The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-04-07
MANS FIRST APPEARANCE
Aboriginal Human Being Believed
TO Have Been Black-Skinned.
Theories That Incline TO Prove Such
Assertions Conditions Which
Changed His Color TO Whitc-Rea-
soning of the Scientific Experts.

There is doubtless no subject so full OF
interest to mankind as man himself. His
foibles, fads, and fancies, his color, gait
and a thousand other points peculiar to
him are matters so full of human interest
hat one never tires of considering them'
Even his irresistible resemblance to 9th
er animals, while IT may take the concert
out of him a little. is of more than passing
interest. The influences which made MN
white. black. and all the intermediate
shades is a question which no doubt has
at one time or another puzzled every
thinking man woman.
That man was black when he first ap-
peared on earth is capable of demonstra-
ton the scientists say, beyond reason
able doubt That the full-blood negro OF
today represents man as he was In MS
earlier state is substantially true, they
claim. Accepting the scientists theory as
true, 1t is of interest to note the cohdl-
tions which gave origin to the various
races of men and the forces which OPP
Grated to change his color from black 10
white and also to trace the influences TO
which original man was subjected, which
gave him the characteristics he possesses
today, and which carried him farther and
farther from an animal resemblance and
brought him into his present intellectual
and physical state.
1t is an accepted fact that locality and
climatic conditions affect the physical
man as well as animals Food operates
ms potent factor also Other influences
enter in also as agents in producing modl-
hcation and changes from the original
type, but external environment more than
any other influence is responsible for the
,F z
condition as he is today.
Man first appeared on the south coast
of Asia and the outlying islands such as
Borneo. Sumatra. Java, or in what is
known as the Malaysian group of ISL
auds. which includes the Philippines.
These localities are what are called the
.'Intertropic lands and here was the
cradle of humanity. Here We find the ne
gro in his practically aboriginal state
The Nesrito in the Philippines is original
man with perhaps only such variations
from the original erect man as must be
expected The character of the land sur
face where man first appeared was, and
still is. low and marshy. The proximity
to the Indian Ocean helps to make the
climate damp and moist. TIE tempera-
ture is high The sun beats down on
his cradle spot of humanity, hot and
burning. We have, therefore, intense
heat, great humidity, and moisture.
These conditions are the influences which
operate to darken the skin Of man. Es-
peCially Is this true OF moisture. In coun-
tries where there Is intense heat and in
tense dryness, such as Arabia and dis
tricts bordering on the Desert Of Saba
IA, we find the inhabitants are dark, but
of a much lighter color than the jewellers
In countries that are intensely hot, but
Intensely moist. In the latter districts
r re In he he
These latter conditions are present in
the southern coast of Asia and in the
Malaysian group of islands. 1t is believed
by anthropologists that while tempera-
ture is a factor in determining the color
of the skin, moisture eXerts greater
Influence, and where great heat and great
moisture are to be found together as an
external condition, there will exist the
conditions which win darken the color
OF the human skin.
keane. in his recent work on anthro-
po!ogy. says: THE color. Psychologists tell
us, is mainly, if not essentially, a matter
Of climate and possibly diet 1t appears
that pigment is common to all people, only
darker in negro, Papuan, Australian. and
Oceanic Negrito. Waltz adduces many eX-
amples TO show that hot and damp coun-
tries favor the darkening of the skin and
that the same race tends TO be much
darker in low. marshy districts than on
the neighboring upiands. Lepsius. a good
observer, declares somewhat emphati-
cally that the hotter the climate the dark
er the color of the negro. He adds that
proceeding from Africa eastward the iso-
thermal line chat is. the line of equal
heaD of greatest heat intersects the re
gicns in Southern Asia which are inhabited
by the darkest peoples on the CONT
nent. There may be some eXaggeration in
this statement and there are some eXcep-
tions regarding the direct relation Of heat
10 color but the exceptions are probably
Of one or the other Of the factors which
combine TO darken pigment. Thus
Echweinfurth, in his Heat Of Africa at
tributes the reddish hue Of the BOngos
Nile basin, to the ferruginous nature Of
the laterite soil, and the same causes ap-
pear TO have produced the same results
among the Nim-Niam Of the Nile Valley.
But the physical well as moral charac-
teristics are the outcome not Of one or two
but many causes acting simultaneously on
the organism which cannot escape either
from its environment or from its own ten
denotes.
INFLUENCES UPON THE COLOR OF MEN.
Color is que to descent or to various
local circumstances and other influences.
such as dryness, moisture, food aspect,
altitude or fora (herbaceous or arboreaD
OF the land. ny all Of which the complex
ion may be adversely affected and mere
temperature largely neutralized. The ne
gro migrating from the moist tropical
Zone n0rthwards OF southwards, or trans
planted to cooler regions of America viii
retain for an indefinite period his dark
color. On the other hand the Semitic
ana Hamtic inhabitants OF the intensely
hot but intensely dry regions OF Arabia
and the Sahara are of distinctly light
complexion. Color is not a racial charac-
teristic, but an adaptation Of the organ
ism to hot, moist, malarious climate in
which the negro thrives and the white
man perishes."
IT may be explained in passing that the
"Hamite" races mentioned by Keane re-
fer to the inha bitants Of the northern
coast of Africa. such as the Moor. the
Egyptian. the Barbary States. In short
that section known as the Levant. The
inhabitants of this section are light col
ored as compared with the negro type
and not infrequently pronounced blondes
are found among them of Slre Hamite
blood The term .Iamite however Is an
arbitrary name and is used to disCrimi-
nate between the inhabitants of North
ern Africa and the Semitic peoples. The
two are closely allied in racial character
istics, yet differing in sufficient respect as
TO mark them separate people or race
AS a separate race, however, they
is due not to degenerative ten
dency. but TO the mixing of
their blood with that Of other races. thus
celebrating racial lines The inhabitants
Hannibal, who fought Fabius, the old Ro-
man general. belonged to this race, and
the MOors who fought Spain for 100 years
were Hamites. The dark skin and black
hair and eyes OF the Spaniard are due to
Moorish mixture, the pure-bloUded
Hpaniard being blue-eyed and tending to
the blonde type.
That something more than heat is nee
ssSary TO darsen the pigment In man S
fkn is evidenced when the EsQumau
and the Laplander are considered High
temperature certainly is not apt to be
found I'm their localities. This is one of
the exceptions TO which Keane refers
doubtless. when he speaks OF mere tenn
perature largely neutraliZed.'
II Is fair 20 assume mat the Malaysisn
Islands were where mankind In the be-