1*76 SEAT OP COLOUR. 



cloud to it. The most important fact however, in regard 

 to the rete mucosum is, that it is the seat of colour of 

 those diversified tints which characterise the various 

 races of men. 



Emily. But is its colour permanent never changed 

 by exposure to the heat of the sun ? 



Dr. B. Never but generation after generation, in 

 this climate or in that, it is the same ; as unalterable as 

 any other feature of the human structure. 



Emily. Well, I always supposed indeed I have 

 often read it books of high authority that the colour of 

 the body depended solely on the action of the sun's rays, 

 it shades being deepened according to the intensity of 

 the heat and light. Negroes, you know, live in the tor- 

 rid zone, brunettes in temperate, or moderately warm 

 latitudes, and light florid complexions, as those of north- 

 ern Europeans, in colder climates. 



Dr. B. If you are disposed to resort to facts, and 

 are willing to examine them impartially, you will find 

 that you have gone to the wrong source to find proofs of 

 your opinion, for they afford the most satisfactory de- 

 monstration of its incorrectness. Some blacks do indeed 

 live in the torrid zone, but the whole continent of New- 

 Holland, the southern extremity of which extends to the 

 40 of south latitude, abounds with inhabitants whose 

 complexions are as black as the Negroes'. In the polar 

 regions, men instead of being uncommonly white, as 

 they should according to your theory, are very tawny. 

 Throughout the whole American continent, excepting 

 the arctic regions, the copper tint prevails with very lit- 

 tle variation. 



Emily. But it is a fact that Europeans and others 

 who have been educated in a temperate climate, will ac- 

 quire a deep shade of brown after a few years' residence 

 in hot countries, and will regain their original tint gen- 

 erally, when they return home. Now it seems very 

 reasonable to believe that the colour of the black races 



