FIRST ORDINARY MEETING. 19 



-cuticle, just as, on the older parts of a tree, I take the roughness of 

 the bark to be a consequence of its thickness. 



But why should the eyes, skin and hair of the Polar tribes 

 be darker than those of the blonde Europeans who live to the south 

 of them ] I suggest that it is on account of their perpetual or almost 

 perpetual snows. It is a well-known fact that the rays of the sun 

 reflected from the Arctic snows tan Europeans and produce snow- 

 blindness in them. From these effects the natives enjoy, I under- 

 stand, comparative immunity, which I think it fair to attribute to 

 the colour of their skins and eyes. The hair, being anatomically a 

 part of the skin, varies with it in colour. 



II. By a moist temperate climate I mean one occurring in 

 a temperate zone in which the air constantly contains a large amount 

 of moisture. Humidity does not to any considerable extent depend 

 on the amount of the annual rainfall. The annual rainfall of 

 London is twenty and one-half inches, that of Toronto twenty-seven 

 inches ; yet the air of the former place is incomparably more humid. 

 Countries in which the air is generally moist are distinguished 

 from others in the same latitude by the limited range of the 

 thermometer. This is due partly to the fact that the vapour of 

 water cannot be so rapidly heated or cooled as air, and partly to 

 the check which the presence of haze, mist, or cloud in the atmo- 

 sphere puts upon radiation. A moist temperate climate is also 

 warmer than others in the same latitude, for it owes its existence in 

 every case to breezes from warm seas. Breezes from cold seas can- 

 not produce a true humid temperate climate, because when they 

 strike the land in summer they will be raised in temperature and 

 rendered dry. 



In humid temperate climates, since the rays of the sun, falling 

 obliquely through a moisture-laden atmosphere, lose much of their 

 light and heat, much pigment is not needed. The vapour-clogged air 

 does not facilitate perspiration, therefore a thin epidermis is desirable. 

 The combination of a thin epidermis with little pigment will give a 

 white complexion. 



The best example of a moist temperate climate is furnished by the 

 countries lying around the North and Baltic Seas, which are appar- 

 ently the native land of Huxley's Xanthochroi. The central part of 

 this district, namely Southern Sweden, is probably the place where 

 there are most blondes. But Great Britain, though more humid, 



