OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 451 



Sea, in deserts, and under climates which could not be in- 

 habited by other nations. They have broad large faces and 

 flat noses, the olive or swarthy colour, and all the other cha- 

 racters of the Mongolian variety. 



It is curious to observe how easily the assertors of the 

 power of climate in changing the human body get over an 

 instance so fatal to their opinions : they tell us roundly, that 

 great cold has the same effect as great heat: "when the 

 cold becomes extreme, it produces effects similar to those 

 of violent heat. The Samoiedes, the Laplanders, and na- 

 tives of Greenland, are very tawny ; we are even assured 

 that some of the Greenlanders are as black as the Africans ; 

 thus the two extremities approach each other : great cold 

 and great heat produce the same effect upon the skin, be- 

 cause each of these causes acts by a quality common to 

 both ; and this quality is the dryness of the air, which, per- 

 haps, is equally great in extreme cold and extreme heat. 

 Both cold and heat dry the skin, and give it that tawny hue 

 which we find among the Laplanders. Cold contracts all 

 the productions of nature. The Laplanders, accordingly, 

 who are perpetually exposed to all the rigours of frost, are 

 the smallest of the human species*." 



If this reasoning should not convince us, there are other 

 arguments in reserve. The state of society is said to have 

 great effect on the conformation and colour of the body. 

 The nakedness of the savage, the filthy grease and paint 

 with which he smears his body, his smoky hut, scanty 

 diet, want of cleanliness, and the undrained and uncleared, 

 country which he inhabits, not only, according to Smith, 

 darken his skin, but render it impossible that it ever should 

 be fair t. On the other hand, the conveniences of clothing 

 and lodging ; the plenty and healthful quality of food ; a 

 country drained, cultivated, and freed from noxious effluvia, 

 improved ideas of beauty, the constant study of elegance, 

 and the infinite arts for attaining it, even in personal 

 figure and appearance, give cultivated an immense advantage 



« Essay, &c. p. 48 — 62- 



+ BuFFON, V. 3. p. 443. See also Smith's Essay. 

 GG2 



