V O M 



50 



C O M 



(Join- 

 piexion. 



Difference 

 between 

 ii 

 acquired 



complex- 

 ion. 



dark by the influence of the sun. The children of the 

 former (ii* the parents are both dark-complexioned) as- 

 sume the colour of their parents very soon after they 

 are born (let them be ever so carefully protected from 

 the sun) : whereas, the children of parents merely tan- 

 ned continue fair, if not exposed to the sun. The skin 

 of persons in this country, naturally dark-complexion- 

 ed, is nearly of the same colour all over their bodies ; 

 but the skin of tanned persons preserves its natural 

 fairness in those parts which have not been exposed to 

 the sun. The coldness of winter, or removal into a 

 cold climate, has no visible or permanent effect on the 

 complexion of people of this country, who are naturally 

 dark; whereas, a dark complexion, merely acquired 

 by exposure to the sun, even in the East or West In- 

 dies, is removed entirely, or in a great degree, by a 

 cold climate. Indeed, the notorious fact, that in this 

 and other northern countries of Europe, there are fa- 

 milies of a naturally dark complexion, and families na- 

 turally fair skinned, but extremely liable to be tanned, 

 proves that climate cannot be the sole cause of dark 

 complexion ■ while the facts which we have stated, re- 

 specting the colour of the children of the Caucasian 

 and other varieties, and respecting the different com- 

 plexion of the Caucasian variety, according as the bo- 

 dy is exposed to the sun, or kept covered, and the 

 uniform colour of the Negro and Indian, illustrated as 

 they are by what occurs among ourselves, clearly points 

 out in what respects native complexion differs from ac- 

 quired. 



There are several other circumstances which point 

 out the difference between native and acquired com- 

 plexion, and which prove that the colour of the dark- 

 complexioned varieties is not the effect of climate ; — 

 but on these we can merely touch. 



The hue which Europeans assume is the same, 

 though the tinge may be lighter, or darker, whether 

 they settle in Africa, the East Indies, or South Ameri- 

 ca. They do not become, like the natives of those 

 countries, black, olive coloured, or copper coloured ; 

 their complexion merely resembles that of a tanned 

 person in this country, only of a darker tinge. The 

 Negroes that are settled in the West Indies, or Ameri- 

 ca, do not assume the copper colour of the Indians, 

 even though a milder climate may have some effect 

 on the darkness of their complexions. 



The children of Europeans, of Negroes, and of In- 

 dians, are all born in America of the same reddish hue ; 

 but in a few days, those of the Negro begin to assume 

 the black complexion of their parents, those of the In- 

 dian the copper complexion, while those of the Euro- 

 pean either continue fair, if kept from the influence of 

 the sun, or become tanned ; not black like the Negro, 

 or copper coloured like the Indian, if exposed to its 

 influence. 



Europeans who settle in Canada, or in the northern 

 parts of America, where the climate resembles that of 

 their native country, do not assume the complexion 

 of the Indians, but continue fair like their ancestors. 

 The same observation may be made respecting the 

 Russians who are settled among the Mongolian variety, 

 in those parts of the Russian empire in Asia, the cli- 

 mate of which resembles the middle or northern parts 

 of European Russia. Indeed, the wide extent of coun- 

 try over which the Mongolian variety is spread, inclu- 

 ding the extreme cold of Lapland and the north of 

 Asia, the mild temperature of the middle parts of that 

 Continent, and the warmth of the southern parts of 



China, is in itself a proof, that dark complexion does 6 »m- 

 not arise either from the influence of heat or cold. piexion 



Lastly, Radical varieties of complexion are always _ 9 

 accompanied with radical varieties of features. We do ' .J? 

 not find the olive colour of the Mongolian variety with ^^- .., / 

 the features of the Malay; nor the brown colour of 

 the Malay with the features of the Mongolian ; nor 

 the black skin of the Ethiopian variety, or the red co- 

 Jour of the American, united with any set of features 

 but those which characterise their respective varieties. 



It, however, by no means follows, that the hypothe- 

 sis of different races having been originally formed, 

 must be adopted, because climate has been proved not 

 adequate to the production of the radical varieties of 

 complexion which are found among mankind. The 

 conclusions which Dr Pritchard (Dissert. Inaug. de 

 Horn. Variet. p. 1 1 9-) draws, are much more philoso- 

 phical and consonant to all the facts which have been 

 brought forward in this article. 



1. That the natural constitution of man, as well as 

 of animals, is modified by climate, manners, and other 

 physical and moral causes. 



2. That the effects thus produced are confined to 

 one generation, and not transmitted to the offspring. 



3. That man, as well as animals, has a propensity to 

 form natural varieties ; and that the diversities of man- 

 kind are proofs and examples of this propensity. 



Laslly, That as this propensity Avill account for all 

 the varieties of complexion and features found in the 

 human race, it is unnecessary and unphilosophical to 

 have recourse to the hypothesis of different species ori- 

 ginally created, to account for the phenomenon, (w. s.) 



COMPOSITE Ratios, in Music, are such as are 

 multiples, or their terms are similar powers of some 

 other ratio, as has been explained under our article 

 Commensurable Intervals. Other ratios, forming by 

 far the greater part of the whole number of musical ra- 

 tios, are called prime ratios, and their corresponding 

 intervals prime or incommensurable intervals : respect- 

 ing which last it is proper to observe, that the numbers 

 composing such prime ratios or prime intervals, are not 

 prime numbers, except in a very few cases, but are most 

 generally composite numbers, involving the primes 2, 

 3, and 5, in almost every form of combination. (() 



COMPOSITION. See Criticism, Music, Paint- 

 ing, and Rhetoric. 



COMPOST. See Agriculture. 



COMPOSTELLA, or St Jago de Compostella, 

 the Bri^antium of the ancients, a city of Spain, and the 

 capital of Gallicia, is situated on a hill upon the banks of 

 the little river Soria. The streets are handsome but ill 

 paved, and the largest of the four squares is tolerably 

 elegant. The cathedral is a fine Gothic building, and 

 has its interior fitted up with peculiar magnificence. 

 It contains 23 chapels, of wliich that of St James is 

 lighted only from the cupola, which is very lofty. It 

 is adorned witli the statue of St James made of massive 

 gold, and two feet high. The front of the altar, be- 

 longing to the chapel of the relics, and the frame- work 

 above it and the tabernacle, are all of massive silver; 

 but the shrines for the relics are made of silver, gilt 

 and adorned with a profusion of diamonds, precious 

 stones, and pearls, and resting by silver supporters 

 upon small slabs. On the right and left of the altar 

 are two columns which support a canopy, the whole of 

 which is covered with plates of silver. A thousand wax 

 candles are lighted here every night ; the effect of which 

 is inexpressibly magnificent. The treasury of this ca> 



