The National tribune., 1890-12-18

scribed, and IL is notsurprising that their bodily
appearance should correspond with such sur
roundngs.
OF medium hight. straight, with heads 10
which the luXuriaut hair and extreme attenu-
alton Of their bodies give an apparently dispro-
portionate size, these lean, thin-limbed
BLACK EAvAGEs
have lost any redeeming trait that unrestrained
movement might have conferred upon their
frames through the prOtuberant abdomen. Oc-
casional repetiOn cannot c0uutemct the effect
of habitual semi-starvalion, aud this distorted
contour here, rs elsewhere, is dependent upon
the necessity of eating large quantities Of food
deficient in nutritive materials
The tribes about King George Sound on the
southwest coast have been similarly situated.
with the additional disad vantage Of living in a
more inclement climate, and the descriptions
given Of their condition show that not even the
Fuegians, those pariahs Of the human race are
so utterly miserable and degraded.
Such specimens Of humanity are probably
instances Of survival through degeneration.
NhencesOever the peoples came, their ances-
tors were In all likelihood better men In every
way than their descendants Enforced absti-
hence from the essentials of ex iStence impairs
health, beauty, VigOr, vitality aud intellect, as
surely as excess in its Injuries or abuse Of its
superfuities, and here prohibition from the re-
their consequences accumulated through in
heritance.
Ia northern and tropical Australia Lumholtz
recently found finer variety Of men physi-
cally, although one that fell far short either Of
structural, physiological, or mental mcdiocrity
This relative superiority was evidently due 10
more favorable photographic conditions, aud
70 the increased facilities for supporting life.
Where the
STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE
is 80 arduOus and so incessant that no time ne
mains for anything else, savagery necessa-
rily follows. Nutrition Is the basis Of life.
mans first requirement is food. In the no
illogical series tie stomach was UNNECESSARILY
before the head, aud although il is always a
mistake 10 specialize any factor Of develop
mcnt as exclusively, or even, perhaps predOmi-
nantly deJcrminative, the fact stands that men
and nations both IN appearance aud capacity
will vary with what they eat
Throughout the eastern regions Of the CONT
nent much the same type presents itself
Where means Of subsistence were c0mpara-
lively plentiful and climatic conditions proved
favorable, the natives seem % be somewhat
taller aud more robust, rather lighter in COM
pleXiOn, aud 10 have developed the indistinct
rudiments Of civilization.
Under all circumstances. however the race
rs savage, and We have now TO inquire what
KIND OF state sayagcry is; how il maniiests
itself ia manners and customs, and IN the va
rious appliances for augmenting physical inca
pacities Of different kinds: 10 observe in what
way undeveloped human beings regard them
selves aud their fellow-creaturcs, and see with
what aspect the world, life and that which
mankind az large have ever supposed to lac be-
yond visible and tangible nature appear in the
consciousness Of those who are wholly igno-
rant aud entirely incapable Of any process Of
abstraction.