The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1896-04-17
why NEGRoEs ARE BLACK.
A Discussion of the Effects of Climate on
Complexion.

black skin of the negro to the influence
of climate, heat causing the color. Or
geas agreed with Button. He had OBJ
served the feeble development of the
pilo-sebaceous system among the ne.
groes who are less hairy than the
whites, Eijlmann developed vessels
with human skin taken from Malays
and whites, and found that the radia-
ton of heat passing through a black
skin was not more intense than that
which passed through a white skin.
In this, says the writer, he agrees with
Melloni, Desains, Mason and others,
whose researches show that the color
Of an object or of a tissue has no influ-
ence on the obscure heaA rays. On his
carefully separating the fat from the
skin, however, the natural conditions
were changed. In the second place,
the negro possesses a more developed
vascular sudo-riparous system than we
do. He perspires more freely and loses
heat as an alcarraza does. There is
evidently, says the writer, a close rela-
tionship between the influence of cuta-
neous fermentation and the sudoripa-
rous glands, and the two should be
studied together. The skin of the ne
gro becomes black after birth. Lee Cat
noted in 1865 that the new born negro
was of reddish color, the root of the
nails and the scrotum alone being
black. Two or three days after birth
the skin began to turn black. Darwin
also observed that the newborn Aus
tralian was of a broWnish yellow color.
The Hindoo child at it's birth is white,
although it's parents may be perfectly
black. The adult mans skin varies
according to the race to which he be-
longs. Aside from heat, which has
been especially spoken of, we must,
says the writer, recognize other causes
of equally great Importance. Light
seems to favor fermentation of the
skin. In uniform heat the light rays
seem more active than the dark ones.
The sun tans and women use parasols
and gloves to protect themselves from
it; darkness, on the contrary, induces
pallor. Aristocrats, who do not expose
themselves to the air. have a light,
transparent skin.
The Japanese of distinction rarely
expose themselves to the air without
being yelled, and their skins are almost
as white as those of Europeans. In
Siam the high classes also have a light
transparent skin The drawings of
the ancient Egyptians, of the Etrus-
cans, and of the Mexicans represent
their women with light skins. A very
brilliant light browns the skin even in
cold countries. For instance, the Es-
quimaux are brown. The luminous in
tensity of the long days is such that
they are obliged to protect their eyes
with glasses. In India the difference
between the color of skins is more
marked than among us, and Pariahs
black as negroes may be seen side by
side with Brahmans white as Euro
peans. The following type is very gen.
orally seen: Tall, straight and slen-
der; with long heads, a long face ana
an aquiline nose The Brahman Is es-
pecially distinguished from the Pariah
by his naughty bearing. The castles
are very numerous, says the writer,
and among them may be observed all
the coffee-colored tints, the purity of
which is not absolute, Among the
Brahmans, occasionally, Of two chill
dren in the same family one may be
white and the other black. The same
is seen among the Pariahs, although
the white skin Is more frequently OBJ
served among the former than among
the latter. Certain castles which are
held in slight estimation, such as the
Moukhis and Chamars, who live in the
shade of the great palm trees, have an
extremely white skin. Humidity ia
vors fermentation very distinctly
The countries where there are both
great heat and great humidity contain
the blacklist people. The natives of
Barbary are very much less deeply col
ored thar the negroes of the Soudan
yet the uniform degree of heat there is
Sc degrees Fahrenheit instead of 1874
degrees Fahrenheit as it is on the coast
of Guinea.
The Egyptian has remained white
Notwithstanding a constant mixture
with the black Nubians. The people
who live in the dry section of the Nu
,bian desert have g. red skin; other
races that are brown or that vary from
a white to chamois color also live in
dry country. The Abyssinians, how
ever, in whose country the plateaux
are well irrigated, are blacker. The
blacklist negroes in Africa are those
who live in Guinea, where the greatest
amount of rain falls. In Asia, says the
writer, it is the same as in India.
There is a close relation between the
fall of rain and the color Of the people
The more moist the climate is, the
darker the skin of the natives. AS one
goes UP the Ganges the climate be-
comes dryer and the skin of the ma
tives whittier. The Bengalese are black,
but the Sikhs and the Radjpouts are of
a dead white color. In America it is
the same. The Brazilians are general
ly darker than the Inhabitants of the
Andes. The Portuguese, who come
from rainy country, settled in Brazil,
while the Spaniards inhabit the Andes
and the dry La Plata section. Spain
is very dry as compared with Portugal
and the Portuguese in Europe have the
darkest skins of all Europeans. Heat,
light and humidity, says the writer,
are, them all causes of pigmentation.
In dealing with these three causes the
question of pigmentation of the skin is
alone and their relative influence, he
says, a very complicated one. For in
stance, persons inhabiting q mountain
GUS district, where the climate is cool
er, have a lighter skin than those who
live on the plains, although it has been
seen that the Abyssinians are an -ex-
ception to the rule. The native of