The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-06-15
RLuE EYES AND BROWN.
Which Are the Truthful and Honest md Which the Cruel and TreacherOus.


 -----
 Which Are the Truthful and Honest md
 Which the Cruel and TreacherOus.
 Northerners have an invinclbe ten dency to assign virtue or goodness to the fair complexion, wlckedness or falsehood to the dark If one could rely upon the test of novels it might be argued that the prejudice is weak ening-for the villain, whether male or female, is sometimes blond nowadays and the heroine brunette. One might almost venture to say that 1t was new CT so formerly Perhaps there is no sound reason for thinking that the blue eyed are truthful, honest and low ing-ln the sense of affection and con- stancy-rather than the brown
 But the striking reports on the asso- citation of complexion and disease in hospitals which Dr. Beddoes suggested long ago and Dr. Shrubsall, foremost among many, now is carrying out have certain bearing on the point, says the Pall Mall Gazette. They prove that dark halr and eyes are supplanting the light in this country-a fact which all thoughtful persons have observed. But also they demonstrate the reason- which is, shortly, that the blond are constitutionally unfltted to endure the conditions of town life, and actually perish in the foul atmosphere and the barbarism of the slums Adults enter the hospital In proportion far too great and children die. They must have fresh air, wholesome exercise and de- cent surroundings to keep in health. But these are the conditions of rustic life, which, as universal experience in all ages agrees, preserves if 1t does not generate such virtfes as simplicity, truthfulness and honesty, which town life, favored by the dark, corrupts, Upon the other hand the brown eyed peoples assert that the fair are treach- erous and cruel This Is a common belief in Italy, where 1t might be trac- ed to popular renlniscence of the blond Northerners who ravaged that hapless country from generation to generation. But it is much older. Plutarch cites d contemporary epigram passed upon Cato the Censor, who was red haired and gray eyed, which shows that 1t was current even then. And it is an article of faith all through the East.
 Sir Edward Malet tells in his biogra- phy how he once called at Alexandret- ta, and the population assembled, be- llieving him to be the new governor of Cyprus. To his Dragoman he express ed hope that they were favorably i'm pressed by his appearance at any rate but the Dragoman honestly replied that 1t was not so-a blue-eyed gover- nor they thought must be harsh and cruel. And he added that the feeling lis general all through the Levant By the famous code of Menu, an orthodox Hindu is flatly forbidden to marry 3 woman with gray eyes or red hair perhaps for this reason, though none lis assigned. Tn all cases it may be that a tradition of ruthless invaders from the north had caused the preju- dice, since many Afghans, and many Persians of the wilder tribes, are fail mot to mention the British in modern times. But that is an assumption.
 We are using the term blue eyed ir a conventional sense. As a matter ol lfact, that color is the rarest by far oi lall Some assert, indeed that 1t does not exist. and many doubtless have Inever seen it. Perhaps the rarity oi blue is not to be regretted, unless by enthusiasts who set beauty above charity and humanity For all ami. mals which have blue eyes are more or less hard of hearing" This is generally known In the case of cats and it Is equally true of horses an6 wild creatures. It is an instance oi lcorelatlon, as Darwin termed the mys' terious law, and one would expect tC find it apply to human beings, as is al Ileged. Also we must admit that blue or green or gray eyes have a narrow. CT range of expression than dark. Per, Ihaps, indeed, the fair do not respond so quickly to the impulse of the mo, ment; of more sedate or cooler tenn. lperament, they cannot meet word ol a thought halfway and flash back thu answer instantly. At any rate, browr eyes. which we call black, have an ad vantage in power of expression.
 It used to be taken for granted tha savages possess a wider range of eye sight and keener observation thaI Icivilized men. Common sense favored the belief, and a report published by the surgeon of the Western Opthalmit hospital some years ago gave al alarming picture of the state of thing lamong school children. But persons who speak with authority have contra dlcted the popular notion of late-espe cially Messrs. Spencer and Gillen, il their great work on the Centra Tribes of Australia, and Dr. Egelmann Of course. these witnesses may hay, unusual powers of vision, but their re mark shows at least that the Flu ropean may be equal in this respect t Australian savages, who are famous for their eyesight and that exceptiona lcapacity among them is by no mean