

 from child-birth as those of any other race. Analogous dif- 

 ferences, from the like causes, may be seen in the animal 

 kingdom. Cows kept in towns, and other animals deprived 

 of their healthful exercise, and accustomed to unnatural 

 food and habits, often have difficult labours, and suffer 

 much in parturition. 



♦ Losg's Illstoiy of Jamaica. White on th? Regular Giadafian^ p. "iD^ 

 note. SoE\iMEKRiN(> iiber die korperliche Vcrschiedenhiil. p. S, note. 

 + Acxouni of ihe Native Africans^ v. ii. p. 259. 



