OF THE HUMAN RACE. 



199 



Gmelin has pursued the same g-eneral divisions, but has merely distin- 

 guished the respective races ; and accordingly his five definitions are the 

 white, brown, copper-coloured or red, black, and tawny man. 



I. The most symmetrical, and therefore the most elegant variety of the 

 human form, is that which I have called European, in consequence of its 

 being traced in the European division of the globe more largely than in any 

 other; and the most perfect lineaments of this variety are those of the region 

 of Asia Minor, on the borders of Europe, the parent spot from which it has 

 been imported— lineaments which we find distributed among the Georgians, 

 Circassians, Mingrelians, Armenians, Persians, and other nations that skirt 

 the southern foot of the vast chain of the Caucasus. And it is on this 

 account that M. Blumenbach has given the name of the Caucasian variety to 

 the European form in general. It is remarkable that in this spot of the globe 

 man was first created : here he first received the breath of life, and arose in 

 the image of his Maker. The die has not yet lost its divine impress : for 

 here we still meet, and in all ages have met (so far as relates to the exterior 

 graces), with the most exquisite models of symmetry and beauty. 



The general colour of the European or Georgian variety, the white divi- 

 sion^ of Gmelin, isTair; that of the cheeks more or less red; the head globu- 

 lar ;*-the face straight and* oval, with the features moderately distinct ;. the 

 forehead slightly flattened; tlie nose narrow,. and slightly aquiline; the 

 cheek-bones uhprominent ; the mouth small ; the lips a little turned out, 

 especially the under one ; the chin full and rounded ; the eyes and hair vari- 

 able, but the former, for the most part, blue, and the latter yellow, or brown 

 and flowing. 



II. The colour of the Asiatic, or Mongolian, the Brown-man of Gmelin, is 

 yellowish brown or olive, with scarcely ever an appearap.ce of red in the 

 cheeks, which seems to be confined to the European variety; the head, 

 instead of being globular, is nearly square ; the cheek-bones wide ; and the 

 general face flat ; the e3^es are black and small ; the chin rather prominent ; 

 and the hair blackish and scanty. 



III. The American, or Red-man of Gmelin, is of an obscure orange, 

 rusty-iron, or copper colour ; the head is less square, the cheek-bones less 

 expanded, and the face less flattened than in the Asiatic ; the eyes are deeply 

 seated ; and the hair is black, straight, and thick. This variety seems to 

 form a middle point between the European and the Asiatic. 



IV. The colour of the African, the Ethiopian of Blumenbach, and Black- 

 man of Gmelin, varies from a deep tawny to a pitch or perfect jet. The head 

 is narrow ; the face narrow, projecting towards the lower part : the forehead 

 arched; the eyes projecting; the nose thick, almost intermixed with the 

 cheeks; the lips, parti(M.ilarly the upper one, very thick; the jaws prominent; 

 the chin retracted ; the hair black, frizzled, and woolly. The countenance in 

 this variety recedes farther than in any other from the European, and ap- 

 proaches much nearer than in any other that of the monkey. 



V. The Australian, or inhabitant of New South Wales, and the numerous 

 clusters of islands that begirt that prodigious range of unexplored country, 

 together with the South Sea islands in general, constituting the Malay of 

 Blumenbach, and the Tawny -man of Gmelin, is of blackish-brown or maho- 

 gany colour: the head is somewhat narrowed at its upper part; the forehead 

 somewhat expanded ; the upper jaw slightly prominent; and the nose broad, 

 but distinct ; the hair harsh, coarse, long, and curly. This variety seems to 

 form a middle point between the European and the African; as the American 

 does between the European and the Asiatic. So that, in a more compendious 

 view of the human race, we might contract the five varieties into three : — the 

 European, Asiatic, and African ; and regard the other two as mere intervening 

 shades of variety. 



In this general classification of mankind, however, there are two observa- 

 tions that are peculiarly worthy of attention. The first is, that although 

 these distinctive characters will hold in the main, it is not to be expected that 

 they will apply to every individual of the particular division to which they 



