The Dickinson press., 1897-11-13
FROM WHITE TO BLACK.


OF Color In Negroes.
Some very interesting expert
ments have been made by DR.. Col.
Ngnon of Paris with the view Of
asosrtaining the causes which bring
about change Of color in negroes.
1t has long been known that men,
bers Of the colored race grow black
as they grow old, but apparently no
one before DR.. Collignon thought it
worth while to find out the exact
tint Of their color when they are
born and the successive changes
which 1t undergoes before they reach
maturity. He has devoted consider
able time to this study, and the re.
suits obtained by him are Of inter-
est to all anthropologists.
In order to find out the successive
tints the doctor used Broca's ohro-
matic gamut. This is a small card
on which are depicted in "a small
squares the varying shades of color
from the palest cream to the deep
est black. With this card as his
guide the doctor began his studies
on little Sudanese, who was re-
Gently born in the Champ de Mars
in Paris. The birth took place at ten
minutes after 10 o'clock in the morn
ing, and ten minutes later the doctor
noted the fact that "the baby was
more rosy than No. "a Of Brooa,
with background Of scattered pig
ments which were already begin
ming to hide the tint, and which gave
the child the aspect Of pale lilac"
Ten days later the infant bore a tint
extremely like that Of powdered CO.
Goa, and DR.. Collignon registered
this tint as No. 20 Of Broca. The
feet and the hands, however, had
remained red, as we'll as the upper
part Of the arms. Gradually they,
too, began to change, and in few
weeks they were Of a chamois color,
which imperceptibly deepened into
a chocolate similar to that Of the
rest Of the body.
The slowness of the metamor-
phosis is supposed to be due to the
fact that the sun in Paris is not as
bright as 1t is in the baby's ances-
tral home-namely, Sudan. The
sun, however, is evidently not the
most potent factor in such cases. If
1t were, how can we explain the fact
that at Bordeaux recently a young
sudanese changed from white to
black within the space of two hours,
and that at Marseilles the came
phenomenon actually occurred with
in the space Of five minutesi DR..
Colignon says that he witnessed
these phenomena, but does not at
tempt to account for them.
Another curious fact about the
Champ de Mars baby is that at birth
it's hair was unusually long, fine,
wavy and not at all woolly, after
the usual fashion Of the negroes
hair. In view Of this fact, which has
now been recorded for the first time
certain famous anthropologists
claim that the common ancestor Of
Europeans and Of Hottentots cannot
have had woolly hair. IF this be
true" says Fernand Honore, I'VE
cannot be descended from q negro,
and the only hope that remains to
US is that our ancestor was mon
key whose genealogical tree we
have not yet discovered"
Commenting on DR.. Collgnon's
experiments, the same writer says:
1.-THE doctor has the good sense
not to attach too much importance
to this matter. Who can say that
future Toussaint l'Ouverture will
not undertake the task Of discolor-
ing his people and will adopt for
this purpose the dusky children in
dark ohambers7 This would surely
be a new emancipation. Until it
takes place philosophers may well
spend some time in studying this
subject, for surely there are few
which are more worthy Of study"
New York Herald.