TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 277 



the broad crown, the prominent sinus frontales, the 

 low forehead, the pointed and projecting cheek- 

 bones, the obhque position of the small narrow 

 eyes, the blunt, proportionably small, broad, flat 

 nose, the thinness of" the hair on the chin and the 

 other parts of the body, the long smooth black hair 

 of the head, the yellowish or bright reddish tint of 

 the skin, are all characteristics common to the 

 physiognomy of both races. The mistrustful, cun- 

 ning, and, as it is said, often thievish character, 

 and the expression of a mean way of thinking, and 

 mechanical disposition, appear, in both, in the same 

 manner. In comparing the Mongol physiognomy 

 with the American, the observer has opportunity 

 enough to find traces of the series of develop- 

 ments through which the Eastern Asiatic had to 

 pass, under the influence of the climate, in order, 

 at length, to be transformed into an American. 

 In these anthropological investigations, we arrive at 

 the remarkable result, that certain characteristics, 

 which constitute the principal difference of the 

 races, do not easily pass into others, whereas those 

 which depend only upon more or less, gradually 

 vanish or degenerate, through a series of different 

 gradations. In this respect the difference of the 

 negroes is peculiarly striking, who, in various par- 

 ticulars, especially the complexion, the hair, the 

 conformation of the skull, the proportions of the 

 countenance, and of the whole body, differ more 

 from all other races than from each other. The 



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