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It is certain, therefore, that the common opinion which refers the difference of complexion among mankind solely to the climate under which they live, and the degree of heat and cold they experience, gives at most only a partial and inadequate account of the pha

nomenon.

At the same time no fact can be better ascertained, than that local circumstances, degree of exposure, quality and quantity of food, and state of civilization, all exercise an effect upon the human constitution, which is distinguishable in the features, size, and strength of the individual. The facts observed by Ulloa and Humboldt, as to the local varieties in the American race, admit of no other explanation. The latter says, "the same style of features exists, no doubt, in both Americas; but those Europeans who have sailed on the great rivers Orinoco and the Amazons, and have had occasion to see a great number of tribes assembled together under the monastical hierarchy of the missions, must have observed, that the

American race contains nations whose features differ no less widely from each other, than the numerous varieties of the race of Caucasus, the Circassians, Moors, and Peruvians.'

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Mr. Jackson* has given a very minute description of the inhabitants of the different provinces within the empire of Morocco. Many of the discrepancies which he observes are material to the present subject. The first province from the shores of the Mediterranean, where villages and walled habitations are met with, is Haha: the neighbouring provinces being altogether inhabited by Arabs dwelling in tents. Immediately following this remark, we find the observation that "the Shelluks of Haha are physiognomically distinguishable from the Arabs of the plains, from the Moors of the towns, and from the Berebbers of north Atlas, and even from the Shelluks of Susa, though in their language, manners, and mode of living they resemble the latter."

Morocco, p. 16.

The extraordinary power of local circumstance over the human constitution, is well exemplified by a passage in Mr. Turner's Embassy to Tibet. He tells us, that "at the foot of the Bootan mountains, a plain extends for about thirty miles, choked, rather than clothed with the most luxuriant vegetation. The exhalations arising from the springs which the vicinity of the mountains produces, collected and confined by almost impervious woods, generate an atmosphere which no traveller ever passed with impunity. Yet even this spot is not destitute of inhabitants, though its influence has wholly debased in them the form, the size, and strength of human creatures." A messenger here met Mr. Turner, a being that hardly bore the resemblance of humanity; "of disgusting features, meager limbs, and diminutive stature. He was of a mixed race between the Bootean and Bengalee; and it was wonderful to observe how greatly the influence of a pestilential climate had caused him to degenerate from both."*

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The effect of a precarious or insufficient supply of food is described by Volney, in his account of the Bedouin Arabs, whom he calls a race of men equally remarkable in their physical and moral character. "Their singularity is so striking, that even their neighbours the Syrians regard them as extraordinary beings, especially those tribes which dwell in the depths of the deserts. In general they are small, meager, and tawny: they also differ among themselves in the same camp; and I have remarked that the Shaiks, i. e. the rich, and their attendants, were always taller and more corpulent than the common class. This difference can only be attributed to their food, with which the former are supplied more abundantly than the latter. It is an undoubted fact, that the quantity of food usually consumed by the greater part of them, does not exceed six ounces a day."*

In countries inhabited by the European race, the tribes that reside in hilly tracts are fairer * Travels in Syria, i. 391.

than the people of the plains and valleys. The mountaineers of Sicily are remarkable for light hair and blue eyes, characters which are not seen in the low country on the coast.

The general complexion of the Scottish highlanders is dark; dark brown or black hair and eyes are very prevalent among them; and in some spots of the northern highlands, red hair is almost universal.

Johnson observes of the inhabitants of the Hebrides, that they are commonly of the middle stature; and that the tallest men he saw were among those of highest rank: adding, as a general observation, that in regions of barrenness and scarcity the human race is hindered in its growth by the same causes as other animals. To the same purpose it has been remarked, that the young men who offer themselves for the army in Ireland, are more generally below the given height than in England: a fact not admitting of mistake, as the standard is an infallible criterion.

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