20 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 



is less blonde than Germany Denmark and Sweden in the same lati- 

 tudes, and in Great Britain and Ireland, though the humidity 

 increases, the fairness of the population diminishes as we go west. 

 Two explanations of this difficulty besides that of race, which last 

 from the point of view of this paper is no explanation at all, have 

 suggested themselves to me. One is that, as wind is a tanning agent, 

 it may possibly be the case that Ireland is more windy than England, 

 and England than Denmark and North Germany. But I have no 

 facts to either bear out or overthrow this hypothesis. The second is 

 that the fairest type of blonde is produced by the humidity caused by 

 evaporation from fresh or nearly fresh water. A glance at the map 

 shows that the greater part of the blonde area is low and swampy, 

 and that the eastern and fairest part of it derives much of its vapour 

 from the half-fresh Baltic Sea. This hypothesis is supported to 

 some extent by the case of Mingrelia, the westernmost part of 

 Transcaucasia, and the source whence the unspeakable Turk obtained 

 the blonde beauties with which he used to stock his harem, the mois- 

 ture of this country being derived from the half-fresh waters of the 

 Black Sea. 



III. By a dry temperate climate I mean one occurring in a 

 temperate zone in which the atmosphere is usually dry. Countries 

 in which this climate prevails are distinguished from others in the 

 same latitude by the greater range of the thermometer. Their 

 summers are hot and their winters cold. As a protection against 

 the greater heat and brightness of the sun, a less transparent cuticle 

 than that which serves the purpose in humid temperate regions is 

 necessary. To prevent the too rapid withdrawal of the fluid contents 

 of the capillaries by the dry air a thick epidermis is required. The 

 combination of a thick cuticle with a quantity of pigment such as 

 will satisfactorily modify the intensity of the sun's rays will produce 

 various shades of yellow and brown. 



A good example of a dry temperate climate is furnished by the 

 prairie regions of North America. The aborigines of this district 

 were brown with the exception of the Mandans, among whom a 

 curious kind of albinism seems to have been astonishingly prevalent. 



IV. — By a moist tropical climate, I mean one occurring in or 

 near the torrid zone, in which there is no dry season. In such a 

 climate vegetation will be luxuriant all the year round, and man 

 will live in the shade of dense forests, in a steaming and enervating 



