HRDUCKA] PHYSIOLOGK^AL AND MEDICAL OBSERVATIONS 153 



Further Observations 

 the skin and its appendages 



The color of the skin of the adult Indian in the Southwest and 

 northern Mexico is brown of various grades, enlivened, particularly 

 on the cheelvs in the younger individuals, by a transmitted shade of 

 the circulating blood. It corresponds most closely, though not 

 exactly, to colors 21, 28, and 42 of Broca's scale, with some indi- 

 viduals of lighter and some of deeper brown. The females on the 

 whole are lighter. The individuals who habitually go dressed and 

 clean are lighter than those who wear little clothing or those who are 

 neglected. Those who live in the hottest districts have appreciably 

 darker skin than those in colder regions.*^ Old people are usually 

 dark skinned, owing partly to age, partly to exposure and lack of 

 cleanliness. The boarding school children are in general perceptibly 

 lighter than those out of school. Individuals who travel or work in 

 the hot sun acquire a deeper shade of color on the exposed parts. 

 Finally, there are in fidl-blood adults individual inborn differences in 

 the color of the skin, ranging from more yellowish than brown to 

 almost chocolate, the causes of which are not evident. Darker areas 

 of pigmentation correspond in location to the same in other races 

 (areola, armpits, etc.) ; their shade is usually blackish brown or black- 

 ish with a bluish tinge. The mucous membranes are red with a dark 

 bluish tinge. The hair on all parts of the bod}'^ is black, but is subject 

 to more or less discoloration on prolonged exposure to the sun. The 

 only irregidarities of pigmentation met with in fidl-blood Indians were 

 discolorations of scars, a very few instances of localized defect in color 

 of the skin (vitiligo) or hair, and albinism (see pp. 192etseq.). Freckles 

 were seen in mixed-breeds only. 



As to other qualities: The skin of the adult Indian is generally 

 healthy and, before the signs of senility have advanced, supple. The 

 corrugations on the dorsum of the hands are decidedly more pro- 

 nounced in all Indians than they are in whites, and the difference is 

 observable already in early childhood. But there are no corrugations 

 in the Indian on the neck comparable to those frequently seen in white 

 outdoor workmen. In the aged a great wrinkling of the skin of the 

 face takes place (see Senility, pp. 157 et seq.). The emanations and 

 secretions of the Indian skin do not have in any part of the body, or on 

 the whole, any racial odor distinct from that in whites. Sweat is not 

 profuse, except in the more corpulent and in those more used to com- 

 fortable life. Under apprehension, such as was occasionally seen in 

 those who were measured, sweat breaks out generally in adults and 



a The skin in most of the Mescaleros, for instance, who live in a comparatively cold region, is lighter 

 in color than in other Apache, even where there is no suspicion of blood admixture. Some of those 

 of the younger generation who wear clothing and wash themselves regularly retain hardly more of the 

 yellowish brown than can be found in some whites alon'fe the Mediterranean. 



