OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 433 



of towns, of close and dark workshops and manufactorlesj 

 owe their origin to the enjoyment or privation of sun and 

 air. Hence, men of the same race are lighter or darker 

 coloured according to the climate which they inhabit, at 

 least in those parts which are uncovered. The native hue^ 

 of the Moors is not darker than that of the Spaniards, of 

 many French, and some English; but their acquired tint is 

 so much deeper, tliat we distinguish them instantly. How 

 swarthy do the Europeans become who seek their fortunes 

 under the tropic and equator, and have their skins parched 

 by the burning suns of " Afric and of either Ind 1" 



Mr. Edwards represents that the Creoles in the English 

 West-Indian islands are taller than Europeans; several 

 being six feet four inches high ; and that their orbits are 

 deeper *. 



It has been generally observed by travellers, that the 

 European population of the United States of North America 

 is tall, and characterized by a pale and sallow countenance. 

 The latter effect is commonly produced in natives of Europe 

 when they become resident in warm cUmates. That both 

 sexes arrive earlier at puberty, and that the mental powers 

 of children are sooner developed in warm than in cold 

 countries, are facts familiarly known. 



The prevalence of light colours in the animals of polar 

 and cold regions may, perhaps, be ascribed to the influence 

 of climate ; the isatis or arctic fox, the polar bear, and the 

 snow-bunting, are striking instances. The same character 

 is also remarkable in some species, which are more dark- 

 coloured in warmer situations. This opinion is strengthened 

 by the analogy of those animals which change their colour 

 in the same country, at the winter season, to white or gray, 

 as the ermine (mustela erminea), and weasel (m. nivalis), 

 the varying hare, squirrel, rein-deer, white game (tetrao la- 

 gopus), and snow-bunting (emberiza nivalis f). Pallas 

 observes " that even in domestic animals, as horses and cows, 



* Histonj nfthe West Indies, y. ii. p. II. 

 + LraN.ET!s. Flora Lapponica ; ed. of Smith, pp. 35, 352. 

 F F 



