lis 



ORDER BIMANA.— GENUS HOMO. 



though often modified and even wholly counteracted by other causes. 

 Excessive cold tends to arrest the development of the human frame ; 

 ■while, on the contrary, a moderate degree of cold is favorable to it. 

 We find that the nations of the coldest climates in Europe, Asia, and 

 America, such as the Laplanders, Samoiedes, and Esquimaux, are of 

 small stature, and likewise the people of Terra del Fuego in the Southern 

 Hemisphere. 



Again, we see that the inhabitants of all countries, which, in reference to 

 the temperate parts of Europe, we should term rather cold, are of very 

 considerable dimensions. The Swedes, Finlanders, Saxons, the inhabit- 

 ants of the Ukraine, and many other nations of Europe, Asia, and North 

 America, are instances in the Northern Hemisphere, and we have the 

 Patagonians in the Southern. Again, in our own island, while the people 

 of the south and centre of England are of ordinary stature, the inhabitants 

 of the Border counties and of several districts in the Lowlands of Scot- 

 land are in general of very considerable stature. Further, in the High- 

 lands of Scotland, where the cold is severe, the stature falls rather below 

 the average. The comparative moisture of the several localities may be 

 another cause of these variations, and when united with those of tempera- 

 ture, serve to account for some of the most remarkable differences. 



The elevation of a country is another cause of these variations. In 

 tropical climates, the inhabitants of the several regions of elevated moun- 

 tains present an epitome of those differences of stature which we trace 

 throughout the -several climates of the globe. Nations dwelling upon 

 slightlv elevated plateaux are in general tall and robust ; while men only 

 of small stature are found in the neighbourhood of mountain fastnesses, 

 which are as desert as the Polar regions, and covered, like them, with 

 eternal snows. In the mountains of temperate,' and especially of cold 

 climates, the height of the people dwelling on plateaux, even but slightly 

 elevated, diminishes considerably, in consequence of the more marked dif- 

 ferences of temperature. These relations are not, however, invariable ; 

 the mountaineers of Puy-de-Dome, and especially the Swiss, are, in some 

 rich cantons, according to M. Villerme, not only of middle stature, but 

 rather above the average standard. 



From the various circumstances already noticed, it follows that under 

 every isothermal line, except in the immediate neighbourhood of the poles, 

 nations are to be found of very great stature, others very small, and others 

 again of medium size. Even in the same regions, or in countries apparently 

 identical in physical character, we find races of very different degrees of 

 stature. Thus, the Hottentots, in the immediate neighbourhood of the 

 Caffres, but unquestionably belonging to another race, are much smaller ; 

 and, what is still more remarkable, we may find in several islands, such as 

 the Friendly, the Society, and Sandwich Islands, two classes of men very 

 unequal in height. " In the Sandwich Islands," observes M. Gaimard, 

 " the population is divided into two very distinct classes, being the chiefs 

 and the populace. The first enjoy a more abundant diet, consume more 

 animal food, are never compelled to labour excessivelj', and intermarry to- 

 gether; they are consequently tall, strong, and well made. The others 

 possess no land, and cannot always obtain good food; they are generally 

 of inferior height and strength." 



The causes which M. Gaimard assigns for these variations are fully 

 confirmed by the recent observations of M. 'Villerme upon the average 

 height of the population in France. He found, as Haller and other phy- 

 siologists had previously conjectured, that the human stature is always 

 greater, other circumstances remaining the same, when the country is rich 

 and fertile; that, where there are good clothing, lodging, and especially 

 wholesome food, it improves, and diminishes where difficulties, fatigue, and 

 privations are experienced during infancy and in early youth. From these 

 facts M. Villerme concludes, that the hardships experienced by most 

 mountaineers form one of the causes which have hitherto retarded their 

 growth, and this observation may further be extended to the inhabitants 

 of the arctic regions, where they receive the two-fold influence of cold 

 and want. 



The differences found in the heights of the several nations of Africa 

 cannot be explained by any of the above causes. They serve to show that 

 there must have been some original difference of stature in the primitive 

 types of the several races ; as well as to demonstrate the tendency of the 

 human species, in common with the domestic animals, to transmit the 

 connate varieties of races to their posterity. 



It is, at the least, very improbable, that the average stature of the hu- 

 man species could have sensibly diminished through the lapse of ages. 

 Antiquity behoved in the existence of whole nations of Giants ; but it also 

 credited the existence of Pygmies, Troglodytes, or Myrmidons. Many 

 travellers, and especially Peron, showj that savages, far from being stronger 

 than individuals of the more civilized races, are usually feebler. Man, 

 on becoming civilized, has, therefore, lost nothing of his original strength. 



A man is longer in arriving at his full growth than a woman, the latter 

 being usually as completely formed at twenty years as a man at thirty. 

 Every part of the form in either sex, to use the words of Buffon, announ- 

 ces the superiority of the human species over all living creatures. Man 



maintains his body erect and elevated ; his attitude is that of command ; 

 his countenance is directed towards the heavens ; and presents an august 

 face on which is impressed the character of dignity ; the image of his 

 soul is painted in his physiognomy, and the excellence of his nature pene- 

 trates through the material organs which surround it, animating the 

 features of his face with a divine expression. His majestic carriage, his 

 firm and resolute step, announce the nobleness of his rank. He touches 

 the earth solely by his most remote extremities, and seems to regard it at 

 a disdainful distance. His arms are not given to him merely as pillars to 

 support the mass of his body ; his hand is not permitted to tread on the 

 ground, or to lose, by a continuous friction, that fineness of touch, of 

 which it is the chief organ. His arm and hand are reserved for nobler 

 purposes, — to execute the suggestions of his will, and be subservient to 

 the various circumstances of life. 



All the features of the face remain in a state of calm repose while the 

 mind is tranquil ; — their proportion, connexion, and harmonv, serve to 

 indicate the tranquillity which reigns within. 'When the mind is agitated, 

 the human face becomes a living tablet, upon which the passions are 

 transcribed with delicacy and energy; where every expression of the mind 

 is represented by a corresponding trait, every mental process hy a cha- 

 racteristic, the vivid impression of which often serves to betray the in- 

 tended action, and represent externally the image of our secret thoughts. 



The body of a well-made man, according to Buffon, ought to be rather 

 square, the muscles well-expressed, the form of the hmbs well-defined 

 and the features strongly marked. When contrasted with the female, we 

 find him of a taller stature, larger and firmer muscles, a browner skin, a 

 larger brain, the bones more robust, the voice deeper, the chest broader, 

 the hairs more numerous and of a deeper tint. 



In woman, every thing is more rounded, the lines are softer, and the 

 features more delicate. " To man," says Buffon, " belong strength and 

 majesty, while grace and beauty form the embellishments of the other 

 sex." The hair of her head is longer, finer, and more flexible ; her skin 

 fighter and more dehcate, her limbs more graceful, the pelvis broader, the 

 thighs thicker, and the limbs smaller. In the man, the upper parts of the 

 body, such as the chest, the shoulders, and the head, indicate strength 

 and power ; the capacity of his cranium is considerable, and contains 

 three or four ounces of brain more than the skull of the female, according 

 to the experiments of M. Virey ; but his haunches, his pelvis generally, 

 and thighs, are narrower and thinner than hers. The upper part of a 

 man is, therefore, broader than the lower, so that he somewhat resembles 

 a reversed pyramid. In the woman, on the contrary, the head, shoulders, 

 and chest, are small and narrow, while the pelvis and adjacent parts are 

 broad and large, for which reason her body appears to converge upwards 

 towards a point, like an erect pyramid. This difference in their form 

 corresponds to the appropriate functions of either sex. The man being 

 destined by nature for labour, is formed rather for the emplo}ment of his 

 physical energies, in making provision for the maintenance of that family 

 of which he is the chief; while the other sex, to whom the business of 

 reproduction more especially belongs, requires a more capacious pelvis to 

 fulfil the conditions of parturition. The trunk of tiie (emale is longer in 

 proportion than that of the man ; her lumbar region is more extended, 

 her neck thinner and longer ; while her legs, thighs, and arms, are shorter. 

 From these circumstances result her more slender form, as well as the 

 elegance, lightness, and ease, of all her motions. 



There are many circumstances in the constitution of woman analogous 

 to the characteristics of infancy in both sexes, and serving to indicate that 

 her organization is not so highly matured as that of Man. Her bones are 

 smaller and thinner; her cellular tissue more spongy and humid, impart- 

 ing a roundness and plumpness to her form, and increasing the flexibility 

 of her whole frame. Her pulse is weaker and more rapid ; her skin is 

 smooth, and almost deprived of scattered hairs, as well as of a beard, ex- 

 cepting after the age of parturition has passed, when the hair begins to 

 grow plentifully upon the chin. It often happens that women have a 

 smaller number of molar teeth than men, so that it may be said, with 

 truth, that the wisdom teeth of many women never appear at all. They 

 in general eat less than the other sex, preferring soft and saccharine food ; 

 while the man, being more energetic and vigorous, is instinctively led to 

 prefer the more substantial and stimulating quahties of animal substances. 



The beauty of the fair sex varies greatly all over the globe. In the 

 north of Europe, the women are found more frequently than the men with 

 light hair and eyes, and their dazzling whiteness often degenerates into 

 insipidity. All the southern women are brown, and more or less striking; 

 but the most beautiful of the sex, according to our notions of beauty, are 

 foimd in the temperate parts of Europe and Asia. The centre of Span- 

 ish beauty seems to lie towards Cadiz or Andalusia, while the most agree- 

 able Portuguese abound in the neighbourhood of Guimanaens. Women of 

 great beauty are also seen in many parts of Italy and the adjacent islands ; 

 in particular, the Sicilian and Neapolitan ladies, descended from ancient 

 Greek colonies, are accounted exceedingly beautiful. The Albanian wo- 

 men are well made ; the females of the island of Chio appear charming. 



