AN 
the African black, and the Afiatic olive complex- 
ions, admit of their alterations alfo; but thefe are 
neither fo diftinft, nor fo vifible, as with us 3 and, 
in fome countries, the colour of the vifage is ne- 
ver found to change, but the face continues in the 
fame fettled fhade in fhame, ficknefs, rage, and 
defperation. The colour therefore moO: natural 
to Man ought to be that which is moft becom- 
ing. It is obferved that, in all regions, children 
are born fair, or red at leaft and that they grow 
more black or tawny in .proportion as they advance 
in years: it fhould confequently feem, that Man 
is naturally white ; fince the fame caufes that 
darken infants, may have originally operated, in 
flower degrees, in blackening whole nations. 
We have already accounted for the diverfity of 
colour perceptible in the human racej and fhall 
now make a few obfervations on the ftature of 
different nations. The primary caufe of this 
feems chiefly to refult from the nature of the food, 
and the quantity of the fupply; however, the feve- 
rity of heat or cold may in fome meafure diminilh 
the growth, and produce a dwarfifhnefs of fize. 
But, in general, food is the great agent in pro- 
ducing this effedl: where that is fupplied in large 
quantities, and where it's quality is wholefomc and 
nutrimental, the inhabitants are generally found 
above the ordinary ftature ; on the contrary, where 
it is fupplied in a fparing quantity, or very coarfe 
in quality, and void of nourifhment, the inhabi- 
tants degenerate, and fmk below the common fize 
of mankind. In this refpeft the human race re- 
femble other animals, whofe bodies, by proper 
feeding, may be confiderably improved and aug- 
mented. An ox, on the fertile plains of India, 
grows to a fize four times as large as the diminu- 
tive animal of the fame kind bred on the arid and 
barren Alps; and horfes bred in champaign coun- 
tries are larger than thofe reared in mountainous 
fituations. Thus it is with Man. The inhabi- 
tants of the vallies are ufually taller than thofe of 
the hills. The natives of the Highlands of Scot- 
land are fiiort, broad, and hardy; while thofe of 
the Lowlands are tall and well-fhaped. The in- 
habitants of Greenland, who live on dried fifh and 
feals, are lefs than thofe of Gambia and Senegal, 
where nature fupplies them with vegetables and 
animal food in the fulleft luxuriance. 
With regard to the form of the face, it feems 
rather to be the refult of cuftom than nature. Na- 
tions who have long confidered fom.e artificial de- 
formity as beautiful, who have induftrioufly dimi- 
niflied the fize of the feet, or flattened the nofe, by 
degrees begin to receive the imprelTion they are 
taught to aflume ; and nature, in a courfe of ages, 
lhapes itfelf to the conftraint, and aflfumes heredi- 
tary deformity. It is common enough for chil- 
dren to inherit even the accidental deformities of 
their parents; and we have frequent inftances of 
fquinting in fathers, which they received either 
from frights or habit, communicated to their ofi^- 
fpring. In this manner cafual deformities may 
become natural ones; and, by afliduity, be conti- 
nued, and even increafed, through fucceffive ge- 
nerations. From this caufe probably may have 
arifen the fmall eyes and long ears of the Tartars 
and Chinefe nations; and from hence may have 
originated the flat nofes of the blacks, and the flat 
heads of the American Indians. 
This curfory furvey of mankind may be fuffi- 
cient to prove that all the variations in the human 
figure, as far as they differ from our own^ are pro- 
MAN 
duced either by the rigour of the climate, the bad 
quality or the fcantinefs of the provifions, or by the 
favage manners of the country. They are aCtv.al 
marks of the degeneracy in the hujnan form ; and 
we may confider the European figure and colour as 
ftandards to which all other varieties may be refer- 
red, and with which they may be compared. In 
proportion as the Tartar or American approaches 
nearer to European beauty, we confider the race 
as lefs degenerated; and in proportion as he dif- 
fers more widely, he may be regarded as having 
made greater deviations from his original form. 
Reafon and revelation equally incline us to be- 
lieve that we have all fprung ftom one common 
Parent ; and we have good reafon alfo to conclude, 
that the Europeans refemble him more than any 
of the reft of his defcendants. . However, it mufl: 
not be concealed, that the olive-coloured Afiatic, 
and even the jetty black Negro, claim this honour 
of hereditary refemblance, and afi^ert that white 
Men are mere deviations from original perfeflion. 
Singular as this opinion may appear, they have 
that celebrated naturalift Linnaeus on their fide, 
v/ho fuppofes Man a native of the tropical cli- 
mates, and only a fojourner more to the nortli. 
But, to wave a controverfy on a matter of remote 
fpeculation, one argument may fuffice to prove 
the contrary, and to fhew that the white Man is 
the original fcock from whence the other varieties 
have fprung. It is not uncom.mon to fee white 
children produced from black parents; but a 
black offspring has never been known to be the 
produftion of two whites. Hence we may con- 
clude, that whitenefs is the colour to which man- 
kind naturally tends: for as, in fome flowers, the 
parent ftock is diftinguifliable by all the artificial 
varieties breaking into it ; fo, in Man, that colour 
muft be the original which never alters, and to 
which all the reft are accidentally feen to change. 
MAN OF THE WOOD. See Ape, Great. 
MAN OF WAR BIRD; thePelicanus Aqui- 
lus of LinnsEus. This bird is about thirty-fix 
inches long from the tip of the bill to the extre- 
mity of the tail; and the expanfion of the wings is 
upwards of fix feet. The tail is forked; and it's 
outfide feathers are thirteen inches long. The 
bill has two channels running the whole length 
of the upper mandible; it is of a reddifh colour^ 
and widens towards the bafe to the breadth of twcj 
inches. The whole bird, except the throat and 
breaft, is of a ferruginous or blackifh colour; the 
belly, the infides of the wings, and the under-fidc 
of the tail, being fomewhat lighter than the reft. 
On the breaft appears a white bed of feathers of a 
cordiform fhape, the point tending to the throat,, 
and the two obtufe angles pafling under the wings. 
The tail is compofed of ten feathers, the two mid- 
dlemoft being ihorter by one-half than the exte= 
rior ones. The legs are feathered to the knees^ 
and fliort in proportion to the fize of the bird ^ 
the four toes are all united by webs, as in the pe- 
lican, the cormorant, and other birds of a fimilar 
genus ; and the legs and feet are of a dirty yellow- 
ifh colour. 
This bird is a native of the warmer climates' 
only, where it is found at fea, at a great diftancc 
from land. It feems to be the Rabchorcado of 
Willughby, or the Indian forked-tail. Du Tertrc 
defcribes it under the name of LaFregate; fo called 
from it's long flights, and obftinate contefts with 
other marine birds. 
MANAKIN, BLUE-BACKED. A curious 
little 
