IIS 
ORDER BIMANA, 
GENUS HOMO. 
though often modified and even wholly coiinteracted by other causes. 
Excessive cold tends to arrest the development of the human frame ; 
while, on the contrary, a moderate degree of cold is favorable to it. 
We find that the nations of the coldest climates in Europe, Asia, and 
America, such as the Laplanders, Samoiedes, and Esquimaux, are of 
small stature, and likewise the people of Terra del Fuego in the Southern 
Hemisphere. 
Again, we see that the inhabitants of all countries, which, in reference to 
the temperate parts of Europe, we should term rather cold, are of very 
considerable dimensions. The Swedes. Finlanders, Saxons, the inhabit- 
ants of the Ukraine, and many other nations of Europe, Asia, and North 
America, are instances in the Northern Hemisphere, and we have the 
Patagonians in the Southern. Again, in our own island, while the people 
of the south and centre of England are of ordinary stature, the inhabitants 
of the Border counties and of several districts in the Lowlands of Scot- 
land are in general of very considerable stature. Further, in the High- 
lands of Scotland, where the cold is severe, the stature falls rather below 
the average. The comparative moisture of the several localities may be 
another cause of these variations, and when united with those of tempera- 
ture, serve to account for some of the most remarkable differences. 
The elevation of a country is another cause of these variations. In 
tropical climates, the inhabitants of the several regions of elevated moun- 
tains present an epitome of those differences of stature which we trace 
throughout the -several climates of the globe. Nations dwelling upon 
slightly elevated plateaux are in general tall and robust ; while men only 
of small stature are found in the neighbourhood of mountain fastnesses, 
which are as desert as the Polar regions, and covered, like them, with 
eternal snows. In the mountains of temperate,' and especially of cold 
climates, the height of the people dwelling on plateaux, even but slightly 
elevated, diminishes considerably, in consequence of the more marked dif- 
ferences of temperature. These relations are not, however, invari.able ; 
the njountaineers of Puy-de-Dome, and especially the Swiss, are, in some 
rich cantons, according to M. Villermc, not only of middle stature, but 
rather above the average standard. 
From the various circumstances already noticed, it follows that under 
every isothermal line, except in the immediate neighbourhood of the poles, 
nations are to be found of very great stature, others very small, and others 
again of medium .size. Even in the same regions, or in countries apparently 
identical in physical character, we find races of very different degrees of 
stature. Thus, the Hottentots, in the immediate neighbourhood of the 
Caffres, but unquestionably belonging to another race, are much smaller; 
and, what is still more remarkable, we may find in several islands, such as 
the Friendly, the Society, and Sandwich Island.-;, two classes of men very 
unequal in height. “ In the Sandwich Islands,” observes M. Gaimard, 
“ the population is divided into two very distinct classes, being the chiefs 
and the populace. The first enjoy a more abundant diet, consume more 
animal food, are never compelled to labour excessively, and intermarry to- 
gether: they are consequently tall, strong, and well made. The others 
possess no land, and cannot always obtain good food; they are generally 
of inferior height and strength.” 
The causes which M. Gaimard assigns for these variations are fully 
confirmed by the recent ob-servations of M. Villermc upon the average 
height of the population in France. lie found, as Haller and other phy- 
siologists had previously conjectured, that the human stature is always 
greater, other circumstances remaining the same, when the country is rich 
and fertile; that, where there are good clothing, lodging, and especially 
wholesome food, it improves, and diminishes where difficulties, fatigue, and 
privations are experienced during infancy and in early youth. From these 
facts M, Villermc concludes, that the hardships experienced by most 
mountaineers form one of the causes which have hitherto retarded their 
growth, and this observation may further be extended to the inhabitants 
of the arctic regions, where they receive the two-fold influence of cold 
and want. 
The differences found in the heights of the several nations of Africa 
cannot be explained by any of the above causes. They serve to show that 
there must have been some original difference of stature in the primitive 
types of the several races ; as well as to demonstrate the tendency of the 
human species, in common with the domestic animals, to tran.smit the 
connate varieties of races to their posterity. 
It is, at the least, very improbable, that the average stature of the hu- 
man species could have sensibly diminished through the lapse of ages. 
Antiquity believed in the existence of whole nations of Giants ; hut it also 
credited the existence of Pygmies, Troglodytes, or Myrmidons. Many 
travellers, and especially Peron.show, that savages, far from being stronger 
than individuals of the more civilized races, are usually feebler. Man, 
on becoming civilized, has, therelore, lost nothing of his original strength. 
A man is longer in arriving at his full growth than a woman, the latter 
being usually as completely formed at twenty years as a man at thirty. 
Every part of the form in either sex, to use the words of Buffbn, announ- 
ces the s'lperiority of the human species over all living creatures. Mau 
maintains his body erect and elevated ; his attitude is that of command ; 
his countenance is directed towards the heavens ; and presents an august 
face on which is impressed the character of dignity ; the image of his 
soul is painted in his physiognomy, and the excellence of his natuie pene- 
trates through the material organ.s which surround it, animating the 
features of his face with a divine expression. His majestic carriage, bis 
firm and resolute step, announce the nobleness of his rank. He touches 
the e.arth solely by his most remote extremities, and seems to regard it at 
a disdainful distance. His arms are not given to him merely as pillars to 
support the mass of his body ; his hand is not permitted to tread on the 
ground, or to lose, by a continuous friction, that fineness of touch, of 
which it is the chief organ. His arm and baud are reserved for nobler 
purposes, — to execute the suggestions of his will, and be subservient to 
the various circumstances of life. 
All the features of the face remain in a state of calm repose while the 
mind is tranquil ; — their proportion, connexion, and harmonv, s<’rve to 
indicate the tranquillity which reigns within. 'When the mind is agitated, 
the human face becomes a living tablet, upon which the pas.sions arc 
transcribed with delicacy and energy ; where every expression of the mind 
is represented by a corresponding trail, every mental process by a cha- 
racteristic, the vivid inqtression of which often serves to betray the in- 
tended action, and represent externally the image of our secret thoughts. 
The body of a well-made man, according to Buffbn, ought to be rather 
square, the muscles well-expressed, the form of the limbs woll-delmed 
and the features strongly marked. When contrasted with the female, we 
find him of a taller stature, larger and firmer muscles, a browner skin, a 
larger brain, the bones more robust, the voice deeper, the chest broader, 
the hairs more numerous and of a deeper tint. 
In woman, every thing is more rounded, the lines arc softer, and the 
features more delicate. “ To man," sa3'S Buffbn, “ belong strength and 
majesty, while grace and beauty form the embellishments of the other 
sex." The hair of her head is longer, finer, and more flexible ; her skin 
lighter and more delicate, her limbs more graceful, thepeh is broader, the 
thighs thicker, and the limbs smaller. In the man, the upper parts of the 
body, such as the chest, the shoulder.s, and the head, indicate strength 
and power ; the capacity of his cranium is considerable, and contains 
three or four ounces of brain more than the .skull of the female, according 
to the experiments of M. 'Virey ; but hi.S haunches, his pelvis generally, 
and thighs, are narrower and thinner than hers. The upper part of a 
man is, therefore, broader than the lower, so that he somewhat resembles 
a reversed pyramid. In the woman, on the contrary, the head, shoulders, 
and chest, are small and narrow, while the pelvis and adjacent parts are 
broad and large, for which rciison her body appears to converge upwards 
towards a point, like an erect pyramid. This difference in their form 
corresponds to the appropriate functions of cither sex. The man being 
destined by nature for labour, is formed rather for the employment of his 
irhysical energies, in making provision for the maintenance of thiit family 
of which he is the chief; while the other sex, to whom the business of 
reproduction more especially belongs, requires a more capticious pelvis to 
fulfil the conditions of parturition. The trunk of the lemale is longer in 
proportion than that of the man ; her lumbar region is more extended, 
her neck thinner and longer ; while her legs, thighs, and arms, are shorter. 
From these circumstances result her more slender form, as well tis the 
elegance, lightness, and ease, of all her motions. 
There are many circumstances in the constitution of woman analogous 
to the characteristics of infancy in both sexes, and serving to indicate that 
her organization is not so highly matured as that of Man. Her bones are 
smaller and thinner ; her cellular tissue more spongy and humid, impart- 
ing a roundness and plumpness to her form, and increasing the flexibility 
of her whole frame. Her pulse is weaker and more rapid; her skin is 
smooth, and almost deprived of scattered hairs, as well as of a beard, ex- 
cepting after the age of parturition has passed, when the hair begins to 
grow plentifully upon the chin. It often happens that women have a 
smaller number of molar teeth than men, so that it may be said, with 
truth, that the wisdom teeth of many women never appear at all. They 
in general eat less than the other sex, preferring soft and saccharine food ; 
while the mau, being more energetic and vigorous, is instinctively led W 
prefer the more substantial and stimulating qualities of animal substances. 
The beauty of the fair sex varies greatly all over the globe. In the 
north of Europe, the women are found more frequently than the men with 
light hair and eyes, and their dazzling whiteness often degencr;ites into 
insipidity. All the southern women are brown, aud more or less striking! 
but the most beautiful of the sex, according to our notions of beauty, ore 
found in the temperate parts of Europe aud Asia. The centre of Span- 
ish beauty seems to lie towards Cadiz or Andalusia, while the most agree- 
able Portugue.se abound in the neighbourhood of Guimanaens. Women of 
great beauty are al.so seen in many parts of Italy and the adjacent islands : 
in particular, the Sicilian and Neapolitan ladies, descended from ancietd 
Greek colonies, are accounted exceedingly beautiful. The Albanian wo- 
men are well made ; the females of the island of Chio appear charming- 
