•MB CAUSES OF THE VARIETIES 



conjecture on this subject was set at rest by repeated Illus- 

 trations of their effects. Several individuals, who were 

 naked only from their waist upwards, stripped themselves 

 entirely for the purpose of going into the water, to obtain a 

 nearer view of the embassy. When thus exposed, they ap- 

 peared at a distance to have on a pair of light-coloured 

 pantaloons *.^' 



On a superficial view, again, we observe that temperate 

 Europe is occupied by a white race, and that the blacks, of 

 whom we see and hear most, dwell chiefly under the burn- 

 ing suns and on the parched sands of Africa and Asia; the 

 numerous whites viho live in hot, and the greater number of 

 dark-coloured people who are found in cold countries, are 

 not taken into the account in these imperfect and partial 

 comparisons. 



I proceed to shew that climate does not cause the diversi- 

 ties of mankind ; and in this consideration, my remarks are 

 chiefly directed to the colour of the skin, as that is the part in 

 which its operation has been regarded, by all the defenders 

 of its influence, as the most unequivocal; the reasoning, 

 however, will apply in general to the other points of diffe- 

 rence, as well as to this. 



The uniform colour of all parts of the body is a strong 

 argument against those w^ho ascribe the blackness of the 

 Negro to the same cause as that which produces tanning in 

 white people, namely, the sun's rays. The glans penis, the 

 cavity of the axilla, the inside of the thigh, are just as black 

 as any other parts ; indeed, the organs of generation, which 

 are always covered, are among the blackest parts of the body. 

 Neither is the peculiar colour of the Negro confined to the 

 skin; a small circle of the conjunctiva, round the cornea, 

 is blackish, and the rest of the membrane has a yellowish- 

 brown tinge. The fat has a deep yellow colour, like bees- 

 wax, at least in many of them, which may be distinguished 

 by a very superficial inspection, from that of an European. 

 The representation that the brain of the Negro is darker 

 coloured than that of the white races, is not correct. 



* Nctrrofive of a Journet/, S)C. p. 7S. 



