John Milne Buchan

“ The frosty air, raised many degrees in temperature by contact with the body, becomes very dry, and greedily drinks in its moisture. At the same time the body loses, not only the heat which the air carries off, but also that which is rendered latent by the evaporation of the sweat. As a protection against the injury which a too rapid loss of perspiration and heat may inflict in an arctic climate, a thick integument is desirable. On account of the obliquity of the sun's rays a dark pigment will be a disadvantage, because it will prevent the passage of light and heat. ”

“ It is well known that the climate of Europe, where white men most abound, is more influenced by the sea than that of any other continent. With the inconsiderable exception of the Caspian and Arctic regions, where yellow men occur, it may all be said to be kept moist by breezes from warm tracts of water. The fairest members of the human family are found in the humid lands about the North and Baltic Seas, where the influence of the Gulf Stream is most felt, and where a temperate climate extends farther from the equator than elsewhere on the face of the globe. ”

“ A humid temperate climate is also warmer than others in the same latitude, for it owes its existence in every case to breezes from warm seas. Breezes from cold seas can not produce a true humid temperate climate, because when they strike the land in summer they will be raised in temperature and rendered dry.
In humid temperate climates, since the rays of the sun, falling obliquely through a moisture-laden atmosphere, lose much of their light and heat, a dark pigment is a disadvantage. The vapor-clogged air tends to prevent perspiration, therefore a thin epidermis is desirable. ”

“ I believe that these facts supply the explanation of the extreme unhealthiness of the African climate for the white man. His thin outer skin permits his system to be weakened by an undue loss of its fluids in the daytime and of its heat at night, and in this condition he falls an easy prey to some disease.
There are black men in Africa, India, and Australia, because these countries all have climates with long pronounced dry seasons. Owing to the peculiar formation of the continent of America, its tropical regions are more humid, and consequently no very dark natives are found there. ”

“ V. On the contrary, in a rainless tropical climate, or in one with a well-marked dry season, the rays of a vertical sun will continually, or for considerable periods, descend in all their power, and the blackest and densest pigment and the thickest scarf-skin will be needed. Between the tropics the nights are always long, and, in consequence, when in the dry season there is little moisture in the air to check radiation, the thermometer, as many African travelers have remarked, falls very low before sunrise. To withstand the loss of heat at such times a thick outer skin will be an advantage. ”

“ Albinoes everywhere find it necessary to protect their skins and eyes from the effects of the sun's rays. In warm countries they seldom go out except at night. There is this difference between them and other men, that long-continued exposure to the sun, which ordinarily develops a condition of the skin capable of resisting its rays, does not do so in their case. It may here be remarked that the deeper the shade of the pigment, the more rays will it reflect, and the more effective will it be as a protective agency. ”

“ Assuming, what is amply supported by facts, that individuals slightly diverging in various directions from the type are constantly being produced, it is obvious that if a dark or a light complexion be correlated with power to resist a particular disease, or group of diseases, a white race may, by natural selection, be gradually developed from a colored one, or vice versa. ”

“ The inhabitants, whether belonging to the Semitic, the Hamitic, or the negro race, are alike black. The Nubian Arabs are said to be as black as the blackest negroes.
The part of Africa south of the Great Desert will exemplify the case of a tropical climate with a dry season. This immense region consists essentially of a strip of low coast-land, and an immense level central depressed surface, with a more or less elevated rim inclosing it. The inhabitants of the coast and the central depression are very black, those of the rim lighter in color. ”

“ To the north of the white Russian and Finn live the swarthy Lapp and Samoyed. North of the Caucasus are dark-skinned Tartars, south of it fair-complexioned Circassians. The aborigines of America vary less in color than the natives of the Old World. None of them are as fair as the Swede, none as black as the negro of Congo, and those living in Brazil on the equator are not the darkest. There are blacker men in Australia and New Guinea than in Borneo and Sumatra, though these islands are on the equator and those are not. ”

“ The climate and complexions of the rainless coast of Peru correspond very closely to those of the rainless valley of Egypt, the Peruvians being perhaps a shade darker. The dry climate of the tropical part of the Andes has even affected the color of the Spanish Creoles; while in Cartagena and Guayaquil, towns with a humid climate on the seacoast of South America, their complexion is as light as that of native Spaniards, and fair hair still occurs, in Santa Fé, which is in the mountain country, only dark complexions with dark hair are found. ”

“ The Basques and the Caucasians, between whose languages and those of the Aryan family no relationship has ever been established, are generally considered to be nearer in blood to us than those members of the Ural-Altaic group who exemplify in the fullest degree the Indo-European type of physique. ”

“ The nomads of the Asiatic deserts, who live mainly on milk and flesh, are certainly not fairer than the grain eating peasants whom they plunder; and the Buddhists of China and Japan, whose religion prohibits the use of animal food, do not differ in color from their neighbors of other creeds. ”

“ The combination of a thick cuticle with the pigment suitable to the intensity of the sun's rays will produce various shades of yellow and brown.
IV. By a humid tropical climate I mean one occurring in or near the torrid zone, in which there is no dry season. In such a climate vegetation will be luxuriant all the year round, and man will live in the shade of dense forests, in a steaming and enervating atmosphere, whose temperature will be high, but will vary little. ”

“ Though the rays of the sun will descend vertically upon him, yet their power will be diminished by the vapor contained in the air, and he will not need so dark a pigment to protect him as the inhabitants of other tropical regions. Add to this, that a thin epidermis will promote perspiration which the moisture-laden atmosphere tends to check, and we come to the conclusion that the natives of such countries will be distinguished by comparatively fair complexions. ”

“ But there are, nevertheless, indications that climatic influences are producing their natural effect. The unmixed descendants of the original settlers everywhere appear to have dark hair and a more or less sallow complexion. ”