MAN. 



feet ; and none seem to exceed six feet 

 and seven inches : a stature not so very 

 remarkable, since other native tribes of 

 the same continent have been remarked 

 ibr their height. As they are a wander- 

 ing race, we cannot be surprised at find- 

 ing that Europeans visiting the coast 

 have not always been able to see them. 

 The accounts of travellers prove, that 

 the height of the Patagonians is not a 

 peculiar circumstance. Bartram repre- 

 sents the Muscogulges and Cherokees 

 of North America, inhabiting between 

 31 and 35 of North latitude, as 

 taller than Europeans ; many being above 

 sixfeet, and few under five feet eight or ten 

 inches. (Travels, p. 482). The Caffrees, 

 according to Barrow, are " tall, robust, 

 and muscular, and distinguished by a pe- 

 culiar firmness of carriage ; some of them 

 were six feet ten inches, and so elegantly 

 proportioned, that they would not have 

 disgraced the pedestal of the Farnese 

 Hercules. The accounts of a pigmy race, 

 called Quimos or Kimos, in the interior of 

 Madagascar, do not seem to be at all au- 

 thentic. The Laplanders and Nova Zem- 

 blians, in Europe, the Samoieds, Ostiacs, 

 Yakuts, and Tungooses in Asia, and the 

 Greenlanders and Esquimaux of America, 

 all, in short, who inhabit high northern 

 latitudes, are short in stature, measuring 

 from four to five feet ; and they agree re- 

 markably in other characters, although 

 occupying such distant countries. This 

 accordance must be explained by expo- 

 sure to the same causes ; living in a bar- 

 ren and inhospitable climate, and exposed 

 equally to its rigour, feeling the same 

 wants, and having the same means of gra- 

 tifying them, should we not expect a simi- 

 larity of stature, colour, countenance, 

 Sec. ? It seems rather doubtful, whether 

 the miserable Pescherais, who wander 

 naked over the rocks of Terra del Fuego, 

 are also diminutive ; but Barrow informs 

 us, that the Boshmen, who adjoin the 

 Cape, scarcely ever exceed four leet nine 

 inches. 



Every one will immediately perceive, 

 that the differences of stature in the hu- 

 man race are not equal to those occurring 

 in different breeds of animals. The pigs 

 taken from Europe into the island of Cu- 

 ba have grown to twice their original 

 size; and the cattle in Paraguay have 

 experienced a great increase in this re- 

 spect. 



That climate possesses an influence, 

 seems to be proved from the circumstance 

 ot the Laplanders and Hungarians, which 



differ so widely in stature and formation., 

 having descended from a common source. 



Physiological considerations render it 

 probable, that food will be efficacious in 

 increasing or diminishing stature. The 

 Arees or nobles of Otaheite and the Socie- 

 ty Islands exceed the other natives in 

 stature and personal beauty ; and this is 

 ascribed by Forster to their enjoying a 

 more copious and luxurious food. The 

 use of ardent spirits is said to have dimi- 

 nished the size of the native Americans in 

 some instances. 



That the state of society and nfanner 

 of life have great influence on the stauire, 

 may be proved, by comparing the pre- 

 sent Germans with their ancestors, as de- 

 scribed by the Roman authors. The an- 

 cient Germans lived chiefly on animal 

 food, as milk and flesh : they were stran- 

 gers to the use of wine and spirituous li- 

 quors ; in time of peace, they were em- 

 ployed in the chase, free from those cares 

 which so often agitate and oppress more 

 civilized people. They refrained from 

 the enjoyment of women till a late pe- 

 riod ; " Sera juvenuin Venus eoque in 

 exhausta pubertas." Hence they appear 

 to have been of immense size and 

 strength, and undaunted courage ; " im- 

 manes animis et corporibus," is the for- 

 cible language of Pomponius Mela. Con- 

 ring, after comparing all the accounts of 

 the writers of those times, states their 

 stature at six feet three inches; which 

 equals that of the Patagonians, and cer- 

 tainly exceeds that of the modern Ger- 

 mans. 



As the ancient Germans seem to have 

 exceeded the stature of the moderns, so, 

 if we may credit their philosophic de- 

 scriber, the cattle were distinguished in 

 the contrary way, which is not, we be- 

 lieve, the case at present. " Pecorum 

 fecunda, sed plerumque improcera. Ne 

 armentis quidem suus honor, aut gloria 

 frontis." TACITUS. 



The observations of Barrow concerning 

 the CafFres, whose superior 'stature we 

 have just noticed, confirm our reasonings 

 as to the effect of climate and manner of 

 life. " The natives of Caffraria," says 

 he, " if taken collectively, are perhaps 

 superior in point of figure to the inhabit- 

 ants of any other country on earth : they 

 are indeed exempt from many of those 

 causes, which in civilized society tend to 

 debilitate and impede the growth of the 

 human body. Their diet is perfectly sim- 

 ple, their exercise conducive to health, 

 and the air which they breathe is salubri- 



