224 THE DESCENT OF MAN 



appear very distinct, so that we are clearly muoli influenced 

 in our judgment by the mere color of the skin and hair, by 

 slight differences in the features, and by expression. 



There is, however, no doubt that the various races, when 

 carefully compared and measured, differ much from each 

 other — ^as in the texture of the hair, the relative proportions/ 

 of all parts of the body," the capacity of the lungs, the form 

 and capacity of the skull, and even in the convolutions of! 

 the brain.' But it would be an endless task to specify the 

 numerous points of difference. The races differ also in 

 constitution, in acclimatization, and in liability to certain 

 diseases. Their mental characteristics are likewise very 

 distinct; chiefly as it would appear in their emotional, but 

 partly in their intellectual faculties. Every one who has 

 had the opportunity of comparison must have been struck N 

 with the contrast between the taciturn, even morose, abo- 

 rigines of South America and the light-hearted, talkative 

 negroes. There is a nearly similar contrast between the'' 

 Malays and the Papuans,* who live under the same physi- 

 cal conditions, and are separated from each other only by 

 a narrow space of sea. 



We will first consider the arguments which may be 

 advanced in favor of classing the races of man as distinct 

 species, and then the arguments on the other side. If a 

 naturalist, who had never before seen a Negro, Hottentot, 

 Australian, or Mongolian, were to compare them, he would 

 at once perceive that they differed in a multitude of charac- 

 ters, some of slight and some of considerable importance./ 

 On inquiry he would find that they were adapted to live 

 under widely different climates, and that they differed some- 



' A vast number of measurementa of Whites, Blacks, and Indians are givea 

 ia the "Investigations in' the Military and Anthropolog. Statistics of Americaa 

 Soldiers," by B. A. Gould, 1889, pp. 298-358; "On the capacity of the lungs," 

 p. 471. See also, the numerous and valuable tables, by Dr. Weisbach, from tho 

 observations of j)t. Scherzer and Dr. Schwarz in the "Reise der Novara; 

 Anthropolog. Theil," 1867. 



' See, for instance, Mr. Marshall's account of the brain of a Bushwomao, 

 in "Phil. Transact.," 1864, p. 519. 



* Wallace, "The Malay Archipelago," voL ii., 1869, p. 178. 



