It is evident, from what has already been adduced, that there are no differences in the form or component parts of the human body, amongst the various races of men, in any degree similar to those which zoologists are accustomed to employ, as distinctive characters. The peculiarities by which they are distinguished from each other are not material ones, existing only so long as the circumstances in which they are placed, and which originally gave rise to them, remain unchanged. There is no variation in the number or form of the extremities, which being least acted upon by situation and habitude, are usually considered as the surest test of distinct species. All races of men have the same number of fingers, of toes, and of teeth; while a very slight variation in any of these in animals constitutes the mark of a distinct species.

The departures from the general rule, in various nations, and frequently in individuals of the same country, are easily solved, by the abundance or scarcity of food, and by other causes favourable or otherwise to the development of the human growth. We may witness partial demonstrations of this in our own country; a difference is every where observable between the leisurely opulent classes and those who are of necessity subjected to considerable muscular exercise, and that in the open air. Take "the lady," who lives almost constantly within doors, employed at the utmost in netting or needlework, and contrast her slim and delicate frame with the coarse robust figure of the fishwoman or female field-labourer, who works hard in the open air all day, and it is impossible to doubt that circumstances influeucing their physical conditions have made. them respectively what they are. A similar contrast is observable between the powerful frames of a set of male rustics, such as we find in almost any of the provinces of Britain, and the diminutive forms of the inhabitants of London. The cause is obvious. Constant muscular exercise in the open air, accompanied by nutriment

sufficient in quantity and healthful in kind, develope the bone and muscle of the one order of persons to a powerful degree, while the want of muscular exercise, and a life spent mostly within doors, act on the other with an opposite effect, notwithstanding the advantage of perhaps a superior diet. Even the natural difference as to softness and elegance between the sexes, may be reversed by the operation of these causes. The women of Normandy, who labour constantly in the fields, are become much more masculine in form than the petit maitres of Paris; and we could, in our own country, point out many men, who, from parlour life, are infinitely more feminine in stature and the texture of the flesh, than many rustic women. It generally requires a series of generations to bring out these results in their fullest extent; but even in the life of a single individual the effect may often be traced. Thus we often see, amongst the rustic population, females who are comparatively elegant in form and of delicate complexion in their early years, but who become coarse after a brief experience of out-door labour.

When, in addition to hard labour and exposure to the elements, there is an absolute deficiency of food and comfort, human beings become, in the course of a few generations, much degraded in form and aspect. An interesting remark, which bears upon this subject, has been made respecting the natives of some parts of Ireland. "On the plantation of Ulster, and afterwards on the success of the British against the rebels of 1641 and 1689, great multitudes of the native Irish were driven from Armagh and the south of Down into the mountainous tract extending from the barony of Flews eastward to the sea; on the other side of the kingdom the same race were expelled into Leitrim, Sligo, and Mayo. Here they have been almost ever since, exposed to the worst effects of hunger and ignorance, the two great brutalizers of the human race." The descendants of these exiles, are now distinguished physically, from their

66

A Tribute for the Negro.

55

kindred in Meath, and in other districts, where they are not in a state of personal debasement. They are remarkable for open projecting mouths, prominent teeth and exposed gums: their advancing cheek-bones and depressed noses carry barbarism on their very front." In Sligo and northern Mayo, the consequences of two centuries of degradation and hardship exhibit themselves in the whole physical condition of the people, "affecting not only the features, but the frame, and giving such an example of human degradation from known causes, as almost compensates by its value to future ages, for the suffering and debasement which past generations have endured, in perfecting its appalling lesson. "Five feet two inches upon an average, bow-legged, abortively-featured; their clothing a wisp of rags, &c., these spectres of a people that once were well-grown, able-bodied, and comely, stalk abroad into the daylight of civilization, the annual apparitions of Irish ugliness and Irish want." In other parts of the island, where the people have never undergone the same influences of physical degradation, it is well known that the same race furnishes the most perfect specimens of human beauty and vigour, both mental and bodily."*

* Dublin University Magazine, vol. iv., p. 653.

Complexion the most obvious external distinction in Mansubvert the theory of a Unity of Race-Analogous in an cause of diversity of Colour-Gradation in different lat in the same latitudes, at various elevations - Peculiariti ture and Complexion become hereditary-Illustrations-I of Austria-The Gipsies-Jews-The most striking insta liar National Countenance - Persons of the same blood the great and noble-The colour of Man not always c with Climate, explained Persistency of Colour not supposed-Instances of Negroes becoming light-colouredwho have become black-True Whites not unfrequently the Black races-Several instances recorded-If Colour is a feriority in Man, it attaches a stigma to a great portion o tants of the world-The Hindoos-Their learning two thousa -Natives of Terra del Fuego much lighter than the Negro in the scale of intelligence-Conclusion from the facts alre Black colour of the Negro a merciful provision-Dr. Copla on this subject-The inquiry into Unity of Species admira up by Buffon.

The most obvious external point of distincti mankind is the colour of the skin, a peculiarit natural, but which has become one of great mor ance. It is the dark colour of the African that especially urged, as subverting the theory of a races. Although a general survey of organized both the animal and vegetable kingdom, by no m us to regard Colour as one of their most importa tions, but, on the contrary, will soon convince may undergo very signal changes without essenti tions of their nature, (and the remark holds good of the human subject), yet the different shades of the skin, offering themselves so im to observation, and forcing themselves in a mann attention of the most incurious, have always beer

by the generality of mankind as the most characteristic distinction of separate races.

That this idea is entirely an erroneous one, is proved (as in other cases of variation) by a reference to various parts of the animal creation, colour in them being in no instance a mark of species. If we take a collective survey of the diversities of colour, distinguishing particular breeds in animals, we shall discover that, with considerable allowance for the organization of new varieties in form and organic structure, the primitive type and hue is stamped upon each kind. Though the same animals vary in colour in the same country, each has more frequently its own distinctive peculiarity. Ælian informs us that Eubea was famous for producing white oxen.* Blumenbach remarks, that "all the swine of Piedmont are black, those of Normandy white, and those of Bavaria are of a reddish brown." "The turkeys of Normandy," he states, "are all black; those of Hanover almost all white. In Guinea, the dogs and the gallinaceous fowls are as black as the human inhabitants of the same country."+

To enter into a full discussion of this subject would lead us beyond our limits. A few more observations must suffice. That colour in Man is much influenced by climate is evident, and its variation appears to a considerable extent gradational throughout different parts of the globe. "The heat of the climate," says Buffon, "is the chief cause of blackness among the human species." Without assuming, however, that solar heat is the alone agent affecting the colour of Man, the action of the sun in darkening the human tint is too obvious to be denied or unnoticed. How swarthy do Europeans become who seek their fortunes in the tropics or under the equator, who have their skins parched by the burning suns of "Afric or either Ind." The effects are soon visible in their complexion, in the most distinct manner. A child, however fair, if allowed to *Elian, lib. xii. cap. 36. + Prichard.