The morning call., 1892-05-25
MEN or MANY COLOR :.

An interesting discussion which was
started by tie eminent snthropologisi, Dr.
Bedduc, pending IN scientific perlodIcals,ls Oh
the subject of the complexion and the hair
of mankind ia past ages and in ages not far
removed from present times. Artists IN
yariably paint Adam and Eve as white,
and the latter with blonde hair, and orthodox
writer's explain the appearance OF men OF
color by assuming that climate changes the
complexion 1t is evident from the remains
of the colored frescOes which have been dis
inferred at Pompeii and from passages in
the Latin poets that the complexion Of the
Romans and Greeks of the classic period was
the same as it is now. but on the other band
the red-haired Gcths and Franks who in
habited Germany at the time of Cesar have
made way for a race in which dark COM
pleXiGns aud black hair predominant. The
blonde type which was almost universal
among the BritOnS at the same period is
much more rare to-day
AnthrOpoOgisTs tell US that two causes
operate to alter the color of the skin and
haiT-climate and particular selection. Hot,
dry climates are said to act upon the color
ing pigment, and to favor dark compilations
and black hair, while in cool, moist climates
we are told that light mpleXi0nS, blue
eyes aud red or blonde hair are more FREE
Quently observed. The rule is not absolute,
for tie E,quimauX are dark haired, but men
of light compilations generally do grow
darker when they spend their lives In India,
China or Africa. Three hundred years ago
the most fashionable hair in England, and
likewise in Venice. which was then the
center of fashion, was red, and we see from
the pictures Of the day how large pro-
portion Of the fair ladies and court gallants
had red hair. at Venice dark girls dyed
their hair red. Titian's red-hsired Venus
was the type of beauty. Later on. in the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, red
hair went out Of fashion, red-haired girls
remained unmarried, and blonde and black
hair came into vogue. At the present day,
according TO Mr.. BeddOc the taste in hair
runs to fair or brown hair, and girls whose
locks are of those hues marry Oftener than
red or black haired girls.
Some thirty odd years ago a craze broke
out in favor Of blonde hair. and foolish
girls fell TO bleaching their hair. The 0e-
vice merely made them ridiculous, as the
bleachers could not alter the color Of their
skin and their eyes. and the bleached lady
assumed q piebald aspect. The craze was
killed by the action of the law Of particU-
lar selection; the bleached blondes were
popular enough on the variety stage, bat
men. reasoning that such foolish girls
would make poor wives. did not invite them
to share their lot in life, and tie fashion
died cut
There is one fact which argues against
tho influence OF climate on color. It is pos
sible that white men settled in Africa or
Asia may, after several generations, be-
come darker, but we know absolutely that
neither the negro nor the Mongol become any
lighter in our climate. Where there has
been nc admixture of blood the negro Of the
Southern States, whose ancestors were i'm
ported from Guinea a hundred and fifty
years ago. is as black as his t0refather was
when he entered the barrac0on on the Gold
Coast; and the M0ngCl, who has been dOmi-
cilated for generations in Burmah and Brit
ISL India, is as yellow as the Chinaman
who emgrates from Hong-Kong to-day.
Race crossing does impart 10 the offspring
different color from the parents But il
seems to be a natural law that the mixture
of races Of different color is unfruitful. a II
over the world the life Of the halfbreed, the
mulatto, the Creole, the half caste is limited
TO a few generations. Races which are Of
the same or nearly the same hue blend nat
urally into a race often more vlriIe than the
progenitOrs. But there is no instance in
which a nation was created by an admix-
ture Of the white with the black, or the cop
per-eolOred. or The yellow or the brown 1t
seems to have been the design Of provi-
dence that each raee-as distinguished by
/ cOlOr-sh0uld remain apart and should in
habit the portion Of the earth set out for its
use, aud that blends, in which humanity
makes its highest type. should be re-
stricted to races which are cognate in hue,
as the ancient Britons. the Saxons, the
Danes. the Cells, the Goths. the Franks,
the GauIs. the Romans and the Iberians