THE MEDITERRANEAN NATURALIST 
OX 1 
o Q ~± 
the bulging walls, the deep furrows formed in the 
soil, and the swaying motion felt at the time the 
landslips occurred are all precisely identical with 
the phenomena experienced in our earthquake 
shocks here. Sandgate is comparatively level 
with the sea and yet the filtrated water and pos- 
sible quicksands, have caused great distraction — 
how much more severe this erosive action is when 
it occurs in the sea where immense over-hanging 
banks exist can easily be conjectured. 
W. G. F. 
The Future of the Races. 
'The epoch called the reign of humanity, obser- 
ves Dr. G. Binet, is nearing its summit. What 
will . become of the different human races is a 
problem M. Zaborowski, the distinguished anthro- 
pologist, has attempted to solve. The globe has 
now a billion and a half of people, which will 
doubtless be doubled in a very short time. People 
representing about one fifth of. humanity now visit 
ali parts of the globe, and are gifted with a power 
of expansion never before realized. Their civili- 
zation will efface all distinctive race peculiarities. 
I'u . ffe t the greater part of the races will disap- 
pear, but for a long time, in certain conditions of 
climate, there will be a j dace - at. the side of the 
Europeans for- very different r. ces, endowed with 
ability to work, and thus capable of competing for 
a great part of the globe. These races are not 
very numerous, but at their head is the Chinese, 
who along represent one third of humanity. Others 
will disappear in a more or less distant future. 
Amot . lese.are the L p is, many of the inhabi- 
ts a is of ancient Asia, the Veddash, the Malays, 
th# little blacks of the Philiippiues, of Borneo and 
all the ocher people who for thousands of years 
hav.e.i'Cj cted all culture and are the only survivors, 
•surprising to themselves,' of an almost vanished 
age. These include also the Indians of North 
America and the natives of Polynesia. Less than 
three centuries ago, outside of China and Europe, 
the whole world .was peopled willi savages, and in 
less than three centuries more these races will have 
disappeared and been replaced by the descendants 
of the European, races, having' as auxiliaries as 
many Chinese and Negroes as are adapted to the 
needs of civilization. 
Variation in Skin Colour 
The causes which give rise to the many varia 
tions in the colour of the skins of men and ani- 
mals offer themselves as a most interesting though 
difficult subject for study. According to the 
observations of Professor Robert Wallace who 
has devoted a considerable amount of attention 
to the subject, the cattle of India, like the 
people, have usually black skins. 
This circumstance that the skiu of cattle in 
India is generally black opens up wider the 
scope of a most interesting questions on the 
relation of colour to climate. According to Pro- 
fessor Huxley — a recognised authority of distinc- 
tion upon the subject — this relationship is by 
no means at present understood. The field of 
of investigation as regards India is a large one 
it embraces the human races, and the breeds of 
cattle, sheep, pigs, buffaloes, and horses. The 
skins of all these' are black or dark coloured. 
The few white exceptions noticed by Mr. Wal- 
lace were in buffaloes and cattle which were 
unhealthy. Thu white or grey hair so prevalent 
in cattle extends to the Arab horse, and would 
appear to be, when associated with the black 
skin, especially adapted to resist the intense 
heat of a tropical sun. When it is known to 
be a scientific fact that white does not absorb 
heat so quickly as black, it Seems paradoxical 
than the skin should be black instead of white 
in India and the tropics. And it is even more 
wonderful that the skin of the lower animals 
should follow the same great natural law so 
antagonistic to scientific conclusions. 
However, though it would seem at first sight 
that the black skin should be a disadvantage 
on account of its quick absorption of heat, 
it is not really so. The black colour of the 
skin causes it to absorb more heat than a white 
skin, but while it is doing so. at the same 
time and for the same reason, that is, its ra- 
diating power corresponds with its absorbing- 
power. Therefore, in the Professor's opinion, when 
the sun’s rays impinge upon the skin, the heat 
is - rapidly absorbed; but, as the rate of absorp- 
tion of heat is greater than the rate of radiation 
unless the temperature of the skin were lowered 
