Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-09-16
THE HUMAN SKIN.
Changes in Its Hues That Have Come
With the Ages.

" AI1 lue ages.
Mans original color and the cause of
the changes in that color TO the various
hues that mark the skins of the differ
ent races have long been a study
among men OF science.
The theory Of Professor Lionel Lyde.
an English scientist, is that, whatever
the color of primitive man IN the be-
ginning, the conditions Of life during
the glacial period were such that uni
formity OF results must have been pro-
duced- Nearly every anthropologist is
ready to admit now common origin
for all mankind. Where man origi-
mated is not known-very likely in
southern Asia, possibly in Africa. GER
tainly not in Europe, they say. His
original color is supposed to have been
a sort of brownish yellow not like any
of the colors of mankind today. and
scientists call him, for the sake OF
calling him something. a Condwana.
He lived in southern ATTITUDES. This.
they think. is certain. Then came
migrations. and then, Professor Lyde
believes. the variations of color began.
Some turned white, some turned black,
some brown and some yellow. all &C.
cordinS to the climate in which they
found themselves
Climate influences worked directly
and indirectly In the tropics the skin
and the intestines perform work which
in temperate zones is thrown on the
lungs So when man found himself in
cooler lands the increased activity of
the lungs. together with the Iessened
light and heat, favored tightening of
the skin. When he found himself in
hotter climates sae increased activity
of the liver and the presence of great
light favored a. dark skin.
The old theories of race are pretty
well discarded. for men of the same
race, under differing conditions, would
come to be outwardly very different.
Thus even in Africa. which every body
thinks of as the land of blacks. black
is not at all the universal color. In
the Sudan, where there are great light
and little humidity and no shade, the
men are very black. Elsewhere in
Africa, where there are forest, more
humidity and less light. though about
equal heat. the color is brown and even
yellow.
over the globe he adapted himself 70
the conditions he found. Professor
Lyde thinks that it, is light and not
heat which is injurious. There are
in the tropics dangerous X-like rays
which must be stopped. and they were
stopped by the darkening of the skin.
Since lack of moisture also tends 10
give a tawny color. it is found that in
rainy countries the people are fairer
than in places where there are long
and frequent drouGhts.
The race. then. that found a home in
moderate and damp climates turned
whittier and whittier. 1t is only in such
climates that white skins can endure.
and presumably, if the present white
race was turned into a different part
of the world for many hundreds of
years. the whiteness Of skin would
gradually be lost Perhaps. since the
white man is spreading over the world
to-day. it would be fair to say it will,
in such cases. be lost, the whiteness
being retained only in climates that
have the conditions under which the
race was first bleached.
Intensity of light and little humidity
made black. Trade winds and little
humidity gave the tinge Of brown to
the subtropicaI Mediterranean people
Then comes yellow, which Professor
Lyde puts down as the result of vast
desiccating grass lands" in intemper-
ate attitudes.
The yellow man is the product of
the grass lands. with lack of humidity
md seaSOnal extremes of temporal ure.
The color man exposed TO such con- |
ditions would naturally take would be
one which conserves heat nearly as
we'll as white. but which also protects |
from light. for which combination vel |
low was the best, or red. The nor /
NAL color of these folk of the grass |
lands would be changed by special !
local conditions, such as the presence /
of mountains or proximity to the sea. |
The rnountaineers of Asia and the |
ma ritIme MongOlians are lighter in /
color than their brothers Of the inland /
plains.
To Professor Lyde, therefore. skin .
color Is entirely matter of climate. I
It is well established phenomenon .
now because the different portions Of .
the human race lived segregated for /
thousands OF years in special areas, .
but the same forces that made men
white and black and yellow are oper-
ating today. slowly, but surely. Men [
who change their dwelling places will .
still, after hundreds of generations
change also their skins as they did IN
the epoch OF the first migrationA New